Excerpt: Giving Up the Ghost by Melissa Ecker

Yesterday Melissa posted an excerpt for Giving Up the Ghost which comes out April 25th, from Turquoise Morning Press. I am really looking forward to reading this. Giving Up the Ghost sounds great.

Kylie McAllister has it all until her world is shattered by the death of her husband, Jackson. After a year of grieving, Kylie uses the proceeds from Jackson's life insurance to purchase a plantation home on the outskirts of New Orleans to begin rebuilding her life with their daughter, Abby. Confirmed bachelor, Ryan LaCroix, has no intentions of settling down with anyone, let alone his best friend's widow, but somehow Kylie and Abby find their way into his heart.
After discovering an old Ouija board in the attic of her new home, Kylie unwittingly opens a cosmic door to an incubus who pretends to be the dead husband she is so desperately struggling to let go of. She falls deep under his potent spell of delicious sex and malevolent obsession while he gradually drains her life to fortify his own. By the time she realizes he's an impostor, she is powerless to stop him. Together, with Jackson's subliminal guidance and the help of a kind voodoo practitioner, Ryan and Kylie wage a fight for her life against the evil entity.

EXCERPT: 

Chapter 1

“Kyle! Come on. We’re gonna be late,” Jackson McAllister called out to his wife as he cradled his infant daughter at the foot of the stairs.

He looked down into the face of his little girl. He never thought he’d love anyone more than Kylie McAllister. Then came Abby. Her big brown eyes scanned his face as her perfect pink lips slowly curved into a smile. That this tiny person could bring tears to his eyes with just a grin both astounded and frightened him. He imagined his old college football buddies at LSU teasing him as he took a deep breath to quell the raw emotion washing over him.

He remembered the first time he saw her like it was yesterday. He knew he’d found the woman he’d grow old with, the woman he’d sit next to in matching wooden rocking chairs with a grandchild or two bouncing on his knee. It was a breezy Saturday night and he’d been drinking in the French Quarter all day with Ryan LaCroix, when they decided to duck into The Cat’s Meow. As they worked their way through the crowd, he spotted a petite brunette climbing onstage and accepting the microphone from a bimbo blonde with unnaturally large breasts. She wore three strands of beads around her neck and he wondered if she’d traded a boob flash for them. She was joined by a tall, redhead who was pretty but lacked Kylie’s allure. Her sweet smile captivated him, much like the smile of his three month old daughter today.

“See the dark haired girl?” He elbowed Ryan and pointed to the stage.

“Yeah, so?” Ryan shouted over the noise in the bar.

“I’m going to marry her.”

“You’re so shitfaced, dude,” Ryan barked out followed by a barrage of laughter. Ryan caught a waitress by the elbow as she passed. “Two Bud Lites, please.”

“You got it, sweetheart.” She looked Ryan up and down, like most women did. Ryan was to women what catnip was to cats.

Jackson was entranced by the small brown eyed girl singing Strawberry Wine. Her voice wasn’t spectacular but it captured him just the same. He waited by the stage until she and the redhead jumped down. He introduced himself and Ryan. Kylie accepted his offer to buy her another margarita and they all ended up at Jackson and Ryan’s apartment. Ryan and the redhead disappeared into Ryan’s bedroom, while Jackson and Kylie sat up all night talking, not so much as a kiss passing between them. Not that he didn’t feel a spark – boy did he ever – but the quiet nature of this sweet girl had him sitting on his hands all night.

Hearing her footfalls on the stairs snapped him out of the trance and he heard himself humming that familiar karaoke tune to his daughter as her tiny hand wrapped around his thumb. Jackson looked up to see his wife descending the staircase as she put on her earrings. Dressed casually in a black v-neck sweater, Levi’s and boots, she still took his breath away.

“What are you grinning at?” Kylie reached the bottom step and stood on tiptoes to plant a kiss on his cheek before tickling Abby’s chin.

“Why, you, of course,” he answered, putting his free hand over his chest. “Be still my heart.”

“You’re so silly. I’m sorry I took so long. I couldn’t find my watch. I forgot I put it in the medicine cabinet last night while I cleaned the sink. Sleep deprivation is frying my mind. If my brain doesn’t start functioning at full capacity, I’ll never be able to get back to work.” Kylie giggled and yawned at the same time.

“There’s no hurry to go back to work, babe. Enjoy this time with the baby. Before we know it, she’ll be all grown up and heading off to college.”

She stopped and looked up at him, placing her hand on the cheek she kissed a moment before. “I love you, Jack.”

“I love you, too, Kyle.” He covered her hand with his and moved it to his mouth, planting a kiss into her palm.

“We better go or your mother is going to have heart failure.”

“No one’s going to die if we’re a few minutes late.”

“True, but I’ll have to endure your mother giving me the look all through dinner because she’ll blame me for screwing everything up.”

“She’ll be so entranced by Abby that she won’t even notice we’re late. Besides, Mark and Sara will be way later than us. You know they’re never on time for anything,” he said, laughing about his brother’s chronic lack of promptness.

Kylie picked up Abby’s pink diaper bag. “Did you pack extra diapers?”

“Sure did.” Jackson watched her dig through the bag. “I also put in a new box of baby wipes and two changes of clothes, two receiving blankets, an extra pacifier and her yellow stuffed elephant.”

Kylie smiled up at him, showing that one dimple in her left cheek that he found so irresistible. “You’re shaping up to be quite a dad, Mr. McAllister.”

He winked at her. “I’m good.”

“Yes, you are.” She grabbed her keys from the Moroccan bowl on the table in the foyer.

Jackson lifted Abby up to his shoulder and followed Kylie out to the garage where he proceeded to strap the baby into her car seat in the middle position of the back seat of Kylie’s SUV.

“Do you want to drive?” Kylie asked, stifling another yawn with the back of her hand.

“If you want me to.”

“I do. I’m so tired. I’m going to try to nap on the way.”

“Okay, babe.” He held up his hand and she tossed him the keys.

He cruised out of their insulated subdivision packed with upscale redbrick homes and nice cars parked in the driveways. Sometimes he couldn’t believe his good fortune. He married his best friend who just happened to be beautiful in the tradition of a dark haired Grace Kelly. He had a healthy daughter who mirrored her mother’s good looks and seraphic temperament. They lived in a nice home in a great family oriented neighborhood. He was working his way up the litigation ladder in the Orleans Parish District Attorney’s office. He really couldn’t ask for more.

As they entered the Lake Ponchartrain Causeway, he looked over at his wife leaned back  in her seat and already asleep. Fussy didn’t begin to describe Abby’s mood last night and she hadn’t wanted anything to do with him. He tried everything but all that would calm her down was lying on Kylie’s chest, occasionally nursing, then dropping off into fitful bouts of sleep.

Staying in the right lane, he set the cruise control at seventy and headed north to Mandeville for the monthly family gathering in his childhood home.

His mother was an accomplished cook that Gordon Ramsay would envy and his mouth watered at the thought of what was sitting on her dining table. Glancing again at Kylie, he felt a pang of guilt for his wanton yearning for his mother’s cooking. Lord knew he loved his wife, but she couldn’t fry an egg to save her own life. Not that she didn’t try, it just didn’t come natural to her.

Jackson sang along with the radio as he watched the cars on the opposite bridge heading south and thought how unfortunate it would be for some poor soul to accidentally enter the causeway and be stuck for the twenty-four mile drive because each bridge was one way only. There were emergency turnoffs located every few miles, but they were not for the lost.

He parked behind his sister’s Acura in the driveway of his parents’ home. Cutting the engine, he reached over and shook Kylie’s shoulder.

“Babe, we’re here.”

Her eyelids fluttered and she shot straight up in her seat. “Okay, okay, I’m up.” She pulled her seat up out of the reclining position and looked back on the baby who was snoring lightly. She ran a hand through her hair and rubbed her eyes.

Jackson hopped out of the driver’s seat and came around to open Kylie’s door and helped her out. She smoothed her sweater and grabbed her purse from the floorboard of the car. He opened the rear door and unbuckled the car seat, opting to bring in the whole contraption rather than risk waking Abby by pulling her out of her cushy cocoon. Her head was tilted against the fuzzy pink neck ring that resembled a miniature airplane pillow. He slung the diaper bag over his shoulder and Kylie hooked her arm through his and they made their way up the front steps to the double doors.

They were immediately greeted by an enthusiastic Tucker, the big, yellow lab, who nearly peed himself every time Jackson came over. The dog had formed an unusual attachment to him and his mother was considering sedating him when they knew Jackson was coming over for a visit.

His mother rounded the corner donning her spotless white. He didn’t know why she bothered wearing one, she never spilled or splattered anything. But, according to her, the first time she didn’t wear one, was when she would ruin a perfectly good Cashmere sweater. He didn’t know anyone else who would wear a Cashmere sweater while cooking, but he didn’t question his mother. She knew what she was doing.

“Hello, darling.” She planted a kiss on either of his cheeks. Turning to Kylie she said, “Oh, baby, you look so tired.”

“We had a rough night. Abby didn’t sleep much.” Kylie stifled another yawn.

“Well, let me see that precious little angel,” his mother said, bending over to smooth Abby’s hair. “Isn’t she just perfect? It’s amazing, really.”

Jackson moved to the living room where he put the car seat on the couch just as his sister, Laci, came bouncing down the stairs and his father emerged from the downstairs washroom.

“Hey,” he said to both of them while they proceeded to completely ignore him in favor of inspecting the baby.

“Where’s Kyle?” his sister asked, not looking away from Abby.

“She’s in the kitchen. I’m pretty sure mom is main-lining some caffeine into her as we speak.”

“Well, you go check on them.” Laci started unbuckling Abby’s straps. “I need to hold this baby.” Abby didn’t stir as Laci slipped the harness off her arms.

“Yeah, go see if your mother needs help,” his dad chimed in, waving Jackson away without so much as a glance in his direction. Never had he seen his father melt into such a softie as the first time he held Abby in his arms.

Jackson rejoined his wife and mother in the kitchen and chuckled to himself. Kylie had a mug of steaming Colombian blend in her hands and a smile on her face. His mother sidled up to him and bumped him with her hip.

“What are you laughing at, little boy?”

“Just that I’m the luckiest bastard in the world. I have the three most beautiful women in the world in love with me.” He inhaled deeply through his nose and exhaled through his mouth. “That can only be your pot roast with red potatoes, carrots and those little onions.”

“Yes, sir. It’ll be on the table in about ten minutes. Can you grab the rolls from the bread basket for me, son?”

“Sure.”

Kylie sat sipping her coffee and the color seemed to be coming back into her face.

“Do they ever sleep all night, Diane?” Kylie asked his mother.

“Well, honey, this one,” she said, pointing a manicured finger at Jackson, “didn’t sleep all night until he was nearly six months old. Laci and Mark both slept through the night at about Abby’s age. It’ll happen when she’s ready.”

“Thanks for the coffee. I’m actually feeling alive again.” Kylie smiled and winked at him.

* * * *

Mark and Sara arrived thirty minutes late and his mother gave them the evil eye that Kylie feared so much. All the food was lined up down the center of the table. The pot roast with vegetables and gravy took center stage. On either side were fresh green beans, hot dinner rolls, a mixed green salad and a homemade apple crumb pie. Jackson’s mouth watered.

His plate looked like he’d just gone through a buffet and couldn’t leave any space unoccupied. He filled up a plate for Kylie who had Abby against her shoulder while she took small bites of her food and topped off her coffee.

”Let me hold her, honey, so you can eat.” His mother reached for Abby.

“Thanks,” Kylie answered, handing her daughter over.

Kylie picked up her fork. “It’s so unfair that you can cook like this.”

His mother laughed while she held Abby and picked at her food. She had those blue eyes that people thought held miracles. Her smile was kind and she had the most beautiful hands he’d ever seen. Surgeon’s hands. His parents, as a couple, were oxymoronic. She was delicate and refined while his father was big and burly, like the guy on the Brawny paper towel wrapper.

“So, Mark. When are you and Sara going to add another grandchild to the mix?” Jackson antagonized his brother and Mark gave him that shut your pie hole glare. Jackson smiled. He couldn’t help pulling Mark’s chain. That had been Jackson’s style since he was a kid. He had a knack for pressing the right buttons to elicit the desired reaction and it worked well in the courtroom.

“We’re not ready just yet,” Mark answered. “And we can borrow Abby when we need a baby fix.” Sara kept her head down and continued to fork pot roast into her mouth so as to not make eye contact with her mother-in-law or have to offer any explanations on the baby subject.

His mother rolled her eyes from across the table and Abby started to fuss at the sound of her name. She turned her head and opened her mouth; baby signal for feed me. Jackson watched Kylie scarf down the food left on her plate so she could nurse Abby. Downing the rest of her coffee, she dabbed her mouth with the napkin and excused herself. His mother followed her into the living room cooing to the baby.

“Is there any ice cream, Dad?” Jackson helped himself to a slice of apple pie. He licked his fingers after scooping up the crumb topping that fell onto the table en route to his plate.

His father scooted his chair back and stood up, towering over the table. “Of course, I made some vanilla this morning.”

Homemade apple pie and homemade ice cream. All his favorite foods had been on the menu tonight. Sometimes he missed his childhood home. But he only had to lay eyes on his wife and daughter for that feeling to pass.

His father returned with the cold, silver canister and scooped two generous helpings of ice cream atop Jackson’s man-sized slice of apple pie. He dug into the mountain of steaming apples and cinnamon, careful to incorporate a healthy bit of ice cream into each bite. His father smirked as he watched him devour his dessert.

“So, Jack. Are you handling any interesting cases?”

Jackson took a sip of coffee to wash down the last monstrous bite of his pie. “Since I transferred into violent crimes, they’re all interesting in a morbid kind of way. Sometimes it’s hard to take, day in and day out, but I try to stay focused on the fact that what I’m doing is for the people. It’s just so disheartening. Every rape victim who passes through my office makes me think about Kylie and Laci and Mom. Every abused child makes me want to go home and hold Abby and tell her how much I love her and that I’ll always protect her. The really scary part is that you can’t always protect them. As much as you want to, you can’t be there, shadowing the people you love every second of every day.”

“Let me tell ya, I don’t know how Kylie’s dad and Matt deal with those animals everyday on the streets. There are some cases where I would wholeheartedly advocate vigilante justice.”

“I understand, Jack. You gotta keep your mind in the right place. Every bad guy you put away is one less out there who could harm your wife or your daughter. You’re making a difference.”

“I wish someone like me had been in the DA’s office when Joy was killed. I would have put a lot more effort into that case. They didn’t seem to care. Or maybe it seemed that way because I was too close to the situation. Anyway, a lot has changed since then. I care and it makes my job tough, but at the end of the day, when I go home, I can look in the mirror and be proud of who I see.”

Jackson remembered when he decided to change his career path from medicine to law. His mother was disappointed because she hoped to have him join her pediatric practice after completing his residency but she understood his change of heart and supported him in his decision.

Jackson had a few glasses of wine while Kylie sucked down coffee throughout the evening. His family sat around the table and talked about old times. His mother told some funny stories from their childhood. She used to call Mark and Jackson the Hardy Boys because she said they were always trying to figure something out, solve some phantom mystery that they just knew was lurking in their neighborhood. She half expected them both to be cops or private investigators.

“I remember when these two got the bright idea to climb down in the storm drain to rescue Penny Perry’s Barbie doll that the little dimwit sailed down the ditch in a homemade paper boat.”

“We only did it because Penny promised to show us her boobs,” Mark offered with a straight face.

“Yeah, if she’d been ugly and flat chested, we never would have done it, Mom,” Jackson added, laughing.

“Did she show you her boobs?” Sara cocked one eyebrow at Mark.

“Yes, but it turned out she stuffed her bra. So, we were disappointed.”

“Speak for yourself,” Jackson said. “They were still the first pair we’d seen in the flesh.”

“She doesn’t have to stuff her bra anymore,” Laci chimed in. “She’s married to a dentist who bought her a real nice pair.” Everybody laughed and nodded their heads.

Jackson stole a glance at Kylie’s breasts. She always had a nice rack. Not too big, not too small. They fit perfect in his hands. But, now, while she was nursing Abby, they were more than ample. He wished she wouldn’t shed the last ten pounds she was struggling with. He really enjoyed the curve of her hips and fullness of her breasts. Installing a stripper pole in their bedroom was high on his mental priority list.

They finished up dessert and the men went one way while the women went the other. The ladies settled in the living room and marveled at how smart and beautiful his daughter was.

Jackson retreated to the porch with his dad where they listened to his brother go over the details of his latest investments. By trade, Mark was a cartoonist which didn’t net him a lot of income, but he should have been an investment banker with his penchant for picking the right stocks. He definitely could have an address on Wall Street with a Mercedes in the garage. Instead, Mark preferred to park his Silverado in Mandeville, Louisiana.

Kylie stepped out onto the porch and wrapped an arm around Jackson’s waist. He ruffled her hair and kissed the top of her head.

“What do you see in this big dope?” His dad gave Jackson a playful punch in the arm.

“I’m not sure, Lou. He’s just so pathetic. How could I turn him down? He’s got that puppy in the pound look.” They all had a good laugh at his expense and he hugged his wife. Good natured teasing was par for the course in this family.

“Are you ready to head out, babe?”

“Yeah, it’s getting late and Abby is starting to get fussy again. And judging by the wine on your breath, I think I’d better drive.”

Jackson chuckled. “Good idea. You’ve had enough coffee to keep an army awake.”

They gathered up their daughter along with a large care package of his mother’s leftovers and piled into the BMW. They waved goodbye to his family as Kylie backed out of the driveway.

“Did you have a good time?”

“Yes, I absolutely did. I’m so glad that I love your family. So many of my girlfriends have those monster-in-law stories. I’m truly lucky.”

“No, I’m lucky.” He placed his hand on her leg and gave it a light squeeze. He admired her profile. Her shiny dark hair had grown out some, now hitting about her shoulder blades and had a nice bounce to it. His eyes wandered down her body.

“I’m gonna jump your bones when we get home, Mrs. McAllister.” He wiggled his eyebrows at her and gave her thigh another squeeze.

“Promise?” She looked at him from the corner of her eye as she sped onto the Causeway.

“Oh, baby, yes. You will never be the same after I’ve had my way with you.”

His daughter started to whimper in the backseat and he turned around to look at her. Her big brown eyes filled with tears and her bottom lip quivered, threatening to expel her pacifier. He hated when she did that. He could only imagine her at sixteen – minus the pacifier -- making that face when he refused to let her borrow the car, followed by his relenting and handing over the keys and throwing his credit card for good measure. Jackson was in a ton of trouble because he was already wrapped around her little finger in a very big way. She regained control of her pacifier and closed her eyes.

“So, where are your parents going for their annual trip this year?”

“Dad said they’re thinking about going to Majorca. You remember when they went to Madrid a few years ago and mom just fell in love with Spain? He’s been trying to talk her into going to Dublin, but she has her heart set on Majorca.”

“I’ve never been to Spain. We should plan an annual vacation, too. Maybe start next year once Abby gets a little easier to deal with. Where should we go?” she asked, smiling at him.

“Well, let’s see.” He remembered their honeymoon in Jamaica and their trip to Maui. “We’ve done the tropical childless people locations. Where would be a nice place for a family vacation?” He tapped his finger on his chin while he thought about it.

“How about Florida? I bet Abby would love Mickey Mouse.” Kylie looked over at him with an excited grin.

“That would be awesome. She’ll love that. My parents took us when I was about eight, had the time of my life.”

“I’ve been to Disneyland in California, but not to Disney World. Maybe we could take that Disney cruise, too. It’ll be so fun, Jack.”

“Yeah, it will be. We’ll plan it out. Next summer. Abby will be almost a year old. We’ll make it part of her birthday present.”

Abby let out an earsplitting wail from the backseat. Jackson looked over his shoulder again and saw that she had tossed her pacifier next to the door in the rear passenger seat behind Kylie.

“She threw her pacifier. I can’t reach it from here. I’m gonna climb back there and get it for her.” He reached down and pressed the release on his seatbelt and climbed over the console and into the backseat. He retrieved the pink plastic binky, as Kylie called it, and placed it in front of his daughter’s mouth, teasing her lips until she grabbed onto it and silence filled the car again.

“Oh, shit! Jack, hold on!” Kylie screamed.

There was a deafening crash and an incredible force pitched him backwards.