A Girl, a Guy, and a Ghost

by Patricia Mason

  He paused for a few thoughtful moments then continued. “A few years ago I decided to put away my, er, abilities. I stored them away as if I had put them in a safe, locked the door and threw the combination in a drawer. I ignored the safe. But then you came to town and now I’m going to try to open up the safe. It might be a little rusty. I might be a little rusty. But bear with me.”

  Giselle just nodded. She couldn’t completely take in what he’d said. Ry turned back to face the door. He stared at it without speaking. A few silent seconds stretched to a minute and then two.

  “Should I do anything?” Giselle started.

  “Shhhh,” Ry said.

  More silence.

  “If—”

  “Shhh. I’m trying to concentrate.”

  “But I thought we had to come here at midnight.”

  “Some people might. I don’t. Now just be quiet.”

  “Okay. Okay. No need to get testy.”

  After a few hours more of silence, only five minutes in real time, Ry reached into his pocket and drew out an object. Giselle saw a piece of chalk. He bent and drew a chalk circle around himself and Giselle.

  “What?”

  Ry looked up at her and placed is fingers to his lips. “Shhhhh.” Then he stood, took the ball from the lion’s mouth and rapped three times on the door. The sound of each knock could be heard echoing through the empty building.

  Giselle waited, her heart fluttering with nervous anticipation. She wiped her suddenly sweaty palms on the sides of her legs. If the door opened, a ghost would be on the other side. What would she do when she saw one? Would she scream? She hoped not. She didn’t want to embarrass Ry. No, she wouldn’t scream. She prided herself on being a professional ghosthunter after all. Steeling herself, she waited for the door to open.

  Nothing.

  “It’s not wor—” Giselle started, and found herself interrupted by the sound of footsteps inside. A rush of adrenaline speeded her heart to breakneck pace. The steps stopped at the door. She heard the lock on the door turn. Then the door inched open with a loud creak to reveal the dark cavernous interior of the building and a shadowed figure.

  “Ry, ma boy,” Giselle heard. “’Bout time ya came to see Ol’ Edward again.”

  “Edward?” Giselle heard her own voice as if it came from a distance.

  Edward came forward into the light. He smiled and his gold teeth gleamed.

  “Ah, Miss Giselle. I’s got a powerful relief those bad men didna do ya no harm. Come in. Come in,” he said, pulling the door wider to allow them entry.

  Ry ushered Giselle through the door and Edward closed it behind them. The interior of the house looked to be in surprisingly good condition with many of the original features. As they followed Edward from the hall into the parlor, Giselle could see that the heart pine floors were intact. So was the walnut mantle over the fireplace, the crown moldings and the ceiling medallions. However, every surface in the building appeared to be covered with dust or cobwebs or both. The place had obviously not been inhabited for years.

  Giselle looked on in confusion. Had Ry called Edward to meet them there? She liked the friendly old man, especially since he had saved her life. And she definitely owed him a thank you. But something was strange. Perhaps the lack of sleep had gotten to her.

  “What are you doing here, Edward?” Giselle couldn’t help but ask.

  Edward chuckled. “Why, miss, I’s been opening the door to this here house since the Colson family took me on as their butler.”

  “How many years ago was that, Edward?” Ry asked with a wry smile in Giselle’s direction.

  “I don rightly know.” Edward scratched his chin thoughtfully. “But seems like it was right about tha’ time ma sista had her firs chile. That woulda been eighteen seventy-three.”

  Giselle couldn’t believe her ears. Did he say? Na. “Oh, you mean nineteen seventy-three?”

  “Na, miss, it was eighteen seventy-three, I reckon.”

  Giselle’s jaw dropped. Literally. She saw Ry try to hide a smirk. Good. If he didn’t hide it well, she’d smack it off his face. He should be ashamed, trying to put something over on her like this. But worse than that, he had convinced Edward to pretend to be a ghost. The nerve.

  Sure, Giselle wanted to keep her job, but she wouldn’t pass off a fake to do it. Anyway it wouldn’t hurt to play along. See how far the two of them would go.

  “Oh right. Eighteen seventy-three. That is a long time. Why do you stay?”

  “Oh, I’s had many a chance ta move on. But I likes it here in Savannah. Why should I go any?” Then Edward slapped his forehead like he’d just remembered something. “I bet y’all didna come to see Ol’ Edward at all. I betcha I knows what y’all want to see.”

  Maybe she’d find a ghost here after all. Maybe Ry meant for Edward to show them the ghost.

  “You do?” she asked.

  “’Zactly so,” Edward said. “What y’all want is over here.” Edward ambled across the room to the corner. Giselle saw a large cardboard box there. She noticed something else too. Something odd. She saw no disturbance in the dust coating the floorboards Edward had walked across.

  Ry followed Edward to the box. Giselle saw that Ry’s booted feet made distinct marks.

  Ry looked down into the box. “Oh no.”

  “What is it?” Giselle hurried over and looked down into the box. Inside were three tiny puppies of indistinct breed. They were fast asleep and lying curled head to tail on a blanket. “They are so cute.” As Giselle spoke, one of the puppies—a cutie pie with black and white spots and long fluffy hair—opened its eyes a crack and then wider. It began barking, mewling really. Giselle just had to pick him up. The puppy’s enormous eyes were tinged with trust and adoration. A small pink tongue flicked out to kiss her fingertips.

  “Awwww. He likes me,” she said, looking up. Edward grinned at her.

  Giselle remembered that he’d wanted her to adopt one of his puppies all along. Well, she wasn’t about to be manipulated by someone pretending to be a ghost.

  “Here,” she said, thrusting the puppy at him. “You hold him.” She pushed the puppy into his chest. She should have encountered the firmness of a body, but she didn’t. The smile fell off Edward’s face and he looked sad and abashed.

  “I can’t, miss. That’s why I be needin’ someone ta adopt these poor mites. I can never give ’em what they be needin’.”

  Stunned to silence, an unusual happening, she gripped the puppy tightly and brought it back to her own arms. The pup nuzzled up her chest and into the crook of her neck.

  “But…but…I thought you sold gold teeth,” she said.

  “Heavens no, chile. I jes likes ta wear ’em.”

  Giselle had no idea how that worked. Probably the same way he wore clothes. She’d have to ask Ry later.

  “And I likes ta see other peoples wear ’em so I goes to tha shop.”

  She shook her head. Giselle couldn’t seem to clear her confused brain and think. “But you told me you didn’t know any ghosts.”

  “I don,” Edward replied with a confused expression.

  Leaning toward her, Ry whispered, “He doesn’t really understand what he is.”

  “I see,” she said. Giselle turned to Ry and he regarded her with a gravely serious expression. Unspoken words passed between them. Giselle turned back to Edward. “How long have you known Ry, Edward?”

  Edward grinned again. “I know’d Ry all his life. Ry’s, ma son.”

  “What?” Giselle said, startled. Ry nodded.

  “He’s not but he is, ya see?” Edward said.

  Giselle shook her head. She didn’t see at all.

  “Well, it’s powerful hard ta explain. Ya only gotta look into Ry’s eyes and ya can see ma own William look back. William, he passed on in eighteen ninty-nine, but then he don got hiself born again. So ma boy’s back.” Edward smiled broadly as his chest puffed out with pride.

  Ry smiled at him in return.

  “Does
that mean his mother is somehow related to you too?” Giselle asked tentatively. But not tentative enough. It raised serious hackles.

  “It does not. I’s got nothing ta do with that woman and never will have if I got anything ta do wit it. I only spoke to her last night because you was in trouble, miss. An I ain’t wantin’ to repeat tha’ experience.”

  “My mother and Edward don’t get along. My mother liked to have Edward and me perform for her clients when I was a kid. I put a stop to it when I turned fifteen. I didn’t want to be used like that. It was degrading. And I certainly didn’t want to have Edward subjected to it.” The memory seemed to have a powerful effect on Ry’s emotions, but he forced himself to choke out the words. “I’m sorry I ever let her treat you like that, Edward,” he said.

  “It okay, boy.”

  “No it’s not. If she hadn’t done it, you might have been able to move on to the next life. Instead, she convinced you that you should stay here to look after me. That’s why I’ve stayed away so long. I wanted you to be free to go.” Ry’s head bowed and Giselle could see a tear slip down his cheek.

  “That there’s the stupidest thin’ I ever did hear,” Edward said angrily. Suddenly the kindly old man took on the mantle of one seriously enraged father, chastising a misbehaving son. “You got nothing ta do with ma stayin’ here. I don already tol ya. I likes it here. I got no reason to go. And don’ ya dare tell me I’s not free ta stay here if’n I want ta?”

  “I didn’t mean it that way,” Ry sputtered.

  “Then that there is settled.” Edward clapped his hands together once in a loud crack. “Now y’all go home. You is both fallin’ down with tired.” Ry and Giselle nodded. “But don’ forget the puppies.”

  “By the look on Giselle’s face, I don’t think there’s any chance of that.” Ry chuckled.

  “An don’ you get into any more scrapes, Miss Giselle. Your grandma don’ like it.”

  “What?” Giselle said, eyes wide.

  “Naw. She say it getting too hard on her ta look afta’ ya when ya’s always gettin’ in trouble.”

  Giselle glanced around the room, half expecting to see her dead grandmother there. She didn’t. “Are you saying that you’ve met my grandmother, Edward?”

  “Yessum. She’s ’round ya from time ta time. She’s here now. And she’s lookin’ mighty fine.”

  “I can’t believe this,” Giselle said.

  “She say she loves ya.”

  Giselle frowned. “That doesn’t sound like my grandma.”

  “And she say if’n ya’d stop eatin’ so many dang cookies yor behind—’scuse me, miss, I’s quotin’ here—wouldna be so big.”

  “That’s my grandma.”

  Edward posed with Ry for photographs with a wide smile on his face. Even though she knew he didn’t have the substance of a corporeal body, it still surprised Giselle that the image on the digital readout of her camera merely showed a wisp of fog with vaguely discernable features in the place where Edward should have been.

  It was Monday afternoon at 3:36 p.m. Giselle had her ghost. But would she be able to write the article in time? She was very tired. Perhaps if she stopped for some cookies on the way to Ry’s house, they would fortify her. Never mind what Grandma said. Giselle knew her behind was not too big.

  Chapter Twenty

  It was Monday at 5:30 p.m. Giselle whistled as she strolled down Broughton Street toward Ry’s office. She had love and she had success. What more could a girl ask for?

  The Scooby Doo theme sang out. Giselle didn’t even look at the caller ID. Let it be Willie. What did she care?

  “This is Giselle, ghosthunter extraordinaire,” she trilled into the cell, still striding along.

  “Giselle? It’s me. Mary Ellen.” Her friend’s voice sounded strange. Giselle felt a wave of guilt. Wow. Giselle hadn’t remembered to call Mary Ellen to let her know everything had turned out okay…great really. Super great. Giselle was a bad friend. What was that? Like the fourth time this weekend?

  “Hey, M. I’m so sorry I didn’t call.”

  “I don’t care about that.”

  Giselle realized that her friend was crying. She stopped cold on the sidewalk. “Oh honey. What’s the matter?”

  “Mmmllfffwwaaarrr.”

  “What?”

  “My life is overrrrrrr.” Mary Ellen gulped. Then she sobbed out, “Dexter broke up with me this morninggggg. Aaaahhhh.” She cried harder now.

  “That creep. Why?”

  Her friend hicked a couple of times. “He said it’s all around townnn.” More hicking. “Everyone in Savannah is saying I used to be a mannnnn. That I had a sex change.”

  Omigod. Dammit.

  “They think I was a mannnn. Dexter says he can’t love anyone who used to be a mannnnn.” More sobbing. “How could such a rumor get started?”

  Giselle thought back to this morning and what she’d said to Lester. Double Dammit. “Honey, I have no idea.” Liar. “But I’m going to come over in a bit and I’m going to fix everything. Okay?”

  “O.” Hick. Hick. “Kay.” Hick.

  Giselle heard, “Oh Dexterrrrrrr,” and more sobbing as she snapped the phone shut. Giselle was a bad, bad, bad, bad friend. No. No. Somehow she’d fix it later. Crap, somehow she’d have to explain and make all this up to Mary Ellen. She’d be a good friend from now on.

  A few minutes later, Giselle ran up the narrow steps to Ry’s office, knocked once on the door and threw it open. She struck what she hoped was a sexy pose in the doorway, pulling up the hem of her skirt to show some upper thigh.

  “Hi, big boy,” Giselle said.

  Ry sat behind his desk with his laptop open in front of him. Glancing up, he smiled. “Hi there, gorgeous.”

  “You better not be looking at internet porn.” She giggled and came around the desk, peering down at the monitor. “I would probably track the skank down and scratch out her eyes.”

  He turned toward her in the chair. “No porn. You’re as much action as a guy can handle in a twenty-four-hour period.” Ry put his hands on her hips and twisted her around then tugged Giselle down onto his lap.

  She straddled his hips, her knees on either side of his legs. Giselle felt his strong denim-covered thighs against her bare skin as her flouncy skirt rode up. She wiggled to get closer to him. His arousal nudged at the heart of her.

  “Oh. You are a big boy.” She wiggled again. The chair lurched dangerously but this time it didn’t fall over.

  Ry seemed unconcerned about whether the two of them would topple to the floor again. His wondrous green eyes looked into hers. Giselle dropped a quick kiss on his lips.

  “Your grandmother was so wrong about your behind.” Ry pinched her cheek, but not the one on her face. “I think it’s perfect, along with a couple of other body parts.” He ran his hands from her hips up her back and around to squeeze her breasts.

  “These are perfection.” One hand moved over her cleavage and down her shirt to fondle her.

  Giselle gasped. She would never get used to how fast this man could arouse her every nerve ending.

  “Nice to know I’m appreciated,” she murmured. “I can name at least one of your body parts I’m pretty darn happy with too.”

  “Believe me. I appreciate all of you.” His voice was velvet huskiness. “And I plan to appreciate you repeatedly.”

  Ry’s hand had twisted and caught in her hair, and as she moved, her fiery curls hugged his fingers.

  “I love you hair,” Ry said. “It’s so alive…like you. I almost expect it to burn me when I touch it.”

  “What do you mean I’m alive?” Giselle hoped it meant something about her being beautiful.

  The edge of his thumb caressed her cheekbone as he gazed at her. “I mean zany, funny.” He laughed. “You say and do the most unexpected things.”

  That didn’t sound anything like a compliment to her beauty.

  Her expression must have given away her displeasure because he hurriedly continued. “I’m no
t explaining very well… You just vibrate an energy. You’re…extraordinary.”

  She knew she was pouting but she couldn’t help it.

  “And extraordinarily good in bed,” he added.

  Just with him…but she wasn’t going to say that. Still nothing about her looks.

  “And beautiful,” he finally added.

  “Thanks for the afterthought.”

  Taking her by the shoulders, he gave her a little shake. “You’re beautiful and you should know it. But there are plenty of beauties out there. I have a feeling there’s just one Giselle.

  “Awwww. Thank you,” she said, pressing a quick kiss on his lips to hide the moistness in her eyes. “Give me your hand,” she said.

  “That sounds promising. What are you going to do with it?” Ry waggled his eyebrows suggestively as he held out his hand.

  “Not that.” Her lips quirked. Reaching around him to her purse on the desk where it had fallen, Giselle retrieved a thumb drive from inside and put it into his now-upturned palm.

  “What’s on this?”

  “The article. It’s done. But I haven’t filed it with the magazine and I’m not going to.” She took a nibble of Ry’s neck.

  He pulled her upright, a frown etching his face. “After all we’ve gone through?”

  Giselle framed Ry’s face with her hands. “I know how difficult it was for you to use your psychic abilities and contact Edward again. I know you did it for me. But if the article is published, it’ll all be so public. You’d hate it.”

  Ry opened his mouth to speak and Giselle put the fingers of her right hand to his lips. “Shhh. You know it’s true. I just can’t do it to you or to us. I can’t exploit what we feel for one another for the sake of a job. No job is worth that.”

  Taking Giselle’s hand away in his, he kissed the tips of her fingers one at a time. “Have I told you that you’re wonderful?”

  “Yes, but you can never say it too many times,” she teased.

  He turned the two of them in the chair and stuck the thumb drive into the USB port of the PC. Giselle watched in amazement as Ry uploaded the story and pictures and sent the package to Willie’s email address.