Read The Helena Diaries - Trouble in Mudbug (Ghost-in-Law Series Novellas) for Free Online Page A

say they have a bad feeling about things? Well, this one wasn’t just bad—it was overwhelming. I went back outside to sit and wait on Maryse to return. I had to find a way to convince her to stay out of the cabin.
    I had barely taken a seat at the dock when Maryse pulled up. She wasn’t pleased to see me and was even less impressed with my edict that she shouldn’t enter her cabin. It took some convincing, but finally, she looked a bit worried, then went straight to upset thinking that infernal cat of hers was still inside. I assured her that he’d bailed out the window when I appeared. I can’t believe that raggedy cat is her biggest concern.
    Maryse finally got into work mode and pointed out that if someone had rigged the cabin, opening the front door would probably be the thing that set it off. She came up with a bizarre but impressive idea to open the front door with a rubber bullet, while we were safely hidden on the other side of the embankment.  
    Holy crap—the damn thing blew up!
    I knew it couldn’t hurt me, but I dropped to the bottom of the boat and covered my head with my hands as glass and wood flew everywhere. When the last piece plopped into the bayou, I peered over the embankment and almost passed out. The entire cabin was leveled, not a single piece of a wall still standing. Even the cast-iron tub had disappeared.  
    Maryse stared at the disaster first in horror, then shock, then she got mad. She beat the embankment and screamed. She’d so clearly lost her mind that I stepped away from her, tripped over the edge of the boat, and plopped down on top of the bayou, where I bobbed up and down in a sea of wood shards.
    Then Maryse yelled at me that it was all my fault for leaving her the land. That insurance couldn’t replace the few mementos she had of her mother.  
    I couldn’t say anything.  
    She was right.
     

Trouble in Mudbug—Chapter Eleven
     
    Wherein Helena gains another warm body
    What an unbelievable day!
    I figured after the explosion that someone would make Maryse go to the hospital, so I headed that way. I managed to hitch a ride to a gas station near the hospital but the driver was headed for New Orleans, and I needed to go right, so I started walking again. After all the walking, running, and falling I’d done in the last couple of days, my feet were killing me. I found myself dreaming of Dearfoam slippers, and I never thought I’d say something like this, but I’d kill for a pair of running shoes.
    And just like that, a brand-new pair of Nikes appeared on my feet! Wow!
    I spent the rest of the walk silently willing myself into a pair of yoga pants and T-shirt, but the stubborn pink suit remained firmly attached to my body.
    I arrived at the hospital just in time to see Maryse catch that cad doctor in a storage closet with the underage daughter of Mudbug’s meanest loan shark. The whole thing was so funny, I laughed until my sides hurt. Maryse didn’t find it near as entertaining as I did, but then, she’d basically had her bad taste in men flung in her face in a way that she could no longer deny. Maybe this would be a wake-up call for her to take a closer look at the men she attempted to pair up with.
    I followed her back into the lobby, where she demanded another doctor, then proceeded to explain the situation to that really cute scientist working in her office. He seemed as amused as me and asked why she’d dated him. When Maryse asked how he knew about the date, he said quite calmly that he’d heard me say so.
    Holy crap!
    Aside from waking up dead, I don’t think I’ve ever been so surprised. I still had no idea why Maryse could see me, but at least we had a connection through Hank. I have never met this guy before and don’t know a thing about him. My mind immediately launched into ways I could utilize him, but then he insulted my suit—like I’d had a choice in the matter—and I lost interest in being around him.
    Since it was obvious that Maryse had a