Reuben and Roark placed themselves in his path. Abandoning his grip on Pris, Dante grabbed both Matt’s arms behind his back before he could produce a weapon. His victim screamed as he yanked harder.

  “He just confessed to manslaughter, at the very least,” he shouted in his plummy accent at the approaching officers. “Plus theft and interfering with human remains or whatever one calls abandoning a body. He also has an illegal passport, so skipping bail might be added.”

  A policeman patted Matt down and removed a pistol from his pocket. “We could add threatening a police officer and illegal carry. I think that’s enough to hold him for a while.”

  As Matthew was handcuffed and led away, Pris melted against her hero. “The twins?”

  Once more using her shoulders for support, Dante lifted his chin to indicate upwards. “Evie has them in the attic with Loretta. They’ve closed the portcullis, and I think they’re planning on piling boiling oil on the gate. They have an entire pumpkin pie and the soup spoons.”

  “Dessert first, of course. We should all do dessert first. Apple or pumpkin? Or maybe some spice cake with brandy sauce and whipped cream to start?”

  The others poured back into the house at her suggestion. Pris couldn’t move from Dante’s arms. The pressure inside them verged on explosive. He cursed, whether mentally or not she was incapable of telling as his arms tightened around her.

  His kiss, when it came, was richer and deeper and more passionate than she had ever dared dream. They were both panting when they came up for air as the shouts inside the house increased. If she didn’t get back in there to serve dessert soon. . .

  “I need you,” Dante whispered urgently. “If you don’t return with me, I swear, I will move in here and never leave again.”

  “Reuben won’t like it if you try to excavate bones beneath his man cave,” she whispered back, leading him into the house while dodging an aunt, and dragging him into the library. She shut the door and leaned against it.

  “A villa and a farm,” he muttered. “I can’t do it. I know nothing of farming. I’m an archeologist! A teacher!”

  “A wealthy man,” a low contralto said from behind one of the wing chairs.

  Ariel. They’d forgotten Ariel. So much for more kisses.

  Jax’s sister held a notebook computer over the back of the chair.

  Pris prevented Dante from reaching for it. “Wealth doesn’t matter. I need to cook. It’s who I am. I am not a caretaker or nanny or any of those warm cuddly things men expect. Italy has more restaurants than people. I’m not needed there.”

  “Cooking schools. They have cooking schools. You can learn while you feed whatever people need feeding. People always need feeding. Remember the plumbers. You can fix the villa with food, and I’ll pay for your school.” He reached over and snatched the computer from Ariel.

  He studied the website the computer genius had uncovered. “These are the contents of Gladwell’s offshore account? It’s a bloody fortune, but it’s not mine.”

  “Lucia’s,” Ariel said succinctly.

  “Her farm. Her lotions. Her company. Remember, her name was on everything? Stepdaddy planned to leave her with all the debt while he siphoned the cash into his pockets. And then there’s KK’s and Lucia’s insurance after the dust clears. That’s all legit and should cover the company debts at the very least.” With a sigh, Pris looked around Dante’s muscled arm to study the rather large numbers. Maybe they were in lira. Except Italy did euros these days.

  “Stolen artifacts,” he added in disgust. “Ill-gotten gains.”

  “When you find the artifacts, you can buy them back. In the meantime, that’s the twin’s education right there. You’re not really rich when you have kids.” Shrugging to hide her spinning emotions, Pris stepped back. “If Lucia’s farm has Etruscan artifacts, you’ll have your own dig in her backyard.”

  His whole entire expression and body language brightened as if she’d handed him gold. He returned the device to Ariel. “I can stay home. The twins will go to school and have a nanny. Leo can have his orchard. Pris, you can go to school, run a school, come back here, teach kids to run a bakery, or anything you like. If I am my own employer, we can come with you,” he added triumphantly.

  Scarcely able to tear her gaze from his happiness, Pris settled on studying the tan V of his chest revealed by the open shirt. That didn’t help her brain much better. Her heart pounded ferociously while her head tried to deal with all his cascading hopes. “You need a household manager?”

  Dante swept her up in his arms again. “I need you. I don’t care how or why or what you call yourself. I just need you. We’ll work out details together.”

  She nodded against his silky shirt. “That might work.”

  From the other side of the chair, Ariel snorted.

  Thirty-seven: Jax

  By midnight, the old Victorian had descended into the usual board-creaking silence as the various inhabitants collapsed in exhaustion from the holiday excess.

  Jax knew Evie was still wired and eager in the bed beside him. But this latest encounter with the danger that came with their search for justice had opened emotional channels he wasn’t accustomed to exploring. Freaking out didn’t come close.

  He turned on his side and leaned over to stroke her silky hair to gather the courage to admit, “Sometimes, you and your family terrify me.”

  In the winter moonlight streaming through the turret windows, she looked briefly panicked. But as she usually did, she spaced out, then rubbed his chest, reading him better than he read himself. “I was afraid today had made you realize you want normal. Instead, you’re terrified in the same way you scare me. It’s not easy thinking of others beside yourself, is it?”

  He breathed a little easier. “It’s not just that, although yes, it’s a new experience. But you make me feel. . .” He didn’t have the words. He unclenched the fist holding him up and produced the crude object he’d been holding. “Love just isn’t enough to say. Words aren’t enough. I use words all the time, but they don’t express. . .”

  She pushed up on her elbows and covered his face with kisses. “I don’t need words. I see auras, remember? Actions work best for me. And I’ve seen you working hard to adapt to our ways while trying to protect us in your way. That you keep trying instead of giving up says a lot more than words. You were brilliant today. You could have taken Matt down in seconds. You could have had R&R beat him to the pulp he deserved. But you let Pris have her way, and it worked perfectly.”

  “I would have felt better planting a fist in his face,” he grumbled. “So yeah, we’re both adjusting. I notice you didn’t kick him where it hurts either.”

  She chuckled and ran her hands over his abs. “Pretty boy wasn’t a threat. I think Pris may be a Rainbow child like Loretta and Ariel, hard to understand but a light on the world. It’s a good thing we have Sensible Solutions to collect any reward for catching killers so it can be shared. What we do takes a team. It’s you who is worrying me. What’s on your mind?”

  Now or never. . . Jax held out the ugly object in his palm. “I wanted to do this properly, but I couldn’t figure out what was proper. You never wear jewelry. Your entire life is a spectacle I can’t compete with. I’m a lawyer who likes playing by the rules, whereas I have the feeling you run from anything official. But I’m ready for the next step, and instead of fireworks and beaches and flashy diamonds, this is the only proposal I can think of. Will you please, please marry me so I don’t have to gnaw my nails to the nub worrying that you’ll run away with the circus?”

  Her huge blue eyes widened even more. She studied him first, before studying the embarrassment he held in his palm. “I’m more likely to run from this circus than with one.” She picked up the silver adorning his palm. “A spoon ring?”

  “Pris said someone used the utensil for something other than food and broke the handle off. It’s good silver. I just filed the edge and twisted it.” He shifted uncomfortably. “The history of spoon rings seemed to sort of fit into your family’s culture.”

  She laughed quietly and held out her left hand. “Servants who stole flatware because they couldn’t afford real rings? I think you hit just the right note.”

  “Without stealing anything,” he reminded her, sliding the awkward piece over her finger and squeezing until it fit. “Pris said it was okay to use it. I’ll happily buy any ring you want. I just need to give you something real. . . Does this mean you accept?”

  She reached around his neck and drew him down to her. “It means babies,” she warned. “Even if we try not to have them, they will come. It’s tradition.”

  “I’m good with that, especially if it slows you down.” Jax kissed her to prevent the protest.

  Moonlight glinted off the silver and wrapped them in its glow.

  “The spirits are gathering,” Evie whispered as he covered her. “Maybe a Christmas wedding?”

  At this point, he’d agree to a Martian wedding. He nipped her ear and accepted that his life would never be normal again. As long as he had Evie’s arms around him, he could face whatever the future had in store.

  Characters

  MALCOLM FAMILY

  Evangeline (Evie) Serena Malcolm Carstairs—sends spirits to light, reads auras

  Mavis Malcolm Carstairs—Evie’s mother; reads crystal ball

  Gracie— Mavis’s elder telekinetic daughter

  Aster—age 6, Gracie’s daughter

  Idonea (Iddy)—Evie’s cousin, veterinarian who talks to animals

  Priscilla Broadhurst—Evie’s cousin; telepathic

  Loretta Aurora Post—eleven-year-old heiress; sees souls

  Aunt Felicia—Mavis’s sister; Iddy’s mother

  Aunt Ellen— Mavis’s sister; Pris’s mother

  Great Aunt Evangeline Valerie Malcolm Brindle—Aunt Val, Civil War re-enactor

  * * *

  BOOK FOUR:

  Damon Ives Jackson (Jax)— fraud and family lawyer; Evie’s significant other

  Ariel Jackson—Jax’s sister

  Roark LeBlanc—hacker friend, MIT graduate, and former military intelligence

  Reuben Thompson, PhD—Roark’s partner; engineering degrees from MIT and Duke

  Dante Alfonso Ives Rossi—distant Italian cousin of Jax

  Emma Malcolm Rossi—Dante’s mother

  Alessandro (Alex) Gerard Ives Rossi—Dante’s 5 year-old son

  Arianna (Nan) Iona Malcolm Rossi—Dante’s 5 year-old daughter

  Lucia Ugazio—Dante’s former girlfriend; mother of twins; owner La Bella Gente

  Leonardo (Leo) Ugazio—cousin of Lucia; manages her olive oil farm

  Katherine (Kit-Kat, KK) Gladwell—Lucia’s half-sister; Vincent’s daughter; owner La Bella Gente

  Vincent Gladwell—Katherine’s father

  Nicolas Gladwell—Katherine’s distant cousin; does marketing for La Bella Gente

  Matthew Gladwell—Katherine’s brother; officer in La Bella Gente

  Rhonda Tart—Vincent’s mistress; stockholder in La Bella Gente

  Jane Lawson—blogger and reporter

  Aunt Margaret—Emma Rossi’s ill sister

  * * *

  TOWNSPEOPLE

  Mayor Arthur Block—resigned office over land fraud

  Sheriff Troy—unmarried, older sheriff of Afterthought

  Hank Williams—hardware store owner; town council member; mayoral candidate

  Larraine Ward—local fashion designer; mayoral candidate

  Philomena Marquette—cop, went to school with Evie

  LaWanda—the mayor’s eighteen-year-old niece; Jax’s new receptionist

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  Psychic Solutions

  The Indigo Solution

  Mystery #1

  Can a no-nonsense lawyer and a capricious free spirit solve crime without murdering each other?

  * * *

  Evangeline Malcolm Carstairs, dog-walker and ghost-buster, has one goal—earning respect for her paranormal abilities. When ten-year-old Loretta Post walks into her Psychic Solutions Agency bearing two sad ghosts and claiming someone is trying to kill her, Evie is on the case.

  When the child’s hunky guardian shows up to drag Loretta back to boarding school, Evie is not about to send the grieving child into possible danger. Besides, Loretta is a Malcolm and belongs with family—especially if someone murdered her parents.

  Efficient, no-nonsense Savannah lawyer Jax Jackson normally investigates corporate fraud. Babysitting an errant ten-year-old has never been on his agenda—until his firm’s wealthy ward escapes school and heads straight for a family with a con-artist history dating to the 17th century.

  Jax isn’t buying ghostly warnings, but when his investigations turn up land fraud in the small town Loretta’s parents once owned, he reluctantly relies on Evie’s insights—which puts them on a collision course with the town authorities and his own father.

  Buy The Indigo Solution

  The Golden Plan

  Mystery #2

  Someone is murdering lawyers, and their ghosts are demanding justice.

  * * *

  Evangeline Malcolm Carstairs has never used her weird ghost-talking skills outside her hometown of Afterthought, South Carolina. But her young ward’s co-guardian—and the only man who almost understands her—has vanished out west while communing with cactus, and she’s not about to parent alone.

  After learning his biological parents lived under an alias, criminal fraud lawyer Damon Ives “Jax” Jackson has gone in search of his roots, desperate to know if he’s descended from crooks. Just as he uncovers a potential murder, his bewitching co-trustee Evie arrives, and his key witness, a lawyer, drops dead.

  Knowing Evie can’t leave a ghost alone, Jax returns with his too-inquisitive partner to Afterthought and the eccentric assortment of friends and family who can shield her from whatever forces he’s unleashed.

  But wherever Evie goes, disturbed spirits follow. When still another lawyer is killed, she must coax the truth from his raging ghost. But are her shaky skills up to the challenge? And will she live long enough to understand her abilities. . . and Jax?

  Buy The Golden Plan

  The Crystal Key

  Mystery #3

  Take one dead FBI agent, one ghostbuster, one skeptical lawyer, add an octogenarian mob, and stir. . .

  * * *

  Fraud lawyer Jax Ives and ghostbuster Evie Malcolm Carstairs want to take their relationship to the next level, but their increasingly hectic lives intervene.

  Evie’s Sensible Solutions Agency first big job is to determine if a recently deceased FBI agent financed her retirement with computer crime. Evie’s eccentric hacker team talk tech, but only Evie can hear the haunting tale the agent’s ghost has to tell. Soon she and her team are investigating potentially murderous octogenarians—despite Jax’s warnings.

  But when Jax’s brilliant, OCD, and deeply introverted sister shocks him by helping his anarchic best friend uncover the dangerous mastermind behind a phone-scam targeting senior citizens, Jax has to add his legal expertise to avert disaster.

  With ghosts and senior citizens demanding justice, antediluvian conmen on the loose, and Evie, Jax, and cohorts stirring the pot—the apocalypse might be safer than the impending granny revolution!

  Buy The Crystal Key

  Crystal Magic Series

  An exciting new series from the author of Unexpected Magic and Tales of Love and Mystery

  Sapphire Nights

  Book 1 of the Crystal Magic Series

  A lawman haunted by his past . . . a scientist haunted by her future.

  * * *

  Samantha Moon arrives in Hillvale bereft of friends and family, money and memory. All she has to her name is a stray cat . . . but that's apparently enough for the people of Hillvale to take her in. Except for L.A. investigator Walker, who sees how Sam's arrival disturbs the deceptive peace of the small California town.

  Buy Sapphire Nights

  Topaz Dreams

  Book 2 of the Crystal Magic Series

  An empathic woman searching for safety. . . An architect yearning for dreams. . . And the haunted house that endangers them both

  * * *

  Teddy Devine-Baker arrives in her childhood home of Hillvale with a box of crystals and enough trouble to fill her VW van. With Teddy’s life in pieces, her parents’ old house is her last refuge, but Kurt Kennedy—the aloof architect whose sword-wielding heroics once tickled her childish fancies—claims it belongs to him.