Ghostly Touch

taking the card. “It’s the kitchen sink. Follow me, I’ll show you the way.”
                  “This is a huge house,” he commented as they walked through the living room. “You and your husband must have a lot of kids.”
                  Zula glanced over her shoulder and smiled. “No,” she said. “No husband and no kids, either. Just me and Thaddeus.” Connor looked around. “My cat,” Zula explained.
                  “Oh,” Connor chuckled. “I have a dog. Roger. He’s a Black Mouth Kerr.”
                  “Big dog,” Zula said as they went through the dining room and she pushed the kitchen door open. “Here we are.”
                  “He’s an old dog,” Connor told her as he set his toolbox down. “I’ve had him since I was a teenager. He doesn’t get around like he used to, but he’s a good dog.” He paused for a moment as he looked at Zula. “I’ll, uh, I’ll try the snake first and see if that does it. If not, I’ll have to get under there and take the pipes off.”
                  Zula smiled. “Fine. You do whatever you need to do. Would you like something to drink? I have a new batch of sun tea.”
                  “That sounds great,” he replied.
                  “Sweet or unsweet?” She asked.
                  “Sweet, please.” Connor said as he reached for the drain snake and went to work.
    Zula filled two glasses with ice from the refrigerator door and then poured tea from a glass container. She glanced over her shoulder to make sure Connor was busy with his work, and then dipped her finger into his tea.
    “Sweet,” she whispered, the spell working in her mind as she stirred the tea.
    She turned around with the glasses in her hand and watched Connor for a moment. He had dark hair that fell into his eyes and over his collar, and she’d noticed his eyes were so dark they appeared to be black. He was very tall and broad through the chest, with muscular arms. His shirt had been tucked in at his narrow waist, allowing her a view of his ass, which looked awfully cute in his Levi’s.
                  “I’ll just set your tea right here so you can reach it,” Zula said.
                  “Thanks,” he said as he continued to work the snake through the drain. “I don’t think this is going to do it. I’m going to have to take the gooseneck off and see if something is caught in the pea trap.”
    Suddenly feeling nervous, Zula quickly brought the glass of tea to her mouth and sipped. She watched Connor as he retrieved tools from the box and then lay under the sink to work on the pipes. He certainly didn’t look like the cliché plumbers she’d seen on television commercials with their potbellies and butt cracks showing. He moved gracefully, as if he was sure of himself and knew what he was doing. He didn’t appear nervous about being in her home and, of course, Zula knew he shouldn’t be. This was his job and he was in and out of people’s homes every day. But she couldn’t explain why she suddenly felt nervous. And very aware of herself.
                  She glanced down at her attire and grimaced. From cleaning up the Halloween decorations she had dirt on the knees of her jeans, as well as glitter and spider webs on her tank top. Ugh , she groaned to herself.
                  “I’ll be right back,” she told him.
    With only a grunt for a reply, she hurried up the stairs. Zula pulled the top over her head and dropped it on the bedroom floor, then wriggled out of the dirty jeans. She didn’t want to appear as if she had changed just for him, so she put on clean jeans and another tank top and went into the bathroom to wash her hands. She glanced in the mirror and shook her head in disbelief. Her hair was in a Scrunchie on top of her head, and covered in spider web material and there were smudges of dirt on her face. “Great, ” she said to the reflection. “What a catch you are. And a Scrunchie in your hair, no less!”
                  Quickly removing the Scrunchie, she ran her hands through her hair to rid it of the spider webs and then took a few swipes at it with a brush. She turned on the water, washed her hands and face, then dried.
    “Okay, not great, but at least you’re clean. ” She frowned at herself and then hurried back downstairs to find Connor putting his tools