“I have no idea,” Luna says. “I’ve always avoided this building, and I haven’t started digging around yet.”
“She thinks it’s haunted, and she’s probably right, although I’ve never seen anything,” June says to me and, with a smile, saunters over to the far corner. I let out a long, low whistle when she pulls back the tarp.
“Holy moly,” June whispers.
“I had no idea that was in here,” Luna says as I pull the rest of the heavy tarp off the old car, and we all stare in silent awe.
“What is it?” June asks and reaches out to touch the faded red paint.
“This, my friends, is a 1927 Ford Model A.”
Both women look at me in surprise.
“Wow, that’s very specific,” June says.
“I know my cars.”
“It’s a convertible,” Luna says. “And the top’s not torn all to hell.”
“It’s original,” I mutter, examining it closely. “This is a freaking gold mine, Luna. It’s dirty, and I’m sure it needs a lot of work, but my God, she’s beautiful. Cherry-red with the whitewall tires. Look at these fenders. Just look at them.”
“Nice fenders,” June agrees, sarcasm dripping from her tone, and I whip my head around to glare at her. “Hey, you’re the car man. If you say it’s a big deal, then it’s a big deal.”
“This automobile—and that’s what it is, it’s not simply a car—would have cost up to about a grand brand-new. That was a lot of money back then. In the shape it’s in, with some work…man, I can only guess what it might get at auction now. Maybe close to six figures.”
“Shut up,” Luna says, shaking her head. “No way.”
“Way. You don’t understand. There might be less than a hundred of these left in existence. Far less than that in this condition.”
“Oh, my gosh. Luna, wouldn’t it be cool if you had this restored and it was the official car for the B&B? You could offer rides into town and stuff in it. I’ll drive.”
“You have a job,” Luna reminds her but bites her plump lower lip, clearly thinking it over. “Although, that’s a really good idea.”
“It’s a damn good idea,” I agree. “I’ll restore her for you.”
“I could be your first customer,” Luna says with a bright smile on her gorgeous face.
“This isn’t a job. This is pure pleasure.”
“Mm-hmm,” June says, giving us both the beady eye. “I’m sure it is.”
June hasn’t changed a bit.
“I think it sounds like the coolest thing ever,” Luna says at last. “If you’re willing to do it. I can’t wait to find out who it belonged to and why it’s been sitting here in the barn all these years. How do we get it out of here? The floor isn’t sound enough to pull a tow truck in.”
“Good question,” I mutter. “Let me figure that out.”
“I’ll happily leave it up to you,” Luna says. She grins and then does a little happy dance. “This is already so much fun!”
Suddenly, I hear a loud slam from up in the loft, and we all look up.
“Is there a door up there?” June asks.
“Yeah, a small attic,” Luna says with a sigh. “And something made her mad.”
“Who?” I ask.
Both women turn to me and, in unison, reply. “The ghost.”
Chapter Two
Luna
“So, let me get this straight,” Wolfe says, shaking his head slowly as he sets his hands on his lean hips—his very trim hips. Not that I noticed or anything. “You’re going to build a hotel around a haunted barn. Aren’t you afraid it’ll be bad for business?”
“One,” I reply as June snickers, “as I told you before, the whole property is haunted, not just the barn. And two, it could actually be good for business.”
“A lot of people are into that stuff,” June agrees. “And there are plenty more who don’t believe in it at all, so I don’t think it’ll be bad for the pocketbook. Oh! Maybe you could offer ghost tours.”
I raise an eyebrow at the thought. “Hey, that’s not a bad idea.”
“Halloween would be a blast,” June continues.
“I don’t know,” I reply, thinking it over. “Maybe it’s not something I want to advertise. I don’t want it to become a cliché or scare people off, you know? Plus, I don’t want to miss your grandma’s party. It’s too epic.”
“True,” June says, and we both turn our attention to Wolfe as he laughs at us.
“What’s so funny?” I demand.
“You two. I’m glad I came up here and got to see you both.” He shakes his head and then turns to my friend. “Oh, hey, June?”
“What’s up?” she asks.
“My parents’ house is falling apart. Literally. Would you have time to come look things over and give me an estimate on some repairs?”
June nods thoughtfully. “Sure. I can pop over later this week to see what’s going on. It’s been a killer summer for my schedule, but I should have some time this fall if you can wait a month or two.”