That Thing You Do by Maria Geraci ~Excerpt & Giveaway~
That
Thing You Do
Whispering Bay # 1
Whispering Bay # 1
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?
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.
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?”
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