“It has nothing to do with that, and I think you’re very smart,” she quickly replied. “I think you’re very nice. It has nothing to do with you, Chad. I just don’t go out with anyone.”
Chad appeared satisfied with her answer. He stayed until the last food item had been put away, and then he left. She’d had a feeling that he had a crush on her, but she never played to it.
All she really knew about him was that he worked for his mother, Sharon, at the grocery store and lived in a small apartment in the back of the store. He was a pleasant-looking man, but he was a bit slow.
Today had been the first time he’d actually asked her out. She hoped she hadn’t hurt his feelings by turning him down.
Dismissing those thoughts, she focused all her attention on pulling out the ingredients she needed to make Cajun skillet fillets. There was nothing better than beef fillets and shrimp paired with a special blend of blackening spices and lobster stock. She decided to cook a side of fresh asparagus in garlic and butter.
The only time she allowed any happiness to fill her heart, to seep into her soul, was when she cooked. All of her thoughts, all of her energy went into the food.
There were many times Sharon special-ordered items for her because the local store didn’t carry much in the way of specialty foods.
It didn’t take long for the kitchen to fill with a variety of wonderful scents. It brought back the times that Savannah’s mother had cooked delicious meals for the family. She was always experimenting and tweaking recipes and was responsible for Savannah’s love of cooking.
She cooked two steaks and a dozen shrimp, deciding that she’d eat the second portion the next night...the night she walked for the last time as Shelly’s ghost.
It was six o’clock and everything was ready for plating when the doorbell rang. She nearly jumped out of her skin. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d heard the chime indicating somebody was at the front door.
She looked out the peephole to see Josh on the front porch. Had he changed his mind about giving her tomorrow night? She opened the door, and he greeted her with the sexy smile that twisted her heart in an uncomfortable way.
“What a surprise,” she said as she opened the door to allow him inside.
“Since it was one of my nights off, I just thought I’d stop by and check in before tomorrow night,” he said. “Hmm, something smells terrific.”
“It’s dinner. I was just about to put it on a plate.”
“Smells like a lucky plate,” he replied.
She thought of the two steaks and the dozen shrimp. “Are you hungry? I have plenty if you’d like to join me.”
His eyes lit with pleasure. “I’d love to join you.”
As he followed her into the kitchen, she wondered what in the world had possessed her to invite him to dinner. She told herself the reason was that she had to play nice with him until after tomorrow night, and then she wouldn’t have to play with him at all.
She gestured him to a seat at the table as she moved to the cabinet to get down another plate. She didn’t know what to say. She’d forgotten how to make small talk. It was a surprising revelation.
“I assume you’ve had a quiet week,” he finally said, breaking what had grown into an awkward silence.
“I always have quiet weeks.” She filled two glasses with iced tea and added them and silverware to the table, then returned to the stove to put the food on the plates. “What about you?”
He leaned back in the chair, looking relaxed, as if he belonged there. “Let’s see. On Monday night I got a call of an intruder in the attic of Mildred Samps’s house. It turned out to be a raccoon that had gotten in through a hole in the eaves. I called out Chase Marshall from Fish and Game, and he managed to get the creature out.”
“Tell me more,” she said as she focused on plating the food in a visually pleasing way. She’d much rather listen to him talk than have to talk herself.
“On Tuesday night I was called out to Jimmy’s Place to break up a fight between two drunks.”
She glanced at him in surprise. “Jimmy doesn’t usually let things get out of control like that, and I still think of it as Bo’s Place.”
“Bo definitely had a flair for bringing in a crowd when he owned it. Jimmy doesn’t have Bo’s natural charisma. Anyway, that brings us to last night, when there were no calls and I just drove up and down the streets for hours. Working the night shift in this town isn’t all that challenging.”
“I’m sure there are times when a good deputy is necessary after dark. Isn’t that when bad things happen?” She delivered the plates to the table.
“Jeez, it all looks too pretty to eat. Do you cook like this every night?”
She sat at the table across from him and shook her head. “Usually just on my nights off.”
“That’s right. I just remembered that you went to culinary school in Jackson. Didn’t I hear somewhere that you were going to open a restaurant at one time?”
“That was another lifetime,” she replied. “Dig in while it’s warm.”
He cut into the steak and took a bite. “This is amazingly delicious. You should put opening that restaurant in this lifetime.”
She felt the warmth of a blush creep into her cheeks, along with a flush of pleasure that swept over her at his words, but it lasted only a moment. “I don’t have the passion I once had for cooking for other people.”
He popped a shrimp in his mouth and chased it with a drink of tea. He gazed at her curiously. “So, what do you have a passion for these days?”
“Keeping Shelly’s memory alive.” The one thing he was taking away from her. “Besides, as far as I’m concerned, passion is vastly overrated,” she added. “What about you? What do you feel passionate about?”
“My job, this town and the people I serve,” he answered easily.
“What about a girlfriend?” She was just curious. She certainly didn’t care one way or the other whether he had a girlfriend or not.
“Nobody special. Although I’m ready to find the woman who will be by my side for the rest of my life, the woman who will give me some kids, and we’ll all live happily ever after.” He laughed. “I sound like a woman whose biological clock is ticking.”
His words brought a smile to Savannah’s lips. “You sound like a man ready to move into a new phase of life.”
He stared at her. “You should do that more often. I’d forgotten how you look when you smile.”
“Eat your dinner,” she replied as a new warmth filled her. She was ready for him to leave. He confused her. He made her feel uncomfortable. He had no place at her table, and she had been impulsive in inviting him in.
He seemed attuned to her discomfort. He ate quickly and didn’t ask her any more questions but rather kept up an easy monologue about his work, the new amusement park and the changes that were already happening in the town.
When they’d finished eating, she insisted he not help with the cleanup but instead hurried him toward the front door. “Thanks for the unexpected meal,” he said. His eyes had gone dark blue like deep, unfathomable waters.
“No problem,” she replied. Away from the kitchen with all its cooking scents, she could smell his cologne and remembered the brief moment of being held in his arms while she wept in the tunnel.
“Then we’re still on for tomorrow night?” he asked.
“Definitely. We’ll meet at the bush in the backyard at around eleven thirty or so tomorrow night.”
“Then I’ll see you tomorrow night.”
She breathed a sigh of relief as she closed and locked the door behind him. She sank into a nearby chair, the scent of him still filling her head.
There had been a time when she’d been certain he was going to ask her out, and there had been a time when she’d desperately hoped he would. He’d been the one man in town who had managed to quicken her heartbeat at the mere sight of him.
They had flirted outrageously with each other whenever they were togethe
r in a group. Shelly had teased her unmercifully about her crush on Josh.
But that had been before life had kicked her so hard she didn’t want to play anymore. She’d picked up her marbles and crawled into a cave where she felt safe and secure, a place where no more hurt could touch her again.
She got up from the chair and went back into the kitchen to clear the dishes from the table and clean up the rest of her cooking mess, dismissing any more thoughts of Josh.
She slept late the next morning, as was her custom with her night job, and spent most of the afternoon and evening restlessly pacing the floor, cleaning things that were already clean, both anticipating and dreading the night to come.
By eleven o’clock she was in the bathroom, using powder to whiten her face and already clad in her “ghost” costume for the last time.
Tonight she would hear Shelly’s name shouted, and after tonight she didn’t know if she would ever hear anyone speak of her sister again. It was as if Shelly was dying a second time, and this time it would be final.
By eleven thirty, she was at the bush, waiting for Josh to arrive. She couldn’t ignore the aching sadness in her heart and yet also knew that these Shelly walks were a part of her that wasn’t quite rational.
She waited impatiently, expecting Josh to show up any moment. But minutes passed, and when she’d waited fifteen minutes, she had to move. She’d warned him that if he wasn’t here on time, she’d go it alone, as she had so many times in the past year.
With a final glance around the backyard and no sign of Josh in sight, she slipped down the rabbit hole and turned on her penlight.
Everyone knew that Shelly’s “ghost” usually showed up on Friday nights around midnight. She couldn’t let down her “fans” by being late. She’d even heard from Chad one time that young teenagers planned slumber parties and included coming to watch for Shelly’s ghost as part of the night’s activities.
She moved through the tunnel more quickly than usual, all the while listening for the sound of Josh coming down to join her.
Tomorrow this place would probably be crawling with people. Experts of one sort or another would explore all the passageways, try to date the network, and eventually there might even be tours set up by the town, eager to make money off the unexpected find.
She reached the planks that would take her up, surprised that she’d heard nothing to indicate that Josh was somewhere behind her. He’d obviously been held up by something.
She went up the steps and crouched by the trunk of the tree. For a moment the only things she heard were the croak of frogs and the splash of water from the nearby lagoon.
Wouldn’t it be ironic if there was nobody hiding behind the bushes tonight, nobody to witness this final tribute to her dead sister? Then she heard them...the giggling and whispering of her audience. Thank goodness she wouldn’t make this last walk without anyone to watch.
When she thought it was just around midnight, she turned on the flashlight that gave her the otherworldly glow. She made her walk as cries of her sister’s name filled the air.
Shelly. Savannah missed her so badly. Without these walks, Shelly would eventually become completely irrelevant and forgotten. The fact ached in Savannah’s heart.
When she reached the other side, she turned off the light and hurried to the opening of the cave. She disappeared inside and leaned weakly against the earthen wall of the tunnel.
It was done. It was over. Now the memory of Shelly would remain only in her mind. Perhaps for several weeks, maybe even a month or so, teenagers would gather behind the bushes to see her “ghost,” but when no more appearances occurred, eventually they’d find something else to do on their Friday nights.
Turning on her penlight, she then began the trek back to where she’d begun. Weary sadness moved her feet slowly. Her parents rarely spoke to her. She had no relationship with Mac. Now her last link to Shelly had been broken.
She’d been alone for the past two years, but now she felt an emptiness, a depth of loneliness she’d never felt before. You’ll be fine, a little voice whispered in her head. And she would be okay. She still had her work at the inn and her nights of cooking, and that was all she really needed.
She had three more dark offshoot passageways to go by, and then she’d be home. As she started past the first one, a hand reached out and grabbed her by the arm.
She shrieked in shock and yanked backward. She crashed to the ground, the penlight falling just out of her reach. Panic and terror shot through her as somebody or something grabbed her by the foot and began to drag her into the dark tunnel.
She kicked and clawed the ground in an effort to get away, but whoever had her was strong, and she felt herself being slowly pulled into the blackness of the unknown corridor.
Chapter Four
“You both need to stop this cycle,” Josh said impatiently. He glared at the couple seated on a sagging sofa in one of the shanties that stood near the swamp on the west side of town.
Daisy Wilcox sported a split lip, and her husband, Judd, had scratch marks down his cheek. This wasn’t the first time Josh had been called here for a domestic situation.
“I should just take you both in, let you spend some time in jail,” Josh said, aware that time was ticking by and it was just a few minutes before he was supposed to meet Savannah in her backyard.
“It was just a little lover’s spat,” Daisy protested and grabbed Judd’s hand. “I overreacted and shouldn’t have called the sheriff’s office. We’re fine now. There’s no reason to arrest us.”
“Yeah, we’re cool,” Judd said and patted his wife’s ample thigh.
The small room reeked of alcohol and pot. Daisy’s words were slurred and Judd’s pupils were huge. Josh had cause to take them in, but they weren’t bad people. They were part of the poor of Lost Lagoon, swamp people who had little hope and tried to escape that hopelessness by masking their pain with whatever was available.
Besides, if he ran them in, there would be paperwork to fill out, processes that needed to be followed. It all took time, and he was aware of every minute that ticked by. In any case, each of them would refuse to press charges against the other, and it would all be a waste of time.
“If I’m called out here again tonight, then you’re both going to be arrested,” he warned them as he had a dozen times before. “Put the booze and whatever else you’re using away and stop this nonsense.”
“We will,” Daisy replied and leaned into her husband. She smiled up at Judd. “You know I love you, baby.”
Judd returned her smile. “Back at you, babe.”
Minutes later, as Josh drove to Savannah’s house, he thought about the couple he’d just left. About once a month one officer or another was called to the address to respond to a fight.
Usually by the time the officer got there, the fight was over and the two were lovebirds once again. Their injuries were usually superficial and always sported by both. Josh swore to himself that the next time he was called out there, he would make arrests and let the both of them cool their heels in jail and hopefully make them think about abuse and love. Some people just didn’t get it. Love wasn’t supposed to hurt.
His thoughts quickly shifted to Savannah as he looked at the clock on his dashboard and cursed inwardly. It was midnight. She was probably already making her ghostly walk.
By the time he parked in her driveway and ran to the backyard, he figured he might as well just wait. She should be coming back up at any moment.
Dammit, he’d wanted to take this final walk with her. Even though he thought what she was doing was more than a little bit crazy, he knew tonight’s walk would be emotionally difficult for her.
He’d wanted to be by her side. The darkness of her eyes and the obvious emptiness in her life haunted him. He felt partially responsible for how isolated she’d become, for the obvious grief that still ate at her.
He had so many memories of the laughing, flirting Savannah who had stirred his senses, a woman he’
d wanted desperately. He wanted to find that woman again, to help her heal not just for herself, but for him. Time hadn’t erased his desire for her.
Would things have been different for her if he’d pushed Sheriff Trey Walker in the investigation of Shelly’s murder? If the case had been closed and the killer was behind bars, would that have given Savannah the closure she needed to move forward in a meaningful way?
The problem was, she had nobody to offer her support and encouragement. Her parents had left town, and she apparently wasn’t close to her brother. Whatever friends she’d possessed had either drifted away or been shoved away by her, leaving her alone to cope...and she hadn’t coped.
Every muscle in his body stiffened as he thought he heard a faint cry coming from the hole in the ground. He turned on his flashlight and shone it down, seeing nothing but earth.
Had he heard her crying? Weeping because she knew this was the end of her walks? Should he go down and console her? Or let her cry in private? He had a feeling that if she was crying, she wouldn’t welcome his presence.
He heard her again, only this time instead of weeping, it sounded like a scream of terror. With his gun in one hand, his flashlight in the other and adrenaline pumping through his body, he dropped down into the hole.
The first thing he saw was the penlight beam, shining at him from the floor in the distance. What he didn’t see was any sign of Savannah.
“Savannah!” He yelled her name and it echoed in the air.
He quickly walked forward, his gun leading the way and his heart pounding a million beats a minute. Where was Savannah? Why was her flashlight on the ground? What in the hell was happening?
“Josh, help!” Her cry seemed to come from all sides of him. He moved faster, and when he came to the first entrance of an offshoot tunnel, he spun to shine his flashlight and gun down into the darkness.
“Savannah,” he shouted again.
“I’m here.” Her voice came again. He shone his light back up the main tunnel and saw her crawling out of one of the offshoot passageways ahead of him.
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