Haunt Couture and Ghosts Galore

by Rose Pressey

  Charlotte lounged on the velvet chaise nearby while Sam stared out the window. It was nice and quiet in the shop for a change. I had music on in the background, but I kept it faint so that it wasn’t overpowering. It helped set the mood for the shop. Today I was in an eighties kind of mood, so I had the pop music on. At the moment Wham! was playing “Wake Me up Before You Go-Go.” I hummed along to the music as I worked on the mannequin. This was one of my favorite songs. In spite of my good mood, a strange vibe suddenly hummed in the air.

  I was just fastening a belt around the waist of the mannequin when the bell above the door sounded, grabbing my attention. When I looked over at the door, I saw a customer had entered. She glanced my way but didn’t speak. She was tall and slender. Her dark hair was cut into a stylish short style. She wore trim black trousers, a black fitted sweater with a boatneck collar, and tall black Gucci boots.

  “You should go over there and talk to her,” Charlotte said.

  I didn’t want to hover over the customers. People liked to be left alone to browse.

  The customer roamed around the store. She touched something from each rack that she passed. It was definitely a little odd. But people had their own way of shopping, so what did I care. I couldn’t help watch the woman as she browsed though. As she strolled between the racks, I pretended to work on the mannequin, but I was really watching her out of the corner of my eye. I was glad that she hadn’t noticed me spying on her. If she did notice, she didn’t let on. I hoped that I wasn’t acting too strange.

  When the woman headed toward the counter, I rushed from my spot and over to her. I made my way behind the counter and took the silver charm bracelet from her hands.

  “Did you find everything okay?” I asked with a smile.

  She looked down at her purse, then finally said, “Yes, I’m fine.”

  “This is a lovely bracelet. Do you like bracelets?”

  Her expression let me know she thought the question was odd. “Yes, I do.”

  I rang up her purchase and she handed me her credit card. I glanced at the name. Rita Riggs was the name printed on the card. The name didn’t sound familiar. She did seem kind of familiar though. I was sure I didn’t know her. Charlotte was standing right beside the woman looking her up and down. I halfway expected Charlotte to reach out and touch her.

  We watched as the woman walked out of the shop and headed down the sidewalk.

  “Well, she was a real oddball,” Charlotte said.

  “I won’t argue with you there.”

  “What do you think it means?” Sam asked.

  “I don’t think it means anything. She was just eccentric that’s all.”

  “I don’t think so, she gave me a bad vibe,” Charlotte said.

  I understood what she was talking about. Because the woman had seemed odd to me too.

  I settled on the stool behind the counter and grabbed my laptop. I needed to check my e-mails and see if I’d received any online orders. My computer powered up and I made it to my blog.

  Charlotte leaned over my shoulder. “Anything good?”

  “I don’t know yet. I haven’t had a chance to check.”

  “Well, hurry up, I want to see too.”

  “Okay, okay, I’m looking,” I said.

  Charlotte was almost as excited as I was about looking at my messages. After all, she had helped me set up the online shopping and a lot of advertising for the shop. Business had increased since I’d run into the ghost of Charlotte Meadows.

  I was always excited when I saw that I had a message. So when the screen popped up, I hurriedly clicked on the link and waited for the message to pop up on my screen. I hoped that it was a message with someone wanting more vintage-clothing advice. I scrolled through the short comments and then spotted something lengthier.

  “Hmm. That is interesting,” I said.

  “What does it say?” Charlotte leaned closer.

  “It’s a request to meet with me,” I said.

  “It’s a what?” she asked.

  “Exactly what I said. Someone wants to meet me.”

  Charlotte tapped her foot against the floor, drawing my attention to her white and black peep-toe Christian Louboutin pumps. “That is a terrible idea. You aren’t possibly thinking of doing such a crazy thing, are you?”

  “I had thought about it,” I said.

  Charlotte threw her hands into the air. “Do you believe her?” She looked at Sam.

  I frowned. “It’s not that bad. I don’t know what you’re throwing such a big fit for.”

  “Why doesn’t this person just come into the shop if they want to talk with you?” Sam asked.

  “They want to lure her away,” Charlotte said.

  “I can’t believe y’all. You want me to investigate this, right? What better way to do it than to talk with everyone who might have a clue?”

  “I can think of quite a few more ways that aren’t nearly as dangerous.” Sam crossed his arms in front of his chest.

  I shrugged. “It was just a thought.”

  Charlotte glared at me. “I had better not catch you doing anything stupid,” she said.

  I held my hands up in the air. “I promise I won’t do anything stupid.”

  The key was that I didn’t think it was stupid. So if I did go, it wouldn’t be going against their wishes . . . technically.

  Wind Song jumped down from the window and leaped up onto the counter. She meowed loudly and pawed at my arm.

  “Are you hungry, Wind Song?”

  She didn’t meow in return. Usually she was very loud when she was hungry so I always knew she wanted food.

  “Okay, so what’s wrong?” I asked.

  She meowed and pawed at my arm again. I had to figure out what Wind Song was trying to tell me.

  “I think she wants to give you a message,” Charlotte said.

  “It does seem that way, doesn’t it?” I said. “You will have to wait, Wind Song, because Heather is busy working this morning. We’ll just have to wait until she can come over,” I said.

  “Maybe not,” Charlotte said. “I have another idea. Just talk to her another way.”

  Hmm. I hadn’t thought about that, but how would that be possible?

  “I need something else to use,” I said.

  What else could the cat use? It wasn’t like she could pick up a pen and paper. I placed my hands on my hips and looked around for an idea. Unfortunately, nothing was jumping out at me.

  “Sorry, Wind Song, I just can’t think of anything.”

  The cat meowed again as if my answer was not acceptable. She wasn’t going to let me off that easily.

  “Okay, I have to think of something.”

  Apparently, this is very important to Wind Song. If it was that important, then I had to know what she wanted to tell us.

  “All you have to do is write yes or no on a couple pieces of paper and then ask her questions.” Charlotte waved her hand.

  Why hadn’t I thought of that? Why wouldn’t it work?

  “Okay, I think that will work. What’s the worst that could happen? I guess we should give it a try then,” I said.

  “Now you’re talking,” Charlotte said.

  “This is much better than going to meet a stranger who wants to see you,” Sam said.

  “The person could kill you. I don’t want to deal with a ghost of you.” Charlotte shivered at the thought.

  I placed my hands on my hips. “What is that supposed to mean? I’d be just as pleasant in the afterlife as I am here on this level.”

  I picked up a pad of paper and wrote out the word “yes” on one page and then “no” on another.

  “Okay, Wind Song, let’s see how this goes,” I said.

  I held up the yes and explained what I wanted Wind Song to do. “Do you understand?” I asked. Then I held up the paper so that she could see the words. If she could spell, then I knew she would be able to read the word too. I just couldn’t wait to see what she had to say this time.

&nb
sp; “This is quite exciting,” Sam said.

  He had moved closer to see what the cat had to say.

  “Okay, Wind Song, do you have something you want to tell us?” I asked.

  The ghosts and I watched as Wind Song continued to lick her paws. Maybe we overestimated her desire to talk with us. Finally, she stopped licking her paws and batted at the page with the “yes” written on it. Charlotte giggled, and Sam said, “I can’t believe it.”

  It was hard to believe and if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes I wouldn’t have believed it. I had gotten a lot more used to it now though. I still wanted to know how she did this. Maybe I would never find out how or where she came from.

  “Do you know who murdered Melanie?” I asked.

  Wind Song touched the paper with the word “no.”

  “Too bad,” Sam said.

  “Do you have an idea who did it?” I asked.

  The cat batted at the yes paper. My eyes widened.

  “Now this is getting good,” Charlotte said.

  “Who is it?” I pushed. “Meaghan?”

  She touched the paper for no.

  I sighed. “Shandra?” The cat picked no again.

  “Hannah?”

  No again.

  “Are you sure you have an idea who did this?” I asked.

  “No” was the cat’s response.

  Charlotte groaned. “The catnip must have gotten to her. She doesn’t know what she’s talking about.”

  Wind Song jumped down and rushed to her spot in the window as if she was offended by what Charlotte said.

  “I think you upset her,” I said.

  “She’ll have to get over it,” Charlotte said.

  My question-and-answer session hadn’t gone well. Maybe I should stick with the tarot cards and Ouija board.

  Chapter 14

  Sam’s Surefire Sleuthing Pointer

  Survey your surveillance location ahead of time.

  You don’t want to be caught off guard.

  We had just stopped talking to the cat when Ken walked through the door. He wore a black suit and red tie. His blond hair glistened in the sun.

  “Oh, look who it is,” Charlotte said. She jumped up from the settee. “I wonder what he has to say?” she asked.

  I wondered if it had to do with Hannah.

  He rubbed the cat’s head. She enjoyed it for a moment, but then gave up and went to her favorite spot by the window.

  “What brings you by today?” I asked, trying to sound casual.

  “I guess I will just get right to the point.”

  “Oh no, this doesn’t sound good,” Charlotte said.

  “Would you like to go out to dinner with me?” Ken asked.

  Charlotte waved her finger at me. “Cookie Chanel, if you tell him no I will haunt you like you’ve never been haunted before.”

  I knew she meant it too. At that moment Dylan flashed through my mind. Why was I thinking about Dylan? Just because Ken had asked me out?

  Going out for dinner would probably be good for me. I hadn’t been to a nice restaurant for dinner in ages. And as Charlotte would say, it would do me good to get out among socialized people. I would have just enough time after work to get home and change my clothing. I was sure Charlotte would want to have input into my outfit selection. I would let her think she was helping and then I would wear what I wanted.

  I smiled. “Sure, that would be nice.”

  Charlotte smiled widely. I knew she would have been unhappy if I had said no.

  “You made the right decision,” she said. “Although it will be a tough decision between Ken and Dylan.”

  “There is no decision, Charlotte. It’s just a date.”

  But who was I kidding? I knew I had feelings for both men. Maybe going out with Ken would help me get over that. I waved as Ken stepped out of the store.

  Later that evening, I had just finished dressing for my date when the doorbell rang and I made my way to the door. Butterflies danced in my stomach. When I opened the door he smiled. Ken looked handsome in his dark pants and beige sweater.

  “You look lovely,” he said.

  “Thank you.”

  “You kids have a good evening,” Charlotte said as I walked out the door.

  She seemed a little too excited about the fact that I was leaving. Charlotte and Sam had managed to find a way to stay connected to my house. Charlotte could go away from me now, but for some reason she didn’t want to leave Sam. I closed the door behind me and peeked through the little side window. Sam and Charlotte waved. I didn’t trust them. Maybe Wind Song would tell me if they did anything wrong.

  Ken held the door to his car open and I slipped in the passenger seat. “If it’s okay, I thought we would go to Atlanta.”

  “That sounds fine,” I said.

  The drive to Atlanta was relaxing and conversation with Ken was easy. Shadows crept up as twilight stretched over town. The stars had begun to make an appearance.

  “Sugar Creek certainly has been full of action lately,” he said.

  I had no idea how it had happened, but he was right about that. It seemed strange that Wind Song had appeared at that time too.

  “Sugar Creek has had more action than I like,” I said.

  Ken took his eyes off the road for just a second to glance over at me. “Tell me how you got into the whole vintage thing.”

  “The vintage thing? I guess it was playing with my grandmother’s old clothing. She loved fashion. I don’t know, I kind of think it’s something you’re born with. We all have a passion. Some of us are just luckier than others to find it. I know people go their whole life and never figure out what their passion is for, but it’s there deep down all along. How did you get into law?” I asked.

  “My father was a lawyer, so it seemed like the natural thing to do. He still practices in Atlanta,” Ken said. “Have you always lived in Sugar Creek?”

  I looked out the window at the passing streets and houses. “That’s where I was born and raised.”

  “That must have been nice. I’m from Atlanta, but you already knew that.” A crooked smile tipped the corner of his mouth revealing a sweetness that I knew was behind his reserved demeanor.

  After chatting for a while longer, I realized that we’d already arrived in Atlanta. Ken had pulled into the parking lot of the restaurant. Streetlights painted a yellow glow over the area. Traffic moved at a steady rhythm and people walked along the sidewalk. The red and yellow sign with the name TWIST lit up the night.

  “I hope you like this place. It’s Mediterranean fusion,” he said as he opened my car door and held out his hand to me.

  “I’m sure I’ll love it,” I said as I got out of the car.

  We passed the people dining on the patio at the front of the restaurant. After entering the restaurant, we waited to be seated. It didn’t look as though many tables were available. The place was decorated with white: table cloths, curtains, and china. The host took us to a table at the back of the room by the window. The aroma from the food lingered in the air, making my mouth water. We reached our table and the host pulled the chair out for me.

  “Thank you,” I said.

  The blond waiter appeared by our table. “Have you decided what you would like to order this evening?”

  I still hadn’t decided what I should eat. I scanned the menu and decided on the scallops. Ken placed his order for chili-rubbed chicken.

  “I’m glad you agreed to come with me tonight.” He took a drink of water.

  I couldn’t tell him that the ghosts had threatened me if I didn’t go.

  “Thanks again for asking. Do you come here often?” I asked as I absorbed my surroundings.

  I took a sip of my water and looked out across the restaurant. Across the room, I spotted a woman. She looked familiar, but I couldn’t place where I knew her from. That was when I remembered her. The woman who had stopped in my shop. Rita Riggs was sitting with Shandra Johnson. Then I finally remembered that I’d seen Rita at the fa
shion show too. She’d been with Shandra then too. Maybe she was her assistant. That was odd. I wished I could find out more, but for now I would have to just enjoy dinner.

  “If you’ll excuse me, I’m visiting the ladies’ room.” I stood from the table.

  Ken pushed to his feet. “Sure.”

  After making my way to the back of the restaurant, I shimmied into the small room and over to the mirror. I figured it couldn’t hurt to touch up my makeup just a little. As I applied my lipstick, the ghosts crossed my mind. I was still surprised that they hadn’t joined me this evening. A night out on the town was one of Charlotte’s favorite things. What were they up to? The thought had barely left my mind when movement caught my attention. Over by the door, I spotted Charlotte. I rolled my eyes. She waved and winked. Where was Sam? Maybe he was sitting with Ken. Or had she left him at home. After all, I wasn’t sure he had mastered the supernatural travel yet.

  Charlotte moved over beside me. “What is going on in here? Why aren’t you at the table with Ken?”

  Before I had a chance to answer, the door opened. Shandra and Rita entered the tiny room. I was right. The woman was definitely the one who had been at my shop. Shandra was with her, but neither one of them acted as if they recognized me. I tried to look down so that they wouldn’t notice me. I wanted to blend in with the room. Maybe they would talk and reveal more if they didn’t know I was there. I pulled my powder compact out of my purse so that they wouldn’t get suspicious.

  “Can you believe she had the nerve to do that? It’s no wonder that she’s dead,” Rita said.

  I tried to act as if I wasn’t listening to their conversation, but my eyes were probably bugged out.

  “I guess karma came around to visit her,” Shandra said.

  That was a harsh thing to say. It sounded like she wasn’t happy with Melanie. If what she had said was true, I could see why she was angry, but was she mad enough to commit murder?

  “Wow, sounds like someone has a nasty temper.” Charlotte stood next to Shandra, eyeing her up and down.