by Terry Spear
Hell.
“I don’t think we could make it together. It’s also possible she’d attach herself to me. I’d definitely have to do something about that.”
Peter was rethinking the whole business about making sure his late wife was at peace. “It’s not necessary to go out there.”
“Yes, it is. That will be between us forever, Peter. You might say it doesn’t bother you, but we mate for life. You still have some deep sense of commitment to your mate. It’s completely understandable. And it’s something we need to resolve.”
“What if one of your sisters goes there instead?” No way did Peter want his mate’s ghost to attach to him or to Meghan. Hell, even CJ might be able to see her. Then he had an idea. Maybe he could ask CJ and Tom to see if they sensed her ghostly presence out there instead.
Meghan was right. He needed to resolve this first.
“I’ll ask them,” she finally said. And then she began eating the rest of her meal.
He was no longer hungry, and his wife’s potential ghost had put a real damper on his libido. For an instant, he had the notion that if Meghan didn’t have these ghostly abilities, they could have been mated wolves. But that’s what made her Meghan, and he wouldn’t want her any other way. That’s what had made him fall in love with her.
They finished their meal mostly in silence, though she asked him if he’d want to come over and help her and her sisters and their mates create the gingerbread house for the contest tomorrow night. If it meant seeing more of Meghan, yes! He just hoped they didn’t ask him to bake the gingerbread. He could imagine what a mess that could be. The last time he’d tried to bake a cake for a party, it had been flatter than a pancake.
Then the next day, the pack Christmas party was being held. And the night after that, they planned to go Christmas caroling, like several of the wolves did to share the spirit of the holidays. He hoped she was still agreeable, but he would play it by ear.
Once they’d cleaned up after the meal, he thought that if Meghan had agreed to a mating, he would have been staying with her tonight at her place. Everything had changed—all because of the possibility of a ghostly mate still roaming about. When he kissed Meghan before he took her to Laurel and CJ’s house, her kiss was very brief, loving, but he could feel her pulling away, as if she was afraid she’d be hurt if things with his wife’s spirit couldn’t be resolved. Yet he reminded himself Lena could already be gone.
He suspected Meghan believed his wife’s spirit was still hanging around or didn’t want to chance that it was.
When they arrived at CJ and Laurel’s two-story home all decorated in Christmas lights, welcoming them, CJ opened the door to greet them.
“I don’t want to let you go for anything, Meghan,” Peter said, his voice heavy with concern.
CJ frowned at them.
“Um, we’ll figure out something, Peter. Thanks…for everything. Night.” She kissed him on the cheek and hurried into the house.
CJ raised his brows at Peter.
“We might have a problem,” Peter said.
“What’s going on now between the two of you?”
“Lena could still be hanging around the homestead.”
CJ glanced at Meghan as she and Laurel went into the kitchen to visit.
“Okay.”
Peter lowered his voice. “You don’t think you and Tom might be able to run over there tomorrow sometime and see if she’s there, do you?”
“Neither Tom nor I could see any of the ghosts in the mine, so probably not.”
Peter nodded. “Okay, just a thought. Maybe Laurel or Ellie could.”
“Not Meghan?”
“Hell, she said a spirit could attach herself to a person: me or Meghan even.”
CJ’s jaw dropped. “Hell, I don’t want that happening to Laurel either.”
“All right. Get some sleep. We still need to run Rollins down.” Which should have been Peter’s focus all along. But he was totally stuck on Meghan, and he knew when he went to sleep tonight, she would be all that was on his mind. And how they could resolve this other issue of Lena, if it was an issue.
* * *
Once Peter was gone, CJ joined Meghan and Laurel in the kitchen.
Laurel looked from her mate to Meghan and said, “Okay, someone spill. I know something’s gone wrong between Peter and you. Did he finally tell you his secret? Or is this about you?”
“Peter had a mate.”
“Oh,” Laurel said.
“She died violently.”
Laurel’s eyes widened. Her sister knew just what that meant and could see the whole scenario all at once. “Oh.”
“Yeah. You know he can’t let go of her until he knows she’s really gone.”
“He didn’t worry about it before,” Laurel said, being her overprotective self when it came to her sisters.
“He’s never been ghost sensitive. He never considered she might be hanging around the place. Then after he saw me speaking with the ghosts in the mine… Well, it all hit home for him. He began worrying she might be hanging around the old homestead.”
“Oh.”
“You know we have to do something about it.”
“You can avoid the old homestead,” Laurel said.
“It’s not just that.”
“Okay, you’re right. Peter will always wonder, and you will too,” Laurel agreed. “You could never let it be.”
The triplet sisters always knew what the others were thinking and could finish each other’s comments. “Yeah. We need to resolve this.”
“But—” Laurel began.
“There could be real complications.”
“Like what?” CJ asked, leaning against the kitchen counter.
Meghan explained what they could be.
CJ shook his head. “Yeah, Peter told me about that. I don’t want Peter’s deceased mate hanging around here bothering Laurel, should she go out to see if she’s there. Same with Ellie. Or you. Or Peter.”
“It has to be done. Someone has to do it,” Meghan said. There was no getting around this. Not unless they all moved, and that wasn’t happening. The ghost, if she was there, would have to leave.
CJ snapped his fingers. “Your ghost-hunter cousin. The only one who really has the ability. If Lena attaches herself to him, he doesn’t live here and she’d be gone.”
“Except when he’s here looking for material for another ghost-hunting show or dropping by to say hi over the holidays. And then I’d see her, and she’d see me with Peter and… Well, it wouldn’t be totally resolved,” Meghan said.
“True,” CJ conceded and let out his breath. “We have a long day ahead of us with the extra guard duty and hunting people down and all the Christmas activities. Are you ladies ready for bed?”
“Yeah, we’ll think about this. We’ll resolve it, Meghan. You and Peter are meant to be together.”
But would Lena feel the same way?
* * *
Early the next morning, Peter was just getting out of the shower after a restless night, a towel wrapped around his body, when his cell phone rang.
“Hey, Peter,” Tom said. “We found a Jeep parked in an old barn. The snow had been disturbed, catching the attention of some of our searchers. It looked like the driver had shoveled the area so he could drive the Jeep inside. Then he shoveled the snow back to try to cover up what he’d done. Snow has been falling intermittently for three days, so it’s covered some of the tracks.”
“Is it Rollins’s Jeep?” Peter asked, hoping it was.
“No. It belongs to a Ted Haversack. He reported it stolen a week ago today.”
“In St. Augustine?” Peter guessed.
“Yeah.”
“Okay. Call the St. Augustine Police Department to let them know we have the car. Were there any scents in the car?”
&
nbsp; “Human and a wolf’s. Rollins’s. And we found a half-used package of fruity gum.”
“All right, good show. We’ve got his vehicle, and if the camping gear in the mine was his, we’ve got that too. Warn everyone to be on the lookout for break-ins. He’ll need supplies, and if he’s running as a wolf, he’ll have to get a change of clothes. He might try to steal another vehicle.”
“Will do. We’re impounding the Jeep as soon as we clear the road of snow again.”
“Okay, thanks, great job.” Peter was glad they’d found the Jeep, unless it made Rollins more desperate to break into other people’s homes. Hopefully, no one would be hurt this time. Only him.
His doorbell rang, and Peter went to get it. He checked the peephole, wary that it might be Rollins, though Peter had no reason to believe he would come here. Instead, he found Meghan standing on his porch, her breath frosty in the cold air. “Hey, Tom, I’ve got to go. I’ll call you in a little while.”
Peter couldn’t believe Meghan was here. CJ better have brought her over to his house and not let her come by herself with Rollins on the loose. Peter opened the door and saw CJ and Laurel in his car. Both waved, smiling, and Peter realized he was still wearing only a towel, and water droplets were dripping down his bare skin. He gave them a salute and let a smiling Meghan into the house, then shut and locked the door.
He pulled her into his arms. “I couldn’t stop thinking of you last night. We have to resolve this, Meghan. I’m not giving you up for anything. I was serious about that.”
She wrapped her arms around his body, her blue parka cold against his wet skin. “I was thinking the same thing. Come what may, I’m going over there first thing.”
He frowned at her. “I thought you wanted to speak with Oliver’s parents. Jake and Trevor will continue to watch your sisters. I’m taking care of you.”
She kissed his cheek, her hands roaming over his back in a sensual caress. “All right. We’ll do that first.”
Hell, he wanted to ask Meghan right now if she’d consider mating him and forget about anything else, but he was sure she wouldn’t agree to it.
“Okay, I’ll just put some clothes on.”
“Yeah, good idea. It’s cold out there.” Meghan seemed to be in such good spirits. He knew that was one of the reasons why he loved her. Nothing brought her down for long.
He went into his bedroom, thinking she’d wait in the living room for him, but she followed him. She folded her arms and looked at his clothes all over the floor, the bed disheveled, as much as he tossed and turned last night, and four pairs of boots piled to one side on the floor. He couldn’t find the matching one he wanted and had pulled out several before he discovered it and then took a shower. He wished he could have straightened up the place before she had seen it.
“I’m usually not this messy.” Peter didn’t want her to think he was this much of a slob. It depended on how rough the day and night were as far as his sheriff duties went, but usually he was a bit tidier.
“Me neither,” she said.
He chuckled as he ditched his towel and pulled on his boxer briefs. “You are always neat.”
“Not always. I have my moments.”
“I bet if I went to your house right now…”
“You’d see my sheets and comforter were just as messy as yours. Well, not at my house; at Laurel’s, since that’s where I slept. I tossed and turned all night. Looks like you did as well. I was in too much of a rush to get them to drive me over here before you headed into work, so I didn’t have time to straighten out the covers.”
Still feeling guilty for the way the place looked, Peter pointed to the pile of boots. “I couldn’t find the matching one to the pair I was going to wear today.”
Meghan smiled. “You haven’t eaten breakfast yet, have you?”
“No, but we can just grab something out.”
“I’ve eaten. I’ll fix you something. Eggs?”
“Uh…” He tucked his shirt into his jeans in a hurry.
“Don’t tell me your kitchen is a mess.”
“No, it’s clean.” At least the last he remembered, it was. He usually had lunch at the tavern to see what was going on with the pack, and usually CJ brought home-baked goods Laurel had made for breakfast. Dinners? Well, he’d been having those at Meghan’s place whenever he could. He wasn’t sure how old some of his food was. He hoped she didn’t look and see.
“Do you want eggs?”
“I may not have any in the fridge.”
The doorbell rang.
“I’ll go get it.” Meghan headed for the front door.
“No, wait, I’ll get it.” Peter hurried to pull on his other boot. He really didn’t think Rollins would come to his house, but he wasn’t going to risk it.
When he reached the door, he peeked out the peephole and saw CJ. Peter frowned and opened the door. Then he smiled.
CJ had a box of home-baked pastries for him. “I took them to the office, but then I realized you were going straight to the mine.” CJ smiled at Meghan. “And I bet he has nothing to eat in his fridge.”
“We didn’t get that far, but you could be right.” Meghan motioned to the kitchen. “Did you want to join us and have some coffee while Peter eats?”
“No, I’m good. I already ate my share. See you later. I guess you’ll be staying with us again tonight,” CJ said to Meghan.
“Yeah, if Rollins is still on the loose,” Meghan said.
CJ left so they could have their breakfast, and Peter fixed coffee while Meghan brought out a couple of plates. “I already had a scone, but I can’t resist having another.”
Peter smiled. “We can work it off later.” He wondered how breakfasts would be if he was mated to Meghan. Would they eat at her house? Or continue to enjoy her sister’s baked goods?
He sure hoped that his thinking about being with her for the long term meant it would come to pass. Lena had always been so sweet—too sweet, especially with an old boyfriend. If she was a ghost, Peter hoped she would be reasonable and leave this plane of existence for good without causing undue trouble.
But he was afraid that after the horror she’d suffered, she might not be the person he remembered at all.
Chapter 12
Meghan had to admit seeing Peter dressed in only a towel had made her morning. She was certain he was just as concerned about Lena as she was, though she’d tried hard not to let on that she was anxious about it. Seeing him nearly naked had briefly taken her mind off Lena. Meghan wasn’t giving him up to the ghost of his past mate either.
She had proposed they go straight to the homestead where she could see if Lena was still there. Meghan couldn’t help wanting to resolve that situation pronto.
Yet she needed to assist Oliver, who had already asked for her aid. She glanced around at the messy state of Peter’s bedroom. She tended to be a neatnik, so she didn’t relish the idea of picking up after a mate who left a mess all the time. Being on his own, Peter wouldn’t need to keep a showcase house. Her home was always neat because her sisters dropped in on her, and their mates too. Plus, she liked it that way.
She’d been amused he’d worried about how she’d viewed it, though. There was hope for him yet.
Sigh. First things first.
Meghan needed to check on Bill too. But she decided she’d just call him. She didn’t want him getting any ideas she was still sweet on him.
“Do you want to go with me to the Frasers’ place?” she asked Peter.
“Yeah, of course.”
She was glad, but she hadn’t wanted to presume.
After they ate, Peter drove her out into the country and finally pulled into the driveway of the Frasers’ modest brick country home. The snow was piled up around the house, but the driveway had been cleared.
“Pack members come out to clear the driveways and sidewalks for ou
r elderly,” Peter said.
“And for us,” Meghan said. “I love the pack.”
She and her sisters so loved living with this pack. Everyone was so considerate. For the most part. There were contrary wolves, but most were the best kind of people.
She just hoped she wouldn’t make an enemy of the Frasers over this.
* * *
Peter didn’t know what to expect when the Frasers learned their son’s spirit was trapped in the mine. He hoped they wouldn’t be angry with Meghan. Not all the wolves in the pack had embraced the sisters’ abilities, but they hadn’t been really vocal about it, not wanting to offend the ones in the pack who were fine with it.
The last couple of days was the first time Peter had seen Meghan in action with ghosts. He hadn’t known what would happen. He knew the pack leaders would agree to anything he wanted to do, so it wouldn’t be a problem if he stayed with Meghan for hours or days on end, taking care of the issue of the ghosts, but he really hoped it wouldn’t come to that. He was much more proactive, liking to get things done and feeling he had some impact on the mission. He needed to view it as a mission to protect Meghan: as long as she was safe, he was doing well.
Not to mention, she was the one who had broken this case wide open when they’d never known it was murder. Rollins was a serial killer now, and he had to be taken down at all costs.
Unless he had a death wish, Rollins was crazy to come back to Silver Town.
Peter straightened as he stood on the Frasers’ front porch, Christmas lights twinkling all over the frame of the house and around its windows. He hated to confront the Frasers with this. They only had the one son, and Oliver’s dad had been so heartbroken, he couldn’t return to the mine to work. Not to mention his mate hadn’t wanted to lose him too. Jessup had always regretted he couldn’t have taken his son’s place that fateful day.
Meghan was wringing her hands as Peter pushed the doorbell, but she quickly shoved her hands in her parka’s pockets.