Ghost Diaries 1_Gigi's Guardian_Paranormal Romance

by Michele McGrath

  Ivan and I were able to turn our attention to our own affairs.

  “Not long now before we can be together properly,” he murmured.

  “All the vital things have still to happen,” I objected, “and they might go wrong.”

  “You’re not worried are you?”

  “Aren’t you?”

  “No. Neither of those two wants to marry each other. All they need is a reason to call the whole thing off. If you supply an excuse and make sure Finn is around to pick up the pieces, your job’s done.”

  “You're making everything sound so easy,” I said, grumpily.

  “Things are, if you give them enough thought. Ask Thelma, she's the one for bright ideas.”

  “Don’t even mention the words ‘bright ideas’, they remind me of those idiots at B.I.G!”

  Ivan laughed. “I won’t then, but talk to her. You realise I can’t leave James immediately after he breaks up with Gigi, don’t you? I’ll be with him for at least another year before I can get away. Lots more things are scheduled to happen to him and some of them are rather tricky. What are you going to do with yourself ’til I'm free?”

  “I don’t know.” I hadn’t given the future any thought; I had been wrapped up in my job. “I suppose there will be another assignment waiting for me, when this one’s over.”

  “Don’t be in too much of a hurry. You’re supposed to take a break at the end of each job.”

  “Oh?”

  “No one wants a Guardian who’s still frazzled from their last assignment.”

  “That’s sensible.” One of the few things that are, seemingly.

  “So you’ll be left with time on your hands.”

  “Well, I didn’t see much of Heaven. I hurried away to forget about Michael and I never stopped long enough for a proper look around.” Amazing - the thought of Michael no longer gave me even the smallest pang. I had almost forgotten his face. Brenda had been right after all. An idea struck me. “Leilani mentioned going round the world after we had finished here. She also suggested you might like to join us when you could.”

  “Mmm. Nice plan, but I was thinking more of us being alone, rather than in a crowd.”

  “Well.” I snuggled up to him. “Going with the girls on a Grand Tour would keep me out of mischief, while you’re still working. When you’re finished, we can do other things on our own.”

  “What sort of things?” He grinned.

  “You know.” I giggled.

  “Naughty girl. I agree. We’ll make love for a few years. Afterwards, I thought we might take a flyer and cruise round the South Pacific. We'll go to a time in the past, when everything was still peaceful and unspoiled.”

  “Sounds wonderful...”

  “Poor James,” Ivan murmured to me, as we surfaced again.

  “Poor Gigi,” I retorted.

  “James is the one who is paying the heaviest price.”

  “Anyone would think he had been forced into the whole thing.” I wanted to find out if Gigi’s suspicions were correct.

  “He was. Gigi’s mother paid off all his debts and settled some money on him. He got his thirty pieces of silver, if you like.”

  “He didn’t have to accept them.”

  “Ah, but he did. Bertha’s got a relative who’s a Commissioner at one of the consulates in London. She threatened to tell him the whole story, unless James did the decent thing and married her daughter. Everyone here is keen to keep the Caribbean islands happy at the moment, so a complaint would effectively finish James' career. What would you do? Take the cash, marry Gigi and continue your career or stay single and poor, with your ambitions in tatters?”

  “Bertha blackmailed him!”

  “She held all the aces and she's an expert at cards. He had no idea what he was up against, when he messed with her daughter. The thought of the cash is the only thing keeping him going. His debts have mounted up alarmingly, but he will be able to pay them off. He's found out Gigi’s got money now.”

  “What a horrible way to start a marriage, though - it’ll never last. Bertha must know that.”

  “She believes a divorce is better than illegitimacy.”

  “Gigi won't go through with it, if she finds out James actually had to be bribed and threatened into marrying her. She has some pride. You just showed me the way to break them up, didn't you?” I challenged him.

  “Me?” His eyebrows rose in surprise. “Would I do such a thing?” He was smiling.

  “Thank you,” I replied. I know what to do now; I just need to find a way to do it.

  15th June 1968, Saturday, London.

  “This will do,” Gigi said, looking at herself in the mirror.

  This shopping trip was vastly different from the last one. Jane wanted to cry, because Gigi didn’t seem to care what she wore on her wedding day. Jane and Adele kept trying to pretend everything was fine. Their hearts weren’t in the deception though, and, after a while, they gave up. It’s difficult to be enthusiastic about new clothes for an occasion you don’t want to happen. Bertha was paying, so they didn’t even need to worry about the cost.

  In the end, the dress they found was cheap and easy to find. It was short and cream and plain. Gigi bought white shoes with small heels and a floppy pink hat with cream roses. The whole outfit suited her, but she was only interested in whether or not her mother would approve. She wants to please Bertha, because she is grateful for her help. Yet, whenever she thinks of actually marrying James, she feels sick. Her feelings go up and down like a roller coaster. She is getting exactly what she thought she wanted six months ago. Now she’s afraid to admit to herself she doesn’t want it any more.

  She peered into the mirror, examining the hang of the dress critically.

  “You look lovely,” Jane told her.

  “Good.”

  “You don’t seem a bit excited,” Jane said with a sigh.

  “I just want something to hide my bump. This style does, so the dress is fine.”

  “Gigi, please don’t do this. You're so unhappy,” Jane begged her for the zillionth time. “You should be on top of the world, shopping for your wedding dress. You're dragging round as if you’re going to a funeral.”

  “I wouldn’t marry James now, if I wasn’t pregnant. I am. So I have to go through with it. Please don’t try to change my mind any more. You’re just making things harder and I can’t stand it!” She had a hysterical note in her voice.

  Jane opened her mouth to reply, but Adele shook her head and she remained silent.

  “What are we going to do?” Jane asked Adele, as soon as Gigi left them to pay for her dress. “We can’t let her carry on with this farce. Her life will be awful, married to that creep and trying to cope with a new baby.”

  “It’s her life. She’s made her decision. All you’re doing, by keeping on talking, is driving her away from us.”

  “Do you think she’ll be happy?”Jane asked.

  “Not a chance.”

  “We must do something. We’re her friends. What sort of friend lets a person walk into a disaster and does nothing to stop her?”

  “What more can we do? We’ve both tried to talk to her and failed.”

  “Tell Finn?” Jane suggested. “He might offer her an alternative.”

  “How? He’s a student. He’s got no money. She hasn’t even told him yet.”

  “Only because he’s still in the middle of his finals.”

  “Bugger his finals!”

  “We don’t know if he’d help her.”

  “He would,” Adele said thoughtfully. “The poor sap is in love with her. Either she doesn't realise or she won’t believe it. At Christmas, he couldn’t take his eyes off her. Whether he’d marry her or not...”

  “She’s still seeing him.” A small note of hope appeared in Jane’s voice.

  “That doesn’t mean much. When he finds out she’s pregnant, watch out. Most men would run a mile, even if they think they love the girl.”

  “They’re not all like t
hat.”

  “Most of them are,” Adele insisted.

  “I thought you liked him?”

  “I do, but I don’t see him rescuing her from this situation. He’d be something special if he did that.”

  “He is,” I murmured, “very special.”

  “He could take her away; give her a chance to work things out.”

  “How? She doesn’t have many choices, as she’s repeatedly told us. Her time is running out rapidly.”

  “If he married her, they’d both be happy.”

  I do love Jane, she’s such an optimist and she's going to be proved right.

  “She wouldn’t do it. She thinks she'd ruin his life. She might, if she believed the child was his, but she doesn't.”

  “She's wrong,” I said. “The baby is Finn’s.”

  “Your intuition kicking in again?” Maude asked me.

  “No, actually. I thought I’d told you before. Norm said James' sperm count is low. He can’t conceive a child of his own without medical help. What do you think about that?”

  “Then all the messing with Gigi's pills wasn’t needed?”

  “No. I’m going to say some harsh words to the person who wrote my Action Plan when I get back. I wouldn’t have worried so much, if I’d known that tiny insignificant fact!”

  “Why does all this matter, if the baby is Finn's?”

  “James is a selfish man as he’s just demonstrated. He’d have told Bertha he doesn't love Gigi, if he had any real backbone. Unfortunately, he’ll be around long enough to be a bad influence, if they do marry.”

  21st June, Friday, London.

  Finn’s final exams are over and he wants to celebrate. He asked Gigi to meet him at Piccadilly Circus and they’d start to party. Gigi agreed, although she felt guilty. She has to say goodbye to him, but she doesn't want to spoil his fun. The thought is hanging over her like an evil black cloud. Yet she has to speak out, because her bump is starting to show.

  In the event, meeting him wasn’t as hard as she'd imagined. She didn't get the chance to tell him for hours and, in the meantime, she had a wonderful evening. About ten of his friends turned up too, whooping and cheering and she got caught up in their excitement. Several pubs later, the crowd had thinned out, but the mood was still bubbly and, by then, Gigi was enjoying herself. After all, this was the last time she would ever be with Finn. She wanted it to be a night to remember for both of them.

  Hours later, lying beside him, she rehearsed the words she had to say. Eventually, Finn stirred and groaned, “Oh, my head.” After several Aspirins, his eyes had focussed and his smile was back in place. “Grand celebration, wasn’t it?”

  “Super.”

  “I can't remember much after paddling in Trafalgar Square and sitting on the lion.”

  “You sang ‘The Black Velvet Band’ at the same time.” Gigi giggled.

  “I didn’t - did I? What did I sound like?”

  “Awful.”

  He grinned. “Lucky you stayed with me then.”

  “I had to. You couldn’t walk. You weigh a ton when your legs are like jelly.”

  “Only my legs, I hope. I won’t ask you how I performed after all that beer. I don’t think I want to find out.”

  Gigi smiled. “Wonderful, as always, and I’ll miss you a lot. You’ll be going home now and I’m...”

  Finn sat up. “I’ve been thinking about you and me. I’m miserable when we're apart. Will you come to Ireland with me?”

  “I couldn’t.”

  “I’m not asking you to live in sin, you silly woman. I want to marry you.”

  “No, I can’t.”

  “Why not?” Finn frowned, hearing a tone he didn’t like in her voice.

  Gigi took a deep breath. “Because I’m going to marry James.”

  “What?”

  “I’m going to marry James,” Gigi repeated, hating herself for saying the words.

  “I thought you'd broken up with him.”

  “I had.”

  “So what’s suddenly changed?”

  “I’m having James’ baby. When I told him, he asked me and I said ‘yes’.” Gigi had decided that Finn did not need to be told the full truth.

  Finn rolled away from her to hide his face. Then he turned around and looked deep into her eyes. “You needn’t,” he said. “I love you, Gigi. I wanted to tell you before, but I was afraid of what you would say. I didn’t think you wanted to commit to anyone. If you do, let it to be to me, not James.”

  “But what about the baby?”

  “The little blighter will be ours, whoever his father is.”

  Gigi hugged him and, for a moment, he thought he had won. Then she sighed and he realised he hadn’t. “You wonderful man, I can’t let you do that.”

  “Why not? I want to.”

  “Because you’re only starting out on your career. You don’t need to be saddled with a wife and a baby who isn’t your responsibility. What would your parents say?”

  “Mum would be delighted to have another grandchild and Dad wouldn’t care. He’s all for taking life as it comes.”

  “I thought you said they were religious people?”

  “They are, but they’re not stupid. They can count. They’ll realise when the baby was conceived and expect me to do the decent thing. My dad was a bit of a lad and I’m supposed to be like him. I think they’ll be expecting me to appear with a girl on my arm.”

  “You make everything seem so simple.” Gigi said wearily.

  “Everything is simple, stop making difficulties.”

  “But it’s not like that at all,” Gigi protested, sitting up straight.

  “No. They don’t need the full truth, though, and I don’t care as long as you’re with me.”

  “Finn, you’re making this so hard.”

  “I love you, woman, and I’ll do anything to keep you. Don’t you understand?”

  At this point Gigi burst into tears. Finn wrapped her in his arms, reluctantly releasing her, when she pushed him away. “I can’t, Finn. I can’t. Please don’t ask me anymore.”

  “Tell me you don’t love me!”

  She shook her head; her thoughts in confusion.

  “Promise me you’ll think about marrying me. I'd spend the rest of my life trying to make you happy. We wouldn’t have much money at first, but we’d manage.”

  “I don’t care about money.”

  “Neither do I. Think about me, will you?”

  “I will.” As she said the words, Gigi realised she had told him the exact truth. She would be thinking of little else. She dressed and got ready to leave.

  “Don’t come with me,” she said as Finn started to put on his coat. “I need time to think and you’re still stumbling around. I don’t want you to fall under a bus.”

  He grinned, but the smile didn’t reach his eyes. At the door, he kissed her gently. “Take care of yourself,” he said. “Remember I’m here if you need me.”

  “Goodbye, Finn. I’ll miss you.”

  “Only if you choose to do so.”

  She fled, trying to hold back her tears.

  Thelma and I looked at each other.

  “What do you think?” I asked.

  “Promising. That’s a girl who's realised she is making a big mistake.”

  “But she’s not prepared to stop,” I wailed in frustration.

  “No. She doesn’t know all the facts yet, does she?”

  “No.”

  “I’d make sure she finds out as quickly as possible, if I were you.”

  I will.

  22nd June 1968, Saturday morning, London.

  “Why not, Gigi?” Jane asked. “You’re fond of him and you no longer love James.”

  “She wants to wear a hair shirt,” Adele observed tartly. “She thinks it’s her penance for committing a sin.”

  “I won't saddle another man with James’ child and let him walk away scot free. Even if I’m miserable, I’m not going to drag Finn into this. If I married Finn and things
didn’t work out for us, we can't get a divorce in Ireland. We’d be stuck and his life would be all messed up. I couldn't do that to him.”

  “I’d forgotten,” Adele said, looking startled. “Good point.”

  “James is selfish and he’s a liar. If he’s miserable, tough! We can get divorced. I do know what I’m doing.”

  “Let’s hope you’re right,” Jane murmured.

  “And the price isn’t too high to pay.”

  I must find a way to show Gigi why James changed his mind. I thought hard, but inspiration wouldn’t come. Neither Maude nor Leilani were much help. Gigi has to discover the reason why James asked her to marry him. How? James and Bertha aren't saying a thing. They agreed to keep silent as part of their deal. The only evidence is a letter and a bank book. Bertha wrote to James, confirming the details of their agreement. Her bank book records the money she paid into his account. Unfortunately, everything is in hard copy in this era, so we can’t hack into a computer system and make a duplicate. Gigi must find the real thing and that won’t be easy to arrange.

  James put Bertha’s letter into a locked box, where he keeps important things like his passport, birth certificate and bank details. The key is on his key ring and he never leaves it lying around. When he goes to sleep, he puts the key onto his dresser and Gigi hasn’t been back to his room. She doesn’t want to go to bed with him again and he hasn’t been pushing her. He’s treading on eggshells at the moment, while Bertha is still in the country. I think he’s counting the hours until she’s on the plane back to Antigua.

  Bertha made a copy of the letter. It’s in an attaché case, with her other papers. Perhaps I can arrange for Gigi to be alone in her room and open the case. I must find a way to overcome her reluctance to pry into her mother’s things first, though. She’s never done so for years. Bertha used to get cross with her, if she meddled with anything that didn’t belong to her. I'll try to arrange another accident, I suppose. Useful things accidents.

  29th June 1968, Saturday morning,

  Gigi’s wedding day, London.