Meghan frowned. “Darien won’t be doing background checks on all our guests forever, will he?”
As if Laurel and her sisters were staying in Silver Town forever. This was their business—buying, renovating, and selling hotels. They never stayed long. “He’s the pack leader. If he thinks we might have any trouble, or that the rest of his pack might, he’ll keep a close eye on the hotel. So with regard to that, he wants CJ to stay with us until the men leave.”
Openmouthed, Meghan stared at her. Her gaze switched from her to CJ to Laurel again. “You’re…kidding. Stay with us?”
“Yep. Darien gave him the job of watching the ghost busters to ensure they don’t see anyone shifting. If they do, then the pack will handle it.”
“Just great.”
“Yeah, I know. Tell Ellie, will you?”
“Sure. So which room is he staying in?” Meghan smiled a little evilly. “The maids’ quarters?”
“No way. He can have the attic room. Hopefully nothing will bother him up there.” Laurel frowned as she stared at the center of the wall that CJ had already painted over. “Do you see a letter in the center of the wall?”
Meghan studied the wall. “I was hoping I was just imagining it.”
They moved closer as CJ considered the section he’d just painted.
“Okay, so your name is CJ and you’re being cute by painting a C on the wall?” Meghan asked, her voice sharp and on edge.
Laurel knew very well CJ hadn’t done it. Not considering how much he seemed to want to please her and her sisters, if he was going to initial his paint job, why not make it CJ? The letter was a foot and a half tall, maybe a foot wide, about six inches thick, and whiter than the white wall he was painting. It hadn’t been there before he started painting, and he was using a paint roller. It would have been impossible for him to paint the letter without using a paintbrush and a guideline, a stencil, or something, considering how crisp and clean the lines were.
CJ stepped back from the wall and stared at it. “If the letter is still there after I paint the wall and it dries, I’ll use some special paint that covers water stains and the like.”
Laurel pointed to the corner. “A can of that kind of paint is over there.”
“Okay, I’ll take care of it.”
Meghan headed for the stairs. “I’ll tell Ellie about the trouble we might have with the ghost-hunter TV personalities.” She glanced warily at CJ.
Laurel went back to work varnishing the old oak countertop while her sisters put the finishing touches on the rooms. The Silver pack had planned a grand opening ceremony, and all eight rooms were booked, now including the attic room. It only had a small table, a chair, a three-drawer bachelor chest, and a twin-size bed. They’d fixed it up but hadn’t really thought they’d have anyone staying there—unless someone desperately needed the lodging, was single, and wasn’t overly tall. Which made her realize that CJ would be too tall for the bed.
Where else could they put him? The basement had four rooms and a shared bathroom for the maids’ quarters, but Laurel and her sisters had put off renovating those until later because of all the other plumbing, painting, and electrical problems they’d had to deal with. They lived in the guesthouse out back, a lovely four-bedroom home with gingerbread trim to match the hotel.
“What?” Ellie said, her voice elevated as Meghan talked with her upstairs in the blue bedroom.
Laurel didn’t know if Ellie was outraged about the ghost busters staying with them or one of the members of the Silver pack lodging here, or maybe a little of both. In any event, they had to deal with it.
She and her sisters felt like they were walking on the edge of a cliff. One wrong turn and they would fall off, without a safety net to catch them. She was certain the pack wouldn’t be happy if she and her sisters discovered that one of its members was involved in their aunt’s disappearance.
Laurel looked up from her varnishing work and saw that CJ had started painting over the C with the stain-killing paint—three feet out in every direction to hide the letter.
Morbidly fascinated, she watched as the whole area became one block of white. As the paint began to dry, the letter reappeared as bold as day—white on white, as if it was meant to be there. Or Clarinda O’Brien was trying to tell her nieces she had been here.
Maybe she still was here.
Chapter 2
CJ tried to tell himself that painting the wall had revealed someone’s old stencil job. Yet he knew that wasn’t so. The walls hadn’t been painted in forever. Everything else disappeared underneath the fresh coat of paint—the shadows where the pictures had hung, the plaster filling the picture hanger holes, everything but the letter that hadn’t been there when he started painting.
It didn’t bode well that he was going to be staying in the attic. Even so, he would do anything to make it up to Darien and the pack for allowing him and his brothers to return after they had left their family behind. And he would do anything for Laurel and her sisters to ensure they didn’t have any trouble. For now, that meant watching the ghost busters. He paused to look at the letter on the wall, the huge block of fresh paint making the letter show up even more.
Maybe at night under the chandelier lights it wouldn’t be noticeable. Or maybe the women had a big picture they could hang over it. If the letter was still there in the morning.
“He’s staying in the attic?” Ellie said from the room upstairs and laughed. “Better him than any of us.”
He smiled a little. He wasn’t afraid of any ghosts. He turned to see Laurel watching him, done with her job, it appeared. She was frowning, her soft green sweater bringing out the emerald of her eyes, her gaze capturing and holding his attention. As an alpha wolf, she didn’t drop her gaze but instead arched a brow in question.
Despite trying to deny it, she seemed to be as interested in him as he was in her. She lowered her chin a little, waiting for him to say something. If she truly couldn’t have found the time or inclination to bother with him, she would have looked away and done something else. But more than that, she had allowed him to stay and help. Hell, maybe she’d only asked Darien to tell CJ and his brothers their help wasn’t needed because there had been too many of them underfoot. Eric had been a bit bossy, telling the ladies how he thought they should do things.
Maybe Laurel was perfectly happy to have CJ help them by himself. He assumed things were changing between them now and for the better.
“The paint dries quickly. Two hours tops. I’ll paint over it again in a couple of hours. Tom said that an X was painted on one of the ceilings. Did you need me to paint over that too?”
Laurel pushed a lock of curly red hair behind her ear, maybe not in a flirtatious way, but it sure was sexy. “We actually painted over that ourselves and it worked out fine.”
“That’s good.” He felt a bit of relief that they didn’t have another mark that they couldn’t get rid of. Maybe the same thing would happen here. “Did you want me to help you hang some Christmas lights next or do anything else?” He wasn’t leaving if he could help it. He wanted to prove he really could be of service and not a hindrance. And to get to know her better.
She hesitated, then let out her breath. “With my sisters leaving so early in the morning, I’m afraid I won’t get it all done before the grand opening. If you don’t mind, I’d appreciate your help.”