The banging above her head made Cassie’s eyes rise to the ceiling for the umpteenth time. Her shoulders slumped as she toyed with the tiny glass angel Christmas ornament.
“What is she doing up there?”
“Looking for something,” her mother, Lily, answered.
“She ought to try leaving the house intact while she’s doing her search.”
Lily hung a red stocking on the tree, shooting Cassie a glance over her shoulder. “Cut her some slack, Cass. She’s still learning how to manage in her new form.”
Another thud sounded, and Cassie’s lips settled into a frown. As she lowered her eyes, she spotted a mug of hot chocolate. Her mother raised it, along with her eyebrows. With a sigh, Cassie collected the cup and took a sip of the warm liquid.
“I’m still not sure how I feel about living with a ghost.”
“I think she’s here to stay, Cass. We’ll all have some adjusting to do.”
“Adjusting is the understatement of the year. Plus, she doesn’t like me.”
“That’s not true.” Lily shook her head as she hung another ornament. “She is very attached to you.”
Cassie side-eyed her. “Uh, no.”
“Yes, Cassie. She insisted on helping you find that key that led to the safe deposit box.”
Cassie pressed her lips into a thin line, not certain she wanted to get into the conversation about the painful situation.
Lily rubbed her daughter’s shoulder. “Are you going to hang that ornament or stare at it?”
A bang-bang-banging sounded above them. “If I can think long enough to find a good spot.”
Lily turned up the Christmas music playing on their smart speaker before she added a cat wearing a Santa hat to the branches. “Just put it on.”
Cassie took another sip of her hot chocolate before she set the mug down and approached the tree, hanging the ornament from a branch.
“Not there!” Lily exclaimed before she giggled.
“Very funny.” Cassie stepped back to admire the angel on the half-decorated Christmas tree set in front of the living room’s bay window.
She fished another ornament from the box as Willy stalked past her, giving her legs a rub before he approached the tree and gave it a sniff.
“What do you think, Mister Willy?” Lily asked the one-eyed cat. “Do you like it?”
Willy gave it another sniff before he wandered away in favor of curling on the couch for a nap.
Cassie followed the cat’s departure with her eyes. “I guess we won’t have to worry about him tearing it down, at least.”
A trundling noise came from the foyer. A moment later, a life-sized Halloween animatronic doll rolled into the room.
“Hi, Ri,” Lily said, addressing their resident ghost, Henrietta, who now inhabited the doll. “Did you find it?”
