by Bobbi Holmes
Ginny stared at Heather for a moment. Finally, she said, “I’m sorry if I falsely accused you. And I appreciate your help in bringing Bud home. Danielle told me you were the one who found him up there.”
“I’m glad we could identify who it was. Everyone deserves that,” Heather said.
When Ginny walked away a moment later, Eva appeared by Heather’s side and asked, “Why did you confess to something you didn’t do?”
Heather shrugged. “I didn’t confess exactly.”
“I saw you talking to Heather,” Kelly whispered to Ginny a short time after she left Heather by the newspaper display.
“She apologized to me,” Ginny said.
Kelly arched her brows. “She admitted what she’d done?”
“Not exactly.” Ginny then repeated to Kelly what Heather had said.
Looking over to Heather, who now stood on the other side of the room, chatting with her brother and Lily, Kelly said, “I think she was telling the truth.”
“You mean about not pushing the bookcase over?” Ginny asked.
“That and the fact she never intended to hit you,” Kelly said. “If Heather had wanted to hit you with something, she could have.”
Forty
Running the brush through her damp hair and wearing just an extra-long T-shirt, Danielle stepped from the bathroom into the bedroom. She found Walt already in bed, sitting up, reading a book, the covers pulled up to his bare chest. Upon hearing her approach, he looked over the book and smiled.
“That was an interesting day,” Danielle noted as she tossed her brush on the dresser. “But rather exhausting.”
“I felt a little sorry for Heather, having to take most of that starter home with her,” Walt said as he closed his book and set it on the end table.
“I don’t think many people in Frederickport are interested in baking sourdough bread. Not when they can get it from Old Salts.” Danielle pulled back the covers on her side of the bed and climbed in.
“What is she going to do with all of it? Keep feeding it?” Walt asked.
Danielle chuckled and pulled the covers over her. “Lily told her to just put it all in one big jar, stick it in the refrigerator, don’t feed it, and tomorrow she’s going to give her some recipes she can use it up in. I have a feeling Heather is going to stick to feeding just one jar of starter from now on—if she keeps any at all.”
Walt reached over and turned the lamp sitting on his nightstand off, sending the bedroom into darkness. He wrapped an arm around Danielle and pulled her close.
“I wonder where Max is,” Danielle whispered, snuggling closer to Walt.
“He’s sleeping in the parlor,” Walt said, pulling her even closer.
“Walt, how are you doing with all this?” Danielle asked after a few minutes of silence.
“What do you mean?” he asked.
“This has been the most insane month,” Danielle said. “First the kidnapping and then finding out about your parents. I just can’t imagine how you’re processing all this.”
“After this last week, the kidnapping almost seems like a lifetime ago. I never believed my father had anything to do with Bud’s death. But I feel a sense of relief knowing why Bud believed that and knowing he now has the truth. As for my parents’ death, in some ways, it’s like losing them all over again. And these what-ifs keep running through my head.”
“What-ifs?” Danielle asked.
“What if I’d come out of those bushes when Teddy had come here to talk to my father? I could have stalled him just long enough that when he got back to his house, my parents would already be gone.”
“That’s a big what-if,” Danielle said.
“Or what if I had pretended to be sick that morning instead of throwing a tantrum? Maybe my mother wouldn’t have gone over that day. She would have stayed with me.”
“Unfortunately, we don’t get do-overs,” Danielle reminded him.
“Are you sure about that?”
Danielle laughed. “You have a point. Sometimes we do get do-overs. For which I am most grateful.” She gave him a kiss.
When the kiss ended, Walt said, “As to your question, how am I processing all this? It’s much easier with you by my side.”
Blissfully relaxed, Walt reluctantly opened his eyes. He must have fallen asleep, he told himself. For a moment he thought he was in bed, but then he looked around. He sat in the side yard at Marlow House. Yawning, he sat up straighter in the chair. Something was different, he told himself.
No longer slumped back in the chair, he took in his surroundings. The landscaping had changed—lusher yet with smaller trees. Different, yet familiar. And what had happened to the outdoor kitchen? Frowning, Walt looked at the yard furniture—wicker. Marlow House hadn’t had wicker furniture since he was a child.
“Good, you’re here!” a woman’s voice called out.
Walt turned in the chair and looked at a beautiful young woman, a man at her side. A man—who could be Walt’s double.
“You look surprised,” she said softly.
Walt’s eyes widened as recognition dawned. He tried to stand yet felt physically incapable of motion. The woman—his mother—rushed to him, taking his face in her hands and giving first his right, then his left cheek a kiss. “You look wonderful,” she whispered and then kissed him again. “So much like your father.”
Speechless, Walt remained in the chair while his mother sat down next to him in a chair that hadn’t been there a moment ago. His father, still standing, held out his hand. Walt managed to stand up and accepted the handshake.
“You do look wonderful,” Alexander said. When the handshake ended, Alexander impulsively threw his arms around Walt, giving him an enthusiastic hug and pat on his back. Before releasing him, he kissed his son’s cheek and then took a seat in a chair that appeared on the other side of the one Walt had been using. Walt sat down.
Walt looked to his mother and then his father, who sat grinning at him, as if waiting for him to say something.
“This is a dream hop,” Walt finally announced, his voice calm yet his mind reeling.
Anna smiled. “We heard Danielle called these a dream hop. She’s a clever girl.”
“You know about Danielle?” Walt asked.
“Of course we do. We knew about her before you did,” Alexander said with a chuckle.
Confused, Walt frowned at his father.
Anna reached out and patted Walt’s knee. “Bud told us we needed to talk to you.”
Walt turned to his mother. “You’ve seen Bud?”
“Yes. He told us what happened, but of course we already knew. Unfortunately, there was nothing we could do about it. At least not directly,” Anna said.
“But we knew we could count on you,” Alexander said.
Still confused, Walt looked from his mother to his father. “I hope you can understand why I decided not to move on yet. It’s not that I didn’t want to see you,” Walt began.
“We understand, and we also knew it wasn’t your time. You had to wait for Danielle,” Anna told him.
Walt stared at his mother. “But I missed you. Why didn’t you come before—in a dream?”
Anna smiled at her son and gave his knee another pat. “We did a few times. I’m sure you’ll remember when you think about it. But just like Evan’s mother understood it was not in Evan’s best interest to stay on your side—even though he could see her—we realized visiting your dreams often was not in your best interest.”
“You know about Evan?” Walt asked.
“Certainly. His mother is a friend. A wonderful woman. She and I have a lot in common. And she asked me to have you tell Evan she got his message, and that she loves him too. Of course, she realizes he already knows that, but just like she loves hearing it, she knows he does too.”
Walt looked from his mother to his father and said, “I’m so sorry for what happened to you both. I can’t believe Teddy was responsible.”
“You need to stop thinking about it,
” Alexander said. “It was a long time ago, and your mother and I are at peace.”
“Can you at least tell me what happened that day?” Walt asked.
“In Teddy’s defense, he didn’t plan to kill us. And I suppose his penance would not have been as severe had he not made certain choices. But he did and now must deal with the consequences,” Alexander said.
“What happened? You say he didn’t plan to kill you, but why did he?” Walt asked.
“When Teddy arrived that day, I had already told Maddie, and we were packing her things so she could come with us. Teddy was furious, and he and I argued. Afraid we were going to throw punches, and worried we were upsetting Maddie, your mother got between us, and Teddy pushed her away.”
“I fell, hit my head. One minute I’m trying to stop Teddy and Alex from fighting, and the next I’m standing outside my body, trying to figure out what had just happened. When your father saw what Teddy had done, he went crazy. Teddy tried to push your father away.”
“I fell, hit my head, but unlike your mother, I was just unconscious,” Alexander explained.
“Teddy, at that point, didn’t know what to do. Maddie managed to get out of bed and made her way into the room, and she was horrified at what she saw,” Anna said.
“And he just killed his wife?” Walt asked.
“Teddy tried to calm Maddie down, got her back in her bed, but she was hysterical. I think he just wanted to stop her from yelling, so he covered her head with a pillow, begging her to just be quiet so he could think. Until she was… quiet. And standing with me, watching him,” Anna explained.
“He didn’t mean to kill her?” Walt asked.
“No more than he meant to kill me,” Anna said.
“Bud and I were a different story. Teddy made the decision to kill us,” Alex said.
“He set the fire after he killed Maddie?” Walt asked numbly.
“Yes. Fortunately, your father was unconscious, and the smoke killed him before the flames ever got to us. Alex was with Maddie and me, watching the fire as Teddy rode away.”
“Had we followed Teddy that day,” Alex said, “after he left us, we would have seen him kill Bud, and instead of Bud spending all those years in confusion, he would have moved on long ago. But we came back here, to Marlow House. In fact, your mother and I stayed many years before we moved on. You were a teenager when we finally did.”
“You were with me all those years?” Walt asked.
“We’ve been with you the entire time,” Anna said.
“I think someone is going to wake you up in a minute, so before they do, please understand that when your loved ones move to the other side, they never really leave you. And we understand why you chose not to move on. In fact, it was not your time to move on,” Alex said.
“I have some advice for you. You might want to get stocked up on chocolate,” Anna suggested.
“Chocolate?” Walt frowned.
“Danielle’s going to be craving chocolate. And we’re so excited about our grandchild!” Anna burst.
“Grandchild?” Walt frowned.
“One advantage to being on this side, just like we knew about Danielle before you did, we got to meet our grandchild before you. And I’m so happy for you both!” Anna said.
“You’ve met our child?” Walt sputtered.
“Don’t get too jealous. You’ll meet the sweet babe in about nine months… or less,” Anna said.
Max woke both Walt and Danielle when he jumped on their bed and started walking up Danielle’s body.
“Oh, Max,” Danielle groaned sleepily, nudging him to the mattress.
“I just had a dream hop,” Walt announced, reaching to the nightstand and turning on the light.
Max, not deterred by Danielle’s scolding, curled up between her and Walt and purred.
Absently stroking Max with one hand and rubbing her eyes with the other, she asked, “Dream hop? With whom?”
“My parents. My parents were here!” Walt beamed.
Blinking her eyes several times, she turned to Walt. “Wow. Really?”
“Yes! I think they came because Bud crossed over. They understood I needed to know what happened that night.”
“So what happened?” Danielle asked.
Walt quickly told Danielle what had happened the night of the fire.
“I’m so happy for you, Walt. I treasure the memory of the Christmas dream hop you arranged for me with my family. By the way you’re smiling, it looks like your visit was just as wonderful.”
Walt grinned at Danielle. “Guess what else they told me.”
“What?”
Walt’s grin broadened. “First tell me, have you been craving chocolate? More than normal?”
Danielle frowned at Walt. “How did you know that?”
The Ghost and the Birthday Boy
Return to Marlow House in
The Ghost and the Birthday Boy
Haunting Danielle, Book 28
Lily and Ian’s families come to Frederickport to celebrate Connor’s first Birthday.
Bringing the in-laws together is not always easy, especially when uninvited guests from the spirit realm show up.
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Haunting Danielle Series
by Bobbi Holmes
The Ghost of Marlow House, Book 1
The Ghost Who Loved Diamonds, Book 2
The Ghost Who Wasn’t, Book 3
The Ghost Who Wanted Revenge, Book 4
The Ghost of Halloween Past, Book 5
The Ghost Who Came for Christmas, Book 6
The Ghost of Valentine Past, Book 7
The Ghost from the Sea, Book 8
The Ghost and the Mystery Writer, Book 9
The Ghost and the Muse, Book 10
The Ghost Who Stayed Home, Book 11
The Ghost and the Leprechaun, Book 12
The Ghost Who Lied, Book 13
The Ghost and the Bride, Book 14
The Ghost and Little Marie, Book 15
The Ghost and the Doppelganger, Book 16
The Ghost of Second Chances, Book 17
The Ghost Who Dream Hopped, Book 18
The Ghost of Christmas Secrets, Book 19
The Ghost Who Was Says I Do, Book 20
The Ghost and the Baby, Book 21
The Ghost and the Halloween Haunt, Book 22
The Ghost and the Christmas Spirit, Book 23
The Ghost and the Silver Scream, Book 24
The Ghost of a Memory, Book 25
The Ghost and the Witches’ Coven, Book 26
The Ghost and the Mountain Man, Book 27
The Ghost and the Birthday Boy, Book 28
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Also known as Anna J. McIntyre
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Sundered Hearts
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While Snowbound
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