Chapter One
“This is really nice,” Jack Henry pointed out.
The house sat on a quiet street lined with old maples whose branches stretched over both sides of the road like they were trying to be good southern gentlemen trying to shake hands.
Every home had deep front porches with white columns, some porch swing, and a few rocking chairs. It was a nice neighborhood where people still waved from their yards, but really not for me.
Jack Henry had been making appointments with Linda Sue Grayson, a local realtor, over the past six months and anything that looks halfway decent, Jack Henry makes me go see it.
“It’s old,” I told him. The moment we walked inside, the smell of old pine floors hit me. It was just that old smell like one of those houses that had collected a hundred years’ worth of stories.
“The funeral home is old,” he muttered under his breath and then looked at the Linda Sue. “Can you please give us a minute?”
“Sure,” Linda Sue nodded. “Take your time.”
Linda Sue looked exactly the way you’d expect the woman who’d sold half the houses in Sleepy Hollow to look.
Her honey-blonde bob never seemed out of place, her pearl earrings caught the light, and her smile was just as bright. I’d never, ever seen her without her oversized leather tote, not even at church.
I always wondered why she carried it to church. A just in case someone needed a quick appointment or a contract. Who knew, but Linda Sue did keep the most delicious peppermint candies in there.
You know the kind that were soft and round, fluffy kind. The good kind.
But it was Linda Sue Grayson who made you believe she could find the right house for you. She’d tell you too. And she’d not given an inkling this was the right house for me and Jack Henry to start our married life in. Though our wedding wasn’t for another year.
The floors behind Linda Sue groaned all the way to the front door, which told me they were all in bad shape and there was no way I was going to live with groaning floors.
I started to open my mouth as I pointed to the floor, but Jack Henry had an answer for everything.
“Those can be replaced with LVT,” he said before I could even close my mouth. He stuffed his hands into the front pockets of his jeans. “And it’s under our price range which means we can do some upgrades.”
“Eternal Slumber is old,” I admitted, giving him that point. “But I know what I’ve got, and I know the problems I have, which means no surprises.”
My fingertips traced the thick crown molding. There was so much detail in the carved corners, and it still looked beautiful But even the beauty didn’t mean I wanted to spend the next thirty years paying for it.
“Who wants to live in the upstairs of a funeral home? You can’t possibly think we’d raise our kids there,” his voice echoed much louder than it was in the empty family room.
“What do you mean?” I asked, turned and narrowed my eyes to look at him. “My grandparents raised their children there. My parents raise me and Charlotte Rae there too. So I’m guessing you are okay with marrying someone who couldn’t but did possibly grow up in a funeral home.”
Jack Henry’s shoulders sagged as he let go of a big, deep breath. He rubbed his hands through his dark brown hair, which was a move he did that made my toes curl. At least, it did when we weren’t arguing.
Nah. It still did, my heart swooned as his head tilted towards me, his big brown eyes softened, melting my heart right down to the tippy ends of my toes.
“And we work there,” I reminded him. “You have your PI office, and I have all the funeral home stuff.”
“But,” he shivered.
“Oh,” I nodded and laughed. “You don’t want to sleep above my clients.”
My clients being dead people.
“Lucky for you,” I held my ring finger in the air with the engagement ring. “We aren’t married yet, so you have time to run.”
The Linda Sue popped her head into the door.
“Is everything okay?” she asked and stepped inside. “I don’t think it would be good for my business if it got around how my clients came to look at property and left with their engagements called off. This house truly isn’t worth it. I think you and Jack Henry can find something better.” Linda gave a sweet smile to both of us. “Besides, you’re not in any hurry. Let’s find the perfect home.”
“And this is why I love her,” I protested and walked over, put my arm through her’s and elbow and elbow we walked out the front door together. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome, honey. Don’t use Daryl Davis no matter what you do,” Linda Sue said, patting my hand. “I love the Raines family, you know I do. But I also know Daryl went to school with you and Jack Henry. From what Zula Fae told me at bingo the other night all about the meeting.”
“What meeting?” I asked and turned to see if Jack Henry was following us out. From the outside looking in the bay window of the old house, I could see he was on the phone.
Probably with one of his clients.
“The one at Eternal Slumber between Jack Henry and Daryl.” She pulled back and looked at me. Somewhere down the street a lawn mower had started up, a dog was barking and the neighbors wind chimes tinkled.
“Honey, you don’t know, do you?” she asked, resting one hand on the strap of the oversized leather tote.
“No, ma’am.” I shook my head, my eyes searched for answers, her face told me she did not feel sorry for me, but a pity look. “Jack Henry has been really busy lately with his private investigation business.”
Lie. Lie. Lie. I just told her a lie to make my ego feel better. I mean, if he was keeping something from it, it sure would look bad. That was one thing we southern women didn’t want.
To look bad. Even though I rarely spent much time in front of a mirror, it was the reputation and the expectations of how a manners were perceived. And perception around these parts were important.
“And we’ve not had a lot of time to talk about his clients,” I shrugged and pushed a strand of my mousey-brown hair behind my right ear. “Is there something I should know?”
She leaned in with that sympathetic face and patted my hand faster.
“Zula Fae mentioned how they are looking at more property over the next few days and even closer to Lexington,” she said, there was some sympathy in her voice.
“Lexington!” I squealed. “Jack Henry knows better than to think I’m moving out of Sleepy Hollow.” I stomped.
About that time he was walking out of the house, and he was not on the phone any longer.
“Just pull the door shut behind you,” Linda Sue said. “The lock box is already locked up.”
“Lexington?” I questioned, loudly. “You think I’m moving closer to Lexington than you are marrying the wrong girl!”
I hurried over to the hearse that was all shiny after John Howard Lloyd had practically spit shined it for this afternoon’s funeral service and noticed my own aggravated reflection in the driver’s side door before I jumped in.
I turned the key and didn’t even give Jack Henry the satisfaction of making it to the hearse as he yelled something about explaining before I jerked the gear shift into reverse, step on the gas and zoom out of the driveaway.
As soon as I was safely out of the driveway and in drive, I looked in my rearview mirror and darn it if Jack Henry wasn’t standing in the middle of the road, looking at me, and running his darn hand through his hair.
But he had the look. The look where he realized I’d already made up my mind.
We hope you are enjoying the book so far. To continue reading...
Copyright © 2026 All Rights Reserved
Please log in to recommend or discuss...
