Where The Heart Is: A Bay City Paranormal Investigations story

parlor sofa, Dean sat between Sommer and Kerry and studied the checklist in his hand. “Okay, it’s almost nine now. If we get started in the next few minutes, we’ll have…” Dean counted silently in his head. “About four hours before we have to lay off for the night.”
    “We could actually keep going until two if we need to.” Sommer slid a hand onto Dean’s thigh, thumb rubbing tiny circles on his jeans. “My guests won’t be here until around four o’clock tomorrow afternoon.”
    “How many?” Kerry asked, fiddling with her video camera.
“Just one couple. And they’re the only ones scheduled this whole week.” Sommer sighed. “I swear, business at the inn just keeps getting worse. I’m thinking of closing it down and trying to make it with just the winery.”
Ron leaned forward in his chair, which sat catty-corner to the sofa. “That’s probably a good idea. I’m betting the winery makes you more money anyhow, and with the inn closed you’d have more time to devote to winemaking.”
“Yeah.” Kerry’s eyes lit up. “Hey, maybe you could do other stuff like Karaoke Night. Like have wine-tasting parties or something.”
Sommer turned to her with a wide smile. “That’s a fantastic idea. I’ll have to look into that.”
Kerry beamed, clearly pleased with herself. Dean laughed. “It is a great idea, but right now we have ghosts to bust. So let’s get going.” Leaning against Sommer’s shoulder, Dean resumed reading his checklist. “Okay. Ron and Kerry, y’all take Kerry’s video camera, one of the EMF detectors and one of the audio recorders. Sommer and I will take the other EMF and audio and the thermal imaging camera. We’ll start with the downstairs, y’all start upstairs, then we’ll switch. Video first, then EVP work. The lights are off everywhere but here, right?”
“Yes,” Sommer said. “Upstairs, downstairs, outside, everywhere.”
“Great, thanks. Y’all ready, then?”
They all nodded. Dean smiled, pleased. He’d spent about half an hour when he, Ron and Kerry arrived at the inn explaining about electromagnetic fields and electronic voice phenomena and showing his newly appointed assistants how to work the equipment. All three had picked it right up, much to his relief. He knew he wasn’t much of a teacher, despite Kerry’s assurances to the contrary.
Giving Sommer’s hand a quick squeeze, Dean pushed to his feet, wincing a little at the twinge in his backside. He and Sommer had spent an active couple of hours testing the sturdiness of Sommer’s mattress the previous night after dinner, followed by a few hours of rest then another round in the shower. Dean had returned to Ron and Kerry’s around noon, sore and bruised and practically floating. Funny how sex with Sommer energized him more than even the deepest sleep.
Ron grabbed his shoulder, making him jump. “Hey, should we take some still shots too? Kerry’s video camera does stills.”
Dean nodded. “Yeah, that’s a good idea. Y’all do that.”
“Okay.” With a swift glance at Sommer, Ron patted Dean’s back. “Try not to get too distracted, stud.”
“Hey, I’m a professional,” Dean protested as Ron wandered off, cackling, to collect his and Kerry’s equipment. “Smartass.”
Kerry pinched Dean’s butt on the way to the stairs. “Just keep it in your pants, both of you. Ghosts always show up when you’re not looking.”
Dean shook his head at Ron and Kerry as they trooped up the steps. “I swear, neither of them ever matured past eighth grade. I worry for that poor kid.”
Chuckling, Sommer sidled up behind Dean and wrapped both arms around his waist. “Why do I think they’d say the same thing about you?”
“Probably because they would. Except for the kid part.”
“Yeah, except for that.” Sommer grabbed Dean’s hips and spun him around. “Quick, kiss me before the ghost shows up.”
Oh, hell yeah. Dean pressed close, tilted his face up and kissed Sommer’s smiling mouth. Sommer opened to him with a soft moan that made his skin sizzle.
“I guess we should start working at some point,” Sommer murmured when they eventually drew apart.
“Mmm. Yeah, probably.” Reluctantly pulling out of Sommer’s arms, Dean plucked the EMF detector and audio recorder from the coffee table and handed it to Sommer. “Keep the EMF meter and audio recorder running. I’ll do the thermal imaging. We can both ask questions when we do EVP work.”
“All right.” Sommer switched both