by Natalie Ann
“How often has that happened? When was the last time? Go check your office and see if anything is missing there?” Ali said.
“Last week there was a missing bill. Or I thought. The papers are always out of sorts, but they seemed more so. I’ve just had a lot on my mind lately,” her mother said.
They all followed her mother to the office, but after looking around it didn’t seem like anything was out of place, not that Ali could tell. She supposed her mother might not even be able to tell since it wasn’t very organized.
“I’m sorry that you guys were called here.”
“Don’t be sorry,” Ali said to her mother. “You should come stay with me tonight.”
“No. Don’t be silly. Liam, if it’s not too much to ask, can you fix the window on the door and I’ll lock it up tight like I always do at night?”
“I’ll board up the glass and go buy a new door tomorrow, with no glass, to install.”
“If you don’t want to stay with me tonight,” Ali said, “then I’ll stay here.”
Ali could see Liam start to open his mouth, but Jim jumped in and said, “I can stay in the guest room if that’s okay with you, Belinda. I’m sure it’s nothing to be worried about, but I’d feel better knowing you aren’t alone.”
Her mother blushed. Definitely something going on there. “That works fine for me,” her mother said. “Is everyone happy now?”
Ali was far from happy, but since her mother couldn’t seem to remember what she originally saw and nothing looked out of place, they had to follow her lead.
In His Head
By that Saturday, everything seemed to have settled down somewhat. The door to the house was fixed and he and Ali were working on setting up some of the haunted house. “What do you do first?” he asked her.
“I partition off walls so it’s like walking through a maze.”
He should have figured that. The barn was massive, but it was wide open for the most part with a few half walls already set up that held tools and storage, but that had been cleaned out and put in the storage above.
“What do you use to mark it off? I remember hay bails, right?”
“Yep. Another farm will be dropping them off in a few hours and some of the hands and I will move them around and get them in place.”
It was barely seven in the morning and he’d planned on being here all day with her.
“How do you do that? Please don’t tell me you lift them?” he asked, looking horrified.
“We’ve got a pulley system. This and that, and lots of hands. We’ll bring the tractor in and raise a bunch up and then stand in the bucket and unload them.”
He shivered with that mental image, then in his mind saw her falling to the ground and breaking her stubborn neck. “Screw that,” he said, laughing. “Forklift truck will get it done in half the time.”
She put her hands on her hips. “Thanks. Do you have a magic wand you can wave and get one here for the day? And someone to work it?”
“I sure do,” he said, staring her down.
“Duh. You probably own all sorts of things like that, don’t you?”
“Equipment? Yeah. No worries. I’ll get what we need here by the time we’re ready to go.”
She walked over to him, wrapped her arms around his neck and then leaned up and kissed him. “You’re pretty cute when you’re all annoyed. I can just imagine what is going through your mind right now.”
He put his hands on her hips and tugged her in close. “You don’t want to know.” After another brief kiss, he pushed her back. “Focus. We’re working here.”
“Wow, you’re a tough boss, I’m thinking.”
He never thought he was, but he didn’t slack off either. Though kissing Ali didn’t seem much like slacking off. At least he sure the heck didn’t think so when she was in his bed last night. “What else besides hay? Or is that it?”
“Hay has always worked and is easy to spray paint and hang things on. Then we spread it around the property after to help fertilize the grounds. It has a dual purpose.”
“What about if I put up some temporary walls?”
“You can do it that fast?”
“Leave it to me. Let me see your layout again so we can map it out.”
She pulled the folded piece of paper out of her pocket and opened it up. He tried not to cringe. “Next year that is going on the computer.” She looked startled. “What? What did I say?”
“You’re going to change it next year?”
“I’m not. You’re going to do it on the computer so it’s easier for me to build.”
Her eyes softened and at that moment he realized he’d voiced the words out loud that had been in his head for weeks. That he was hoping for a future with her. “Only if you help me.”
“That was the plan,” he said, trying to keep it light even though it was anything but. “Okay, let’s mark everything off.”
“What do you mean?” she asked, then frowned when he pulled out a few cans of orange spray paint. “What are you doing?”
“Drawing the maze on the ground.”
“Why didn’t I ever think of that?” she asked.
“I have no idea. But this is the best way to lay it out faster. What did you do before?”
“Just laid out one level of hay and built up from there.”
“We’ll get this done in half the time.”
“That’s good,” she said, “because there are only two and half weeks until Halloween and I open the haunted house up one weekend before. So we’ve got this weekend and next weekend to get the heavy stuff done, then just put the finishing touches on a few days before. If we get the layout done today, then tomorrow we can start moving some of the past decorations and special effects around. Some things I’ll do right before it starts.”
He pulled his phone out and looked at the calendar on it. “So you want it ready by the twenty-seventh. How many days will you run the haunted house?”
“That Saturday and Sunday, all day and night. If there is enough demand, I might do it on Monday night too, but no more than that. It’s enough, trust me. It’s a big revenue weekend here too.”
“What do you do last minute?” he asked.
“All the things that look real and can be touched. My mother does a lot of the food stuff. She’s got a good hand at that. Fake blood and brains, internal organs and such. A couple of those boxes are filled with skeletons and body parts. Things that the local high school drama club has donated over the years.”
“Have you ever thought of getting some teens to help?” he asked. He would have loved something like this in high school.
“I never thought of that. Then it wouldn’t be any fun for them. They’d know what to expect.”
“Are you kidding me? Kids have the most warped minds. It’s probably too late now but too bad you couldn’t check in with some clubs or something to get a few kids here with ideas.”
“I know some teachers at the school. I subbed in Lake George for years. I’ll make some calls later today and see what the art and drama teachers think. Even a few hands after school or next weekend is better than nothing.”
“Then let’s get to it. Sounds like we’ve got a great plan.”
***
Ali couldn’t remember ever having this much fun setting up the haunted house before. It was a good thing because she hadn’t slept well the night before. Not because she and Liam had been wrestling in the sheets, but because she dreamt of her grandfather last night.
It had to be a dream because the thought that her grandfather was in the room with her when she was sleeping with a man was too much to even consider.
She clearly remembered blinking her eyes open and looking around the room, but she didn’t see anyone other Liam sleeping soundly next to her in his big bed.
She could get used to his house but was trying not to. That is until he just said he was planning for next year. Then she started to fantasize about all the possibilities.
But right n
ow she was still trying to figure out what her dream meant last night, if anything. One minute she was smiling while on a beach in some Caribbean island with Liam running in the waves like a romantic movie, and the next her grandfather was standing there saying, “Be aware, be alert and stay strong. This too shall pass.”
It had sounded like some line in a book that she wanted to brush off but was having a hard time doing that.
Was her grandfather telling her to not get too attached to Liam? If that was the case she was failing pretty miserably.
Was he telling her to be careful setting up the haunted house today? If so, it made no sense about the “this shall pass” or “stay strong” comments. Unless of course he meant she’d be a little sad about it today.
The funny thing was, she wasn’t sad. She was more excited than anything, knowing this might be the best haunted house yet.
Five hours later, with her sweatshirt off and sweat on her brow, she was laughing and smiling at Liam as he cursed and swore while maneuvering his equipment around the barn trying to set up her hay bails.
When he shut the equipment off, she walked over and handed him a water bottle. “See, sometimes manual labor is best.”
“Bite your tongue. If we did this on the computer, I could have analyzed it better and figured out where to start. How did I know you’d have them dump all the hay where they did, not giving me much room to move around?”
“If you’d been here when it was delivered, then you could have told them, but you were too busy running to get your toys.” He smiled at her, and she looked around at some of the other people helping them out. “Don’t even think about it,” she said.
“What am I thinking?”
“About grabbing me,” she said, taking a step back. He hadn’t been too concerned about people knowing about their relationship, but she was still holding back. Why, she wasn’t sure. The whole “keeping business and personal separate” was getting harder and harder.
“Guilty. I’ll save it for tonight though.”
“Is that a promise?” She loved this flirting that they did all the time. Even more so when they were trying to be secretive about it.
“Absolutely.”
A few more hours went by and the barn was taking shape. She had to admit Liam was right. This was faster and easier. He’d gotten one side completely done and was now working on the other while she started moving boxes to the areas she had designated.
“Ali.”
She turned to see her mother walking in with a tray of baked goods. Bless her heart, as they all needed a dose of sugar right now. “Thanks, Mom.”
“Wow, it looks great in here. Liam sure does know what he’s doing, doesn’t he?”
Her mother was hinting again; she could see it. Ali felt bad and thought she should say something, but didn’t know how and figured now wasn’t the time either. She knew her mother would have to know before anyone else did. That would only be right.
“He does. I can tell already it’s going to be the best year yet.”
“I’m so glad everything seems to be falling into place. Grandpa told me it would.”
“What?” Ali asked, choking on her donut. “What did you say?”
“Grandpa. I talk to him all the time. He told me everything would work out just fine and so far he’s been right.”
“Talk to him how...”
“Don’t look at me like I’m nuts, Ali,” her mother said. “I’m not seeing ghosts. I just talk to him and then sometimes he talks back to me in my dreams. I know it’s my subconscious just reinforcing my own decisions, but it makes me feel good to think it’s direction from Grandpa.”
Ali smiled tightly. “Okay. Just checking that the stress isn’t getting to you.”
“Stress?” Her mother said, waving her hand. “This year is the least stressful I’ve ever had. I don’t have any money worries, nothing. It’s our busiest time and I don’t even have to worry about if the money will stretch enough through the winter. By then I’ll have a nice fat bank account and can figure out the next stage of my life.”
Ali was glad to hear her mother talking like that. She took the tray out of her hands and put it on a hay bail for everyone to come over and help themselves. Then she ushered her mother out of the barn.
“I’ve been so wrapped up in everything that you and I haven’t really had a chance to talk about your future. Will you have enough money to retire on? Do you need to work? Where are you going to live?”
“That’s a lot of questions, Ali,” her mother said, smiling.
“And I’m thinking I should have asked them a long time ago. I’m sorry about that. I’m sorry if I’ve been so selfish that I wasn’t talking to you about this when maybe you needed a shoulder to lean on.”
Her mother patted her arm. “I’ve been on my own since long before your father left me. You’re young with your whole life in front of you. Make sure that you make wise choices.”
Ali caught her mother looking at Liam as he grabbed a donut off the tray behind them. It was a good time to say it, but she found she couldn’t. Not without talking to Liam first.
“So answer those questions for me, if you don’t mind.”
“I will have more than enough money to retire with. I never realized how much this land and farm was worth. It never occurred to me to look into it. But when I ran the number by my lawyer and asked him to see if I was being taken advantage of, he urged me to grab it while I could. It was more than fair. I even wondered if Liam was overpaying and I felt bad, but I was assured that in the condition of the farm, it was fair. We are all getting a good deal.”
That made Ali feel better for her mother and Liam. What she could see so far was he was pretty darn successful. She knew his company employed a lot of people and he had multiple projects going on. He worked where they needed him, but he spent a lot of time in his office too.
“Okay. So where are you going to live? Have you thought about that yet?”
“I’ve been looking for a small house. I want something I can easily maintain. I’ve had big and old my whole life and I’m ready for just the opposite.”
It seemed her mother had put a lot of thought into all of this. “What about your time?”
Her mother laughed. “Sweetie. I just told you I don’t need to work. I’ll find something to occupy me, but I want to relax and enjoy myself. I think I’ll travel a little. I’ve never had much of a vacation. Don’t you think it’s time for some adventure? Maybe you and I can go away together on one of your breaks. Christmas break on an island sounds wonderful, doesn’t it?”
Could that be what her dream was about last night in regards to running on an island? Nah. It was her and Liam in it, not her mother.
“I think it sounds like you’ve got a lot of things planned just right, Mom.”
“Like I said, Ali. Make wise choices now and then you won’t get to be my age and wonder about all the mistakes you made.”
Ali watched her mother walk away. Then she turned and went back into the barn and over to Liam. “I think we should tell our mothers about our relationship.”
He smiled and pulled her forward, then kissed her in front of everyone. Guess that was answer enough for her.
What She Asked
A few days later, Ali was cooking dinner at her house when her phone rang. She thought it would be Liam telling her he was on the way, but instead she saw it was her father calling. She didn’t want to answer. She hadn’t talked to him in a few years and had no idea why he’d be reaching out.
But the softer side of her picked up. “Hello?”
“Ali, it’s your father,” he said, as if he didn’t realize she’d recognize his voice.
“Yes. What can I do for you?” No reason to be anything but formal.
“I heard the farm is for sale.”
She couldn’t understand why this would be any concern of his. “It’s not for sale.” In her mind, it never went on the market and it was a done deal for the most part now.
“I don’t know what you heard, nor do I understand why you’re calling and asking. You and Mom have been divorced for years.”
“I heard she is selling it to some local investor.”
“You’ll need to talk to Mom about what you’re hearing. It has nothing to do with me.”
She hung up the phone after that. She was thinking her mother wouldn’t appreciate that, but Ali didn’t want to talk to him.
He probably left something at the house years ago and wanted it back now. She wasn’t about to be put in the middle like she was so many years ago.
Liam opened the door to her apartment a few minutes later, then came in, gave her a kiss, and the conversation with her father was long gone from her mind.
“How did it go with your mother?” she asked. On Sunday afternoon she and Liam told her mother about their relationship. Her mother just smirked like she’d had a hand in it and Ali didn’t feel like correcting her. And since Liam’s mother, Amy, had been out of town for a few days, Liam was stopping over to see her today.
“It went well. She really likes your mother and she wants to meet you.”
“So soon?” Ali asked. Why hadn’t she thought of this part of it?
He laughed at her. “Really? I’ve sat through a few dinners with your mother scheming in her mind about us being a couple and then when she finds out we are, she thinks her plan fell into place and you can’t even go meet my mother?”
Though he was laughing, she wondered if there was a bit of hurt behind his words. “You’re right. I’m being selfish. I guess I’m just nervous.”
“You’re one of the least selfish people I know. And there is no reason to be nervous. My mother is very similar to your mom.”
“Great,” she said with a tight smile.
He laughed at her again. “I thought maybe we could all have dinner together on Friday night. My treat at the house. I can grill something again.”