Grave Homecoming (A Maddie Graves Mystery Book 1) Read Online Free

don’t look happy, sunshine.”
    Maddie drew in a deep breath and steadied her nerves as she took in her mother’s filmy countenance. She’d expected this. That was another reason she’d returned home. If she couldn’t have her mother in life, she wanted her in death. She fought the urge to cry when her mother’s ghost used the familiar nickname of a happy childhood. “Mom.”
    “I wish I could give you a hug,” Olivia said, tilting her head to the side. “You look like you need one.”
    Maddie pressed her eyes together briefly, and then wrenched them open so she could study the familiar lines of her mother’s face. Olivia Graves had aged well, which meant she’d retained her beauty in death. She’d lived a clean life. No smoking. No alcohol. Even though her husband had left her when Maddie was a baby, and Olivia had been relegated to long hours of work for meager pay, the woman never gave in to the hardships of life.
    “I’ve missed you,” Maddie said, her eyes filling with tears. “I knew you would be here.”
    “I could never leave you,” Olivia said.
    “What about Granny?”
    “Her either,” Olivia said, smiling. “I saw you two come back together. You were arguing. Did something happen?”
    “She rear-ended Harriet Proctor.”
    Olivia nodded knowingly. “Did they insult each other?”
    “According to Granny, Harriet has the herpes,” Maddie said, smiling. She’d missed talking to her mother. It would never be the same. They’d never be able to touch each other again. Maddie would never be able to curl up on her mother’s lap and tell her a lifetime’s worth of woes, but Maddie’s “peculiarity” was a gift – in this case, at least.
    “Well, I’m glad she’s feeling better,” Olivia said. “It’s been hard to watch her struggle since my … passing.”
    Maddie had been able to see ghosts since she was a small child. The first time it happened, she’d been traumatized. She’d raced home to tell her mother what the man in the strange uniform told her at the cemetery. After five cups of hot cocoa – and a multitude of mini-marshmallows – Olivia had laid out a lifetime legacy to Maddie. The “peculiarity” ran in the family. Maude didn’t have it, but her mother and sister had. Olivia had, too, so she wasn’t surprised when her daughter manifested the ability.
    Now? Now it was a blessing. “She doesn’t know you’re here?”
    “You know she can’t see the dead, sunshine,” Olivia said. “She always felt lucky because it skipped her.”
    “I’m betting she doesn’t feel so lucky now,” Maddie said, settling on the chair behind the counter, her mind busy. “Mom … ?”
    “I didn’t know what was happening,” Olivia said, reading the emotion on her daughter’s face. “I was asleep. I didn’t feel it. There was no pain. There was no fear.”
    “How did you know what I was thinking?”
    “That’s what a mother does,” Olivia said, raising her ethereal hand and miming running it over Maddie’s hair. “You look beautiful.”
    “I look like I’ve always looked,” Maddie scoffed. “I’m just boring, old Maddie.”
    “Oh, sweetie, you’ve never been able to see yourself,” Olivia said. “I blame myself. I didn’t build up your self-esteem enough as a child.”
    “Wasn’t that Granny’s job?”
    “And she was good at it,” Olivia said. “It still would’ve been better coming from me.”
    “You were a great mother,” Maddie argued. “You gave me everything I ever needed.”
    “Except a smile,” Olivia said, studying Maddie’s face. “What were you and Mom arguing about when you came in?”
    Maddie wrinkled her nose. “She’s convinced I handled things badly with Nick this afternoon.”
    Olivia was interested, her blues eyes widening at Maddie’s admission. “You saw Nick today?”
    “He was called to the scene of the accident.”
    “Poor, Nick,” Olivia said, chuckling. “He’s got the patience of a saint, and he needs it with