by Terri Reid
Chapter Ten
Mary pulled the Roadster into a parking spot at the clinic on Kiwanis Avenue. She smiled when she saw the Police Cruiser parked a little further away. He made it and early!
A few minutes later they were sitting in an exam room with her doctor, Kristine Kelnick, an OB/GYN who was about Mary’s age. She was also a marathon runner and it wasn’t unusual to have her running shoes peeking out beneath her surgical scrubs at the hospital. Mary liked her open and forthright manner, and the fact that while she was in medical school working the graveyard shift she had had her own personal encounter with a ghost. It made life so much easier when your doctor didn’t think you were nuts.
Dr. Kelnick pressed the screen on her tablet and accessed Mary’s files. “You were in the hospital again?” she asked, her left eyebrow lifting slightly as she looked over the file. “Abrasions, slight concussion, bruising and…well this is interesting.”
She looked at Mary over the tablet screen. “Did the hospital call you about any test results?” she asked.
Mary nodded and smiled. “Yes, the nurse called to tell me I was pregnant.”
“Well, congratulations,” Dr. Kelnick said. “And I’m assuming that’s why you brought your own personal body-guard with you today.”
“Exactly,” Mary said.
Dr. Kelnick put the tablet on the countertop and pulled up a chair next to the examination table. “Okay, well we can run another pregnancy test,” she said. “But I don’t really think that’s necessary at this point. It’s too early into the pregnancy to hear a heartbeat or even detect the baby with an ultrasound; we’ve got to wait at least another month for that. If something happened to the baby on Saturday, you would see signs, spotting or bleeding. Anything like that happening?”
“No, nothing like that,” Mary replied.
“Well, good,” the doctor said with a smile. “Then you’re still pregnant and there’s no reason to assume that there’s anything wrong.”
“You mean everything’s perfect with the baby?” Bradley asked.
“What I mean is, until this baby is a little older, we can’t get any reliable data,” she said. “So, instead of worrying and assuming the worst, you both need to be optimistic and enjoy this pregnancy. Fretting never helped anyone.”
“So, what should I be doing?” Mary asked.
Dr. Kelnick met Mary’s eyes and her eyebrow rose again. “You really need to stop getting into fights with serial killers,” she said. “Do you think you can manage that for nine months or so?”
Mary nodded. “I’ll leave all the serial killer fights to Bradley.”
“You need to eat a sensible diet,” she continued.
Mary sighed.
“What?” Dr. Kelnick asked.
“I had a call from Jodi at Union Dairy,” Mary confessed. “I was going to go over there after this appointment. I mean, it was a work call, but I thought since I was there…”
“I said sensible, not restricted,” the doctor said. “Ice cream, in moderation, is sensible.”
Mary grinned. “I can be sensible.”
“Exercise is important,” she added. “But don’t overdo it. Don’t decide you need a new exercise regime now. Take it easy and listen to your body.”
“I’m going to write you a prescription for prenatal vitamins,” she continued. “Are you already feeling nauseous in the morning?”
Nodding, Mary placed her hand over her stomach. “Yes, all through the morning and sometimes in the afternoon.”
“Well, these pills aren’t going to help,” she said with a smile. “If you can keep them down, great. But, don’t torture yourself. If all you can do for now is eat a balanced diet and perhaps take some of those gummy vitamins, that’s fine. At least those will stay in your body. But once the morning sickness ends, you need to take a prenatal vitamin every day.”
“Okay, I can do that,” Mary agreed. “Anything else?”
“Watch your carb intake,” she said. “I don’t mean you have to give up sugar, but gestational diabetes is not something we want to have to deal with. Once again, moderation is the key.”
She picked up her tablet and jotted down a few notes. Then she looked up at them. “I want to see you back here in four weeks,” she said. “In the meantime, just continue in your regular activities.” She glanced at Bradley. “Including all normal marital relations.”
Bradley nodded, but his cheeks were tinged with red.
“Call if you are concerned about anything,” she said to Mary and then she left the room.
“That was slightly awkward,” Bradley said once she was gone.
Laughing, Mary slid down from the table. “I don’t know if I’ve seen you blush before.”
“I didn’t blush,” he replied, standing up and putting his arms around her. “And I’m glad we can continue all our normal activities.”
Wrapping her arms around his neck, she reached up and kissed him. “Me too,” she murmured.
“So, shall we head home?” he asked, his arms loosely looped around her waist.
She paused for just a moment. “Well, I did want to stop by and see Jodi,” she said.
“Because of the case or because of the ice cream?” he asked.
Mary bit her lower lip and bent her head. “A little of both,” she admitted, and then she looked up at him. “Butter pecan sounds really good right now.”
Laughing, he gave her a quick kiss. “I’ll go pick Clarissa up at the Brennans and then start dinner,” he said. “Take your time at Jodi’s, but remember dinner will be ready when you get home, so…”
She nodded. “I know. Be sensible.”
“Um, no, I was going to say ‘bring some home,’” he said with a chuckle.
Chapter Eleven
The sky was beginning to darken when Mary parked her car in front of the ice cream parlor. The green neon lights that outlined the name of the store glowed in the early evening dusk. Even though it was early in the season, there were quite a few customers enjoying the fountain creations as Mary pushed open the glass door.
Glancing around, she saw Jodi behind the ice cream counter, scooping out a double scoop waffle cone. She headed over to the ice cream display to meet with Jodi and, if she was being honest with herself, to check out the newest flavors in the bins behind the glass window.
As soon as she walked over there, Jodi looked up from her scooping and nodded. “Hi Mary, thanks so much for coming by,” she said. “I’ll be with you in just a moment.”
“Take your time,” Mary insisted. “I’ll just decide on what I want to bring home while you wait on your other customers.”
She stepped closer to the display case to take a closer look at the choices and gasped in surprise when she got jostled in the side. She looked down to see a little boy standing next to her. “Sorry,” he whispered. “I didn’t mean to bump you.”
His little freckled face was pressed up against the glass and his hands were plastered on either side of his face, so he could get an even better view. Mary was startled when the customer beside her walked through the little boy to hand a cluster of bills to Jodi to pay for her ice cream. The boy grinned up at Mary and shook his head. “That didn’t hurt a bit,” he said with a wide smile.
She looked around, there were far too many people close by for her to carry on a conversation with him. She met his eyes and returned his wink. “How come you can see me?” he asked.
She shrugged and smiled; frustrated that she couldn’t talk to him without drawing attention to herself. Suddenly, a solution presented itself to her and she nearly slapped her forehead for not thinking of it sooner. She reached into her purse and pulled out her cell phone. Not dialing, she just held it to her ear and smiled down at the little boy. “Hi, I’m Mary O’Reilly,” she said. “What’s your name?”
“I’m Brandon,” he replied. “Do you like ice cream?”
“I love it,” she answered. “What’s your favorite?”
He looked back at the dozen
s of choices and shook his head. “All of them,” he finally said.
“Good answer,” she said. “Do you come here often?”
“All the time,” he said, and then he glanced quickly around. “Well, most afternoons when I’m not at the park or the library.”
“Are you looking for someone?” she asked.
“My mom,” he said with a soft sigh. “I’ve been looking for her for a long time and I just can’t find her.”
“Is that why you come here?” Mary asked. “To see if you can see her?”
Nodding, he looked around again. “We always came here together,” he said. “But I haven’t seen her for a long time.”
“Can I help you find her?” Mary asked.
He shifted his gaze away from her. “Well, I’m not really supposed to talk with strangers,” he said.
“You are exactly right,” she said. “Strangers can be very dangerous. But I do want to help you find her. Perhaps I can look and bring her back here, so you wouldn’t have to go anywhere with me.”
Smiling, he met her eyes. “I bet that would work just fine,” he said.
“Okay Brandon, I’ll find her for you,” she said. “In the meantime, now that we’ve met we aren’t really strangers. So, if you need me, all you have to do is think about me and I’ll be close by.”
A woman standing close by turned to look at her and sent her an alarmed look.
Oops! Mary thought.
“Yes,” she said aloud into the phone. “That’s exactly how the story went. Crazy right?”
Brandon giggled. But Mary could see it did the trick and the woman was relieved.
“You’re funny,” he said. “Do you help people a lot?”
Mary shrugged. “Well, if I can,” she said, lowering her voice. “And I especially like helping nice people who like ice cream. So, don’t worry. I’ll find your mom, okay?”
“Okay,” he said, nodding enthusiastically. “Thanks for helping me.”
“It’s my pleasure,” she said.
“Mary? Are you ready?” Jodi asked.
Mary glanced up at Jodi and took her phone away from her ear. “Sure, I just…” she turned and looked back, but Brandon was gone, so she quickly turned back. “I mean, sure, where do you want to meet?”
Mary followed Jodi back behind the counter and into a small office away from the restaurant. “Have a seat,” Jodi invited, gesturing to a metal folding chair. “Sorry it’s not fancy.”
Smiling, Mary shook her head. “No problem,” she said, settling into the chair. “So, what’s up?”
Seated on the other side of the desk, Jodi sat back in her chair and took a deep breath. “You know, if it was anyone but you, there would be no way I would say what I’m going to say,” she said. “But, I figured you’d understand and even be able to help me.” She paused for a moment. “And, of course, I want to pay you for your services.”
“Why don’t we worry about that later,” Mary suggested. “Tell me why you called me.”
“Well, I was working late in the office and I heard a noise out in the restaurant,” Jodi said. “I figured it was one of my employees that had left something and so I went to see. I didn’t bother turning on the light, because we have the streetlights and I didn’t want anyone to think we were still open. I stepped right outside the office door.”
Mary smiled inwardly, she was sure Jodi was going to tell her about Brandon and she would be able to tell her that she was already working on the case. She folded her arms happily across her chest. Finally, a mystery she had a jump on.
“…the woman,” Jodi said.
Shaking her head and regretting her moment of woolgathering, she lifted her hand to stop Jodi. “I’m sorry, what did you say?”
“I said, that’s when I saw the woman,” Jodi repeated. “She was walking near the front counter and then she sat down on one of the stools. At first I was a little angry, you know, what the hell was someone doing in the restaurant at this hour? Which employee didn’t lock the door behind them? But then…”
Jodi paused for a moment, stared at the office door and took a deep breath. “So, I stepped forward and immediately I felt the hairs standing up on the back of my neck. Like I knew intuitively something was wrong. I froze and looked at the woman again and I realized I could see through her, to the window behind her. Even before I could react, she looked at me, slowly shook her head and disappeared.”
Turning to Mary, she shook her head once again. “I can tell you, it really freaked me out,” she said. “But even more than being frightened, was the sense of sadness from her. When she looked at me, she seemed incredibly unhappy. I’ve heard… you know, small town, people talk…that you can somehow talk to ghosts.”
Mary nodded. “Yes, I can do that,” she replied.
“Could you…would you…talk to her and figure out what’s wrong?”
“Yes, I’ll be happy to do that,” Mary said. “Do you want to be here when I talk to her?”
Shaking her head quickly, Jodi opened a desk drawer and pulled out a set of keys. “No, I really don’t want to be here,” she admitted. “Sorry, but once was enough for me.”
Chuckling, Mary nodded. “I totally understand,” she said. “Most people feel that way.”
“So, what do I owe you for your services?” Jodi asked, pulling out a checkbook from the same drawer.
“How about a pint of butter pecan and a pint of Rocky Road?” Mary answered.
“Really? That’s all?” Jodi asked.
“Well, if it takes a lot of time, I might need some dark chocolate brownie chunk,” Mary added. “But we can discuss that later.”
Jodi stood up and gave Mary a quick hug. “Thank you,” she said. “I feel better already.”
Chapter Twelve
“Hello, I’m home,” Mary said as she opened the front door, juggling her purse, briefcase and three quarts of ice cream. Jodi had insisted on giving her a bonus.
“Hey, welcome home,” Bradley said, as he walked out of the kitchen, wiping his hand on a kitchen towel.
He bent over and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek and relieved her of the items in her arms. “How are you feeling?” he whispered.
“Starving,” she admitted and kissed him back. “I can’t believe I practiced enough restraint to not eat all the ice cream on the way home.”
“Jodi didn’t give you a spoon. Right?” he asked with a smile.
She chuckled. “Exactly.”
“Well, it’s a good thing she didn’t,” he replied. “Rosie decided she needed to make dinner for us today and left a casserole of scalloped potatoes and ham, along with fresh rolls and a salad.”
“Have I ever mentioned how much I love Rosie?” Mary asked, slipping off her coat and hanging it in the closet.
“She’s a sweetheart,” Bradley agreed, putting the items he had taken from Mary down on the table and then pulling her into his arms. “She also happened to mention that she owed you a favor for what you did for her this afternoon. Care to explain?”
“It was nothing, really,” she said. “Rosie has a piece of property listed in the country. It’s an adorable home on beautiful acreage, but people keep walking away. Rosie thought it might be haunted and people could feel it – so they walked away without placing an offer.”
“And?” he asked.
Shrugging, Mary sighed. “Well, she was right,” she said. “It looks like the former owner was murdered, but someone made it look like a farming accident.”
“Can I just say, in a very typical male over-protective way, that I’m really not crazy about you investigating a murder,” he said, pulling her close and laying his head on hers. “How about if you stop seeing ghosts for, say nine months or so, and instead do something safe and boring?”
Brandon’s face immediately came to mind and she shook her head. “Sorry, I just can’t,” she said, wrapping her arms around his waist. “But I will be very careful and if I feel threatened in any way, I’ll back off and call you.”<
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Kissing her forehead, he stepped back and met her eyes. “You know I want to wrap you up in bubble wrap for the next nine months,” he said.
“That’s really kinky, Police Chief Alden,” she replied with a quick smile. “But, you know, maybe later.”
Laughing, he shook his head. “You know that’s not what I meant,” he said, then he paused and his smile turned slightly wicked. “Although, now that you mention it…”
“Mary, you’re home,” Clarissa called from the staircase.
Slipping out of Bradley’s arms, she turned and looked across the room. Clarissa was hurrying down the stairs, with Mike close behind. “Mike helped me with my homework,” Clarissa said. “He’s real good at times tables.”
“So far, so good,” Mike replied. “I’ve remembered up through the sixes, I might have to start making stuff up when we hit the sevens and eights.”
Clarissa giggled. “I’ll just tell my teacher, my guardian angel said it was right.”
Mike shook his head. “Don’t do that,” he said with a fake shudder, “it will give the rest of the guardian angels a bad name.”
When Clarissa reached the final step, Mary was delighted when she ran to her and wrapped her arms around her. Mary enfolded her daughter in a warm hug. “Not only am I home,” she whispered into her ear. “I brought ice cream from Union Dairy. Rocky Road.”
“Really?” Clarissa asked, pulling slightly back with a wide smile on her face. “You’re the best!”
“So, how was school today?” Mary asked.
“It was a little weird,” Clarissa admitted. “I kept thinking a bad guy was going to come into my classroom and get me. And I was worried that Mike wouldn’t be there if he came.”
“Oh, sweetheart,” Mary said, her heart dropping. “I’m so sorry. That must have been so frightening for you.”
Nodding, Clarissa seemed to relax a little in Mary’s arms. “It was scary,” she admitted. “And even though I knew he was in jail, I had to keep looking at the door and the windows, just in case he got out.”