Page 45 of You'll Be the Death of Me

“Screw your mother, Tommy,” Jason snapped. Dell had never seen him so intimidating or fierce before. It sent a pleasant tingle rippling through her body. He stared at Tommy with stone-cold eyes and spoke hardly above a whisper. “Listen carefully to me. You never deserved her. She is so far beyond too good for you it’s not even funny. I have never liked you, which is probably not a surprise, but now you’ve gone and validated every doubt I’ve ever had. There are half a dozen reporters outside the front door, and you are going to march out there and confess, or I swear to God, Dell will haunt you forever.”

Tommy stared back at Jason, doing his best not to tremble.

Dell came closer and lifted her skirt to spin in a circle. The silky fabric rustled and twirled, and Tommy held his breath.

Jason gave him one more hard look before saying, “Boo.”

Tommy screamed and ran for the front door, abandoning the broom and nearly tripping himself trying to get away.

The reporters immediately struck up a chorus of questions when he opened the door.

“Mr. Moratto, what happened?”

“Where was your fiancée taken?”

“Who was that blond woman earlier?”

Dell expected Tommy to keep running right down the street and maybe into the bay, but he was so frightened by Jason’s threat he stopped on the porch and held up his hands.

“I have a statement to make...” he began.

Jason shut the front door and locked it. He immediately whipped out his phone and started dialing. “This is going to look great on the five o’clock news. I’m calling the cops to make sure he doesn’t get away,” he said, and then turned around to face Dell’s floating dress. He punched a fist into his hip while the call went out. “Yeah, hi. Tom Moratto—the mayor’s son—is outside his house right now, confessing to his plan to murder his fiancée. You might want to send someone.” He paused to listen to what Dell was sure was a shocked reaction, even for a 911 operator.

“Yes,” Jason said with a nod. “Thank you.” He ended the call and looked toward Dell. “That’s taken care of. Soooo, what the hell just happened?”

Dell gasped in excitement and hurried toward him. “That was amazing! I just wanted to scare him. I wasn’t expecting a confession! I—”

“He can’t hear you,” Cole reminded her.

Dell grumbled right as Jason held up his hands to stop her approaching dress. “This is helpful to be able to see you, but it’s also the creepiest thing I’ve ever seen, and you probably shouldn’t be floating around in your wedding dress if you don’t want to make everyone think they’ve lost it, like Tommy.”

“Good point,” Dell said. She turned to Cole. “I’m going to need help again.”

He gave her a sheepish look. “Taking it off?”

“Yes. Just unbuttoning it for me.”

He nodded like he was up for the task even as a deep blush filled his face.

They returned to her office, and Dell swept her hair aside so he could reach the buttons. Once more, she felt his hands warmly against her back and wondered what he was thinking to be able to touch the dress.

“That was really good,” Cole said with the same nervous jump in his voice. “For a first-time haunting.”

“Thank you. It came kind of naturally, honestly.”

“Perhaps thanks to him truly deserving it.”

“Perhaps.”

His fingers trailed down her spine. He was making quicker work of undoing the buttons than fastening them, and Dell found herself disappointed he was almost finished.

“Oh, um...” Cole said, and paused near her mid-back.

“What?”

“It’s stuck.”

“What? Stuck?” Dell said, and turned her head as much as she could to see. “How can it be stuck? It’s a button, not a zipper.”