Haunting Danielle 28 The Ghost and the Birthday Boy

by Bobbi Holmes

  “How do you mean?” Kelly frowned and studied the ring on her left hand.

  “I’m afraid it looks worse in person.”

  Kelly groaned. She leaned against June, who wrapped an arm around her shoulder.

  “You haven’t told Joe how you feel?” June asked softly.

  “I can’t tell him how I really feel about the ring. It would hurt his feelings. And it belonged to his grandmother. You’re the only one I’ve said anything to. I didn’t even say anything to Ian. Promise not to tell anyone!”

  June let out another sigh, her arm still around her daughter as she gave it a little pat. “Don’t worry, dear. I don’t have to say anything. Anyone who sees it will know how ugly it is.”

  Kelly laughed. “Mom, you’re awful. You could lie to me and tell me it’s really beautiful.”

  “No, dear, when I say crazy things like that, I risk being committed.”

  Kelly chuckled. Still leaning against her mother, she said, “Mom, I’m glad you’re moving to Frederickport. But you have to make me a promise.”

  “What?” June asked.

  “This is my wedding, and while I would love you to help, I want to plan my own wedding.”

  “Are you going to pay for this wedding too?” June asked.

  Kelly pulled away from her mother and looked her in the eyes. “Are you blackmailing me?”

  June studied her daughter for a moment and then smiled. “Oh, maybe a little. But mostly I’m being mean. Your initial response to us moving here and how you obviously don’t like the property we bought, that stung.”

  “I’m sorry. You have to understand, my reaction, well, that was mostly because the sale of that land has been something of a discussion around here. It just seemed so bizarre that it turned out my parents were the buyers.”

  “Discussion, how?” June frowned.

  “Joe heard through work it sold. But he had no idea who bought it. And we were discussing its history and how it had been an albatross around the city’s neck for years.”

  “What does Joe think about the property?”

  “He doesn’t take the ghost stories seriously. Joe thinks there is a logical explanation for everything.”

  “Joe seems like such a levelheaded young man. I don’t understand why he can’t see his grandmother’s engagement ring’s setting is not attractive. The diamond is nice; he should simply let you pick out a setting and use his grandmother’s diamond.”

  “His grandmother is still alive. He doesn’t want to hurt her feelings.”

  “Is that what Joe told you?” June asked.

  “No. We never discussed it.”

  “And she no longer wanted to wear the ring?”

  “She’s a widow; her husband died years ago. And she can’t wear the ring anymore because of arthritis in her hands, so she gave it to Joe.”

  “Yeah, right. That’s what she says. She was probably eager to get rid of it,” June snarked.

  Kelly giggled. “We’re horrible.”

  “Yes, we are.” June gave Kelly’s arm another pat.

  Kelly sat up straighter on the sofa, held her left hand up, and examined the ring. “Perhaps I’ll come to love the ring. After all, I love Joe. And whenever I look at it, it will remind me how love is blind.”

  “How so?”

  “Joe loves his grandmother, and he can’t see how ugly this ring is.”

  “I suppose you could come to love it.”

  “Careful, Mom, suggesting that might get you committed.”

  “You said it first,” June reminded her.

  Kelly let out a sigh. “You’re right.”

  Ian’s father hadn’t returned from the store yet. But Kelly and June were still sitting in Ian and Lily’s living room when Danielle and the others arrived. Instead of taking Connor directly to his bedroom, Ian sat down on his chair, holding his now sleeping son. Lily stood with Walt and Danielle and watched as the two quickly surveyed the room.

  “Don’t tell me he’s sleeping again?” June asked, looking at her grandson.

  “He’s had a big morning,” Ian said, glancing down to his son.

  When June and Kelly were looking the other way, Danielle mouthed a quick, “Nothing,” to Lily and then turned a bright smile on June and said, “I heard we’re going to be neighbors. That’s wonderful.”

  June’s smile brightened. “At last, someone seems excited to hear our news.”

  “Mom, I told you, it’s not that we don’t want you to move to Frederickport. We love the idea. We only have an issue with the property,” Kelly reminded her.

  Lily glanced at Kelly and remembered her comments in the kitchen after her parents had gone to the living room.

  June frowned at her daughter. “You just told me five minutes ago you thought our property would be a beautiful site for our new home.”

  Ian looked at his sister. “You told her that?”

  Kelly shrugged. “Sure, it would. It is a freaking enormous piece of property, and Mom told me what they paid. They got a great deal on it. Yeah, when they first told us what they bought, it shocked me, considering its reputation.”

  “But you’re okay with it now?” Ian asked.

  “Of course. Why not? It’s not that I actually believe any of those stories. Heck, people are always saying Marlow House is haunted and telling stories about that place.” She paused a moment and looked at Walt and Danielle, who stared silently at her.

  Kelly shrugged again and said to Walt and Danielle, “It’s no secret, all the stories about Marlow House.” She looked back at her brother. “But it didn’t stop Lily from living there before she married you. And Mom and Dad are staying there now. You don’t have a problem with that. Yeah, at first, it threw me, knowing what they bought, considering its reputation. But now that I’ve thought about it, I don’t see what the big deal is.”

  Connor squirmed and woke up.

  Lily reached down to pick Connor up from Ian. “Let me take him. I imagine he needs a diaper change.” She glanced at Danielle.

  Together, Danielle and Lily walked into Connor’s bedroom.

  “Is anyone here?” Lily asked as they entered the room.

  “I don’t see anyone yet,” Danielle said, closing the door behind her.

  “What a bunch of BS,” Lily said as she laid Connor in the crib. He looked up at her and kicked his feet.

  “What do you mean?” Danielle asked, handing Lily a diaper from the changing table.

  “Kelly acting like she’s thrilled about her parents moving here.”

  “Well, you don’t really expect her to be truthful, do you? You aren’t being truthful with June,” Danielle reminded her.

  “Shut up, Dani,” Lily grumbled as she began changing Connor’s diaper.

  Danielle shrugged and said, “Just sayin’…” She began walking around the room, looking for any ghostly hiding places. When she came to the closet, she opened it. After she did, she let out a gasp and stepped back.

  “Um… well… hello…” Danielle stammered, still looking into the closet.

  Lily turned quickly from the crib and looked at Danielle. Danielle’s back was to her as she stared into the now open closet.

  “Someone is here?” Lily asked.

  “You can see me?” the ghost hiding in the closet asked.

  “Yes. I can hear you too,” Danielle said.

  “You’re talking to the ghost, not me, aren’t you?” Lily asked.

  The ghost frowned. “Did she just call me a ghost?”

  “Lily, please say nothing,” Danielle said, still looking at the ghost.

  Lily didn’t ask why. Instead, she silently watched Danielle.

  “Why does everyone call her Lily? She isn’t.”

  “That’s her name,” Danielle said.

  The ghost shrugged. “I guess there can be more than one person named Lily. But you didn’t answer my other question.”

  “Why don’t you tell me your name?” she asked.

  “I’m not supposed to
talk to strangers. So I shouldn’t be talking to you,” he said.

  “But you talk to Connor,” Danielle reminded him.

  “That’s different. Connor is a kid. Kids are safe,” he said. “But he got mad at me.”

  “Why did he get mad at you?” Danielle asked.

  “Because I wanted to take the stuffing out of his stupid stuffed animal. But he didn’t want to, and he got all mad when I said I was going to do it if he wouldn’t.”

  “And he understood all that?” Danielle frowned.

  “Why wouldn’t he understand?” he asked.

  “He’s only a year old. Technically, he won’t be a year until next week,” Danielle said.

  “So? Kids, we understand more than you give us credit for.”

  “Why did you want to take apart his stuffed animal?” Danielle asked.

  “Because Connor likes it better than me. I can tell. Why would he like something that’s not even alive better than me? That isn’t right. I’m alive. That stupid stuffed animal isn’t.”

  “Tell me where you were before you came here?” Danielle asked.

  Over in the crib, Connor stood up and held onto the rails. He looked past his mother to the closet and saw who Danielle was talking to. He began jumping on his mattress while jabbering nonsensically.

  The ghost ignored Danielle’s question and smiled at Connor. “He’s not mad at me anymore. He wants to play. Can we play?”

  “At least tell me how you happened to come here. How did you find Connor?” Danielle asked.

  Before he answered, the door swung open, and June walked into the nursery. “Your husband is so silly,” she told Lily while walking to the crib.

  “What do you mean?” Lily asked, glancing nervously to Danielle and back to June.

  June picked up Connor and gave him a quick kiss. “He told me Connor was probably sleeping, not to come in. But I couldn’t imagine he was sleeping if you both were in here with him.” She looked over to Danielle, who stood at the open closet, looking her way.

  “We were just talking about Connor’s birthday party,” Danielle lied.

  Connor began squirming in June’s arms.

  “Um, he is pretty heavy,” Lily said. “You can set him down on the floor.”

  June cringed. “The floor is dirty!”

  “I vacuum every day,” Lily lied. “And Connor likes playing on the floor with his toys, like he does in the living room.”

  “If you kept that dog out of here, it would stay cleaner,” June said as she begrudgingly set Connor down with his pile of toys.

  While June focused on Connor, Danielle turned back to the closet and whispered, “Please, tell me, why did you come here?”

  The ghost looked at Danielle for a moment and then said, “I came looking for Lily. They said she was here. She wasn’t. But I found Connor and decided to stay.”

  Twenty

  “Lily, can you come here for a moment?” Ian asked from the open doorway.

  Lily glanced briefly to her mother-in-law and Connor and over to Danielle. When she looked back to Ian, she nodded and told Danielle and June, “I’ll be right back.”

  “Couldn’t you keep your mother from barging in?” Lily asked in a whisper when they were out in the hallway.

  “Is that a serious question?” Ian asked.

  “I suppose not,” Lily conceded.

  “Was the ghost there?” Ian glanced down the hallway to the open doorway leading to Connor’s room.

  “Yes, he’s in the closet. I assume he’s still there. But your mom walked in when Danielle was talking to him. You need to get her out of there.”

  “I have an idea.”

  Lily arched her brows. “I’m listening.”

  “Let’s go in the living room to talk. I don’t want Mom to overhear. And Dad will be back anytime.”

  “What about your sister?” Lily asked.

  “She left to have lunch with Joe.”

  Together, Lily and Ian walked into the living room. Walt sat quietly on the sofa. He looked up when they walked into the room and asked, “Anything?”

  “He was in there a moment ago,” Ian said. “Hopefully he’ll stick around.”

  “So what’s your plan?” Lily asked.

  “When Dad gets back, I’m going to ask him to take us to see the property. It’s not raining now. Walt and Danielle will stay here, under the pretense of watching Connor. Our cars are in the garage, Dad’s car will already be in the driveway, and without a car seat, we can’t take Connor anyway. While we’re gone, Walt and Danielle can deal with our ghost.”

  Lily considered the suggestion for a moment and then frowned. “Will we have to get out of the car over there?”

  “I assume so. It’s not raining,” Ian said.

  “But what if they start throwing boulders again? Or something worse?” Lily asked.

  “Then that solves another one of your problems,” Walt said from the sofa.

  Lily turned to Walt. “How so?”

  “I don’t imagine Ian’s parents will want to build on property where boulders are flying around,” Walt reminded her.

  “What if one of the flying boulders kills us?” Lily asked.

  “Ahh, Lily, have faith in what Eva says about the limits of a spirit’s powers,” Walt said.

  “Could it hit the car?” Lily asked. “Not kill anyone, but smash up the car?”

  Walt shrugged. “It’s not your car. Why do you care?”

  Lily giggled. “You’re bad, Walt.”

  June sat on the rocking chair near Connor and looked down at the child as he played with his toys. Danielle glanced at the ghost still standing in the closet and whispered, “Please wait so we can talk.”

  June looked up at Danielle and frowned. “Did you say something?”

  Danielle flashed her a smile. “I have a habit of talking to myself.”

  “Kelly mentioned that,” June said.

  She did? Danielle thought.

  Danielle glanced back to the closet.

  “Okay, I’ll wait. I’m curious. I have a couple of questions for you. If you promise to answer my questions, I’ll stick around,” the ghost said.

  Danielle nodded to the ghost, turned, and walked to June and Connor.

  June’s right hand rested on one arm of the rocking chair. She glanced down and rubbed her palm along its worn edge. “Did Lily pick this up at a yard sale? I remember Ian saying she likes yard sales.”

  “Um… no… it belonged to our friend Marie. You met her. She was Adam Nichols’s grandmother.”

  “Oh, yes.” June smiled up at Danielle. “Certainly, I remember Marie. She was quite the character. I believe Tammy, Marie, and I got a little snookered at Lily’s bachelorette party.” She giggled.

  “Do you remember the article Ian wrote on Emma Jackson?” Danielle asked.

  “Certainly. I read everything my son writes.”

  “The rocker belonged to Emma. After she died, she left it to Marie. They had become close friends,” Danielle explained.

  June smiled and again ran her hand over the chair arm, as if caressing it. “This rocker has its own story. Lovely.”

  Danielle moved from the closet and sat on the floor with Connor. He handed her a block. She absently accepted it while looking up at June, who remained in the rocker.

  “I do hope Lily is happy about us moving here,” June said.

  “I’m sure she is,” Danielle insisted.

  “There are many advantages for her with us moving here. For example, she can go back to teaching. I can watch Connor when she works.”

  “Um… I’m pretty sure Lily wants to be a stay-at-home mom,” Danielle said.

  June chuckled. “Lily is a teacher. She will have summers off to be with Connor. This will be good for her.”

  Danielle didn’t know how to respond, or if she should.

  “Mom, Dad’s back,” Ian said from the doorway. “And he’s going to take us all to look at the lot again. It’s not raining now, so we can get
out and walk around.”

  “That’s nice. I’m glad to see you’re all moving beyond all that haunting nonsense.” June smiled at Ian and then looked back down at Connor.

  Ian stood in the doorway a moment, waiting for his mother, but after a while he realized she had no intention of getting up.

  “Mom, come on, we’re all waiting,” Ian said.

  June looked up at her son. “I’ll stay here with Connor. You all go and have fun.”

  “Walt and Danielle are staying with Connor,” Ian told her. “Come on, everyone’s waiting.”

  June frowned and glance briefly at Danielle. “They don’t have to do that.”

  “Go, June,” Danielle insisted. “Walt and I love staying with Connor.”

  With a sigh, June stood up. “Fine.”

  When June leaned down to kiss the top of Connor’s head, Ian mouthed, “Thank you,” to Danielle.

  Kelly thought she was meeting just her fiancé, Joe Morelli, for lunch at Lucy’s Diner. But when she arrived, she found him sitting in a booth with fellow officer Brian Henderson. She liked Brian, but she wanted some time alone with Joe after her stressful morning with her parents.

  “He’s agreed to be my best man,” Joe said when Kelly reached the table.

  Kelly smiled dully and took a seat next to Joe.

  “So I wasn’t Kelly’s first choice?” Brian teased.

  Kelly let out a sigh. “Sorry, it’s not you, Brian. It’s my parents. I just spent the morning with them.”

  “Didn’t they just get in last night?” Brian asked.

  Joe frowned. “What’s wrong?”

  “To begin with, they’re moving to Frederickport.”

  Joe’s eyes widened. “Really? When?”

  “Now,” Kelly said.

  Joe frowned. “What do you mean now?”

  Before Kelly could answer, the server walked up to the table to take their order. While none of them had picked up a menu, they all knew what they wanted. After the server took the orders and left the table, Joe repeated his question.

  “They’ve already sold their house—even moved out. I guess everything is in storage,” Kelly explained.

  “Did Ian know?” Joe asked.

  “No. They wanted to surprise us. Boy, did they!”