But for now, I had to go—Jamie was expecting me.
At least I couldn’t screw that relationship up.
Chapter Two – Summer
Jamie had a new neighbor. The freshly turned grave beside his was a mound of red dirt covered in piles of flowers, and standing around where the headstone would be were heartbreaking displays of red roses. At least he wouldn’t be alone now. There were no other graves nearby, just a stretch of green grass and an oak tree.
Although we Dufresnes were immersed in the paranormal from cradle to grave, death remained difficult for me to deal with. Especially when it involved someone I loved. And there was no doubt I loved Jamie, but I never had the chance to tell him so. Not in this life, anyway.
Usually, I sat on the bench near Jamie’s resting place, but today I sat beside the stretch of grass that covered him, running my hands across the soft blades and lightly touching the cold marble. I hadn’t had anything sentimental carved into the headstone, no dopey “Rest in peace” or “Loved by many.” I wasn’t sure Jamie was resting, and as far as I knew, only I had loved him. Reed had contacted Jamie’s ex-wife for her help with making the proper funeral arrangements, but she’d had nothing helpful to say. I called back, hoping to appeal to her heart, but she practically spat into the phone.
“If that sonofabitch got himself killed in Alabama, that’s his own damn fault. You can keep his body.” And she didn’t stop there. I couldn’t believe the profanities I heard. A day later, she’d called me back, obviously drunk and crying like she’d lost someone she truly, deeply loved. She whined to me about how much she’d loved Jamie—he’d been her true love, she’d given up everything for him, and other such nonsense. I hung up on her, disgusted by her lack of self-control. My detective assured me that there was no one else to talk to, no one to claim Jamie. Because Jamie and Evelyn were divorced, she had no legal say over his remains. He had a brother, but he was out of the country and couldn’t be reached before the arrangements had to be finalized. It was like another knife in my heart. Surely Jamie deserved better than this.
Uncaring if anyone saw me, I lay down beside him and plucked at a piece of grass. I held it in my hand and had every intention of crying, but no tears came. “Jamie…you should be here with me, not down there.”
I didn’t know what I expected, but I didn’t hear anything at all except some ducks in a pond not too far away. “Why did you do it? We could have been so great together.”
The ground shook beneath me as if a heavy dump truck were rolling past, but there weren’t any roads nearby. I bolted upright and looked around. Was that an earthquake in lower Alabama? Now that would be freaking weird. I waited to see if it would happen again, then watched in shock as the clouds above me darkened like a child had taken a watercolor brush to them.
I have to be hallucinating. What in the world?
It got very dark. White flowers along the fence began to sway in the wind that rose suddenly, and leaves rustled along the ground. I grasped at the hem of my dress to keep it from flapping up. The earth rumbled again, and I glanced down at Jamie’s grave. The grass pushed up—as if something were trying to emerge from the earth.
Oh my God! Oh my God! I backed away, unsure what to do.
Then as suddenly as it began, it stopped. The dark clouds rolled back, the ground stopped shaking, and to my surprise, I wasn’t alone. Pepper stood at the other side of the newly dug grave.
“Pepper? What are you doing here?”
“I’m here to help you, Summer.”
Still shaken up, I asked her, “Did you see what happened? What was that?”
“If I had to guess, I would say that was a small earthquake—or a strange manifestation of your grief. You’re an unusual girl. You always have been.” Pepper stepped closer but didn’t move to touch me or hold my hand. I was grateful for that. I wondered why she hadn’t been at the wedding this morning, but now wasn’t the time to ask.
“You mean weird, don’t you? I think that’s the general consensus.”
“If that’s what you want to call it, but I never said that, dear.” She smiled through her pale pink lipstick. How old was Pepper now? She must have been in her sixties, but she looked younger. Younger than I remembered. “It’s time to put your grief aside and return to life. Don’t let life pass you by, Summer. There’s more ahead for you; happiness is ahead of you. If you try to resurrect the past, you won’t get the results you want.” She glanced down at the grave behind me as if I might very well see something rising up.
“Resurrect the past? I’m not trying to do that. I’m just here to visit my friend. Unlike everyone else, I haven’t forgotten about Jamie.”
Pepper didn’t argue with me. “Sometimes what you think is love isn’t love. Not the good kind, not the kind that makes you truly happy.” She sat on the bench and put her clutch purse in her lap. She always dressed to the nines, just like Aunt Anne. I sat beside her, not sure if I wanted to hear more, but I longed to talk to someone. I knew that much now.
“Have you ever been in love, Pepper?”
“No. Once I thought I was, but it didn’t work out.” That didn’t sound hopeful.
“I think I was in love with Jamie.” My hair blew behind me as we sat in the shade. I half expected the ground to shake again, but it didn’t.
“I know.”
“Aren’t you going to tell me that I’m wrong? That it wasn’t love?”
“No, I can’t know that. Nobody can. But I do know that people have been wrong before. And even if you and Jamie had been a couple, there’s no guaranteeing you would have been happy. Things rarely turn out the way we expect them to, I’m afraid.”
“I am so angry, and I can’t understand why. I’m angry that Jamie’s forgotten. That nobody cared that he died. I’m angry that I should have been with him. I was so close to happiness! Why is it that I can’t be happy? Everything I ever want gets taken away from me!” I rose from the bench and began to pace around.
“That’s not true, dear. You wanted to be matrone, and now you are just that. I am very proud of you—you have a rare determination. Our family needs someone like you.”
“Family…they don’t even care that he’s gone. Jamie is just another victim.” I twisted a rope of long hair around my fingers as I paced. “You know, if we had defeated him before, if I had left Jamie out of it, he would still be alive. I’m sure of it. It’s like I killed him—we, the Dufresnes, we killed him.”
“You weren’t in control of his destiny, Summer. He did the deed himself.”
I sat down again, smoothing my skirt under me, and whispered, “I don’t believe that. I think…the Lovely Man killed him. He must have wanted to make me pay for renouncing him.”
Pepper’s eyes were the picture of compassion. “It wasn’t the Lovely Man that killed Jamie. I know you want to believe that, and I take no joy in telling you this, but it was a death delivered by Jamie’s own hand. I saw him do it. Somewhere from here to there, during that short trip from the flower shop to his apartment, he decided to end it. It wasn’t that you weren’t worth it. It wasn’t that you were less than Avery or less than Evelyn—it wasn’t any of that.”
My hand flew to my mouth, and the sting of fresh tears burned my eyes. “How could you know this? Were you following him? Why, Pepper?”
She didn’t answer me but continued in her soothing tone, “Jamie was not the man you thought he was, Summer Anne. Yes, once he was a good man. He was trying to be that again, but his demons were too strong for him and overtook him in the end. He was a man with many secrets, and in the days to come, you’ll know what those secrets are. You’ll be glad that you didn’t have the opportunity to love him like you wanted to. I’m telling you the truth, Summer. I would never lie to you. I never have.”
Suddenly I was in Pepper’s arms, crying on her shoulder. “Why does this hurt so bad?” I asked breathlessly through a cascade of tears. “I’ve never felt like this before. Why can’t I say goodbye?”
&nb
sp; “When you’re ready to let go, you will. I think you’re a step closer now.” She hugged me back and held on. “He wasn’t the one for you, Summer. The right one will come along, and you will have the life you deserve. But for now, dear girl, you are free to live. Free to have your family and to have your life on your terms. I know that’s important to you. I love you, Summer.” She kissed my cheek and I cried, but not the desperate, grief-stricken tears I’d known. This was the beginning of letting go. And for the first time in a long time, I felt like a real human. I would still grieve for Jamie, but I believed Pepper. I knew the truth now. I could live, and I would find happiness one day. It was all I had to hold on to, and I would hold on to it with both hands.
“This is an unusual day,” she said as she stroked my hair.
“Yes, it has been, but it’s not over yet. I have to get back to Sugar Hill. I’m going to hire an assistant today. I can’t do everything myself; I know that now. It’s too much for me—and Avery. We have to widen our circle a bit.”
“You have anyone in mind?”
“I like Robin, the young woman who’s in charge of housekeeping. She’s been wonderful to work with in planning this charity ball, and I think that she would be just the kind of help I’m looking for.”
“Excellent choice,” she said with a smile. We left the bench behind, and Pepper began walking in the opposite direction.
“Need a lift back to Belle Fontaine?”
“No, thank you. I have my own way.”
“Thank you for everything, Pepper.”
She smiled and waved once before walking toward the fence line. I assumed she’d parked on the other side, although I didn’t recall seeing a road back there. I walked to my car and sat inside tidying up my makeup before heading back home to Sugar Hill.
At least I’d be going back with one less ghost.
Chapter Three – Jessica Chesterfield
There were no greater words in the English language than “That’s a wrap, people.” I couldn’t believe it—the end of my first season as the lead investigator on My Haunted Plantation. We accomplished a lot this season, and I was proud of the work we’d done in Beaumont, Mississippi, and Ashford, Tennessee. Our scouting team had saved the best for last. I was in love with Beaumont and delighted that we’d solved the mystery of who was haunting the Ferndale House. It was such an atrocity, but now things would be made right. Knowing that gave me a great deal of satisfaction.
Yes, I had an honest, hardworking crew, and both of those qualities were important to me. The Paranormal Channel had moved the last crew on to “bigger and better things” and had been nice enough to allow me some say in who worked with me this time around. I lobbied to bring Becker back, but it wasn’t to be. The Paranormal Channel thought he was too much of a controversial figure, what with him getting busted for planting bogus evidence, and they wanted to keep our show legit. Their decision saddened me, but I understood it. I managed to get them to agree to Mike, and the guy was still as intuitive as ever. Thankfully he was done with Megan, and in fact, he’d met and married Tina Spivey, a girl from his hometown. She wasn’t into the supernatural stuff, but she was sweet and supportive and helped out tremendously behind the scenes.
The network wasn’t too happy when I told them I would no longer be using “spirit boxes” and our crew would no longer use Ouija boards or any communication devices beyond audio recorders to interact with entities. As I told them repeatedly, we had no way of knowing for sure who we were talking to, and it was too big of a risk. Once you began talking to the wrong spirit, it might very well follow you home. It was a proven fact. We had made contact through other means several times, safely and without anyone getting hurt. I was extremely proud and happy to sign my contract for another season as the lead investigator. I hadn’t given up on bringing Becker back either, but I’d bide my time.
I’d been driving for six hours in what should’ve been a four-hour trip; thanks to a disastrous accident on I-65, I was late for Avery’s wedding. I knew I wouldn’t see her off or have the opportunity to offer my best wishes in person, but she wasn’t the real reason for my visit to Sugar Hill.
No, this time I was coming for Summer.
I had no vision of her, not like the last time with Avery and that devilish spirit, but I did have other experiences that let me know my friend was likely in danger.
It began yesterday, on the last day of post-production filming. I’d just gotten off the phone with Summer when I heard a voice whispering in my trailer. I happened to be alone that morning, and the voice I heard was definitely Summer’s. I checked my phone, thinking that I’d accidentally left the speaker on and Summer was still talking, but there was no one there. I powered down my phone and turned it back on to prove to myself that the call wasn’t still connected.
I wiped the last bit of makeup off and set the phone down to investigate. “Okay, if you’re here, I can hear you. Can you speak louder?”
I opened the vanity drawer and pulled out my audio recording device. My Haunted Plantation had many of them, but this one was my personal property. I clicked it on and made sure the volume was as high as I could get it.
“Hello? Can you speak into this little box?”
I heard whispering but couldn’t understand it.
I walked to the curtains and peeked outside. There were certainly people out and about, but there was no one near my trailer and I couldn’t hear anything that was happening out there. The whispers in my trailer continued.
“I can hear you, but barely; it’s very difficult. I can’t make out what you’re saying. Can you use all your energy and say it louder?” I waited for a few seconds and then heard the voice again, louder now.
He has a knife!
I didn’t need to rewind the recorder to hear that—I heard it the first time—but I did just to double-check. I shivered as I heard the words loud and clear, like the other person was in the room with me. And the voice on the recording was definitely Summer’s. My mind raced with the possibilities. I walked up and down the trailer a few more minutes, waving my device as I walked, but heard nothing else. There were one or two whispers but nothing discernible.
Obviously, I was experiencing some sort of transference phenomenon. Summer was sending me a message, and she might not even know it. Transference was like poltergeist activity, but it wasn’t the same. Poltergeists typically manifested around teenagers, mostly girls, and Summer was well into her twenties. Like so many of the Dufresne clan, she liked to pretend that she was completely normal, but she had a gift so powerful it frightened me sometimes. And with Handsome gone now, there would be no one there to toss the salt.
No one there to do battle with the spirits of Sugar Hill—and Thorn Hill.
But Ambrose was defeated! How could she be in danger now?
I tapped my lip as I listened to the message again. He has a knife!
Nope, there was something else going on. I thought about calling Summer back, but what would I say? Hey, were you the disembodied voice I heard in my trailer just now? I shook my head and shoved the device in my pocket. Time to pack up and get on the road. It would be nice to live somewhere bigger than a twenty-foot space for a while. I would spend a few days at Sugar Hill and then head back home to see Mom and Dad. I was looking forward to the extended time off. Roger, my producer, wanted to have some post-production photos taken, but I’d have to beg off on that. They had plenty of shots of me investigating and telling the audience for about the hundredth time what an EMF detector did and how an audio recorder worked.
He has a knife!
Who could she be talking about? Who could be threatening Summer? I walked outside to find Roger and let him know I was leaving. He didn’t argue with me, but I could tell he wasn’t too happy. I kissed his cheek, and he grinned. “Fine, but don’t fuss at me if I use pictures that make you look fat.” That had been a running joke with us this past season—Roger always complained that I was too thin. “You eat like a bird,” he frequently told
me. The truth was, I was so preoccupied with the supernatural world that I sometimes forgot to eat. I had to remind myself that I wouldn’t be able to help anyone else if I didn’t take care of myself too.
I packed up my clothing and hummed a song I hadn’t heard in a long time.
I’ll be seeing you
In all the old familiar places
That this heart of mine embraces
All day through…
Suddenly sadness flooded my heart; it was a wretched combination of loss and grief. I shed more tears for Handsome. He was gone, but Miss Billie sang on, and now I heard her. I surely wasn’t the only one—Arnold Lee was probably hearing her too, and that comforted me.
“Yes, Handsome. I’m going back. I’ll be there soon,” I said to the empty trailer as I walked out.
“You can count on me.”
Chapter Four – Annalee
The constant sound of footsteps outside my door woke me up. I’d fallen asleep reading at my desk earlier and had slept in my chair for a few hours before climbing into my comfortable bed. It was a book on magic, one of the few I could pilfer from Mineola’s stash of outlawed books. The local authorities looked down upon that sort of thing here in proper, Christian Belle Fontaine, but these plantations, Sugar Hill included, were places full of hoodoo and voodoo practitioners who plied their trade amongst the slaves just like any doctor did in white society. People believed in the healers and practitioners. I had also become a believer of sorts.
Tomorrow would be a memorable day—my brother was getting married, and he and his new wife would reside here at Sugar Hill. I looked forward to this event for several reasons. Above all, it would be nice to have another woman in the house, someone besides Mineola, Ingrid, and Olive, who weren’t true companions. In fact, I mused, it could very well be one of my “keepers” pacing the floor outside my room. Mineola would do such a thing if she were mumbling one of her spells. Olive often took to worrying over the smallest thing, and Ingrid…well, perhaps it wouldn’t be Mother’s old companion since she could now barely walk.
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