by Krista Davis
Fischbein shoved hair out of his forehead with his palm in a nervous gesture. “Your reputation precedes you.” Even his Weimaraner backed away from Eva.
Eva cast a critical eye at the pudgy guy. “I imagine it does.” She turned to us again. “I love it when ghost hunters quiver in my presence.”
Uh-oh. Did I sense tension? “Hike is a terrific room, Mr. Fischbein, and we’re very happy that you brought your dog.” That worked out well. He must not have informed us that he was bringing a dog. No matter. Problem solved. Plus we had moved away from the argument about ghosts.
And then Casey returned and had to go and say, “It was definitely a ghost.”
Zelda, who fancied herself a pet psychic, whispered, “Bet she doesn’t believe in psychics, either.”
Oh no. Not what we needed right now.
“There’s nothing wrong with my hearing,” Eva announced. “But you are quite right. Psychics prey on those who haven’t the intelligence to know better. They’re nothing more than modern-day snake oil salesmen.” Eva gathered her cat into her arms.
Zelda stiffened. “Mrs. Mewer wants you to know that she’s afraid of the vultures.”
Eva glanced up at the antler chandelier before frowning at Zelda. “Which way is my room, please?”
Mrs. Mewer hunched her back and dug her claws into Eva’s unfortunate wool coat, ducking and twisting her head so she could keep an eye on the vulture decorations overhead.
I hoped Zelda and Casey wouldn’t high-five in front of Eva. I hurried to change the subject. “Would you like a GPS locating collar for Mrs. Mewer’s use during her stay?”
Eva pondered for a moment. “No. She’s very good at walking on a leash.”
I didn’t dare trust Zelda or Casey to show Eva to her room. They were bound to argue with her about ghosts and psychics.
“Would you keep an eye on Trixie?” I asked them.
I handed Eva her welcome packet. “This way, please.” I picked up her bags and led the way into the main part of the inn, past the large sitting room and the grand staircase. Someone had gone overboard with the decorations. A mummy stood guard on each side of the staircase. Candles flickered on assorted black iron stands, and a trio of faux, oversized black cats hissed at us.
I pointed at the busy tables in the dining area. “We serve breakfast, lunch, and afternoon tea, as well as light dishes by room service on request. There’s a menu in your room, and a cat menu for Mrs. Mewer. I believe Mr. Luciano has made special arrangements for most of your meals. Breakfast is here at the inn at your convenience, and there’s a welcome reception for you at five o’clock this afternoon in the Dogwood Room.” We walked through the library and into the newly built cat wing.
I unlocked the door and switched on the overhead light, gesturing for Eva to enter. If she was distressed by the conversation regarding her disbeliefs, she showed no sign of it, but I still debated apologizing for the staff. I probably should.
She lowered Mrs. Mewer to the bed and turned around in the center of the spacious guest room, taking it in with a dreamy expression. “This is lovely. Thank you for changing my room. I have no idea what the other room looks like, of course, but it couldn’t be any more perfect than this.”
Pink and red cabbage roses on a soft blue background graced the drapes and the goose-down comforter. The walls had been painted the palest blue and the wood floors had been whitewashed, a nice match with the white headboard, white tufted bench at the foot of the bed, and cozy white armchair near the fireplace. Over the top of the bed, in between paintings of cabbage roses, hung a framed quote in an artful gold script: “If man could be crossed with the cat it would improve the man, but it would deteriorate the cat.” ~Mark Twain.
An antique mahogany dressing table with a huge mirror and the delicate crystal chandelier that hung from the ceiling offered additional feminine touches.
Mrs. Mewer wasted no time in leaping to the catwalk that ran along the walls near the ceiling. She viewed us from above with haughty pleasure.
I strode over to the sliding glass doors and demonstrated how to lock the cat door to the porch. When I opened it, Mrs. Mewer zoomed through, evoking a cry of distress from Eva.
“She’s fine.” I unlatched the sliding glass door and walked out to the porch with Eva on my heels.
“It’s securely enclosed with cat-proof screening.”
Mrs. Mewer had already climbed to the highest point of the tree that had been installed inside the porch just for feline guests. She rested on a branch like a panther, purring so loud that we couldn’t mistake her contentment. A gentle wind blew, no doubt carrying the scents of squirrels and other woodland creatures.
“This is amazing. Luciano told me that the Sugar Maple Inn offered special quarters for cats, but I never imagined anything like this. Is there a litter box?”
“In the bathroom. And I must apologize for Casey and Zelda. I’m terribly sorry about their behavior.”
Eva shrugged. “I’m used to it. Three out of four Americans believe in ghosts or some sort of supernatural activity. To do otherwise would destroy their hope in an afterlife. It’s understandable that they wouldn’t want to give up that dream, hence the continuing search for evidence which does not exist.” She sighed. “I can’t complain. I’m augmenting my teaching income by proving it’s all nonsense. The believers keep me employed.”
“Thank you for being so understanding. Give me a call if there’s anything you need.” As I left the room, Eva was examining the contents of her gift basket. Mrs. Mewer would be thrilled with the locally made toys and treats, and after her less-than-welcome reception, Eva would probably enjoy the bottle of Fat Cat wine.
I hurried back to help Zelda and Casey, but when I rushed into the registration lobby I stopped short.
A perfectly round, white circle was traveling slowly across the wall.
Two
Trixie broke the hush by barking and chasing the orb, while Gingersnap and the Weimaraner pranced after her.
Someone whispered, “I’ve got it on my camera!”
Then it vanished.
“Too bad Miss Chevalier wasn’t here for that,” breathed Casey. “Amazing!”
“What happened?” I asked.
Zelda held up her plump hands and shook them nervously. “I never would have believed it if I hadn’t seen it myself. That thing entered the room and floated around.”
“That thing was a spirit. Probably the ghost of someone who died here at the inn.” The speaker hadn’t been there earlier. Straight coppery hair swung across her back when she scanned the ceiling as if she expected to see more ghosts. Pale skin peppered with freckles pulled tight across her high cheekbones. A lavender dress skimmed her boyish figure, ending in an asymmetrical hemline, cut high in the front but mid-calf in the back.
Felix Fischbein appeared skeptical. “I don’t know about that one. It could have been a reflection of something. The sun might have beamed on a shiny surface of some sort that bounced the light.”
The woman swung around and glowered at him. A fashionable necklace of teardrop-shaped lavender stones set in silver draped around her neck. Matching earrings dangled near her jaw. Anger edged her tone. “I don’t believe we’ve met. Mallory Gooley. Perhaps you’ve heard of me? I wrote Haunting Horrors of Wagtail.”
Felix blinked at her. “I thought Mark Belinski wrote that.”
It seemed he caught Mallory by surprise. “We worked on it together. I’m his girlfriend.”
Felix reached out his hand to her. “I . . . I’m Felix.” When she showed no sign of recognition, he added, “Mark’s college roommate?”
“Oh,” she said, clearly unimpressed and disappointed. “He’s here somewhere looking for you. Too bad he missed the orb.”
The orb appeared suddenly and then vanished? And my grandmother was absent? Hmm, I smelled a rat. A silver-haired one
with a German accent. I couldn’t help wondering if my grandmother and Mr. Luciano had cooked up the ghostly welcome.
Mallory kept her eyes trained on the walls.
In their rush to find their ghost hunting cameras and paraphernalia, the Apparition Apprehenders had strewn the contents of duffel bags, backpacks, and suitcases all over the floor. Trixie and the Weimaraner sniffed everything, their wagging tails showing how thrilled they were.
To my horror, Gingersnap had snagged something. She lay near the love seat and methodically nibbled the seam of a stuffed dinosaur. “No, Gingersnap!”
I rushed toward her intending to take it away, but that drew Trixie’s attention. When Gingersnap dropped the dinosaur, Trixie grabbed it and wildly shook her head left to right. Wads of white stuffing flew out like soft snowballs.
Gingersnap grabbed a part of the dinosaur that extruded from Trixie’s mouth and pulled, starting a game of tug-of-war.
I dared to grab the small exposed section of the dinosaur between their mouths. “Drop it!” I jerked it upward while they tugged sideways. They paid no attention. I tried again. “Drop it!”
Gingersnap reluctantly released her end, and I had a better grip on it than Trixie so I finally prevailed. I held up the dinosaur and said, “I’m so sorry! Whose is this?”
Felix flicked his hand as though it didn’t matter. “Mine. I, uh, brought it along for my dog.”
“We’ll replace it, of course. My apologies.” What a way to start their visit.
“That’s okay. I’m just glad my dog didn’t grab anybody’s shoes and chew on them. He’s forced me to be tidier at home. If my shoes aren’t in a closet, he thinks they’re fair game.”
Too late. The Weimaraner trotted by carrying a black sneaker in his mouth. I pointed at him. “Is that your dog?”
“Aww, Casper!” Felix snatched the shoe and held it up—one of the other guys claimed it.
Smiling brightly, I said, “Well, let’s get you all checked in, shall we? Felix? What is your dog’s name?”
He concentrated on Mallory while his buddies stuffed their belongings back into bags. “Hmm? Oh, Casper.”
I handed him a Sugar Maple Inn collar. “This is for Casper’s use during your stay. It has GPS in it so we can track Casper down if he should get loose.”
“Cool!” He snapped it onto Casper and removed the leash.
“This way, please.”
Felix looked at me for a moment, his eyebrows creating a deep furrow over his nose. “Holly . . . why does your name sound familiar? Oh!” He pulled a wrinkled letter from a pocket in his jacket. “Holly Miller?”
“Yes?” I felt apprehensive. There wasn’t a single good reason for him to have anything in his pocket with my name on it.
“A woman in Wagtail said you could show us the way to her house. A Birdie Dupuy?”
Zelda snickered.
My Aunt Birdie was a pill. My mother’s sister, she disapproved of everything. It was a good thing my grandmother had trained me from childhood to be nice to the guests. I might have had some choice words about Aunt Birdie. How could she have known I would be here when Felix arrived? I smiled sweetly. “Of course. I’ll give her a call and set something up.”
“Great. Just tell me when.”
I started up the stairs to his room. “Why are you going to see Birdie?”
“She wrote to me when she heard we were coming. She thinks she has ghosts in her house.”
“Most of the people in Wagtail think they’ve seen ghosts.”
“We find that a lot in old communities.”
I showed Felix and Casper to their room on the second floor of the main building. Each room had been furnished differently, and Hike was one of the most masculine, in browns and blues. It wasn’t as large as the newer rooms in the cat wing, but it ranked right up there for coziness. I swung open the door. “The stone fireplace dates back to the 1800s, when the inn was built as a country home.”
Felix nodded. “You must encounter a lot of ghosts here in the inn.”
“Actually, I haven’t.” I wasn’t going to insult him by saying I didn’t believe in ghosts. I quickly added, “But others have.” Or thought they had. Frankly, I agreed with Eva. But I had learned long ago not to spoil everyone else’s fun. Besides, it was Howloween, the time of year when it was fun to suspend disbelief and imagine ghosts and goblins prowled the world.
“Nice room. I like the plaids. They make me feel like I’m way out in the mountains on vacation, not working.” His expression soured. “The lights made from deer antlers are a little creepy, though.”
I got his meaning right away. “No deer were harmed. They shed them every year.”
“Oh! Good to know.” He tilted his head and considered them. “Now I kind of like them. Sort of a rustic elegance, and when you think about it, they’re recycled and good for the environment. It’s not as though I’m a vegetarian or anything, so I guess that makes me an awful hypocrite, but I’d hate to think they were killed for their antlers.” Felix brushed back his thick, wavy hair with his hand.
An eager man poked his head inside the open door. “Is that you, Felix?”
He startled me, not by showing up, but by his appearance. Intensely serious blue eyes dominated his face. Over each eye, the eyebrow ran straight across, barely hooking downward at the outer edges. Neatly cropped, dark blond hair framed his forehead, giving him a serious appearance. He hugged Felix in a fond, masculine manner, pounding softly on his back. Nearly a foot taller than Felix, he towered over him.
Felix grinned at his friend. “Mark, you old dog, I thought I’d have to find your house. Or are you staying at the inn with the rest of us?”
Mark laughed. “I was tempted. At my house there’s no maid service, and I have to do the cooking.”
A second man swung into the room. Average height with brown eyes, he wore a dark brown mustache. He might not have been tall or built like a Greek god but his square chin with a dimple in it was guaranteed to make women swoon. Vaguely reminiscent of a young James Garner, he lit up the room with an easy charm. “Let’s get this party started!”
Mark nodded. “Grayson, this is Felix, the guy I was telling you about. Grayson is our star. You probably know him from the reality TV show he was on.” He eyed me as though he had just noticed me. “I’m sorry. I don’t think we’ve met. Mark Belinski.”
“Holly Miller.”
“This must be Casper,” he said, bending to pet Casper and Trixie.
Grayson reached a hand toward me. “Your grandmother told me you were coming here to work with her. I think that’s so cool.”
“Thanks. You’ve been here a few days?” I asked.
“I came up early to help Mark get ready and take a little time to relax. I did some hiking. It’s a beautiful area.”
Felix gushed, “I can’t believe we’re here together.”
Mark opened his arms wide as if he were proud of himself. “You didn’t think Luciano put this group together by accident, did you? He came to me and asked for the best of the best.” He gestured toward the man with the mustache. “Grayson is our headliner. Brian and Eva should be good for some fireworks, and you and I are the brains.”
“I wouldn’t tell Brian that you set him up,” said Felix. “He’s still licking his wounds from his last encounter with Eva.”
I interrupted briefly to disengage myself. “Excuse me. Mr. Luciano has arranged for a welcome reception in the Dogwood Room at five o’clock. It’s down the grand staircase and to the left. Let me know if you need anything, Felix.”
Mark held out his hand to stop me. “Won’t you join us for a drink at the reception?”
“Thank you for the kind invitation. I might be there, but I’ll be working.”
“Stop coming on to her, you old wolf.” Felix laughed. “I just met Mallory downstairs. New girlfriend?”
Mark rolled his eyes. “Hey, I’m looking out for you, buddy. Otherwise the welcome reception will be borrr-ing.”
Trixie and I left, passing Casey, who was showing the remaining ghost hunters and crew to their rooms. We trotted down the back stairs into the newly built addition that housed the reception area.
Zelda grabbed my arm as soon as she saw me. “Is he cute or what?”
“Do you mean Mark or his buddy, Grayson?”
“Neither one. Mark is taken, and I remember all the scuttlebutt about Grayson from the TV show he was on.”
“What scuttlebutt?”
“Oh, Holly. Don’t you read the gossip magazines? One of the girls on the show accused Grayson of getting rough with her. It was a big scandal. I’m surprised that Mark invited him to join the Apparition Apprehenders.”
“You do know that those reality shows are fake, right? They probably did it for ratings.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure. But it’s Felix I’m after! He’s so adorable. I just want to cuddle up with him, like a puppy! Besides, Mark has a girlfriend. You saw Mallory. He’s a local celebrity of sorts because he wrote a book about Wagtail.”
“I thought you swore off men.”
“Felix isn’t like my good-for-nothing ex. Casey says he’s some kind of genius.” Zelda let out a squeal. “I’m so glad you’re back.” She hugged me and did a little dance, seemingly unable to stop grinning. “Welcome home, Holly.”
“Thanks.” I peered into my grandmother’s office behind the reception desk—our office now, I supposed. “Where is my grandmother?”
“Big session to replace the mayor,” said Zelda. “The village elders are meeting to appoint an interim mayor until they can hold an election. She should be back anytime now.”
“Did you get everyone else checked in okay?”
“No problems, but I was a little spooked by that ghost. I’m glad Casey’s working here tonight, and not me.”