by Linda Palmer
We piled out of the truck. I pointed toward the barn, visible from the front of the house because it lay to the right of it. The three of us walked to the double doors, which Cooper had left open.
I blinked against the rain running in rivulets down my face. “Saw her right there.”
Detective Simms shifted his gaze to Cooper. “Did you see her, too?”
Cooper nodded.
Detective Simms frowned. “So is she dead or alive?”
Realizing I’d never fully explained Cooper’s life-or-death abilities, I did it then, adding that his psychic gifts had been suppressed for a while, but were gaining strength. With a nod, Detective Simms turned on the flashlight he held and went into the barn. I didn’t want to follow, but I did. My gut knotted with the certainty that something evil had gone down inside that old building. I truly expected to see spirits everywhere, all of them Asian, female, and murdered.
But I saw nothing except a beam of light skimming over a couple of stalls, rotting hay, and a riding mower. Glancing back, I gauged Cooper’s reaction to the barn. He just shook his head.
“Getting anything?” asked Detective Simms, looking over his shoulder at us.
“No.”
He directed the beam toward the loft and then into the corners. We saw nothing out of the ordinary, at least as far as we knew. We were all new to that barn and had no past impressions for comparison.
“I swear I saw her,” I said, feeling foolish.
“Oh, I believe you.” He walked back to Cooper and me. “What were you two doing here?”
Something in his tone made me wonder if he thought we’d been up to no good. Cooper explained that he was the new owner and even showed him the keys.
Detective Simms nodded, his expression unreadable. Or was that a hint of wry smile? “That’s great, son. What are you going to do with it?”
The enthusiasm of his words didn’t quite match his demeanor. I guessed because he was wondering what a kid would do with that much real estate.
“Not much for now,” Cooper said, “though I’m thinking I’ll live here someday. Obviously I’ll have to have money to renovate.”
Detective Simms nodded. “With your permission, I’ll come out tomorrow if the weather is better and have a good look around.”
“Yeah, sure. Whatever you need to do.”
The detective focused his attention on me. “Was this the same spirit you saw before?”
“It’s hard to say. Maybe if you let me get a better look at any photos you have, I could tell you more.”
He nodded, but didn’t offer to set up a time to do that. “Well, I don’t think we’re going to do much good here tonight.” Detective Simms exited the barn. Naturally we did, too. “I appreciate your calling me. With luck, we’ll find a lead here. God knows, we need one. You two be careful on those wet roads.”
We nodded. He got into his car and left us.
“Let’s go.” Cooper took my hand. We trudged back to the truck yet again, both of us now damp from the inside out with moods as soggy as our feet. He didn’t speak again until we were a couple of miles down the road. “Involving the detective should get those spirits off your back. And if that doesn’t work, isn’t there some kind of cleansing you can do?”
“Sage.”
“Oh yeah. We should probably wait until the police are done here to do it, though. Meanwhile, just getting the law involved will probably stop the spirits from following you around now.”
Following me around? Not exactly. Sometimes they darted in front of me.
“There’s something I should tell you,” I said. “That spirit that I ran through Saturday night? She came out of your woods.”
His shocked expression made me wish I’d confessed sooner.
“And there’s something else…that might’ve been her we just saw in the barn.”
His jaw dropped. “Why the hell didn’t you say something?”
“Didn’t want to spoil things for you.”
“Well you should’ve told Detective Simms, at least.”
“Maybe.” I touched his arm, hoping to distract him from all that negativity. “You’re right to be so excited about the house. It’s awesome. Fixing it up will be so much fun. Of course, you’re going to need a better paying job than the one you’ve got, but there’s time. And there’s a lot you can do yourself.” I talked to distract him from the ghosts.
It seemed to work. “I didn’t check the ceiling for leaks, but I didn’t see any water damage. I was thinking I might pitch a tent in the living room. That would get me out of Marty’s hair.”
“No!” I blinked. Where had that come from? I took a deep breath to cool the mysterious panic I felt growing inside me. “I mean, there’s no electricity or running water. How will you shower, drink, poop?”
“There is that.”
“But a weekend campout might be fun.”
“Yeah.” He seemed to like that idea.
Since my parents were in bed when I finally got home, I didn’t get to fill them in. Monday morning was no better. At the Tagliaro house, we had breakfast in shifts except on Sunday. So both Mom and Dad had already left the house by the time I got downstairs.
I picked up Tyler, as usual, missing Brynn during the drive to school. She had such a sunny disposition, quite a contrast to Tyler’s, especially on Mondays, his least favorite day on the calendar. When we were almost there, his cell rang. He glanced at it and actually perked up, which piqued my curiosity.
“Hey.” Pause. “Almost there. Where will you be?” Pause. “Okay. See you in a few.” He ended the call with a half smile on his face.
“Was that a girl?” I asked.
“Maybe.”
“You mean you don’t know?”
“I mean I ain’t telling you.”
“Oh my God! You’ve got a girlfriend!”
“Shut up.”
That made me burst out laughing, which felt so good. Since I’d been wallowing in the paranormal all weekend, normalcy was definitely a relief. “What’s her name?”
“Shut up.”
“What does she look like?”
“Shut up.”
“What grade is she in?”
“Shut up.”
“Where’d you meet her?”
“I said—”
“‘Shut up.’ Yeah, I know.” I stole a peek at my rider and caught him grinning, which gave me the go ahead to keep teasing him. “So Tye-Tye’s got himself a girl. Well, it’s about dang time.”
“Shut. Up.”
The moment I pulled into the parking lot, Tyler bolted from the car. But I was just as quick, so I saw him jog over to a girl with a messy blond ponytail. Tall, lithe, with legs that went on forever, she greeted Tyler with a smile. He put his arm around her shoulders and quickly steered her toward the school.
Happy beyond belief for him, I watched until they went inside. And when Cooper walked up a few seconds later, I was still smiling.
“Hello, beautiful.” He gave me a quick kiss.
“Mmm.”
He sneaked in another. “You’re in a good mood.”
“You say that as if I’m usually not.”
“Sorry. It’s just after the weekend, I wasn’t sure you would be.”
Getting that, I nodded. “Since I truly believe that Detective Simms is now headed in the right direction and I will never, ever see another spirit that’s lost in space, I’m feeling pretty dang happy.”
“Good.”
We parted ways shortly after since we had no classes together, but I saw him at lunch and then after school, when I mentioned a last lingering worry. “Have you told your mom about the land?” We stood by my car in the parking lot.
“No.”
“But you will. I mean, how can you not?”
He didn’t answer.
I straightened the collar on his maroon polo shirt. “You should probably do it face to face since letting Ruby into your life is a pretty big deal.”
“I don
’t know, Mia.”
“Just think about it, okay? I’ll go with you.”
Though he didn’t commit, I hoped I’d planted a seed of possibility that would grow into the right thing to do. But he never mentioned his mom or stepdad over the next two days, and I didn’t either, even though I wanted to.
Wednesday afternoon, I met with some of Mom’s friends who all wanted readings. I’d done this a couple of times before but not recently, fun experiences I’d thoroughly enjoyed. When I got to Tagliaro’s, I found them waiting in one of the private dining areas—five women, all of them as sassy as my Italian mom. As we had before, they sat at a table while I stood at the end of it. I sipped a cold drink Mom had given me before I opened myself up to any spirits needing to make contact.
Immediately a big presence, male, clamored for attention. “Whoa! This guy is new and loud. Very loud.”
“Must be my Uncle Colin,” said Leta, Mom’s friend from way back. “He passed a month ago.”
“Did he smoke a cigar?” I asked.
“Yep. Stunk to high heaven.”
“Then this is him.” While they laughed, I waited for more. “He says to tell his sister that she should quit visiting dating sites online.”
“Mom’s trolling again? Just wait till I get home!”
There was more laughter as I moved on to the next spirit frantically waving at me. I shared information from the dead for over an hour, an experience that left me feeling exuberant instead of drained. It felt amazing to be enjoying my gifts, and I was surer than ever that I’d finished with the homicides.
One last spirit changed my mind. The deceased cousin of one of Mom’s friends, she gave me a couple of messages to pass along and then stepped aside, mentally speaking, and let another spirit move in. Asian, long dark hair, bruises. Yeah, the ghost I been so sure I’d never see again, piggybacking her way into my head.
“Mia?”
I startled. “Yes?”
“Everything okay?”
“Absolutely.” I smiled really big and focused on the woman now watching me rather warily. Clearly, she thought I’d seen something awful, which I had, but it didn’t have anything to do with her. So I improvised. “Your cousin loves that necklace you’re wearing.”
Visibly relaxing, the woman laughed. “She would. She gave it to me.”
The week rocked on. Not wanting to worry Cooper, I didn’t tell him that I’d seen another disturbing apparition, this one out of nowhere.
On Friday the school held a pep rally for Martinsburg’s last game, another out-of-towner. I cheered with everyone else as the coach handed out jackets to the guys who’d lettered, a tradition that was so Grease I couldn’t believe it.
But some traditions clearly stood the test of time, as proved when Brynn and I followed the crowd to the parking lot to see off the team. While the rest of the players piled onto the bus, Cooper managed to find me long enough to hand over the jacket.
“I’ll keep it safe for you,” I said.
“I want to you keep it, period.” Ignoring my sputtered protests, he gifted me a swift kiss and ran to the bus. Moments later it pulled out and students began dispersing. Brynn stayed by my side, however.
“That was so sweet.” She actually had tears in her eyes.
“I can’t believe I’m doing this,” I said, putting on the jacket. Was it too big? Of course. Did I mind? Not a bit. I could’ve been Sandy, head over heels for Danny Zuko. And what a feeling!
Though Bryn and I had discussed going to the game, we didn’t. A hundred miles was a lot for two teenage girls to travel late at night, especially when it might be raining and a ghost could run in front of the car. But I stayed awake until Cooper checked in around midnight. And since we talked too long, I didn’t go to sleep until the wee hours of the morning.
*
Chapter Twelve
I quickly became an idiot about that jacket, wearing it around the house on Saturday, much to my parents’ amusement. Who knew I could be such a girlie girl? Mom reminisced about her high school days and a boy who’d broken her heart. Unlike Cooper’s parents, mine had met in college. I’d been a late addition, one that came long after they’d given up on getting pregnant. That meant my parents were ten years, if not more, older than Cooper’s mom.
Promptly at seven that evening, I drove to Chick-fil-A for my guy’s dinner break. I ate with him this time. While we chewed, swallowed, and sipped, we talked.
“I’m going back to the farm tomorrow,” said Cooper. “Come with me? The weather should be perfect.”
I squelched my instant negativity. “Sure. You’re not going to pitch that tent, are you?”
He shrugged. “That’s still under consideration. Marty wants to see it, too, and so do Jenn and Joey.”
“Mind if I ask Brynn?”
“Not at all.”
“What about Tyler and his girlfriend?”
Cooper’s eyebrows shot up. “He’s got himself a girl?”
“Yeah, though he hasn’t been brave enough to introduce her yet.”
“Excellent.” He seemed unusually pleased. “Ask them all. We’ll have a picnic.”
If anything could erase lingering bad memories about that homestead, a picnic in the sun would surely do it. So I made a few calls, and by the time I left Cooper that night, we had an outing planned.
I stopped at the grocery store on the way home to pick up the things I’d promised to bring—hotdogs, buns, and Coke. Brynn promised to furnish baked beans and chips. Marty said he’d bring a chocolate cake that I felt sure his mom would be baking. Tyler volunteered more drinks plus all the paper products.
On Sunday, Cooper picked me up at nine, a couple of hours earlier than we’d told everyone else so we’d have some alone time. Or so he said. I wondered if he just wanted to be sure there were no spirits lurking. I know I did.
The house looked so different in the light of day. Though the paint was peeling, it wasn’t half as bad as I’d originally thought. Once we went in, the inside looked better, too, and I noticed Cooper inspecting the ceiling for dark spots that would indicate a leak. I could tell he loved that there weren’t any.
He went back to his truck and got a broom I hadn’t noticed from the bed. He also lifted out a box filled with all kinds of stuff—Windex, an all-purpose cleaning spray, rags, trash bags, a bucket with water in it. How all that water hadn’t sloshed out en route, I just didn’t know. We spent the next hour sweeping the living room floor and wiping down all surfaces in the kitchen. And while Cooper tackled the panes in the front windows, I picked up trash in that one nasty bedroom in back.
Something about that room gave me the creeps. Maybe it was the nature of the trash, I thought, eyeing the bag I’d filled with old newspapers, Styrofoam cups, and take out containers. I even saw a Spinelli’s pizza box, which made me wonder if a transient had been here at all. This indicated takeout since no one would deliver this far. Plus, Spinelli’s charged way too much for their food, which should’ve eliminated a homeless person. When my gaze landed on a condom I nearly freaked. I used the broom and dustpan to get rid of it.
What the heck had gone on in here?
We definitely needed to get that mattress out of the house, but I wasn’t going to touch it without wearing gloves. A little suspicious of all this cleaning, I casually made my way to the truck at one point to see if Cooper had tucked a tent in the bed, too. But there wasn’t one. When I returned to the house, he crooked a finger at me. I went straight to him, loving the way his strong arms felt wrapped around my body. Abandoning our chores, we kissed…as in a lot. I wished we were older and married, alone in a house that had been in his family for years.
By the time I heard the crunch of gravel that announced our fellow picnickers, half of the house looked pretty dang good inside and we’d both been thoroughly kissed. The porch was just as clean, since he’d swept it before we started making out.
Marty, Brynn, and the kids got out of the truck and joined us. I saw Brynn had a c
overed baking dish. Jenn carried a sack with chips in it. We took everything inside, and I gave them a tour. Since Cooper had opened all windows to air out the place, I could hear everything he and Marty said to each other. Their excitement was a palpable thing, especially to me. I loved listening to them bat around ideas about what could be done with the property.
When Tyler got there in his dad’s truck a short time later, Brynn and I darted out of the house to meet his woman. Model gorgeous, she waited until he opened her door to get out. That was eye opening to Brynn and me since he’d never done that for either of us.
First thing, I noticed that she stood just a forehead shorter than Tyler. She wore her honey-blond curls loose today, and they fell halfway down her back. I marveled that I hadn’t really noticed her at school, but with a senior class so large it probably wasn’t that weird. We undoubtedly passed in the hall on a daily basis, me slipping by without really seeing her for two reasons: my height and her gender.
“This is Heather McGee,” said Tyler, getting introductions out of the way. “Heather, meet Brynn Tucker and Mia Tagliaro. The rest of you know each other, right?”
“Yeah,” said Marty, who clearly did. “Didn’t know you guys were going out, though.”
She gave us a smile. “That’s because we just happened. Right, sweetie?” Heather blew him a kiss.
I nearly threw up in my mouth, but then I had on a letter jacket, so I could hardly judge her for being such a girl. When Brynn’s arm grazed mine, I could feel her silent laughter and deliberately stepped aside so I wouldn’t lose it. Seeing Tyler so attentive to any female gave me hope for things equally impossible: world peace, global cooling, cures for cancer and AIDS.
After everyone got a good look inside the house and barn, which felt absolutely benign, thank goodness, the guys made a fire in the backyard, using wood stacked on the porch. Sheltered from the rain and years dry, it soon blazed. I noticed that Cooper kept a constant eye on it, but didn’t worry. It had rained off and on all week. The damp ground would keep things safe enough.
Soon Cooper and I sat on the back steps to eat, balancing our paper plates. I couldn’t think of a time more perfect and loved everything from the bright blue sky and autumn trees to the sounds of rural Louisiana. I especially enjoyed the rustle of the wind that loosened leaves from their branches and showered us with color every few minutes. Jenn and Joey had a ball roasting marshmallows. We even made s’mores. And I think we all lingered there until three because everything felt so peaceful and perfect.