by Bobbi Holmes
“So Ian isn’t just make-believe—like the ocean and surfboard?” Lily asked.
“Wait a minute, are you trying to say Lily isn’t just part of my dream; she’ll remember this when she wakes up in the morning?” Ian asked.
Walt nodded at them both. “Exactly.”
The next moment there was a second surfboard. Walt no longer sat next to Lily. Instead, he sat on the second board, facing the pair. “This is much better.”
“So why are we out in the middle of the ocean?” Ian asked.
“Less distractions,” Walt explained.
“Unless another dolphin comes by,” Lily interjected. “The dolphin was real cool. Came right up to me.”
“I’m not sure I quite believe all this,” Ian muttered.
“That’s the problem with you, Ian, you find it impossible to believe anything!”
“I’m sorry, Lily. But whenever I’ve investigated a ghost story, they always came up empty.”
“Ian, do you love Lily?” Walt asked.
“Of course I love Lily,” Ian snapped.
“Then why did you make me leave?” Lily asked.
“I didn’t want to love someone who lied to me.”
Lily frowned. “You’re saying you love me, but you don’t want to?”
“I love you, Lily. I’m sorry for how I acted.” Ian started to say more and then paused. He glanced from Lily to Walt. After a moment he looked at Lily and said, “Maybe this is just a dream. Or maybe you’re really here. But it feels odd discussing this in front of—” Ian glanced at Walt “—him.”
“I’d be happy to leave and give you both privacy. But I suspect the moment I go, this combined dream hop will cease to exist.”
“Maybe we should discuss this when we’re actually awake,” Lily suggested.
“I don’t want to wait until the morning,” Ian said. “I don’t want us to be apart anymore.”
Lily smiled at Ian. “Well, if you want, we could both wake up, and I’ll come on over to your house and we can…umm…discuss this in private.”
“There is that little matter of Ian waking up,” Walt reminded her. “Even when the dream hop ends, Ian will still be asleep.”
“I can take care of that,” Lily said with a smile. “I still have Ian’s house key.”
THE BARK WOKE HIM. Abruptly sitting up in bed, Ian looked around his dark bedroom and rubbed his eyes.
“Damn, that was one strange dream.”
He heard Sadie bark again. She wasn’t in the bedroom. Dragging himself from the bed, wearing only boxers, he stumbled through the darkness, heading to the doorway, his bedroom night-light lighting the way.
He heard the dog bark again. It sounded as if she was in the entry hall. When he reached Sadie, he flipped on the overhead light. Sadie sat facing the front door. No longer barking, she whimpered excitedly, her tail wagging. Someone was outside the door. Whoever it was fiddled with the doorknob. It sounded like the intruder was attempting to open it.
In the next moment the door flew open, and Ian found himself staring at Lily—barefoot and wearing only her nightgown and a wide grin.
Holding up the house key for him to see, she announced, “I told you I still had your key!”
In that moment, Ian remembered. “The dream! It was real!”
“You really need to stop doubting things!”
Ian began to laugh, and then he pulled Lily into his arms.
DANIELLE FOUND Walt in the kitchen on Friday morning. “Have you seen Lily? She wasn’t in her bed, and I can’t find her anywhere. Her car is still outside and her cellphone is on her nightstand.”
“Is that a fact?” Walt smiled as he leisurely smoked his cigar.
“Where is she?”
Danielle had her answer when Lily and Ian came sailing through the kitchen door the next moment, Sadie trailing behind them, her tail wagging. Lily was still barefoot, wearing her nightgown, while Ian had since slipped on a pair of sweatpants and a T-shirt. By their smiles and the way they held hands, Danielle had no doubt they had worked out their problems.
“Glad to see you two together,” Danielle greeted them.
“We’re getting married!” Lily burst, swinging her left hand up so Danielle could see. Apparently Lily was not just wearing a nightgown. She also wore a diamond engagement ring.
THIRTY-TWO
“Good morning,” Adam Nichols cheerfully greeted his receptionist, Leslie, when he strode into the offices of Frederickport Vacation Properties on Friday morning. He carried two paper to-go sacks. One he dropped on Leslie’s desk.
Glancing down at the sack, she picked it up and started to open it. “What’s this?”
“I stopped by the drive-through on the way here and grabbed some breakfast burritos.” Adam flashed her a wink and then continued to his office.
“Gee, thanks, Adam,” Leslie said as she pulled the paper-wrapped burrito from the sack. She looked up to say something else to Adam, but he was gone, already in his office.
Twenty minutes later, Adam had already finished his breakfast burrito, skimmed the morning newspaper, and downed two cups of coffee when Leslie announced a Mr. Hollingsworth was here to see him.
“I wasn’t expecting you until tomorrow,” Adam said when Mr. Hollingsworth walked into his office a few minutes later. The two men shook hands and then each sat down, Adam behind his desk, and Mr. Hollingsworth in a chair facing it.
“Something came up at home, and I had to change my plans, but I didn’t want to put this off. So I decided to come early and was hoping we can get this thing wrapped up today. I need to get home tomorrow afternoon. I went ahead and booked a room at the Seahorse Motel for tonight.”
“I have a real estate class this afternoon. But I don’t see a problem wrapping this up before then. As long as we still agree on the price.” Adam glanced at the clock. “I’ll need to write up the contract—should take me no more than thirty minutes. After you sign it, I’ll need to get it over to my grandmother for her to sign. After that, I can drop the contract off at the title company and open escrow.”
“Do we have to sign at the same time?” Mr. Hollingsworth asked.
Adam shook his head. “No.”
“Good. I’d like to grab a bite to eat. I’m starved; I haven’t eaten today. And I need to check in to the motel. How about I go grab some food while you prepare the contract. I’ll swing back by here, sign it, and then go check in. After you get your grandmother’s signature, meet me at the motel. You can give me a copy of the signed contract then, and I’ll give you the deposit for escrow.”
“The renter has the house until the end of the month. But I don’t think it will be a problem getting the close of escrow for August first.” Adam glanced at his calendar and then looked back to Mr. Hollingsworth. “Make that the third. The first is a Saturday.”
WHEN JOANNE ARRIVED to work on Friday morning, she walked into the kitchen of Marlow House to find a barefoot Lily clad in a flimsy nightgown, excitedly chattering away to Danielle as Ian stood silently behind her, sporting a Cheshire Cat grin. She was about to ask what was going on when Lily turned quickly in her direction and announced her recent engagement and then promptly showed Joanne her diamond ring.
After admiring the ring, Joanne asked, “Have you set a date?”
“We haven’t gotten to that yet.” Holding her left hand with her right one, Lily glanced down at her sparkling diamond and smiled. “This all happened so fast!”
“I wonder if Joanne realizes those two were broken up?” Walt mused from where he sat at the kitchen table.
Danielle glanced to Walt and shrugged.
“Do you know if you’re going to have a big wedding?” Joanne asked. “Will it be here in Frederickport or back in California?”
Lily looked to Ian. “We haven’t really talked about it, but I’d like to have it here. What about you?”
“To be honest, I never imagined having it anywhere else but in Frederickport,” Ian told her.
“
As for it being big, I’d rather have a small wedding, just with close family and friends. What about you, Ian?”
Ian looked Lily up and down and grinned. “Maybe you should run up and get dressed, and I’ll take you out to breakfast, and we can work out the details.”
Unable to suppress her grin, Lily stood on her tiptoes, gave Ian a quick kiss and ran out of the room. Joanne left the kitchen shortly after Lily. She headed upstairs to prepare the rooms for the guests that would be arriving that afternoon.
Danielle suggested to Ian they all go to the parlor. He could wait for Lily there. They hadn’t yet started for the door leading to the hallway when Sadie abruptly ran out of the kitchen.
“Sadie!” Ian called.
“That’s okay, Ian. She just went to the parlor with Walt,” Danielle explained.
Standing in the middle of the kitchen, Ian shook his head. “Danielle, I’m trying to absorb all this.”
“I understand,” Danielle said kindly.
“Does Joanne know?” he asked.
“About Walt? No.”
“How can’t she? She’s worked in this house for years. Before you and Lily even arrived. Does she have any idea?”
“I doubt it. Of course, like everyone else, she smells Walt’s cigar. I suppose it’s possible she’s heard the same stories Kelly was talking about. But she hasn’t really talked to us about it.”
“She heard about the flying books,” Ian told her.
Danielle smiled. “Ironically, Walt wasn’t responsible for that.”
“He wasn’t?”
“No. That was another ghost,” Danielle said cheerfully.
Ian groaned.
“Come on. Let’s go to the parlor,” Danielle called back to Ian as she headed to the door.
The moment Ian entered the parlor, he sniffed the air. Looking around, he said, “Walt’s here, isn’t he?”
“Yes. He’s sitting over there.” Danielle pointed to what appeared to be an empty chair. Sadie was curled up on the floor next to it.
“This is all very surreal to me,” Ian muttered. His eyes on the chair, he hesitantly took a seat on the sofa. Sadie lifted her head, looked at Ian, and wagged her tail.
“As you can see, Walt and Sadie have become good friends.” Danielle took a seat on the sofa next to Ian.
Before Ian could respond, Sadie jumped up, barked, and ran from the room. The next moment the doorbell rang.
Danielle stood up and glanced at the clock. “I don’t think it’s any of our guests. They aren’t due to arrive until after noon.” She left the room to answer the front door and, a few minutes later, returned with Chief MacDonald.
“I told the chief about you and Lily being engaged,” Danielle said after she walked into the room.
“Glad to see you two worked it out,” the chief said. “And congratulations.” The two men shook hands. When the chief was about to take Walt’s seat, Danielle informed him it was occupied. He took the one next to it.
“So you know too?” Ian asked the chief.
“I assume you mean about Walt?”
Ian nodded.
“Yes. I told you about my son Evan. He’s like Danielle. Walt and Evan have become good friends. I’m grateful for him and Danielle. They’ve helped him adjust to this—gift.”
“Gift or curse,” Danielle muttered.
“Lily said Chris and Heather have it too?” Ian asked.
Danielle nodded. “Chris is like me and Evan in that we’ve been seeing spirits for our entire lives. I’m fairly certain the first time for Heather was after she moved here. It was when I was trapped at Presley House. I know you heard Heather talk about the ghost of Presley House before, and we all discounted it as Heather’s overactive imagination. But it was real. Her sensitivity has increased. In fact, when she lived here, she never saw Walt. A glimpse or two, that was all. But now, she’s able to see and hear him, and she’s seen other spirits.”
“That’s one reason I’m here.” The chief spoke up.
“About Heather?” Danielle asked.
MacDonald shook his head. “No. Agatha Pine. Have you seen her again?”
“Agatha Pine?” Ian groaned.
“She’s been coming and going. I was rather hoping she’d move on after her funeral.”
Holding his baseball-style department hat in his hands, he fiddled with it as he asked, “If you see her, I was hoping you could get her to tell you who helped her up the stairs.”
Ian groaned and slumped back on the sofa. “This can’t be happening. The police chief stops by Marlow House to talk to his informant? A medium who talks to the dead victims?”
The chief looked over to Ian and grinned. “Hey, Danielle is my number one informant.”
“Who all knows about this?” Ian asked. “Adam? Brian? I don’t think Joe does.”
“None of them,” Danielle said. “Actually, the only ones who know are you, Lily, and the chief.”
“How long has Lily known?” Ian asked.
“She found out right after Cheryl showed up. Cheryl told her I claimed to see ghosts when I was a kid. I’d never said anything about it to Lily before. In fact, since I was a kid and told my family with such disastrous results, I’d never told anyone else. But then when I got married, I told my husband.”
“Did he believe you right away?” Ian asked.
Danielle smiled. “To be honest, I don’t think he ever did. Well, at least not when he was alive.” Danielle chuckled.
“Did Lily believe you right away?” Ian asked.
“As a matter of fact, she did. I didn’t even have to have Walt do any of his tricks to convince her.”
“Tricks?” Walt scoffed. “Makes me sound like some carnival showman.”
Ian smiled. “Sounds like Lily.”
“I hope you mean that in a good way,” Danielle said.
“I do. Believe me, I do.” Ian sighed.
Ian looked at the chief. “When did you find out about Danielle?”
“It was a few months after she moved here. Danielle ran into my grandmother at the cemetery; they had a nice chat. After Danielle told me about it, I sort of figured it out.”
Ian frowned. “I don’t understand. What did a chat with your grandmother have to do with finding out about Danielle’s abilities?”
“My grandmother had been dead for about a year when this conversation took place.”
The answer left Ian momentarily speechless. After a moment, he blinked several times and then said, “Oh…well, I suppose having a son with the same ability, it wasn’t as shocking to you when you found out about Danielle.”
“I didn’t know about Evan at the time. However, I believe my grandmother had the same ability. When she was alive, she once told me she used to visit with my grandfather after he died. I never really believed her. But I do now. And if a gift like this can be passed on, I suspect Evan gets it from her.”
Ian shook his head. “Wow…”
The chief turned his attention to Danielle. “One more thing about Agatha. Remember all that money she was leaving her family?”
“Yeah, what about it?” Danielle asked.
“There ain’t none.”
“What do you mean? Did something happen to her fortune?” Danielle asked.
The chief shook his head. “She was never rich. All these years, she’s been conning her family. Making them believe that when granny finally kicks the bucket, they’ll get her money, so they better be nice or she’ll write them out of her will.”
Danielle cringed. “Well, if one of them was responsible for her falling down those stairs, I suppose her little con wasn’t such a great idea. So, it was a lie about her husband’s invention?”
The chief leaned back on the chair, resting his hat on one knee. “No, there was an invention, but it didn’t involve millions. Agatha owns some property in California, which she and her husband apparently purchased with a portion of the money from the patent he sold. The rest of the money is gone.”
“Land
in California can be worth a fortune. Maybe her money is just tied up in real estate?” Danielle suggested.
MacDonald shrugged. “According to the attorney, it might be worth fifty thousand. It’s undeveloped desert property.”
“Fifty thousand actually sounds like a lot for undeveloped desert property. California has a lot of that,” Ian noted.
“Apparently, so does Agatha,” the chief said.
THIRTY-THREE
Ian glanced at his watch as he and Lily crossed the street back to his house. They had left Sadie at Marlow House with Walt as they went to go get something to eat. “It’s a little late for breakfast. And I still need to change my clothes. Do you want an early lunch, late breakfast?”
“I don’t know. I suppose we can go somewhere that serves both and decide then.”
“Or maybe go to Pearl Cove for brunch,” Ian suggested.
“Pearl Cove?” Lily perked up.
“I think our new engagement deserves something special. And Pearl Cove was where we had our first official date.”
“I thought our first date was Pier Café after the water pipes broke.”
Ian laughed. “No, but that just made me think of something.”
Now on Ian’s side of the street, they made their way up the walk to Ian’s front door.
“What about?” Lily asked.
“In the beginning, I was the one with secrets, not telling you what I did for a living or about the story I was writing on Eva Thorndike. And after you learned the truth, you were the one with the secret.”
“We’ve come a long way in the last year.”
An hour later the two sat at a window booth in Pearl Cove, sipping mimosas, enjoying the ocean view.
“I was thinking…would you mind if we got married in Marlow House?” Lily asked.
“Marlow House? Really? I figured you’d want to do something like get married on the beach.”
“I want Walt to be there,” Lily said. “And that’s the only way he can.”
Ian frowned. “I don’t understand.”
“We haven’t really had a chance to have a long discussion about ghosts—I mean aside from the fact they do exist. Dani explains it like this. Spirits who haven’t moved on have the ability to harness their energy, which enables them to do things like move objects or interfere with electricity. But they’re limited on what they can do.”