The Good, The Bad and The Ghostly ((Paranromal Western Romance))

by Keta Diablo

  Solitude was fine with him, in fact he craved it.

  He was in a perfect position to get married without anyone being the wiser but for Anna, he needed to make sure people noticed. Gauging by the way Anna filled out that butter yellow dress, notice wasn’t going to be a problem.

  She was a force of nature and he was more than a little attracted to her. The idea of her marrying a man twice her age, wasting her life taking care of an old man, made him a little sick to his stomach. He tried not to imagine her kissing an old man, pressing her beautiful body against someone old enough to be her father, but the images rolled through his mind anyway.

  Annabelle deserved better. Much better.

  She deserves someone like me.

  As soon as the thought shot through his brain, he reeled himself back. This was only an arrangement, a way to save Anna from an abusive father. It was the right thing to do. Nothing more. He was saving his sister by proxy.

  When the two of them entered The Lick Skillet, every person in the room stopped eating and turned toward the door. Filled mostly with miners who’d come into town to buy provisions, Anna was one of the few women in the place. They took a small table near the back.

  A woman in a stained apron took their orders and bustled back to the kitchen. "The food here is simple but it fills the stomach for just a few pennies," Cole said.

  "I like simple food. That’s what I was raised eating."

  "Do you miss Kentucky?"

  Anna sighed. "Sometimes I cry myself to sleep because I miss it so badly."

  "I know the feel—"

  "Why, Cole Swanson. Haven’t seen you in a coon’s age."

  He would’ve known that voice anywhere. Homer Washburn, a local miner and resident teller of tall tales. Every town seemed to have one and while Homer was mostly harmless, he was always on the lookout for a bride. Tall and thin, he reminded Cole of a corn stalk.

  Cole rose and extended his hand. "Nice to see you, Homer."

  But Homer wasn’t looking at him. His eyes were fixed on Anna. "Who’s the pretty lady?"

  Cole didn’t like the tone of his voice. "This is my wife, Anna."

  Homer whistled. "She’s mighty fine. Where did you get her?"

  Anna’s face flushed bright red and she bit down hard on her bottom lip. "Isn’t she beautiful? I was lucky the day I met her."

  "You show me to that catalog and I’ll place an order today!" Homer’s voice boomed and everyone in The Lick Skillet turned to look at their table.

  "Catalog? I didn’t—" Anna’s voice was high-pitched and Cole knew he had to stop her before her temper got the best of her. He rushed over and kissed her on the cheek, inhaling the lavender scent of her soap.

  "I got her from Halcyon Matrimonial Company. She was just as they described."

  Thankfully, the woman in the apron chose that moment to return to the table with two plates heaped with food.

  "Good to see you, Homer," Cole said in his most dismissive voice. "Don’t be a stranger." He sat back at the table and Homer wandered off to pester some other diners.

  Anna eyes were fixed on her plate.

  "I’m sorry. I hope I didn’t embarrass you."

  When she looked up at him, her face was still flushed. "I’m sorry." Her voice dropped to a whisper. "I almost ruined everything." She glanced around the room to make sure everyone had gone back to their meals. "That was a genius way to handle things."

  "I think the kiss fooled him."

  "It nearly fooled me." When she looked up at him through her eyelashes, he almost kissed her again.

  * * *

  He’d read everything he had in the office about hauntings and he still didn’t have a new plan on how to rid the place of that awful sound before the arrival of Preston Astonbury.

  The days were ticking by and he had to do something soon. If he lost his job, how could he continue to protect Anna?

  He pulled the letter he’d found at The Blade from the top drawer of his desk and reread it. He’d been trying to figure out what, if anything, it might have to do with the terrible sound he’d heard but there was no obvious connection.

  He was beginning to think, that if legitimate hauntings existed, this might be one. He’d combed his brain for alternate explanations and short of a cougar living in a hidden attic, he couldn’t find one. His notebook was full of observations he’d taken while looking around The Blade. Not one line seemed to relate to the haunting.

  "These dreams you have?"

  Annabelle looked over her shoulder at him and his heart skipped a little. "What about them?"

  "Can you control them at all?"

  "I’m not sure I understand. They started after I had scarlet fever and they’ve never stopped."

  "It’s every night?"

  "Pretty much, at least until I moved into the flat upstairs."

  "They stopped then?"

  "I still have them but they’re not as intense."

  Maybe the dreams had something to do with her father, the fear she felt living with him, but he knew better than to mention it. Anna, like so many of his clients, believed that what she dreamed was real. Experience told him that there would be no convincing her otherwise. "And you’re sure they’re real people?"

  Her eyes went wide and he saw what a burden it must be for her. "Yes. They are."

  "If you touched something that belonged to a person who was dead, would you know it, right?"

  She pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes. "I don’t know. I mean, I touch my mother’s ring and nothing happens but I already know she’s dead. On the other hand, the mirror Mrs. Wemberly gave me caused me to have that fainting spell."

  "Would you be willing to try it?"

  Her eyes widened and she feathered her fingers at the base of her neck. "I’d be a little scared to try."

  "Even if it meant helping me to solve a case?"

  Anna sighed deeply. Her eyelashes, long and silky, fluttered and she sat in the chair across from him. She looked up at him and he felt his heart pitter-patter. "If I was helping someone, I’d be willing to try if you’d be there with me."

  His chest swelled at the trust she had in him. "I would be there for every minute."

  She chewed her bottom lip and her eyes focused on the wall behind him. After standing and pacing back and forth a few times, she stopped in front of the desk. "Let’s try."

  He tucked the letter back into the envelope. "In the big case I’m working, I found this and I wondered if it might somehow be related to the haunting."

  "I thought you didn’t believe in hauntings."

  "I don’t but. . .." He didn’t know how to explain his reaction to the things going on at The Blade. "This case seems a little different, a little more nuanced."

  She grinned. "As in it might be an actual haunting?"

  "No, that’s not possible," he answered but his voice sounded thin and it wasn’t even convincing to him. "Are you ready?"

  After closing her eyes and taking a deep, cleansing breath, she nodded.

  He reached across the desk and handed her the envelope. As soon as her fingers touched it, her eyes went wide. She took a step backwards and her breathing became more of a pant.

  "Are you okay?" he asked.

  She didn’t answer. It was as if she was in some kind of trance, totally unaware of anything but whatever she was seeing in mind’s-eye. "Annabelle?" Still no answer. "Annabelle?" She was slipping farther and farther away and he had to do something.

  Fear rose up in the back of his throat and it tasted coppery and sour. He pushed the chair backward and stepped around the desk. "Annabelle?"

  Her body swayed from side to side and her hands shook. She held the letter tightly in both hands close to her body, near her heart. He placed his hand on her elbow and called out her name again. "Annabelle? Please answer me."

  When she didn’t, he wrapped his hands around her forearms and looked into her eyes. Still the green of cut emeralds, they were as distant as the moon. He knew he had to
do something but he had no idea what would pull her back to the present. Cole was so close to her that he could smell the intoxicating scent of her lavender soap. He wanted to pull her into his arms, place her head against his chest and hold her until this trance, or whatever it was, passed.

  He felt an incredibly strong urge to protect her. One he couldn’t fight.

  Cole took the letter from her and tossed it onto the desk. Then, he pulled her into his arms. Annabelle was trembling so he ran his hand along her back and whispered her name against her cheek. Seconds passed, then minutes. She fit perfectly against him, her tiny body folded into his perfectly. After a while, she began to take deeper breaths and he felt her heart beginning to slow.

  "Are you coming back to me?" he asked.

  She leaned back from his embrace, her eyes still wide, but this time for a different reason.

  "It happened again." Her voice was a small whisper.

  "I handed you the envelope and it was like it sent you into some sort of trance-like state, like the mirror."

  She bit her bottom lip. "I’m sorry." He noticed tears welling up in the corners of her eyes. Whatever she’d seen, it had been emotionally moving. "I just can’t seem to control it."

  "There’s nothing to be sorry for. I just want to know that you’ve recovered. I was worried." He should have never asked for her help. He’d seen what the mirror had done to her and he’d pressed her to hold the letter. His job was to protect her, not harm her.

  But as he looked into her eyes, the case at The Blade was the farthest thing from his mind. The smell of her wafted into his nose and all he could think about was the woman in his arms.

  Her lips were full and perfectly shaped. The pink shade he’d bought her highlighted her rosy complexion and made her even more kissable. A strong current he didn’t understand was pulling on him and before he realized what he was doing, his lips were on hers.

  She tasted like cinnamon, hot and sweet at the same time. Her soft lips pressed against his and he deepened the kiss. Annabelle locked her hands behind his neck and trailed her fingers through his hair. He loved the feel of her, the closeness of her, the way her body fit against his.

  He slid his tongue into her mouth and when she met it with her tongue, a blue-hot flame began to build deep inside him. He lightly nipped her bottom lip and when she moaned, he felt himself go hard.

  Annabelle might be his wife on paper, but she was young, innocent and he wasn’t going to take advantage of that. No matter how much he wanted to.

  Cole pulled away slowly, savoring the taste of her until they were two separate people again.

  Her large green eyes were locked with his. "That made it much better," she said in a hoarse whisper.

  * * *

  For the first time since she’d left Kentucky, Annabelle had felt safe.

  Not just safe. She’d felt beautiful and desired and like she might melt from the inside.

  Even though the vision she’d seen scared her more than any of the dreams she’d had in the last four years or the incident with the mirror, Cole’s arms around her made her feel protected. Not alone.

  Safe. It was such a small word, but to her, it was one of the most important words in the whole English language.

  "I’m sorry," he said, breaking into her thoughts. "I shouldn’t have taken the liberty."

  The last thing she wanted him to do was apologize. "Please don’t say that." She trailed a finger along his lapel. "It helped."

  A mischievous smile spread across his lips. "Kissing helped?"

  Annabelle’s face flushed. "It did," she said, covering her mouth to hide the giggle that escaped.

  "You scared me." He took both her hands in his and squeezed them. His eyes locked with hers and a curious sizzle passed between them, heightening his attraction to her. "I didn’t know what to do."

  "I think you figured it out just fine." The delicious memory of his taste made her tingle. This close to him, she smelled the Bay Rum she’d only gotten a hint of earlier and it was making her head swim. "Next time you’ll know ahead of time."

  "Maybe there won’t be a next time."

  "That would be a shame." She’d never flirted with a man the way she was flirting with Cole. Annabelle had no idea what had possessed her to be so free with him but she couldn’t seem to stop herself. "If a husband had to apologize for kissing his wife."

  "Maybe next time I won’t wait for an excuse."

  He was flirting back. Not bad for her first day in Reno. Even though the vision had been scary, Cole was putting her at ease and for the first time since she’d been forced to leave Kentucky, she felt happy.

  "Why on earth would you?" She giggled and he laughed along with her.

  Cole pulled her close to him and kissed her lightly on the cheek. "I don’t know."

  After he held her for a few minutes, he asked, "Can you tell me what you saw?"

  Everything she’d seen while holding the letter came back to her in a rush, making her feel dizzy and disoriented all over again. Her mouth went dry and she swallowed hard. Cole noticed immediately. He guided her to the sofa. "Have a seat here and catch your breath." He left her only to fetch a glass of water. When he handed it to her, he touched her cheek with the tip of his index finger.

  She took a big sip of the water. She didn’t stop until the glass was empty.

  "More?" He asked.

  "No, thank you." She shook her head. "We have to help Julia. She won’t stop until we do." Now she understood why she’d felt so strange when she and Mr. Wemberly had passed The Blade on the way to his house. Julia was the woman in the green dress.

  "How did you know her name was Julia?"

  "She told me." It might sound crazy, but it was more real to her than the sound of the train whistle in the distance. "There’s a mirror we need to find."

  Cole’s face went ghostly pale. "What does it look like?" His voice was tightly controlled.

  "I’m not sure. In my dream, she was holding a silver hand mirror but I don’t know if that’s the right one."

  "How does this thing you’re doing work?"

  Annabelle wished she knew. Before she’d come to Reno, it had been dream after dream but it was quickly becoming something more, something deeper. And scarier. But now, she had a purpose. The idea that she might be able to help a lost soul like Julia drove her and she wanted to throw herself into the work. "I need to go to The Blade."

  Cole’s jaw dropped. "How did you know?"

  "Know what?"

  "That the envelope you held was associated with The Blade?"

  Annabelle remembered the feeling that had washed over her when she’d walked by The Blade with Mr. Wemberly. She’d been on the case well before she’d even set foot in Cole’s office. "I just know."

  His brown eyes were wide and he raised his eyebrows. "But I didn’t tell you. I specifically didn’t mention The Blade or Julia. On purpose."

  She wished she could explain it to him, to herself, but she couldn’t. Her ghosts were more mystery than gift but if she could use them to get the money for her train ticket, she was willing to give it a try. "I wish I knew how it worked but I don’t. You’ll have to trust me."

  Judging by the deep exhale, it wasn’t easy for him to trust anyone, especially when it came to the paranormal. But after sizing her up again, he said, "I’ve got the key to the place but you need to rest first."

  "I’m fine. Fully recovered. One more glass of water and I’m ready."

  "I insist that you wait until morning."

  "But that’s hours away. It’s barely noon."

  "I insist," he repeated. His voice had a sharp edge to it and she knew better than to argue with him.

  * * *

  Even though he was under tremendous pressure to solve the case, he wasn’t going to do it at the expense of Anna’s wellbeing.

  Whatever she was experiencing with the dreams, the mirror and the letter he’d given her, was intense. He still didn’t believe it was entirely real, but she
did and her feelings mattered to him.

  He still had some time to solve the mystery and save his job and the Empire Extravaganza.

  Although the idea of going back East was very appealing, the idea of going back as a failure wasn’t. If he were honest with himself, the need to prove his father wrong and solving cases was the way to do that.

  He had to solve this one, like he’d solved the dozens before it and like he’d solve dozens more.

  But today, he had to look after Anna.

  Cole helped her upstairs to her room. After realizing that she had no kettle or tea, he walked to the general store and bought her an iron kettle, a mug and some loose tea. When he returned to her room, she’d fallen asleep on top of the quilt, her breathing soft and even.

  He sat down in a chair and picked up the mirror. After flipping it over in his hands several times, he found nothing unusual about it. It was engraved with the initials JMS but in a world where goods were bought, sold and resold, that didn’t necessarily mean anything. Starting at himself in the mirror, he looked the same as he had this morning when he’d shaved at Mrs. Stampley’s. There was nothing paranormal or haunted about the mirror.

  He didn’t know whether that was good or bad.

  Anna stirred in her sleep. She moaned and her eyelids fluttered. Cole walked to the side of the bed and placed his hand on her arm in an attempt to soothe her. Her eyes opened and for a moment, she didn’t seem to recognize him.

  "It’s me, Cole," he whispered.

  She smiled. "I’m glad you’re here."

  "More bad dreams?"

  After sitting up and stretching her arms, she replied, "Not this time. That’s an improvement."

  "I bought some tea things. Can I brew you a mug?"

  "That sounds grand."

  He ran downstairs to the well pump and filled the kettle with water. After starting a small fire in the pot-belly stove, he put the water on to boil.

  "Do you like to play cards?" Anna asked.

  "I’m not very good at card games."

  "All the better," she quipped. "Want to play a few hands while I rest?"

  "Why not?" He poured the boiling water over the tea ball and handed the mug to her.

  "This smells like heaven." She inhaled the steam and smiled. "Thank you for being so thoughtful."