Haunting Danielle 28 The Ghost and the Birthday Boy

by Bobbi Holmes

  Danielle went on to tell Eva and Marie about their mystery ghost.

  After Danielle finished the telling, Lily buried her face in the palms of her hands and shook her head wearily while muttering, “I can’t believe my house is haunted and my in-laws are going to be moving into a haunted house.”

  “Technically, your house has been haunted for some time.” Walt looked over at Marie.

  “Yeah, but Marie is a friendly ghost,” Lily said.

  “This boy ghost isn’t friendly?” Eva asked.

  “Does this mean Lily isn’t mad at me?” Marie asked hopefully.

  “Why would she be mad at you?” Walt asked.

  Lily lifted her head and asked, “Who’s mad?”

  “Marie thought you might be mad at her,” Danielle said.

  Lily frowned. “Why?”

  Marie smiled sheepishly. “I knew Ian’s parents were buying the Marymoor property, and I didn’t say anything.”

  “We sort of figured that,” Danielle said.

  “But we are trying to fix it,” Marie explained.

  “Fix it how?” Walt asked.

  “Why am I mad at Marie?” Lily asked.

  “We’ve been trying to contact the spirits haunting the area, to help them move on,” Eva told them.

  “But they are ignoring us. They refuse to show themselves,” Marie added.

  “You didn’t see any of them?” Danielle asked.

  “Three of them. One was Molly. I believe she’s the murdered nurse,” Marie explained.

  “I’ve met her,” Danielle said.

  Lily groaned and leaned back in the chair. “Go ahead, just ignore my question, and carry on.”

  Danielle glanced at Lily and smiled. “Marie and Eva went over to Marymoor and tried to get the spirits to move on.”

  “They obviously weren’t successful. Unless they went after we were there less than an hour ago,” Lily said.

  “I’m afraid not,” Eva said. “Molly vanished and refused to come back. Two male ghosts appeared. One threw a rock at us, and the other screamed at us. Both disappeared, and we tried going back over there several times, but the spirits refuse to show themselves.”

  “They also mentioned someone named Randal,” Marie said. “They seemed to be afraid of him. But I’m afraid Lily was right. We weren’t successful.”

  Danielle turned to Lily. “You didn’t tell us what happened over there.”

  “No, trying to learn more about Connor’s ghost friend distracted me,” Lily said.

  “So what happened?” Walt asked.

  Lily shrugged. “Oh, nothing out of the ordinary. One ghost tried to bash my in-laws with the For Sale sign, but the Universe must have intervened.”

  “What did Ian’s parents’ say?” Danielle asked.

  “They didn’t see it. Then the temperature dropped like twenty degrees the moment we stepped on the property,” Lily explained.

  Danielle frowned. “They must have noticed that.”

  “Yes. But they found nothing especially bizarre about it. They just sort of accepted it,” Lily said.

  “Anything else?” Walt asked.

  “Yeah. Someone kept poking me. I think they poked Kelly first, but she made some crack to Joe about him bumping into her, and he just sort of blew it off. Oh, and Brian was there. Like us, he saw some of what was going on, but it was nuts. Ian’s sister and parents were totally oblivious. Aside from Kelly thinking Joe bumped into her and the drop in temperature, they acted like it was a normal day. And I kept thinking, there is no way I can bring my son over here.”

  “I’m sorry, Lily,” Marie said.

  “You never answered my question,” Lily told Danielle. “Why am I mad at Marie?”

  “I assume she meant because she knew Ian’s parents were buying the property and didn’t tell you,” Danielle said.

  Lily shrugged. “Yeah, well, to be honest, I doubt Ian could have stopped his dad from buying it without it blowing up into a major family fight. Both his parents are pretty stubborn.”

  Marie looked visibly relieved Lily harbored no animosity.

  “But,” Lily added, “I know what Marie can do to make it up to me.”

  Walt chuckled. “I thought you just said she couldn’t have done anything to prevent it.”

  “True. But I could still use her help,” Lily said.

  “What do you need?” Marie asked.

  “Marie wants to know what you need,” Danielle said.

  “I would really appreciate it if she would stay with Connor until we figure out how to get this boy ghost to move on. Maybe he’s harmless, but he wanted to chop up Winnie,” Lily said.

  “I assume you’re trying to do what we did at Marymoor; help him move on?” Marie asked.

  “Yes. But like the spirits wouldn’t talk to you and Eva, he refused to tell me his name. Without that, it’s difficult to figure out where he came from. Walt was hoping Evan might get him to open up,” Danielle explained.

  “In the meantime, I’ll keep an eye on things. And perhaps I’ll have better luck with your boy ghost than we did with the Marymoor spirits,” Marie said.

  “Marie said she’ll keep an eye on the spirit,” Danielle said.

  Lily looked hopefully to Danielle. “Any chance she can go over now? I know Ian is with him, but Ian can’t see what the ghost is doing to our son.”

  Without another word, Marie vanished.

  “I think she just went over there,” Danielle said.

  “Good,” Lily said in relief. “But we should have told her to find out who he is. Maybe she can get him to tell her his name, and we can figure out where he came from.”

  “Marie already thought of that,” Walt said.

  Eva turned to Walt and Danielle. “When Marie and I were unsuccessful with the Marymoor spirits, we couldn’t help but wonder why they refused to leave. I feel there are more than just three spirits over there. So we went to the museum to see what we could find out.”

  Lily stood up. “I’d better head home and let Ian know Marie is there so he can relax a little.”

  When Marie arrived in the Bartley living room, she found Ian sitting on the floor, playing with Connor and what appeared to be a little boy slightly younger than Evan. At least, he appeared to be a little boy. Marie knew differently, and she understood only Connor could see him.

  Kelly sat on the sofa with her parents, discussing her upcoming wedding.

  The little boy’s eyes widened when he saw Marie appear before them.

  Sadie looked up from where she lay, her tail now wagging. Marie looked to Sadie, silently giving the dog a greeting and telling her to stay put.

  “Who are you, and how did you do that?” the boy ghost asked Marie.

  “I’m Grandma Marie. And what is your name?”

  Connor smiled and reached for Marie, saying, “Gama…”

  June, who had been listening to her daughter while watching Connor, immediately put out her hand to stop Kelly from talking.

  “Did you hear that!” June squealed, interrupting the boy ghost, who was about to say something to Marie. “Connor! He just reached for me and said grandma!”

  “I didn’t hear anything,” Kelly said.

  “Of course, because you were talking.” June jumped from the sofa and swooped a laughing Connor from the floor and into her arms. He stopped laughing and cried while reaching for Marie—whom none of the non-mediums could see.

  “Oh, dear, you’re making him cry!” Marie fretted while taking hold of one of Connor’s extended hands and giving it a little squeeze. “It’s okay, Connor, Grandma Marie is here.”

  “Mom, please, Connor doesn’t want to be picked up,” Ian said.

  “But he wanted me,” June said with a pout, now putting Connor back on the floor. He immediately stopped crying and crawled to his toys.

  “He said grandma, he did!” June insisted.

  “Mom, Connor jabbers lots of words, but I don’t think he knows what many of them mean,” Ian said.
/>
  The next moment Sadie let out a bark and jumped up; she raced to the front door. A few moments later, Sadie returned to the living room, Lily by her side.

  “Connor just called me grandma!” June said the moment Lily and Sadie walked into the room.

  Lily arched her brows. “Really?”

  “And Mom made him cry.” Kelly snickered.

  “That’s not nice,” John reprimanded. Kelly shrugged.

  Connor smiled up at his mother and then looked away. He laughed and offered a toy to someone. Was he offering it to the boy ghost or to Marie? Lily wondered.

  “Ian, can I see you in the kitchen for a moment?” Lily asked.

  “Oh, secrets,” Kelly teased as her brother went into the kitchen with Lily.

  “Marie is here,” Lily announced when they were out of earshot from Ian’s family.

  “I wondered about that.” Ian glanced toward the living room and then back to Lily.

  Lily frowned. “Why?”

  “Connor did say something that sounded like grandma. But I suspect he meant Marie, not Mom.”

  Lily cringed. “Oh…”

  Ian shrugged. “Mom doesn’t know that.”

  Lily quickly told Ian all that she had learned while across the street.

  “I’ve been giving the Marymoor property some thought,” Ian began.

  “And?”

  “If those things keep happening over there, I can’t believe my parents won’t eventually see something.”

  “I wish they would have today; it might make convincing them to buy something else easier,” Lily said.

  “The only problem, they already closed escrow on this one. So even if they get buyer’s remorse, they could get stuck with the property. I’d happily offer to buy something else for them, but there is no way my father would accept a loan or gift like that from his son. His pride wouldn’t let him.”

  “Won’t they have the money from the sale of their house?”

  “Didn’t you hear what my parents said, they had a simultaneous close for their house and the property. They paid for the property with the proceeds from their house,” Ian explained.

  “I know. But your parents owned that house forever, and they lived in a pretty nice area. I imagine houses go for a fortune in their old neighborhood.”

  “Unfortunately, my parents always used their house as a piggy bank.”

  Lily’s eyes widened. “They borrowed on it?”

  “Yes. It’s how they paid for all their vehicles over the years. I suspect they have enough from the house sale to cover building expenses, but not enough to keep the lot and buy a house.”

  “What are you going to do?”

  Ian glanced at his watch. “I’m going to talk to Adam. See how hard it’s going to be to unload that nightmare.”

  Twenty-Three

  When Lily and Ian walked back into the living room, Lily announced, “I’m going to make lunch. Would you like to join us, Kelly?”

  Kelly stood up. “I already had lunch, with Joe. And I need to get home and finish up my blog. But thanks.”

  “Don’t forget, Chris is taking us all to Pearl Cove tonight,” Lily reminded her.

  Kelly flashed her a grin. “Oh, I won’t forget. Joe and I are looking forward to it.”

  June stood up. “Let me help you with lunch.”

  “Why don’t you stay with Connor and watch him?” Lily suggested. “I’m just going to make something light, since we’re going out tonight. And Ian has to run some errands.”

  June looked at her son. “Aren’t you going to have lunch first?”

  “I’m not hungry. I had a big breakfast,” Ian lied. “And since we’re going to Pearl Cove tonight, I’ll save my appetite.”

  “You want me to go with you?” John offered.

  “No, Dad. Stay here and have lunch with Mom and Lily. I shouldn’t be long.”

  “Connor’s mom said he’s going to have to take a nap after lunch,” the boy ghost grumbled to Marie as he watched them take Connor into the dining room.

  “You like Connor, don’t you?” Marie asked.

  “Yeah. He’s fun, like Lily was.”

  The two ghosts sat alone in the living room. They could hear the voices of the living people now sitting at the breakfast bar in the kitchen.

  “Connor’s mother’s name is Lily,” Marie noted.

  “Yeah, but she’s not my Lily. My Lily was a little girl.”

  “How old was your Lily?” Marie asked.

  He shrugged. “About my age.” He frowned for a minute. “Well, she wasn’t always my age. I remember when she was about Connor’s age. He even looks a little like she did back then. But I guess all babies look alike.”

  “And you stayed your age while Lily got older?” Marie asked gently.

  He frowned at Marie. “So what?”

  “Why don’t you tell me your name?” Marie urged.

  “I don’t want to. I’m not supposed to talk to strangers, but since you’re Connor’s grandma, and he seems to like you, and you can see me, then I guess it’s okay. But I still don’t want to tell you my name. They knew my name, and they locked me in that room.”

  “Can you tell me how you met Lily? Not Connor’s mom, but the Lily who was your friend,” Marie asked.

  The boy ghost considered the question for a minute and then smiled. “She was younger than Connor the first time I met her. I remember, now.”

  “Younger?” Marie asked.

  “Yeah. Real little. They had her and the others all wrapped up tight. Some of them were crying. But not Lily.”

  “Others? What others?” Marie asked.

  “The other babies. Lily was just a baby. Back then, anyway. But she was tough. She didn’t cry like the others. Not even when they wrapped her tight. That’s what I liked about her. She didn’t seem to be afraid.”

  “Who wrapped her tight?” Marie asked.

  He shrugged. “I don’t know. But they weren’t very friendly. They scared me. After a while, they refused to talk to me. At first, they were real nice, but when I asked them to help me find my mom and dad, they wouldn’t help me. They were too busy fussing with those babies.”

  “Your parents? Do you remember the last time you saw them?”

  He frowned at Marie. After a moment of silence he said, “I don’t want to talk about this anymore.” He vanished.

  Adam sat at his desk, reading the local newspaper. A knock came from the open doorway leading to the hallway. He looked up. Ian Bartley stood just outside his office.

  “Can I come in?” Ian asked.

  With a sigh, Adam folded the newspaper, tossed it aside, and waved Ian into the office. “Are you alone?”

  “Do you mean, are my parents with me?” Ian asked, walking toward Adam.

  Adam stood and leaned over his desk, extending his right hand to Ian. “I assume you know?”

  Ian accepted the handshake, then released it and sat down while saying, “Yes. Dad took us over there this morning, showed us his big surprise.” He added with a snort, “Some surprise.”

  “I assume you’re not happy with his purchase?” Adam sat back down behind his desk.

  “What do you think?” Ian asked.

  “You need to understand. I tried talking him out of it. I would have told you, but—”

  “Yes, I know. Client confidentiality,” Ian interrupted. “Dad told me he wanted to keep it a secret.”

  “When I realized he was determined to buy the property, with or without me, I urged him to let me add a contingency to view it. I figured, when he did that, you would probably be with him, and if you had any reservations, you could voice it then. But he was only interested in having it inspected. But frankly, he didn’t do much of an inspection.”

  “I understand why you couldn’t tell me. I know my dad.”

  “I’m really sorry, Ian. I wanted to tell you, but I couldn’t.” Adam leaned forward in his chair, resting his elbows on his desk.

  “Walt and Danielle told me
what you and Melony saw over there,” Ian said.

  Adam cringed. “Do you think I’m crazy?”

  “Since both Lily and I saw a similar thing—as did Brian Henderson, no. Unfortunately, my parents didn’t see any of it.”

  “I have no idea what’s going on over there. Danielle came up with a theory about energy left over from spirits who lived there. Which, I suppose, is as rational a theory as anything. Especially considering what went on over there. But, Ian, I couldn’t tell your father what we saw.”

  Ian let out a snort. “Had you told my father that story, I imagine he would have thought you were nuts and would have simply bought the property from someone else.”

  “But if I could have just talked him into viewing it first,” Adam muttered.

  Ian shook his head. “Don’t beat yourself up over it. My parents have been over there a few times with me and saw nothing. So even if Dad had agreed to the contingency, it probably wouldn’t have changed the outcome.”

  “Now what?” Adam asked.

  “I figure this is something my parents are going to have to experience for themselves. I know they haven’t seen anything yet, but considering what we’ve all seen, I can’t believe one of these days my parents won’t see something like we did. And after they do, how hard do you think it’s going to be for my dad to unload that property?”

  Adam groaned. “It will not be easy. Not unless he’s willing to take a loss. They’ve tried to sell that property for years, off and on. I told your father that.”

  “Yeah, well, my father likes to think he has a special knack for seeing the diamond where everyone else just sees coal.”

  “And when he finally sees what we have?” Adam asked.

  Ian shrugged. “I just hope he does. I know Lily is not happy with the idea of taking our son over there.”

  “I hate to tell you this,” Adam said. “But there is another reason it might be difficult for your father to resell the property just now.”

  Ian frowned. “What’s that?”

  Adam reached for the folded newspaper and pushed it across his desk to Ian. “I assume you didn’t read the morning newspaper?”