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That Thing You Do
Whispering Bay # 1
Whispering Bay # 1
By: Maria Geraci
Releasing April 28th, 2015
TKA Distribution
Allie Grant doesn’t believe in second chances. She
does, however, believe in the power of a permanent paycheck. So when a tipster
reports that the soon-to-be demolished senior center in her hometown is
haunted, Allie hightails it to Whispering Bay to get the scoop that could
secure her dream job at Florida! magazine. What she finds, though, is far
scarier than any ghost. Cue her ex-boyfriend, sexy construction foreman Tom
Donalan.
When Tom catches Allie poking around his
construction site, he quickly realizes his former high school flame is just as
feisty as ever. And, heaven help him, her irresistible, mile-high legs still
take his breath away. But Tom isn’t about to delay the building’s demolition
because of a silly ghost story.
With neither of the stubborn exes backing down from
their opposing positions, sparks fly. And, underneath the surface, the fire of
their old attraction burns as hot as ever. When strange things start happening
with increasing frequency around town, even a tough skeptic like Tom is tested.
The question is, can Allie and Tom stop fighting long enough to get to the
bottom of Whispering Bay’s ghost problem—and the more important matter of
mending their broken hearts?
A shiver skated up her
spine.
It wasn’t cold. Not
really. It was October and still seasonably warm enough for the Florida
panhandle, but the building was isolated from the rest of the ocean strip by at
least half a mile. That on its own made it creepy enough, and then of course,
there was that haunted thing.
Maybe she should channel
the lion from The Wizard of Oz and
begin chanting I don’t believe in
ghosts…I don’t believe in ghosts…
But there was something to
be said about Patrick Swayze and Demi Moore and that whole pottery wheel scene.
Hopeless Hollywood
romanticism? No doubt. It was lovely to believe that even after death there was
something so powerful about the feelings we had while we were alive that they
pulled us back to the people and places we once loved.
But all corniness aside,
she was a journalist, and at the behest of
Florida! magazine’s editor, Emma Frazier, Allie had just driven nearly six
hours to investigate a story on what most people (herself included) would
consider the flimsiest of leads. But if Emma wanted a ghost story, then that’s
what Allie would give her. Impressing Emma Frazier was the key to landing her
dream job, which happened to be Goal Number Three on Allie’s four part Life
Plan. So despite the NO TRESPASSING sign, she wasn’t leaving until she got her
story. A padlocked door was beyond her capabilities, but no building this old
could be burglar proof.
Using her flashlight to
guide her, Allie made her way through a patch of weeds to study the windows on
the side of the building.
Bin-go!
Jalousie glass panes. Popular in Florida during the last century before central
air-conditioning became standard. Those windows might provide excellent
ventilation but they looked easy as all heck to break into. Not that Allie had
any experience sneaking in or out of windows. Once upon a time, that had been
Zeke’s forte. Before he’d cleaned up his act, of course. Nowadays, there wasn’t
anyone more upstanding than her big brother.
She noticed the window in
the middle was missing several of its glass panes. Had someone already broken
inside? Maybe. Or more likely those panes had fallen out over time, and since
the building was scheduled to come down, it wouldn’t have made sense to fix
them.
Which brought Allie to her
third option—it wasn’t really a B&E if she didn’t actually break anything.
Yes, there was that big NO TRESPASSING sign but the window was practically
open. Some people might consider that an invitation.
Ha.
Her brother would call that delusional thinking. Fuzzy morality, at best. But
what were her options? Despite the late hour, she was now fully awake.
She sent up a silent
apology to Buela (Zeke, she would deal with later) and went into action. With
the flashlight tucked beneath her arm, she knocked the flimsy metallic screen
out of the way. Balancing her bottom on the open window ledge, she lowered one
sneakered foot inside—when the tinny-sounding ring tone version of Adele’s Rumour Has It startled her into falling
butt first onto a hard wooden floor.
Her cell phone flew out of
her shorts pocket. Allie scampered on all fours to retrieve it, causing her
right knee to come in contact with something sharp. Ouch! She ignored the pain and glanced at her cell phone’s caller
ID telling her (warning her) that it was her roommate, Jen.
“Where are you?” Jen
asked.
“Check the fridge.” Allie
had purposely left Jen a note taped to the refrigerator door. It was the first
place Jen always went when she got home from her evening shift at the hospital
where she worked as a respiratory therapist.
After a slightly too long
pause in which Allie imagined Jen not only finding the note, but last night’s leftovers as well,
Jen said, “You’re in Whispering Lakes? Isn’t that where you grew up?”
“Yep, but it’s Whispering
Bay.” Allie went on to explain about the email that had caused her to jump in
her car and make the six hour drive to her hometown.
“So, let me get this
straight,” Jen said. “Someone sent you an anonymous email telling you there’s a
ghost inside the building? And you,
what? Jumped in your car and drove up there? Just like that?”
Maria Geraci writes contemporary
romance and women’s fiction with a happy ending. The Portland Book Review
called her novel, The Boyfriend of the Month Club, “immensely sexy, immensely
satisfying and humorous.” Her fourth novel, A Girl Like You, was nominated for
Romance Writers of America’s prestigious RITA ® award. She lives in north
Florida with her family, which includes a very needy chihuahua, an extremely
needy dachshund and a not-so-needy cat (guess which one she likes best?). You
can reach at her www.mariageraci.com.
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