Double Dating with the Dead by Karen Kelley (great books for teens TXT) 📕

finger before he washed it all down with a drink of coffee. “Now, do either one of you ladies want to tell me exactly what brings you here this morning?”

His mother’s cheeks turned a rosy shade of red. “We didn’t come in the same car. It was purely by…accident that we arrived at almost the same time.”

Yeah, their excuse was pretty thin. From the looks they’d been casting at each other, it wasn’t hard to see that something was going on. She just wondered how long before they’d spill the beans.

“You’ve been suspicious since that woman tried to steal our money. That was so long ago. Why can’t you let it go?” Winnie asked.

He leaned a hip against the counter and took another drink of his coffee, but Selena watched him and saw how his jaw twitched. Not a good sign. Her gaze moved back to Winnie, who had suddenly become interested in her coffee.

“I made a mistake once. I vowed it wouldn’t happen again, and it hasn’t.” He didn’t meet their gazes, but focused on the cup of coffee he held.

“But at what price?” his mother asked softly.

“How’s business at the store?” He changed the subject.

Winnie opened her mouth, then apparently thought better. “Business is quite good.”

Winnie squared her shoulders, and Selena had a bad feeling that she wasn’t going to ease Trent into anything. Darn, why had she scooted into the corner? No escape route.

“Jillian is quitting. She’s going back to college. I’ve hired someone to take her place, though.”

Trent relaxed, apparently feeling he was in safer waters. Selena wanted to warn him, but instead looked into her empty coffee cup, wishing she’d had tea instead.

As if she really needed to read leaves to know what was about to happen. She sighed. She couldn’t stop Winnie from saying anything, so she might as well just brace herself for the impending storm. Trent’s mother could be just as stubborn as her son.

“Who?” he casually asked.

Winnie smiled sweetly.

Oh, no, here it comes.

“Why, Angela. She loves antiques.”

Selena watched the changing expressions on her mother’s face. A little bit of worry, then that same stubborn streak that she saw in Winnie. Lord help them, they were two of a kind.

“Yes, I was quite pleased when Winnie asked me if I would like to work for her. We have so much in common.”

Trent choked on his coffee.

Winnie’s forehead creased. “Are you okay, Trent?”

“Okay? Am I okay? You actually have to ask if I’m okay?”

“It’s my store and I can hire whomever I please.”

“Mom…”

“Now, don’t you Mom me, young man. Is it my store or not?” She clasped her hands in front of her and clamped her lips together.

“Yes, but…”

“Then I believe you should let me tend to my business and you can see to yours, but let me tell you this, my great-uncle Abner came to me one time in a dream. It was right after he died.”

“Really?” Angela asked, her eyes widening.

“Mother,” Selena whispered, not wanting Angela to get involved.

“What, dear?”

“Shh…” Couldn’t she see that Trent and his mother had come to an important crossroads?

“You saw your uncle Abner after he died?” Trent said, ignoring everyone except his mother, his frown deepening.

“Yes, he went to the store to get some crackers for Aunt Lucille and was hit by a car.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry,” Angela said. “Did he die quickly?”

“He was in the hospital for a good week.” Winnie shook her head. “It was just awful. I was a girl at the time, but I still remember it.”

“So he died a week after the accident?” Selena asked, suddenly curious.

“Oh, no, it was some twenty years later.”

Selena bit the insides of her cheeks.

“Then what does the accident have to do with anything?” Trent set his cup down and ran a hand through his hair.

“Why, everything, dear.” Winnie’s eyes grew wide.

“Tell us.” Angela patted Winnie’s hand before frowning at Trent.

“Well,” Winnie began, only to stop and draw in a deep breath. “It was just like I said. He came to me in a dream. He was wearing a nice gray suit.” She frowned. “Funny thing is he was buried in a black one as I recall. Although, it could’ve been a deep blue. I was awfully young…”

“Mother!” Trent’s face had started to turn red.

Selena quickly looked at her hands. No wonder her mother had wanted to go to work for Winnie, even though she didn’t need the money. Winnie was quite infectious.

“I’m getting there, son.” She reached for a doughnut, then apparently thought better of trying to eat and talk at the same time. “Well, he looked very happy about crossing over to this other place. He was smiling.”

“That’s it?” Trent wore a look of exasperation.

“Of course that’s not all.”

“Take your time, Winnie.” Angela’s eyes narrowed on Trent.

“The morning after the funeral, I woke up, and there was Uncle Abner’s watch on my bedside table.”

“Oh, my,” Angela breathed.

“What the hell does that have to do with the wreck?”

Trent’s expression grew darker by the second. Selena didn’t know who she felt more sorry for—Trent or Winnie.

“Why, it has everything to do with Uncle Abner. He’d always promised me the watch, but it had accidentally gotten buried with him. I was so devastated.”

“And rightly so,” Angela said.

“How do you know it was the same watch?”

Winnie looked quite smug. “Because it was cracked! The exact same crack where it had been busted in the car wreck. The exact same watch that had been buried with him.”

Angela sucked wind.

“Good Lord, Mother. You actually believe in that crap? Selena’s mother has been filling your head with a lot of nonsense. The woman is wacky. I mean, look at her.”

Wacky! Did he just say her mother was wacky?

“She is not, and don’t you dare take that tone of voice with me, Trent Sanders.”

“Okay, then, what the hell does that have to do with hiring Selena’s mother?”

“Angela and I are soul sisters. We sensed it from the very moment we met.”

“Yeah, right after she convinced you. Mom, that’s how cons work. They