by Judith Post
“Ethel couldn’t.” Lindsay sank into a chair and motioned for Thea to do the same. “My mom and dad met when they were both young. They lived together for four years.”
“Les?” Thea asked, still struggling with the image. “He was so practical, so conservative.”
“He married Melissa, didn’t he?” Lindsay asked.
“Yes, but---“
“He didn’t like being alone,” Lindsay said. “And remember, he was young when he met my mom. I take it there was lots of love, but nothing much in common. They never got married. Finally, they decided it wasn’t going to work.”
“After they had two babies?” Thea asked.
Lindsay smiled. “Mom only told us about it when she knew she wasn’t going to make it. She wrote Dad, too. She said Lacey and I kept her and Dad together when they should have given up, but we made it fun, almost like playing house. Dad needed a clean break when they finally split, moved away and started over, but he sent Mom money once a month to raise us. We didn’t know anything about it until Mom died a year ago.”
Thea wasn’t sure what to say. Les with daughters. It had never occurred to her. “You’re saying ‘we’. Did you have a sister named Lacey?” Thea asked.
Lindsay went stiff. “I have a sister named Lacey,” she corrected.
Thea took a deep breath. “You don’t know me, and I’m not sure if you’ve heard about me. . . “
Lindsay interrupted. “You’re the town’s weaver. I’ve heard a lot about you. I’m not sure if I believe in any of it.”
“The thing is. . . “
Lindsay shook her head. “This is serious, I can tell. We can’t talk here. If Lacey’s gotten herself in some kind of trouble, I’d rather keep it private. She took off a while ago, ran away with a man. She never forgave Les for deserting us when we were babies.” She glanced at her watch. “Meet me at the big house at seven. We can talk then. I have to go. I have another tour in five minutes. Come tonight. I’ll be alone.”
Thea nodded. A lot of her questions had already been answered. Lindsay and Lacey were sisters. That meant that Lindsay was in some kind of danger. Apparently, danger that she knew nothing about. Lacey was trying to protect her. Could she convince Lindsay that her sister’s ghost was tortured and stuck here? That Lacey was worried about her? Thea would have to MAKE her believe. And would Lindsay know anything that could help set Lacey free? Keep your fingers crossed, Thea told herself on the drive home. Lindsay had to know something, and that something could lead to something else. One step at a time.
Chapter 58
Seven o’clock seemed an eternity away. Thea paced her studio restlessly until Gabe said, “Do you know what? I’ve missed the smell of cookies baking. How about some macaroons?”
She gave him a nasty look. “Can you even smell cookies?”
He shrugged. “I can smell them. That’s all. But you’re making yourself crazy. Me, too. Go cook.”
He was right. Whenever she was nervous or upset, she used cooking to ground herself. “Do you want me to bring you some?” she teased.
“A ghost has a hard time around here,” he complained.
But he was chuckling as she left.
Once she was in her kitchen, though, before she started baking, Thea sank onto one of the kitchen chairs. What did her mother used to tell her, that bad luck came in threes? Gabe was now a ghost, someone was sending Lacey to sabotage bookmarks in her studio, and she’d sent Josh away. She sat at the table a while, trying to gather her strength. Her mother used to quote another old saying, “God never sends you more than you can bear.” Was that true? Because she was beginning to feel pretty close to her breaking point. She decided to focus on the last saying that came to mind, “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.”
She had a table full of chocolate macaroons and was sandwiching them with filling when Rachel called to ask about the winery. When Thea told her about meeting Lindsay and that Les had two daughters, Rachel told Thea not to worry, that she’d keep Hannah as late as it took. “Just go visit Lindsay,” Rachel said. “Get some answers.”
This time, the winery was quiet when Thea drove down the winding path. Les’s house sat at the far side of the estate, separated from the white stucco building used for business by stately trees and flowering shrubs. More paths led to outbuildings scattered around the grounds for lawn equipment and supplies. Thea drove straight to the house, a huge Tudor with white stucco over heavy, dark timbers. Light spilled from the front windows, and when Thea walked to the door, it opened before she could knock.
“Hi, come in.” Lindsay wore tattered jeans and a T-shirt. Her short, sandy hair was scraped back behind her ears. “Are you hungry? I wasn’t sure if you’d have time for supper or not, so I grabbed some appetizers from the shop.” She led Thea to a small library. Stuffed mushrooms and cheese and crackers were arranged on a brightly decorated plate, and a bottle of wine was open beside two glasses.
Thea realized that she’d forgotten to eat supper, and she was hungry. “Thanks. Everything looks great.” She settled into a plush, wine-colored chair and reached for a mushroom cap while Lindsay poured glasses of cabernet. The room was warm and cozy, with oak paneling on the walls and an Oriental rug in front of the heavy oak desk. It was meant to create a warm ambience that would help a person relax. Neither Thea nor Lindsay were relaxed at the moment.
“So, do you have news of my sister?” Lindsay’s voice was tight. She was already dreading the worst.
“I’ve seen your sister’s ghost. She came to ask me for help.”
Lindsay handed Thea her wine and stood, hands on hips. “Somehow, you figured out that Les was my dad. He’s gone now, and you think I’m going to inherit some money. Did you come to hit me up for cash to pay for some sort of séance to give me news from the grave?”
“We’ve already done the séance--without you. I was hoping you’d have heard a little bit about me before I came,” Thea said.
“I have, and after your visit, I asked around. I’ve heard that you’re the weaver for this area. But I don’t believe in stuff like that. You’re trying to scam the wrong person.”
“I have enough money, so I don’t need any of yours. Something happened to your sister, something so unexpected that she was too surprised to go to the light. So she’s here. And she’s miserable. She came to me for help, but I don’t know how to free her. I was hoping you could give me some information, something I could use.”
Lindsay stared. “You came to me for information?”
“I weave bookmarks. I don’t rescue ghosts. I don’t know how to help Lacey.”
“Just because she’s not here doesn’t mean that she’s dead. She ran off, plain and simple. I get postcards from her once in a while.”
“You’ve had more than one?”
Lindsay’s eyes narrowed. “How did you know I got one?”
“This is a small town. News travels. How many have you gotten?”
“A few.”
Thea frowned. “Impossible. I’ve seen her.”
“Do you want me to show them to you?”
“Did you write her back? Call her?”
“She’s not staying in one place. She’s on the road.”
Thea sidestepped that problem. “Were you two close?”
“Yes.”
“Does she have anyone else?”
“Not since Mom died.”
“Would she just take off and not call? Was she mad at you when she left?”
“No. She was mad at Dad, but not me.”
“So why hasn’t she called?”
“I don’t know.”
“Yes, you do. Anyone can write a postcard and sign your sister’s name to it.”
Lindsay turned away and paced the floor. “You expect me to believe that Lacey came to visit you as a ghost. Why not me?”
Thea was quiet a minute, trying to word her answer correctly.
“Just flat out tell me. What is it?”
“It’s complicat
ed,” Thea said. “You’d have to understand a little bit about our family.”
“What else is there?” Lindsay said.
“Every Patek is born with a gift. I weave a person’s bookmark when his soul steps on the scale of life.”
“What does that have to do with ghosts?”
“Nothing, until now.”
“Which means?” Lindsay stopped pacing and stood before her.
“My daughter, Rachel, sees auras, and my niece, Hannah, can see and talk to ghosts.”
Lindsay went pale. “She’s the one who saw Lacey?”
“No, Lacey came to both of us. She was desperate.”
“And why is that?”
“Look, I’m trying to be nice about this,” Thea finally blurted, “but there’s no easy way to tell you. I weave the bookmarks in a special studio that’s guarded so that no one can get in and tamper with them, no mortal, at least.”
Lindsay’s brows furrowed into an angry scowl.
“Your sister’s ghost can drift through walls. She’s pulled the threads loose from three bookmarks, and three people have died. My ex-husband was one of them. Sheila Grayson was the second, and Les was the third.”
“Bullshit! Lacey wouldn’t hurt anyone.”
“She doesn’t want to,” Thea said. “That’s why she’s so miserable, but somebody’s using her.”
“You are so full of crap!” Lindsay cried. “Do the people in town listen to you? Is that why you expect me to?”
Thea clamped down on her anger, but her voice had a bite to it. She was feeling desperate, too. “I came to you for ideas on how to help your sister. If you don’t want to help, that’s fine. I’m sure she’ll understand.”
Lindsay stared. “Are you for real?”
“You obviously don’t think so, but yes, I am. Since you don’t want to listen to me, though, you figure out what happened to Lacey on your own.” Thea turned to leave.
“Stop! Everyone around here thinks the world of you, everyone except Melissa, that is--and that’s probably a vote in your favor.”
Thea turned and raised an eyebrow. “So?”
“I don’t know what to tell you. All I know is that when we were growing up, Mom told us that our father died right after Lacey was born, but that his insurance benefits made it so that we’d still had a good life. We’d have never known about Les except that Mom got sick. She sent him a letter to tell him that she was dying.”
“That had to be an awful shock,” Thea said.
“Les came and told us that he’d thought it was best for us if he wasn’t a part of our lives, that Mom wanted it that way. He said that he and his wife had never had children. He said he was lonely when Ethel died, so he married Melissa, but that their marriage wasn’t working. He was thinking about divorce. He thought she was cheating on him.”
Thea winced, and Lindsay noticed.
“What?” Lindsay asked.
“That’s why my husband and I divorced. I found him with Melissa.”
“Sorry.” Lindsay sagged into an overstuffed chair. “At first, Lacey and I were mad. He’d walked out on us, but then--after Mom died, it was sort of nice to have someone else who was family. He wanted us to be part of his wine business. I love it here.” Lindsay looked around at the inviting office. “But Lacey started sneaking out at night, disappearing. We argued, but she said that she’d met somebody, that she was so happy, she couldn’t stand it. She asked me to cover for her. And I did.”
“You’re her sister. That’s what sisters do,” Thea said, remembering how she and Aggie used to team up against their mother.
Lindsay gave her a grateful look. “Anyway, one night she snuck out of the house and didn’t come back. I thought she’d run off with him. But then, when she didn’t call or write, I started to get worried. So did Dad. Dad was thinking about hiring someone to track her down when we got the first postcard. Lacey said she and her boyfriend were going to spend a whole year on the road, seeing America. She said that she needed some space, some time to get her head together.”
“I can see why you’d buy that.”
“But something still didn’t feel right,” Lindsay said. “It’s just not like Lacey to take off and not call me. We were so close, she wouldn’t do that to me. Dad and I were talking about still hiring a detective after I got back from my trip. I went home to see some of Lacey’s friends, to look around our hometown and see if Lacey might have decided to dig in somewhere. When I got back, Dad was dead. Then you came. It’s all been a little too much.”
Thea nodded. “That’s the way I’ve felt lately.”
“You? I thought you’d be used to all this.”
Thea sighed. “I weave bookmarks, and when they’re finished, a person’s destiny is recorded for this life. Those bookmarks are sacred. If anyone tampers with them, Fate will punish her.”
Lindsay’s face drained of color.
“I have to find out who’s behind this before the universe decides to put everything in balance itself.”
“What do you think happened to my sister?” Lindsay asked.
Thea hesitated. “I don’t know. I don’t think Lacey’s sure either, but I think someone killed her. And for some reason, it was such a surprise, that Lacey didn’t leave here when she should have. It happens sometimes when a sudden accident occurs. The next part is a guess, but I think that the person who killed her is controlling her now, and I think that he’s using you to do it.”
“Me?” Lindsay blinked.
“There’s no other way to control a ghost,” Thea said. “What are you going to do? Kill it again? But if you threaten to hurt a loved one that’s left behind. . . “
Lindsay shook her head. “I don’t have any enemies. At least, I didn’t. Melissa might hate me now that the lawyer told her that Les was my dad, but she didn’t know about that when Lacey disappeared.”
“This probably doesn’t have anything to do with you personally,” Thea said. “I think you’re just a pawn, someone this person can threaten if Lacey doesn’t do what he wants.”
Lindsay looked out the window at the vast green lawn that stretched to the woods in back of the house. “How does any of this help Lacey?”
“Maybe if you came to stay at my studio, where you’d be safe--nobody can enter there who’s not invited by me, well, no one but ghosts--then Lacey wouldn’t have to worry about you anymore. She’d be free.”
Lindsay shook her head. “You’re asking me to stay at your studio?”
“So that I can protect you.”
“And do you charge a fee for this?”
Thea pushed herself to her feet. “You know something, you can be a real pain. Do you still think this is just a smoke and mirror show?”
“I don’t know what to think, but I can’t hide in your studio. Dad just died. Melissa comes back tomorrow. That’s going to get ugly. And I’m buried in work.”
“I don’t know what else to do to help Lacey.”
But Lindsay wouldn’t budge. “I don’t even know you. This is just all too weird. I have to think about it.”
“Great, but while you think about it, Lacey’s in trouble. You don’t have much time before I can’t help her anymore.”
“More threats? If I don’t listen to you, something awful will happen? I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.”
Thea knew a dismissal when she heard one. How much plainer could she make things for Lindsay? What was wrong with the girl? But then she thought about how it must sound. Would she believe any of this if she weren’t involved in it? If she pushed more, Lindsay would retreat farther. She’d give her a few days and try again.
Chapter 59
Thea stopped at Rachel’s to pick up Hannah. A light was on in Annabel’s bedroom, but the rest of the downstairs was dark, so she climbed the outside stairs to Rachel and Isak’s apartment.
“Is Annabel asleep already?” she asked.
“She props herself up and watches TV in bed,” Rachel said. “She dozes off that way.�
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Hannah plopped on the floor to strap on her sandals. “You got rid of me all day, but you don’t look happy.”
“How did it go?” Rachel studied her mother’s face. “That bad, huh?”
“Lindsay didn’t believe me. She thinks I’m a fake who’s trying to milk her for money.”
“A fake?” Hannah’s eyes flashed. “I’ll show her. I’ll stop in the winery and. . . “
“You’ll leave her alone and give her some time to sort things out.” Thea rubbed her eyes and yawned.
“She made you tired and grouchy, didn’t she?” Hannah asked.
“She’s not from around here,” Rachel said. “She’s never heard of a weaver before. It probably freaked her out.”
“The whole thing bothered her.” Thea looked around the room at the new camelback sofa and loveseat. “This is nice. You’ve made it homey.”
Rachel beamed. “Thanks. Isak and I wanted something comfortable.”
“It’s perfect.”
“Do you want to stay for coffee?” Rachel asked. “Isak will be back soon. He went to rent a movie.”
Thea shook her head. “Thanks, but I’m going to go home and crash. Ready, Hannah?”
Hannah slid a hand in hers, and Thea smiled. Hannah was trying to make her feel better.
“You can pick the movie we watch tonight,” Hannah told her on the ride home.
They settled in front of the TV set with popcorn and root beer floats. Hannah fell asleep before the movie ended. Thea spread a blanket over her and went to the studio to see Gabe.
“Lindsay didn’t believe me,” she told him. “I can’t say that I blame her, especially when I tried to explain about Lacey’s ghost visiting me.”
Gabe plopped in the overstuffed chair and patted his lap. “Take a load off,” he said.
Thea approached cautiously and touched his leg. “You’re not vapor tonight.”
“Am I cold?”
“No, you feel pretty real.” She nestled onto him. “At least I know that Lacey is Lindsay’s sister, and that she met some man, and she’d sneak out to see him at night.”