by Mary Carter
The first person she laid eyes on was the naked bird-watcher. He was sitting in the Crow’s Nest with the psychiatrist Martin Gregors. Bailey realized, before they even opened their mouths, that they were up there discussing her.
“She never finishes anything,” Martin said.
“Me?” Bailey said. They ignored her.
“She blames Brad,” the bird-watcher said.
“Ironic, isn’t it?”
“I don’t blame Brad,” Bailey said. “I just . . . tolerate him sometimes.”
Bird-watcher started counting off Bailey’s offenses on his fingers. “They had that surf shop and she never even learned to surf.”
Martin pecked out a note with his index finger on his iPad. Therapy had gone digital. Where had she been? She leaned over to see what he was writing. Never learned to surf.
“It takes years to learn,” Bailey said. “I concentrated on setting up shop instead.”
“How could Brad keep it going when she hated the sport?” Bird-watcher said. In real life Bailey would have been mortified for forgetting a guest’s name—Business 101: use their names!—but in the dream she just wanted to pluck him like a turkey and stuff him.
“I let you sit naked at my dining room table!” she yelled.
“What about the sweater shop?” Martin asked.
“She was allergic to the wool, remember?” Bird-watcher said.
Martin started to chuckle. “Would you buy a sweater with snot—”
“Hey,” Bailey yelled. “There was never any snot—”
“And the coffee shop,” Martin said. He swiped his finger across the keyboard. Bailey heard the sound of an espresso machine start up, and suddenly the two men were drinking lattes.
“I loved the coffee shop,” Bailey said. “I almost learned to make little hearts in the foam.”
“Almost doesn’t count,” Martin said.
“I thought you couldn’t hear me.”
“She blew their entire nest egg on a fireplace,” Bird-watcher said. “Tanked the whole business.” Tom, Bailey thought. His name is Tom. But he was being so mean. She wasn’t going to use his name.
“It was cozy, Birdman,” Bailey said. “People love to read by fires. Hello! Colorado! Skiing. Snow. Cozy fireplaces? It was a good idea.”
“She’s so oblivious to her role in all the failures,” Martin said. He wrote OBLIVIOUS in huge letters on his iPad. They floated into the room and danced about. Bailey didn’t know the technology had progressed that quickly. This was just a dream. They were lies, all lies! Weren’t they?
“Help!” Brad yelled. She’d forgotten all about him.
“She does look pretty good naked,” the Bird-watcher said. “Except for her thighs.”
“Assholes!” Bailey said.
“Help,” Brad yelled.
Behind her came a hideous clanking sound. Without turning around, Bailey knew it was Vera, scrounging for food in her sleep. Next came Faye and Jason, talking about her, their voices trying to compete over the clanking.
“They don’t even own the lighthouse,” Faye said.
“Real Estate 101,” Jason said.
“Own your property,” they finished together.
“Help!” Brad shouted. Bailey started for the deck. Captain Jack appeared and blocked the way through the little gate to the outside.
“Leave the light on for me,” he said with a wink. She tried to kick him but he vanished into thin air. She hauled herself onto the deck. It was cold. The night sky was pitch black. Yet a small portion of the deck was lit up. The iron glowed a ghostly green. There, dangling something over the rail, was Olivia. Bailey stepped closer. Olivia was holding one of Brad’s new shoes. The ones he had on when he died. Attached to the shoe, hanging upside down over the sixty-foot drop, was Brad.
“Help,” Brad said.
“Stop,” Bailey cried out to Olivia. “Whatever he did, we can work it out.”
“Why do you always blame me?” Brad said. “Surf! Snot! Fireplace!”
“Drop him,” Bailey said. While still dangling Brad with one hand, Olivia pulled out a deck of cards with the other. She tossed them in the air and they made a perfect arch before falling back into her hand in a neat little pile. Then they spread out toward Bailey like a fan.
“Pick a card,” Olivia said. “Any card. Red, he lives. Black, he dies.” A music box began to play. Brad moaned. And moaned, and moaned. It took Bailey a while to realize it wasn’t him moaning. But it wasn’t until she heard a bloodcurdling scream that she woke up.
Chapter 33
It was jarring, the abrupt switch from such vivid dreaming to sitting up on the couch, heart hammering with fear. Who was screaming? She should move, do something, but she was frozen. Footsteps thundered down the stairs. Elizabeth appeared at the landing, wide-eyed, hair sticking out all over the place, robe pulled tightly around her.
“What?” It was all Bailey could croak out. Another set of footsteps came beating down, and soon Jesse joined Elizabeth. Bailey was finally able to move. She went over to Jesse, who looked as pale as she’d ever seen her.
“A man,” Jesse said. “In my room.”
“Oh my God,” Bailey said.
“And music, and moaning,” Elizabeth said. She slapped her hands over her ears as if she could still hear it. Bailey looked at Jesse. She nodded in agreement.
“Thomas,” Bailey said. She started for the stairs. Just as she said his name, he appeared at the top. Any suspicion Bailey had that it was him evaporated. He was so terrified he almost plunged into the group trying to get down. His hair was also sticking every which way and his face was slick with sweat. He tried to talk, but he was breathing too hard. With a shaking finger, he pointed up the steps.
“Man?” Bailey whispered. Thomas shook his head. His finger remained pointing up.
“Woman,” Thomas said. “Hanging. Swinging. Screaming.” He looked from one face to another, as if searching to see some signs that at least one of them believed him. “I swear!”
“Edga,” Bailey whispered.
“Who the fuck is Edga?” Jesse said. Some color was back in her face.
“Out,” Elizabeth said. “Now.” She stumbled toward the patio as if she’d been drinking. Jesse and Thomas quickly followed. Bailey glanced at the stairs, but there was no way she was going up there. So much for the movies, where everyone was brave or stupid enough to chase after every little noise. Bailey too ran for the patio. Then, without discussing it, they all made a run for the lighthouse tower. Over the bricks, then through the grass, passing Jake and Angel’s tent. Bailey, in bare feet, prayed she wouldn’t step on anything sharp or gooey.
Halfway there, a wave of anger hit Bailey. Someone was messing with them. She did not believe in ghosts. Was it Jake and Angel? She considered going back to their tent, but there was enough doubt to keep her away. What she should have done was grab a large kitchen knife and storm up to the attic. Just as they reached the entrance to the lighthouse, the door flew open and Brad and Tree came barreling out. Tree took the lead, and barking furiously, blew past the little group toward the house.
“What happened?” Brad shouted. “He was going berserk!” Bailey flung herself into Brad’s arms. It was such a welcome feeling. His strong chest, his faint cologne, his arms around her. Her Brad, her husband, her life.
“Did I really get snot on the sweaters?” Bailey said.
“What?” Brad looked down at her with a mixture of amusement and concern.
“I want to go home,” Elizabeth yelled, ruining Bailey’s touching moment. “Now!” Brad glanced at Thomas.
“Dude,” Thomas said. “We saw a ghost.”
“I didn’t say ghost,” Jesse said. “There was a man. In my room.”
“Jake and Angel?” Brad said. Bailey pointed at their tent. “Let’s go,” he said. Bailey was glad she hadn’t rushed the tent alone. Jake and Angel were both inside, tucked into their sleeping bags, startled awake by Brad and his flashlight. “Sorry, sorry,”
Brad said, turning off the light and backing out of the tent. After some maneuvering and swearing, Jake appeared, shirtless with tiny shorts, and Bailey was happy for the cover of darkness, didn’t want to be accused of checking him out, which she soon realized was exactly what she was doing.
“What’s wrong?” Jake said. “What’s going on?”
“Someone broke into the house,” Bailey said quickly, before anyone could utter the word “ghost.”
“Where’s that ferry captain?” Elizabeth said. “I want to go home.”
“Are they still there?” Jake said. He looked at Brad. “Let’s go.” The men headed for the house.
“Wait,” Bailey said. “What if he’s armed?” The men ignored her and soon Thomas was at their side. “Thomas,” Bailey said. “No.” Now there were three men ignoring her. Bailey ran to catch up. “Wait for me,” she said.
“And me,” Jesse said. Elizabeth crawled into the tent with Angel. Now, this was more like the movies.
The main room was silent. Brad turned on all the lights. Then he headed for the stairs.
“Wait,” Bailey whispered as loud as she could. “Kitchen knife.” Brad hesitated.
“She’s right,” Jake said. “Wait here.” He disappeared into the kitchen and soon came back holding a large knife. They took the stairs as a group, at first trying not to make a sound.
“If he’s still there,” Jesse said, “he can’t get past us.” It made sense, so they dropped the stealth act and ran up the rest of the stairs. Brad flipped on each and every light switch they passed.
“If we kept the carpeting, it would have been quieter,” Brad said. Bailey let it go, deciding now was not the time to “agree to disagree.” One by one they took the rooms on the second floor, flooding it with light. As Brad opened closets and looked under beds and behind curtains, Jake followed with the knife. The first two rooms were empty, there was no doubt about it. When they got to Jesse’s room, she plowed in first. Now that she’d recovered from her shock, she appeared to be furious and ready for a fight. But her room too was empty. Brad knelt on the floor, trying to find footprints or any evidence of a man being in the room.
“Nothing,” he said. They all looked to the attic. Bailey caught the look on Thomas’s face.
“You should stay down here,” she said. “In case someone tries to get past you.”
“Sure,” Thomas said. “Good idea.”
“Jesse?” Bailey said. She could tell her friend was dying to come up to the attic with them, but like Bailey recognized the terror on Thomas’s face.
“I’ll stay here too,” she said. “Thomas will protect me.” Thomas straightened up a bit and nodded. Jake, knife held high, led the way. Brad flipped on the light at the foot of the stairs.
The attic was one large space. No closets to hide in. The mattress was on the floor, no space to hide under it. There was no one hanging from the rafters. The window was closed. Bailey prayed they would at least find a music box, or a footprint, or a piece of frayed rope. Anything to prove it wasn’t all in their heads. But there was nothing.
“They had plenty of time to flee,” Bailey said. “We should have come directly up here.”
“No,” Brad said. “Not by yourselves.”
“He’s right,” Jake said. “We’ve no idea who we’re dealing with.”
“Should we call the police?” Bailey said.
“And what?” Brad said. “Start more rumors of ghosts?”
“I heard moaning,” Bailey said. “And music.”
“But nothing for the police to go on,” Brad said.
“Let’s check out the downstairs,” Jake said. “Just to be sure.” In silence, the group headed down. Brad, in the lead, was the first to stop short when they reached the main room. There, in the middle of the floor, sat Olivia’s urn. Brad hurried over to it, opened the urn, and looked inside.
“She’s here,” Brad said.
You mean, she’s back, Bailey thought.
Brad insisted he was going to change all of the locks, just to be safe. There was a small possibility, Bailey said, that she’d forgotten to lock the patio door. She’d been distracted by Jesse’s visit, and she just couldn’t swear to locking it. It was one of the hazards of having so many people in and out all of the time. Bailey couldn’t tell whether Brad was freaked out or relieved to have Olivia’s urn back. He returned it to the tower. Bailey told Brad that she couldn’t remember where she put the broken pieces of the urn she’d hurled across the room, but she was deeply relieved she hadn’t destroyed the real thing. They’d find the urn and trace where it was purchased. What Bailey didn’t tell Brad was that she knew full well she’d wrapped the broken pieces of the urn in tissue paper and placed them in their bottom dresser drawer. She was afraid to tell him that it was missing. She didn’t want to get him any more wound up than he already was, and she needed him in bed beside her.
The fake urn was their only clue as to who might have made the switch, and it was gone. She was exhausted; she just wanted to crawl into bed with Brad and get at least a few hours of sleep. They had to at least get through the good-bye party.
It took everything to convince Elizabeth that Captain Jack wasn’t about to ferry across in the middle of the night to take her back to town. Besides, she wouldn’t even be able to get a bus out of town until the next day. So instead, she insisted on sleeping in the lighthouse loft with Brad. Bailey thought Elizabeth would change her mind when she told her she’d have to sleep on a cot, but she accepted it without hesitation. Bailey would have been fine with Elizabeth leaving in the morning, but she seemed to perk up when she heard Captain Jack was going to be at the party. Thomas and Jesse decided to spend the rest of their evening camped out in the main room. Bailey worried about them being alone in the house, so Jake and Angel agreed to camp out there as well, along with Tree. Bailey still wasn’t convinced that Angel had nothing to do with the mysterious goings-on, but at least they would soon be out of their lives for good. What Bailey and Brad needed was a fresh start. New guests, new locks. No talk of ghosts. If they had to, they would install a security system with cameras in every room. If there was anything good about starting and failing at so many businesses, it was that they certainly weren’t the types who were going to let anybody else scare them off. They were too good at doing it to themselves.
Chapter 34
The evening of the party started out pleasant. Everyone was still slightly on edge from the previous night, but equally determined to enjoy themselves. The air was sweet with lilac and honeysuckle. Horns from tugboats tooted gently, crickets started their nightly hum even though dusk had yet to fall, and birds called long and high to each other. Steak and shrimp sizzled on the grill. Jesse had spent the day making strawberry shortcake, and it looked divine. Elizabeth decked herself out in a red sundress with matching pumps. Jake and Angel seemed more in love than Bailey had ever seen them. Jake didn’t even glance at her once. Not that she wanted him to. It was natural to notice when someone who normally paid you a lot of attention was ignoring you, but it certainly didn’t mean Bailey wanted the attention. In fact, she felt closer to Brad than ever. Last night, after all the trauma, it was nice to lie in bed next to him. If Elizabeth hadn’t been camped out in their room, Bailey would have initiated a little lovemaking. She was dying to be alone with him tonight, dying to get absolutely everyone out of the house. It would be their first time alone in a long time.
Jesse popped up beside Bailey. “Bailey,” she said. “Do you need some help in the kitchen?”
“I’m not even in the kitchen,” Bailey said.
“Right,” Jesse said, giving her a look. Then she slightly raised her voice. “Earlier you said you needed some help in the kitchen?”
“I did?”
Jesse grabbed Bailey’s arm. “You, me, kitchen,” she said. Jesse hooked arms and began dragging her inside. “You’ve lost touch with deception. You’re definitely not a city girl anymore.” They entered the kitchen. Jesse hopped up onto
the counter and began swinging her feet, bouncing them off the cabinets.
“Spill,” she said.
“What?”
“You’ve been staring at him all night.”
“Who?”
“Jake!”
Bailey felt her face flush. She hoped it was just Jesse who’d noticed her indiscretion. “It’s nothing,” she said.
“I get it,” Jesse said. “It’s flattering when someone has a crush on you.”
“Exactly.”
“As long as that’s all it is.”
“Absolutely,” Bailey said. “I’m sure Brad has had the odd fantasy about Angel too.”
“Speaking of Angel,” Jesse said. “Did you see her ring finger?”
“No,” Bailey said. “Did he give her a big rock?”
“He didn’t give her any rock,” Jesse said. “But she does have a tan line.”
“What?”
“Where it looks like a wedding ring used to be.”
“I never noticed,” Bailey said. “Wait. What are you saying?”
“That she could already be married,” Jesse said.
“She’s awfully young.”
“You’ve been with Brad since you were ten,” Jesse said.
“Yes, but we delayed the wedding considerably.” From the kitchen window Bailey could see Angel chatting with Elizabeth and Captain Jack.
“You want to rip her eyes out, don’t you?” Jesse said.
“I just hope she’s not lying to Jake,” Bailey said. “He doesn’t deserve that.”
“She seems awfully sneaky to me,” Jesse said.
“They’re both so young and impulsive,” Bailey said. “Although at least Angel’s never tried to kiss Brad. At least I don’t think so. She better not have.”