Read The Ghost Who Loved Diamonds for Free Online

by his feet—who was now
lifting her head up curiously at the new arrival. Cheryl took a step closer to
Ian, and her foot landed on Sadie’s front paw. Sadie jumped up and let out a
yelp. Cheryl in turn let out her own cry of surprise and jumped backwards, looking
down at the dog.
    “Oh my god, a dog!”
Cheryl blurted out, staring down at Sadie as if she had three heads.  Ian
immediately dropped to one knee to comfort Sadie, while Lily rushed to his
side.
    “Is she okay?” Lily
bent down and ran her hands over Sadie, who seemed to appreciate all the sudden
attention, and rewarded Lily with a wet lick across the face.
    “She’s fine,” Ian said,
glancing from Sadie—who was now wagging her tail—to Cheryl.
    “Are you sure? It looks
like she really crushed Sadie’s poor paw.” Lily glared up at Cheryl.
    “Oh my god, I barely
stepped on her. I can’t believe Dani has a dog in the house. What about the
guests with allergies? The dog hair?” Hands on hips, Cheryl looked down at
Sadie and Lily, who both sat on the floor, while Ian stood over them.
    “What, you don’t like
dogs?” Lily asked.
    Before Cheryl could
answer, Ian said, “I hadn’t considered that—with Danielle getting ready to open
this place, she really doesn’t need to contend with dog hair. And some people
are allergic…”
    “She’s yours?” Cheryl’s
expression of disdain quickly vanished.
    “Yes, this is Sadie,”
Ian introduced.
    “Oh, she’s so cute,”
Cheryl cooed. Leaning down she awkwardly patted Sadie’s head.
    “She doesn’t like her
head touched like that,” Lily said when Sadie shied away from Cheryl’s touch.
    Cheryl ignored Lily and
leaned over again, giving Sadie another quick pat before standing back up.
    “What are you guys up
to?” Cheryl asked sweetly, her eyes still on Ian. Taking a few steps back, she
sat on a chair facing the sofa, where Lily and Ian now sat, side by side.
    “I’d hoped to convince
Lily to take a walk on the beach with me, but it seems she and Danielle have
other plans, with getting this place ready to open for business.”
    “The beach? That’s
where I was headed. But I’m not sure how to get there. If you don’t mind, I’d
like to tag along with you.” Cheryl asked.
    “The beach is just
across the street,” Lily told her, pointing in the right direction. “Not
exactly hard to find with the big ol’ Pacific Ocean out there.”
    “Aw, come on Lily, it’s
the least I can do for Danielle. With you two so busy getting this place ready
for the open house I don’t imagine she has time to show her cousin around. I’ll
be happy to walk her down to the beach.” Ian patted Lily’s denim clad thigh
while flashing Cheryl a smile.
    “The beach across the
street doesn’t allow dogs,” Lily reminded.
    “I guess I’ll have to
drop Sadie at my house first.”
    Cheryl stood up and
snatched her straw purse from the table. “Oh thank you Ian, I really do
appreciate you taking the time. And I’m sure Dani and Lily will be glad to get
me out of their hair for a while.” Cheryl flashed Lily a smile.
    Ian stood up and patted
his thigh, signaling Sadie it was time to leave.
    “No, Ian,” Lily blurted
out. Ian looked at Lily, a questioning frown on his face.
    “What Lily?” Ian asked.
    “Sadie can stay here,”
Lily said quietly. “No reason to leave her alone at your house. She’s fine here
with us.”
    “Are you sure? Cheryl
has a point about the dog hair and allergies, and once Danielle starts taking
guests...”
    “No,” Lily stood up.
“Sadie is fine here. She’s not a problem.”
    “Well now that that’s
settled, I’d really like to pee before we go. Is there a downstairs bathroom?”
Cheryl asked.
    Inwardly Lily cringed
at Cheryl’s choice of words. I’d really like to pee—Seriously? Lily
thought. She walked to the doorway and pointed to the powder room door.
    Cheryl smiled at Ian
then hurriedly made her way to the bathroom.
    “You don’t like her
much, do