by Joy Elbel
Rachel got up, grabbed my hands and started jumping up and down like she just won the jackpot on a game show. “Because when the baby was born, he saw that she wasn’t his! He went into a fit of rage and choked the life right out of her.” She released her grip on me, wrapped her hands around her own neck and feigned strangulation.
“Great theory, but how would he know just by looking at her? And why would he be the devoted father to this bastard child?” She dropped the overdramatic death scene and the excitement drained from her face. It was like she spun the Wheel of Fortune one time too many and landed on bankrupt.
“I don’t know but I feel like we’re close. If we could just find the missing piece to this puzzle, I know we could solve it. Many people lived in this house, but the true owners—the people who truly loved it—were the Bakers. It has to go all the way back to the beginning.”
I knew she was right. With the séance incident aside, I felt like Rachel was the best person to help me with this. She loved mysteries—she said it herself countless times—and there wasn’t the constant tension between us like there was between Zach and me.
“What are you doing tomorrow?” I asked hoping she would say “nothing”. I got a better answer.
“I’m helping you solve this mystery!”
Time had gotten away from us, so we hurried back to my room so I could finish getting dressed. I was in my dress and waiting for the makeup artist to work her magic when Shelly came in.
“Ruby! Your hair! I can’t wait to see what you do with her makeup, Rachel. You have a real talent for this. I’ll be doing a lot of interviews once this last book hits the shelves—I may have to call on your services.”
Rachel beamed. “Really? Because I know exactly what I would do with your hair.” She took Shelly’s hair in her hand and started to manipulate it to her will.
“Don’t get too carried away—you need to finish me first!”
“Sorry! I just get excited!” Rachel dropped Shelly’s hair and picked up a makeup brush instead.
Shelly sat down to watch as Rachel worked on my face. When she was done, I looked like a different person. She kept it light across most of my face, but played up my eyes with every tool in her arsenal. I looked older, in a sophisticated yet sexy kind of way.
“Oh Ruby, wait until Zach sees you! You’ll take his breath away!” Shelly exclaimed. And that was the effect I was going for—twice. Once when he got his first look at me and again when he was done kissing me.
“What jewelry are you wearing?” Rachel asked while admiring the work she’d done on my face and hair.
All I really had was the necklace Zach gave me. I should have looked for a killer pair of earrings to match, but it was too late now. “I guess this is it,” I said as I held out the necklace for her to fasten in the back.
“I have the perfect pair of earrings you can borrow. Why don’t you come down to our room so I can find them for you? We’ll be right back Rachel.” Shelly said as she motioned for me to follow her.
I knew what was coming. We were going to talk. And not just about anything—we were going to have The Talk. Shelly was about to preach to me about abstinence. Funny, too, since Zach and I never even shared a real kiss.
We entered the room and she closed the door behind her. I was about to cut her off at the pass when she said something unexpected so I decided to hear her out.
“Ruby, I’m going to go out on a limb and assume you already know everything you need to know about sex. I remember what it was like when I was your age—everyone saying “you have to wait until you’re married”. We both know that’s a load of crap. What I’m going to say is, if you choose to do it, be safe. But don’t rush into anything and don’t be afraid to say no if you’re not ready for it. There’s something to be said for waiting—I wish I had. Zach’s a wonderful boy, I’m sure he’ll respect your decision.”
I usually got embarrassed when she tried to talk to me about this stuff, but this time I wasn’t because I felt like she really did understand what it was like to be seventeen and madly in love. So I decided to throw her a bone and actually talk to her about it.
“Thanks, Shelly. But we aren’t at that point in our relationship yet. We talked about it—briefly. I can guarantee you that it won’t happen tonight. Or any time soon.”
She smiled and pulled out the most awesome pair of ruby earrings I’d ever seen. “Just remember, if you ever want to talk about it, I’m here to listen. Now that that’s out of the way, let’s get back upstairs and get you into those shoes. Zach will be here soon.”
I was barely in my shoes when I heard the doorbell chime. The moment I waited so long for was finally here. By the time I made it down the steps, Zach would be waiting for me. I realized we forgot to turn out the lights in the ballroom so I ducked in quickly to flick the switches. Once I was in front of the mirrors, I couldn’t resist the urge to see how I would look on the dance floor. I gave one quick twirl and as I did I saw something strange. There wasn’t just one reflection of me in the mirror, there were two. For a split second, I thought it was an optical illusion of some sort—a trick of the lighting. But then I realized that I was wrong. I didn’t have two reflections. There was someone else in the room dancing with me. Someone who was only visible in the mirror. And I knew exactly who itwas.
30. So Close
It was just my luck. After days of fruitless research, I had to find the answer I was looking for only seconds before what promised to be the biggest date of my life. The only thing that should have been on my mind was the Norse god waiting for me downstairs. And to make matters worse, I promised him there would be no talk of ghosts for the entire night. Now I wasn’t so sure I could make good on that promise. As I passed the portrait on the landing of the stairs, I took a good long look. It was definitely the same face I saw in the mirror behind me. Scarlet Baker was the ghost in the ballroom.
I was positive that I wouldn’t be able to think of anything else the entire night. That is until I turned the corner and saw Zach waiting at the bottom of the stairs for me. Standing there in his tux, he would put any god—Norse or otherwise—to shame. But the thing that amazed me most was the look in his eyes when he saw me. Never once did Lee look at me that way. Suddenly, Scarlet was the last thing on my mind.
My walk down the stairs was like a scene from a movie. With each step, I willed myself not to stumble. But one after the other, my feet caught each step gracefully until I was finally at the bottom. Dad stood right beside Zach, and Shelly and Rachel huddled together behind them with cameras in hand but I barely noticed them. All I could see was Zach. All I cared about was Zach.
Everything that I found beautiful in him was intensified. His hair was just a hint blonder, his eyes a shade bluer. If seventeen looked this good on him, I definitely wanted to be there to see how eighteen looked. He took my hand in his and raised it to his lips. He kissed it lightly and gave me a wink.
“If I’d known how pretty you were going to look, I would’ve dressed up for the occasion,” he said as he tucked a rose bud into his pocket. He was so gorgeous that I started to re-think the answer I gave Shelly during our talk.
Out came the cameras. They took pictures of us in every combination possible. Me and Zach. Me and Dad. Me, Zach and Dad. The photo session was so lengthy, I was afraid we would miss the dinner altogether.
Shelly looked at the clock and realized that we needed to get going. “But not without one more picture—outside.”
Outside? Really? One more and that was all I would allow. I wanted to be alone with him and I wanted it now. Scratch that—I wanted it twenty minutes ago. He linked his arm around mine and opened the door for me. And then I saw why Shelly wanted to take one more photo outside. Water was spouting up over the rose garden. The fountain was fixed.
Zach grinned as he led me to its side. There wasn’t just water inside it now—there was also a circle of colored lights at the base casting a rose tinted hue throughout the water. It was the second mos
t beautiful thing I’d seen all night. Zach stood behind me and put his arms around my waist. Shelly and Rachel both snapped at least five shots each before they finally let us go.
As we walked to the car, Dad called after Zach. “Take care of my girl for me.”
Zach replied, “I’ll guard her with my life, sir.”
Little did my dad know how much I actually needed protection. Zach opened the door for me and waited patiently while I tucked every inch of fabric inside the car. It wasn’t until we were driving away from the mansion that I realized we were finally alone. And that I was one step closer to removing the only obstacle that stood in the way of our happiness.
Zach spoke first. “This is totally the best birthday ever. I didn’t want to say it in front of everybody else, but man you look sexy in that dress.”
I could feel my cheeks growing hot almost instantly. “And if anyone knows sexy, it’s you.” He looked like one of those hot male models you saw in cologne ads. And I didn’t even have to scratch a card to know how good he smelled.
“I hate to say it, but I don’t know if I can keep my hands off of you tonight.” He laughed. “Within reason, of course.”
“I know what you mean. I got the sex talk from Shelly tonight, so I guess we’re not the only ones thinking that.”
“Oh, that sucks. Did you get the ‘wait until you’re married speech’?”
“No, actually just the opposite. I got the ‘be safe’ speech. She was pretty cool about it, too.” We probably shouldn’t have been talking about sex on a night like this, but I couldn’t help it. It was definitely on my mind.
And on his too, obviously. “It’s probably a good thing that we have to keep our relationship more on the platonic side. Because if we didn’t have that holding us back….”
“I know. Trust me, I know.” We needed to stop torturing ourselves and change the subject.
I decided instead to ask him about the fountain. “So I take it you knew about the fountain way before I did.”
“Sure did. It was Shelly’s idea but she filled me in on the plan while you were modeling your dress for Rachel the other day.”
That totally explained the strange reactions I got when I caught them talking in the rose garden. “I had a dream about us kissing in the fountain. It’s the only good dream I’ve had since we moved here.”
“In the fountain, huh? We’ll have to try that out some day. I want to make all your dreams come true.” He quickly realized the ramifications of that statement and added, “Only the good ones, of course.”
“Of course.” And tonight was definitely one of them.
The dinner was everything I hoped it would be. The food was delicious and afterwards there was a DJ. It was what I imagined the prom would be—minus the catty teenage girls. There was only one couple our age there—Misty Landrum and the current quarterback for the Red Ravens, Kody Kirk. She spent half of the night trying to get Zach’s attention and the other half giving me the stink eye. If Kody actually cared about her, there probably would have been a big fight. But it was obvious that he was with her for one reason and one reason only because his eyes never went any further north than her cleavage. I thanked my lucky stars that Zach wasn’t that kind of guy.
Once the meal was finished, we went outside for some air. There was a gazebo adorned with flowers and a string of tiny lights. We were the only ones out there so when the music started, Zach asked me to dance. I mastered walking in those shoes but I was about to face the ultimate test. My mother was a dancer but I clearly earned my father’s genes in that department. I mentally ran through all of the potentially embarrassing scenarios as Zach placed one hand on my back and took my hand with the other. Here goes nothing.
And for once, my worry was for nothing. There was something magical in the way we moved together—like we responded to each other’s moves before we even made them. We glided effortlessly together, never once missing a beat. It didn’t matter what song was playing, we kept the same rhythm. We danced closely together and it was like we were the last two people on earth.
The DJ took a break but we didn’t separate even after the music stopped. I could feel the heat of his hand on my back and the warmth of his breath on my shoulder. The moment was perfect—it was time to give him his birthday kiss.
“Happy Birthday, Zach,” I said as he moved closer. But as our lips were about to touch, a scream rang through my ears followed by the sound of something large splashing into water. I jerked away from him, filled with terror. I was unconscious when our car hit the river but for the first time I wondered if Lee was awake when we made impact. Did he scream? Did he look death square in the eye? And then my current situation moved to the forefront of my mind. Oh my, what if Scarlet followed us here?!
I started to hyperventilate and fought to catch my breath, but it seemed that the harder I tried, the worse it got. My hearing was muffled, but I could see that Zach was doing his best to calm me down. He sat me down on a bench and rubbed my back. What could have been five seconds or five minutes later, Andy was in front of me thrusting a paper bag to my mouth and telling me to breathe into it.
Slowly my breathing returned to normal, but my heart continued to pound furiously in my chest. When I lowered the bag with trembling hands, Zach spoke.
“Are you okay?” he asked with frightened concern. His eyes were wide and I noticed he was shaking too.
“I’m…I’m fine,” I stammered.
“Oh thank God! You scared the hell out of me. What happened?” He put his arm around me and held me close.
I didn’t want to tell him the whole truth with Andy still there, so I glossed over the details. “I got scared when I heard the screaming. I don’t exactly know why.”
“Oh, that was just someone with a little too much champagne deciding to take a dip in the koi pond,” Andy explained.
Zach gave me a look that told me he was reading between the lines. He assured Andy that I was fine so that we could be alone.
Once Andy was back inside, Zach said, “Now tell me what really happened.”
“I don’t know for sure. It was a combination of things. The scream, the sound of water. I thought someone was drowning and it brought back memories of the accident. And the fact that it all happened just as we were about to kiss…well, it made me think about what Rita said to us about our chemistry being a source of energy. I guess I freaked out a little.” I hung my head and stared at my still trembling hands in my lap. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to ruin your night.”
“You didn’t ruin my night. I worry about you—and not without good cause.”
“I know but I think it’ll all be over soon, though.” Since the topic was already on the table, I told him about the image I saw of Scarlet Baker in the ballroom.
“That’s great! Not great that you saw another ghost, of course, but why didn’t you tell me sooner?”
“I wanted to, but we promised not to talk about it tonight.”
“I know, but this is big. Finally, we have something concrete.” He thought for a moment. “Do you think she’s the one that’s protecting you at night?”
I nodded my head, knowing he would be happy to know that it was Scarlet and not some random dead guy who held me when the nightmares came.
“We can get started first thing tomorrow morning. Now that we know for sure who one of them is, it should be easier to figure out the rest of the mystery.”
I felt bad saying it, but I had to break it to him that I wanted to investigate with Rachel instead. His excitement turned to disappointment and I felt like the worst girlfriend in the world.
“Just let me explain—it’s only because I think it’ll be easier with her. There won’t be any urge whatsoever to kiss her. Don’t get me wrong, I love Rachel, but not in that way.”
He was still obviously disappointed, but he seemed to understand. “Okay, but if you guys get into any kind of trouble, call me instantly. Got it?”
“Got it.” I hesitated. “Speaking
of kissing, where were we?” I wrapped my arm around his neck in preparation.
“No way! I saw how scared you were. I can’t bear to have that happen again. We need to listen to Rita on this one. Besides, we’re close to the end, I can feel it.” He untangled my arm and kissed my hand instead.
I knew he was right but it didn’t make the sting of rejection any less painful. Really, even Romeo and Juliet got to kiss before the end. I was just about to argue that point when I remembered how the play ended and I conceded. We went back inside and enjoyed the rest of the night as friends.
I woke up in a panic. I knew I’d had a nightmare, but for the first time since they started, I had no idea what it was about. That scared me more than anything I remembered about them so far. The room had to be freezing cold because I could see ice crystals forming on the inside of the window panes. A dark shadowy mass hovered near the ceiling above me. But something separated me from the chill, from the floating horror. A barrier of some sort was molded around me, shielding me in a bubble of warmth and protection. Thankfully, Coco lay snuggled close beside me, well within the confines of safety. I cuddled her close and lay there watching the darkness above me, torn between curiosity and fear. It didn’t have any discernible eyes, but it watched me nevertheless. I lay awake until I couldn’t fight the urge to sleep anymore.
31. Do You See What I See?
“So you saw her—really saw her—right there in the mirror behind you?” Rachel stood beside me as I pointed to the exact spot where Scarlet’s image appeared in the mirror behind me.
I nodded my head emphatically. “Right there,” I said pointing into the mirror. “Twirling around in a red dress. I thought it was me at first. Until I stopped and she didn’t.”
“I don’t know how you’re taking this so calmly. If I saw a ghost in my house, I would pee my pants. Literally.”
“So are you admitting that you peed yourself the night of the séance, then?” There was no resisting the urge to pick on her.