Successful Manager Mac replaced lawsuit-fear Mac. “I don’t see the need to discuss my guests.”
Solana’s laugh was the equivalent of head-patting a stubborn child. “You will never need to. We’ll be back at seven to meet everyone in the usual way.”
“Why are you here now?”
“The weather is so beautiful today, it would have been a crime against nature not to spend it on the beach.” The screen door clapped shut.
Giulia made it back to her room and repeated the conversation to Frank before Mac returned. First things first. “Mac, we have no intention of suing you for this, so please stop worrying about that. I want to remind you I haven’t encountered any ghosts in this room.”
Another vigorous headshake. “Rowan has always said that disbelief may cloud your vision, but it doesn’t affect the spirit’s existence.”
So many replies. Giulia chose, “Is the hole from the missing brick visible from the Widow’s Walk?”
“What? Yes, if you get flat on the gallery and stick your head over the edge, but it’s not safe to do that.”
“We’re going up to check. We’ll make sure no one sees us.”
She walked out before Mac could protest.
The beautiful day worked in her favor: All the guests appeared to be away from the inn.
Frank whispered in her ear as they reached the first floor, “Confident women are sexy.”
Giulia just managed to control a spurt of laughter. “Mac respects a take-charge attitude. Earlier today she tried to tell me how to do my job.”
“Like I said.”
“Shush, you, and let’s get up to the Widow’s Walk before someone comes in from the beach.”
Giulia hung over the side with Frank holding her by the legs.
“I can reach the top edge of the hole with the tips of my fingers, but Solana is at least six inches taller than me. She could get to it without a problem.” She explored the ragged mortar. “The outline is chipped away in a pattern, not random like it might be if ice had crept in and expanded it over a few years.” More exploring. “The pattern isn’t completely regular. Someone is clever and ruthless. Okay, help me up, please.”
She sat against the glass and dusted off her hands. “It’s a good thing I’m not afraid of heights.”
“Which is why you’re pushing into the window behind you.”
“You lean out there.”
“My employee agreement doesn’t include hazard pay.” He sat next to her. “I admit to not liking extreme heights. A chisel, you think?”
“Easily. Even a sturdy nail file could have done it over time. Not an emery board, a real metal file.” Giulia tapped her foot on the walkway. “Mac could be responsible for this, you know.”
“Why?”
“Mac knows Rowan, who knows Solana. Mac played up the ghost angle in this puff piece the local paper ran a month ago. I forgot, you haven’t seen that. It should be online. So Mac could be staging the hauntings to boost business. Or Solana could be staging them to boost her own business. Or Rowan and Solana could be in it together against Mac.” She blew out a breath. “I could use the help of a legitimate mind reader. Or a priest who’d be willing to break the seal of the confessional. I wonder if any of these psychics are Catholic.”
Twenty-Five
Giulia paused by the suit of armor. “I forgot to check him for hidden haunting devices. Tonight for that.” She looked toward the house. “I don’t want to meet Mac again just yet.”
Frank took them out through the vestibule door. “It’s time for a romantic walk on the edge of the water.”
Which might have worked if the water’s edge hadn’t been inundated by a few hundred other vacationers with the same idea. Giulia dodged two beach balls and five shrieking children in the first four hundred feet of beach.
“Bad idea on a Sunday,” Frank said. He inhaled. “Hot dogs. No, not today. Where’s that shrimp place that delivers to the B&B?”
They plodded through sand up to the boardwalk.
Giulia looked up and down the street. “Not here. Maybe the next one.” When they walked another block she pointed. “There. Next to the bookstore.”
They landed in the middle of the lunch rush, but technically this was vacation, so Giulia didn’t stress over the minutes in line. So many people sitting at the square tables with shrimp baskets convinced her that Frank’s lunch choice was the correct one. They walked back to Stone’s Throw with shrimp, fries, packets of cocktail sauce and ketchup, and extra-large Cokes.
Joel and Gino were already on the patio eating burgers, chips, and giant pickles.
“Room for two more?” Frank said.
“Sure, drag over a chair.” Joel moved his chair closer to one end of the rectangular glass table, giving Frank and Giulia the opposite end.
“Shrimp,” Gino said. “That’s what’s for lunch tomorrow.”
“Where did you get those pickles?” Giulia said.
“You know that bar with the Jimmy Buffet obsession?”
Giulia squeezed a mound of cocktail sauce next to her shrimp. “Of course. What else would a Jimmy Buffet place serve except burgers, fries, and pickles?” She bit into her first shrimp. “You were right,” she said to Frank around the mouthful.
“The patio looks as good as new,” Joel said. “I heard they caught the guy who did it.”
Giulia nodded.
“Poor Mac,” Gino said. “If the place keeps having accidents it’ll get a rep of being cursed.”
Joel plunged three fries into barbecue sauce and swallowed them. “You really have to come back for Halloween. Mac goes all out.”
“What makes Halloween here so much better than this?” Giulia swept the beach, lake, and hot, sunny sky with one arm. Even with the cacophony of a crowded beach and motorized craft on the water, the patio was far enough up and back to create a natural sound barrier. The noise was muted enough not to assault the ears.
Gino set down his beer. “The lake in summer is great, but you can get that anywhere. The chain hotels around here all have beach areas and breakfast service. Mac’s place is all about the personal touch, which is what makes it better in the summer, but nobody does one-tenth of what Mac does for Halloween.”
Joel gulped the last of his fries. “Every single room is decorated. The tablecloth and napkins change every day. It’s more than her usual prices because she brings in a dessert chef for the evenings.”
“Oh, God, the tiramisu,” Gino said.
“The pot de crème,” Joel said.
“The homemade ice cream.”
“Last year she worked out a deal with a palm reader to come in on Halloween,” Joel said. “Made for an epic party. The younger kids in town come here to trick-or-treat and Mac finds a way to scare them shitless.”
Frank said, “Does she use her family legend on the trick-or-treaters?”
Gino said, “Nah, that’s just for the guests. She won’t let kids climb the lighthouse, either. Think of the liability premiums.”
Joel groaned. “Spoken like an insurance salesman.”
Gino hung his head. “I’m on vacation. I’ll remember.”
“Does Mac ever give a hint whether the ghost legend is real or not?” Giulia said.
“Never,” Gino and Joel said together.
“She has the story letter-perfect and she never cracks her game face,” Joel continued. “I can’t wait until this psychic does her stuff tonight. We’re divided on whether she’s an actor on Mac’s payroll or if she’s the real thing. Her surprise attack on you sure looked genuine.”
“We watched it on YouTube last night,” Gino said. “Have you checked your viewing stats, Giulia?”
Giulia hung her head. “Yes.”
They both laughed. Joel took out his phone. �
��You don’t have a Twitter hashtag yet. Gotta work on that.”
“I could email my in-laws.”
Frank choked on a shrimp. “Why didn’t I think of that? Pat could use it in a sermon. My brother is a priest,” he said to the other two as the ESPN da-da-da, da-da-da signal went off from his phone. He poked it. “Pirates got a grand slam. Eat my dust, Jimmy.” He finished with a mad scientist laugh.
Gino said, “Fantasy baseball?”
“Yep, I just kicked my boss’s butt.”
Giulia happily let the conversation turn into a three-way discussion of fantasy sports statistics. The breeze ruffled her curls. Kids splashed in the lake, squealing and laughing. The sun soaked into her bare arms. She stretched out her legs and leaned her head back to catch more of it.
Her inner work alarm stopped her from falling asleep. What was she thinking, sunbathing on the job? She sat up and all three men jumped.
“Thought you were asleep,” Frank said.
“Just keeping you off-guard.” Giulia gathered their takeout paraphernalia. “See you later.”
She swore she could feel a wave of confusion from all three of them pushing at her back. Cosmo would be proud.
Twenty-Six
Giulia went back to the room to change into running gear. Frank arrived a few minutes later and switched into beat-up cargo shorts. Odd-sized miniature boxes of lures went into several pockets.
Giulia adjusted a Spandex racerback shirt. “I’ll buy cheap sparkly sunglasses and run past the boat dock doing my best to look annoyed and vain.”
“I’ll tell a reasonable lie about how I refused to take you shopping last night.”
She tied her sneakers. “Was he wearing a wedding ring?”
“Don’t think so, but it doesn’t mean much. Not all men do.”
“Good point.” She strapped on her armband and Velcroed in her phone. “I’ll expect your report when you get back.”
At the end of what became a ten-mile run that looped through most of town, the only thing stopping Giulia from a dive into the lake was the thought of a soaked wedgie.
The glorious weather brought crowds to the stores, the bars, and the beach. She was the only one running at three in the afternoon. Stupid time of day for it, but when you have to squeeze things in…Her glitter-encrusted sunglasses pinched her nose and she was certain they were creating a gold-flecked raccoon mask on her sweaty face. She bought bottled water at the souvenir store before finishing the tenth mile at the Stone’s Throw driveway and plopped onto one of the patio chairs. The sunglasses came off before she drank half her bottled water without stopping for breath. Then she poured another third of it over her head and down her neck.
Mac joined her. “Is it too soon to ask if you’ve had any breakthroughs?”
Giulia gave her Polite Smile Number Two. “You know it is. I’m heading back to Cottonwood tomorrow morning to research. My computer at work is fast and powerful. It’ll keep me away from the scene here only a few hours.”
“The contractor who repaired the lighthouse retired, but his son is running the business now. He wasn’t happy when I suggested his father may have cut corners and endangered lives.”
Giulia stopped in the middle of another long drink. “Not when you phrase it that way.”
“People need to know when they screw up. I may look like a quaint old innkeeper now, but they forget that under these flowered shirts I’m still the woman who oversaw my hotel chain’s entire east coast management.”
With a wide-eyed expression, Giulia said, “So you agree with me that this incident wasn’t ghost-powered.”
Mac didn’t rise to the bait. “Not at all. I’m merely covering my bases.”
Frank met Giulia on the bocce ball court an hour later. She and Gino stopped their game for a moment.
“We’re tied at one end apiece if you want to shower, honey,” Giulia said.
“What, you don’t like my new Eau de Fish cologne?” He kissed her and she waved a hand in front of her face. “Fine. I’ll scrub up. Joel, are you playing the winner?”
Joel nodded. “Want to play the winner of my match?”
“Sure. Be back down in ten.”
Giulia aimed her ball and released. It knocked one of Gino’s out of play. She gave him her sweetest smile.
“You’re killing me. Joel, check for weighted balls, will you?”
Giulia fluffed her hair. “It’s called skill, gentlemen.”
Gino pointed up toward Heaven. “My grandfather, God rest his soul, is going to haunt me worse than the Stone’s Throw ghost if I lose this. Nobody beats me at bocce.”
“You do recall that I wouldn’t take a wager on our game,” Giulia said.
Gino threw his ball, which knocked one of Giulia’s closer to the pallino. He cursed. “I thought you wouldn’t bet because you figured you’d lose.”
She stared at him. “I told you I had experience.”
“People brag. Like Joel here when we first met. He doesn’t like to admit defeat in any sport.”
“Rugby,” Joel said. “I admit defeat in rugby, lacrosse, and the high jump.”
“And bocce.” Gino heaved his set of balls down to Giulia’s end and followed them with his hand out. “Good game. I underestimated you.”
Giulia shook hands. “I’m my own secret weapon. Joel, are you ready?”
He stood. “I will redeem the honor of my household.”
“Challenge accepted,” Giulia said.
They played to a tie and needed two additional ends to break it. Giulia won by putting a touch of English on her last ball, snaking it between two of Joel’s to within three inches of the pallino. As one, Joel and Gino got on their knees and bowed, hands and faces on the grass. A click made all three turn their heads. Frank lowered his phone. “For my own gallery, guys. I won’t post it on Facebook.”
Gino stood, dusting grass off his knees. “If she beats you, we want to see you kowtow to her like us.”
Giulia grinned. “Oh, yes, please, honey.”
Frank scowled. “Only if you do the same for me if I win.”
“Deal. Give me your phone.” She handed both their phones to Gino. “You’re in charge of the incriminating photograph.”
If bocce had a mercy rule, a referee would’ve called the game after the third end. Frank, muttering Irish maledictions against the balls, the wind, the court, and life in general, played the last end as though he had a chance. Giulia was gracious in victory, even when she stepped up on the railroad tie that marked the end of the court and waited for the promised homage.
Gino put the sun to his back and readied both phones. The smile on Frank’s face appeared a little forced, but he got down on the grass and made obeisance to the bocce champion.
“Thanks, guys.” Giulia hopped to the grass and retrieved the phones. “Lovely picture. I might make it into our Christmas card this year.”
She reset the balls at one end of the court. Joel and Gino took off toward the beach. Giulia waited until they were gone to drag her husband into her arms and kiss him.
“Thank you for being such a good sport. I think everyone here considers us to be nothing more than a couple on vacation.”
Frank growled. “My manhood is affronted by that beat-down you administered. I may have to endure another beer session with Walter the Whiner to regain it.”
“If you need to regain your manhood by winning a sporting contest with me, may I remind you of the last three times we played Horse, in our driveway, in full view of the neighbors?”
“Hey, a basketball hoop on the garage is meant to be used.” He scanned the yard and beach. “Everybody seems to have gone out for supper. Do you want to hear my fishing rental story?”
“Yes, yes, yes. Come over here and we’ll pull two chairs togethe
r.” When they were seated next to each other, she unlocked her phone. “Let me turn on the voice memo. Okay, go.”
“So the boat dock owner does not possess the family name and is Mac’s nephew from a Stone daughter’s marriage. He’s got a bachelor’s degree in business but quit working for The Man in January. He came here last Thanksgiving for a family reunion.”
“All those Stones?” Giulia said. “There aren’t enough beds.”
“It was a one-day party, picnic, boating, swimming binge. The boat dock business was up for sale, so Walter seized his opportunity.”
“That seems to be a Stone trait.”
A seagull flew over to the bocce court and landed on one of the railroad ties. Another settled on the sunroom roof and began a squawk-off with the one on the bocce court.
Frank lunged at the bocce seagull, yelling and throwing his arms forward. The seagull flapped to the grass and waddled away, head in the air.
Giulia chuckled. “I think you offended its dignity.”
“Too bad. Its droppings offended my car. I had to borrow paper towels and glass cleaner from Mac.”
“Yuck. So Walter bought the boat rental business. When?”
“February. I couldn’t get a handle on his finances, but if I had to guess, I’d say he’s stretched pretty thin. He let me buy the beer. He and his girlfriend live over the rental shop. I gather the spectacular view doesn’t offset the tiny rooms and free fish odors day and night.”
Three young women in itsy-bitsy bikinis spread out blankets below the B&B’s grass and turned on U2 at top volume. Giulia brought the phone closer to her mouth.
“What kind of person is he?” She held the phone to Frank’s mouth.
“Lazy. He’s slow to get equipment, slow to make change. He slouches like it’s too much effort to stand up. I wonder if he quit his last job before they fired him.”
“Are you sure he wasn’t playing a part? You know, life is slow and easy here at the lake?”
Second To Nun (A Giulia Driscoll Mystery Book 2) Page 12