by Jessica Beck
“Do they get the same percentage breakdown that I do?” I asked, curious about the odd terms of the agreement.
Lincoln frowned. “Not quite. They only have to pay you half the market value to buy out your share if they want you out.”
“There’s got to be a mistake there,” I said.
“No, Cora was most emphatic about how she wanted the document worded.”
“How would you know that? Did you draw the will up yourself?”
“I may have consulted with her about it,” he said, clearly hedging a little.
“Come on, spill. What was her rationale behind this oddball arrangement? Did she give you any idea what was on her mind?”
“I probably shouldn’t say anything, but it was Cora’s wish that you take over the shop in her absence. The salary is such that if you watch your money and don’t get too carried away with your spending, you’ll be able to afford to buy your partners out without too much difficulty. Cora had me set the document up so that the value of the business on paper will decrease over the next two years, while its actual value should grow. The arrangement will help you if you buy it outright, but in the same light, it will cost you a fair amount of cash if you decide to sell out. It was the best way she could think of to get you to stay.”
“Is that it, then? Have my other two partners signed it yet?”
“Hang on a second; there’s more that you don’t know yet. While it is true they have lesser stakes in the business, they are not allowed on the premises while you are in charge. If either one of them come within one hundred yards of the shop, they automatically lose their share of the inheritance.”
I had to laugh. “Cora wasn’t a big fan of theirs, was she?”
“Evidently she owed their mother a rather large favor—that’s the only reason they’re in the will at all—but I gathered that she wasn’t fond of either one of them. You know Cora, though. She always said, ‘Debts are paid. No excuses.’”
“I know. I certainly heard it enough myself. At least no one will be looking over my shoulder if I decide to take over, which I’m not. Is there anything else I need to know?”
“You may choose two items in the shop, regardless of their market value, for yourself. That applies whether you take the deal or not.”
That caught me off guard. “You’re kidding, right?”
“Lawyers don’t kid, at least not about things like this. I’m supposed to go with you, record what you take, and then have you sign these papers.” He glanced at me, and then added, “Or refuse them. It’s your choice. Are you ready to go?”
I had just had a ghost cat show up suddenly in my life, and I still had to do a world of grieving. The last thing I wanted to do was to return to the scene of the crime where I’d lost so much.
“I can’t do it, Lincoln,” I said, choking out the words through my sudden tears. “I don’t think I’ll ever be able to go back there.”
“I suppose that makes sense,”the attorney said sadly. “I’m just sorry that you’re going to miss out on this opportunity, not that anybody with a heart could blame you. I’ll take a rain check on that coffee, if you don’t mind.”
We stood, and as I led him back into the living room, I felt that brush against my bare leg again.
Still expecting Shadow, I was startled to see that it was Midnight again.
“Do you see that?” I asked Lincoln as I stared down at my ghost cat.
“See what?” he asked as he looked intently at my leg. “What happened? Did something bite you?”
Midnight shook his head in contempt, whether with me or the lawyer I couldn’t say, and I felt a chuckle die in my throat. Evidently, I was the only one who could see him.
For a split second, I’d forgotten that he was gone.
After he looked back at me one last time, Midnight did the most startling thing I’d seen, if I discounted his reappearance a few minutes earlier.
He walked through the front door as if it weren’t there, and I raced to open it after him.
I had to see where the rascal was going, though I had a sneaking suspicion that I already knew.
Chapter 2
“Where are you going?” Lincoln asked as he raced to catch up with me.
“I need some fresh air,” I said. “Would you care to join me?”
“If we’re not going to the shop, I’m sorry, but I’ve got a mountain of paperwork to do back at the office,” Lincoln said.
If my suspicion was correct—and knowing Midnight, it was going to be on the money—I needed Lincoln to get me in the front door of that shop, since Cora had been very protective of who had a key.
“I changed my mind. We’re going to Memories and Dreams, but I have to do it on foot. Come on, it’s not that far, and it’s not that chilly out, either.” Sure enough, we were heading down the sidewalk toward Cora’s shop. Midnight was leading me back to a place I didn’t want to go, but there had to be a reason for it. Was he trying to tell me that he needed me to see where he’d ultimately lost the battle of his life, no matter how valiantly he’d fought? Or was there some deeper and darker purpose to the visit? Was there something there that had to be done, a wrong corrected, before he could move on to a happier place? And did I fit into his grand scheme somehow?
No matter what the reason, I had no choice. As much as I hated the idea of going back into the shop, I couldn’t stand the thought that I might be letting down one of the best friends I ever had as he was making his last request of me.
The three of us got to the sidewalk in front of the building, and I saw that the police tape had been removed from the front door. If it bothered Midnight to be back there at the scene of his demise, he didn’t show it. He simply walked through the closed door of the shop, and without thinking it through, I reached for the doorknob and tried to follow him.
“Hang on. I’ve got the new key in here somewhere. The locks were changed earlier, according to Cora’s wishes.”
Lincoln was still fumbling around for the key when Midnight’s head popped through the door, looking for all the world like a trophy mounted on a wall. He gave me his best ‘impatient’ expression, and then he added a ‘mew’ that questioned my basic intelligence and my ability to understand and obey simple instructions.
“Take a chill pill, will you?” I said with a hint of aggravation in my voice.
Lincoln asked, “What are you talking about? I’m not upset about anything.”
“I wasn’t talking to you,” I said. Somehow it had just slipped out before the filter in my brain had a chance to stop it.
The lawyer stopped his quest for the key as he looked around. “Nobody else is around here, though.”
“The key, Counselor. Focus.”
He nodded, trying to hide the confusion I could see on his face, but I didn’t know what else to say that wouldn’t make it worse, so for a change of pace, I decided to keep my mouth shut.
Midnight watched us a few seconds longer, and then he must have grown bored with the proceedings. I saw his head duck back through the solid door, and I couldn’t wait to see what was so important on the other side.
Lincoln found the key at last, and turned it in the new lock.
As the door opened, I walked inside, scanning the room as I searched for Midnight.
Of course, he was nowhere in sight.
Lincoln glanced at his watch. “Do you have any idea what you might like to have for yourself? You get two choices, so I’d make them count, if I were you.”
“I’m not sure,” I said, pretending to study a few pieces as I searched for my cat. A sudden thought struck me, one that iced my veins. Was that why Midnight had come back from the Great Beyond, just to lead me to Memories and Dreams? Would I never see my old friend again now that I was where he wanted me to be?
“Merwerw.” I heard him scolding me before I saw him. He was b
atting away at an old wooden box, his paw going straight through it, nevertheless doing his best to draw my attention to it. I picked the box up, but it looked like a thousand other odd things Cora had collected over the years. I flipped it open and saw that the interior was lined with faded red velvet. Resting inside was a faded letter, but it was difficult to read. Was that what Midnight was trying to tell me? I started to tuck the letter into my pocket when Lincoln asked from just behind me, “That’s what you’re picking? Are you serious? I think you’re wasting one of your choices, Christy.”
I had no choice but to slip the letter back inside the box, and then hand it to him. “This is what I want.”
“I don’t get it,” Lincoln said as he studied the markings on the box.
“You wouldn’t understand. It has sentimental value,” I said, trying to come up with some reason for my seemingly irrational act.
“Fine, but I wouldn’t worry about emotions on your next pick. I understand that there are a few really valuable items here,” he said as he pointed toward our selection of antique furniture.
“They aren’t worth as much as you might think,” I said with a smile.
“What do you mean?”
“Quite a few of Cora’s antiques aren’t all that old. She has a man in Asheville who makes knockoffs for her.”
“Cora cheated her customers?” Lincoln looked quite surprised by the revelation. “I knew she liked to gossip, but I never dreamed that she misrepresented her offerings here.”
“Take it easy. Cora always told them what they were buying before she’d sell any of it. She prided herself on her integrity, and she would never do anything to jeopardize that. Cora figured that if her clients knew exactly what they were buying, what they did after that was their problem and not hers.”
“There’s got to be something else here you’d like,” Lincoln said. “What about a nice piece of jewelry?”
I looked around to see if Midnight was going to give me another hint about what to take, but he was gone.
I just hoped that it wasn’t for good.
Suddenly, I knew just what I wanted. I headed for the jewelry case and picked out a gold pendant that I’d had my eye on for months. It was the thickness of two quarters glued together, the rough size and shape of a domino, and to make it even better, a large “C” was engraved on its face. If I could have afforded it, I would have owned it the second I’d first seen it.
“This is what I want,” I said.
Lincoln nodded. “That looks like a fine choice.” He pulled the documents out of his bag, filled in a few blank areas, and then he had me sign where he indicated.
“Is there any chance that you’ve changed your mind about taking Cora’s deal?” he asked as I put the necklace around my neck.
“As a matter of fact, I have,” I said, clearly startling him by my sudden reversal. I figured that Midnight might not be done with the shop, and if I gave up my right to be there, I wouldn’t be able to follow his next lead.
“When can I get started?” I asked.
Lincoln glanced at his watch. “I believe it can wait until tomorrow for you to open back up to the public. In the meantime, here are both copies of your new key.”
The attorney handed them to me, and then he said, “If there’s anything I can do, and I mean anything, please let me know. You have a great many fans here; you know that, don’t you?”
“That’s nice of you to say.”
He wasn’t about to accept that, though. “Christy, I mean it. Don’t underestimate the power of your friends.”
“Thanks,” I said as I started to follow him out of the shop.
“Aren’t you staying behind to check on things inside?”
“No, I think I’ve done enough for one day, don’t you?”
“Absolutely,” he said.
After I locked the door behind us, he asked, “Can I walk you home?”
“Lincoln, your office is right down the street. It’s not on your way, and we both know it.”
“I don’t mind. I have time for a little detour,” Lincoln said.
“Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine.”
I said good-bye, and then I raced back toward the house. Was Midnight there waiting for me, or was he gone forever?
All I knew was that I couldn’t wait to find out.
Chapter 3
“There you are,” I heard Marybeth say as I walked back into the house we shared. By her own admission, my best friend was twenty-five pounds over her ideal weight. That being said, she also had wavy blonde hair and big blue eyes that made men fall madly in love with her at first sight, something I’d seen happen more than once myself. “I was about to call 911.”
“I was with Lincoln,” I said. “He came by the house, and then we went out.” As I spoke, I jammed the wooden box from Cora’s store deep into my pocket. I never would have chosen it myself, but Midnight had been so insistent that I hadn’t really had any choice. I’d had to force myself to hold off examining it again until I had some privacy, and now it appeared that I had a little longer to wait than I’d thought.
“Well, well,” she said with the hint of a smile. “What was he doing, giving you some grief counseling?”
“Really, Marybeth? Do you think that’s the least bit appropriate, given what’s happened lately?”
“I don’t know. I understand that a lot of people deal with grief by turning to someone close to them,” she said.
“You know me better than anybody in the world. Does it sound like something I might do in your wildest dreams?” I asked.
“No, of course not. I’m sorry; you know that I didn’t mean anything by it.” Marybeth took a deep breath, and then she asked, “If Lincoln wasn’t here to console you, then why were you together? I’m sure he didn’t come by to see me.”
“You never know. He might have been wanting to stoke up an old flame.”
“Trust me, that’s not even an issue. I’ve seen the way he looks at you,” she said with a knowing smile.
“How exactly is that?”
“Like a dog staring at a porterhouse steak,” Marybeth said.
I shook my head and laughed at the imagery. “You’re too much. You know that, don’t you?”
“Girl, you have no idea. So, if the barrister wasn’t here for romance, why was he here, and where did you go afterwards?”
“He had some papers for me to sign,” I admitted.
“Regarding?”
I really didn’t want to get into Cora’s will if I didn’t have to. “I could tell you that it’s none of your business, but it wouldn’t do me any good, would it?”
She laughed. “I suppose that you could try, but we both know that you’d just be wasting your breath.”
Marybeth was right. I decided then and there that my best course of action was a direct admission of everything—with the exception of Midnight’s reappearance—or I’d never get her off my back. “Cora left me the majority share of her business, with a few pretty big provisos.”
“That’s wonderful,” Marybeth said as she started to hug me. When I didn’t reciprocate, she pulled back. “What’s wrong?”
“Honestly, I’m not sure I can ever get over what happened at the shop.”
“But you’re still going to do it, aren’t you? You have to at least try, Christy.”
I studied her for a few seconds before I spoke. “Marybeth, you seem awfully eager to have me stay.”
“What can I say? I’ve grown accustomed to your constant snoring and your unpredictable hygiene habits.”
Since both those charges were grossly unfounded, I chose to ignore them. “You’re just afraid that you won’t be able to find anyone else who’s willing to live with you in this big old rambling house, aren’t you?” I asked.
“Guilty as charged,” she said with a grin. “What
should we do this evening? A celebration is probably out of order.”
“By a dozen degrees,” I said. “I’m going to take things day by day, and just do my best to get through them, at least at first.”
“That sounds like a good plan to me. In the meantime, I’m hungry. Are you ever going to get your appetite back?”
“As a matter of fact, I think I have,” I said, startled by my own admission. It could have been that part of my grief had run its course, but more likely, it was directly due to Midnight’s reappearance in my life. I knew that having his ghost around wasn’t going to be anywhere nearly as satisfying as having him with me when he was alive, but his presence meant a great deal to me, and if this was the only way I could have him now, then I was going to embrace it.
Midnight might be gone for the rest of the world, but for me, he was still there, still an important part of my life.
“Excellent,” Marybeth said as she rubbed her hands together. “Should we start with some weak broth, since it’s been so long since you’ve had any solid food?”
“I was thinking more along the lines of a loaded pizza,” I said. I wasn’t sure how much of it I could eat, but I had to at least start trying.
“Even better. I’ll grab a menu and my phone, and then I’ll call our order in.”
As Marybeth left the room to retrieve the take-out pizza menu, I quickly pulled out the box that had been burning a hole in my pocket. I cracked it open, not sure what I might find there.
To my surprise, it wasn’t a letter at all.
It was a poem, written in Cora’s sloppy handwriting.
The riches of the world are hidden away,
Masked in the Devil’s light.
A chest of fire burns deep within,