"Okay."
A golden light filtered through stained glass windows, giving the bar a cozy atmosphere. Two patrons sat at the bar as they walked in. Jack chose a table in the back and ordered two beers.
"What have you been up to since you left the plantation?"
She drank some of her beer to hide her nervousness. "Not a lot. I've been having nightmares ever since I left, so I went to a therapist to see if he could help me figure out what was causing them."
Jack raised his eyebrows and leaned forward. "What kind of nightmares?"
"Are you sure you want to know? They're not very pretty."
He reached over and held her hand in his. "Please, tell me."
Her skin paled as she told him about her nightmares and the ghost she'd seen.
"What are you going to do?"
She drained her glass. "I'll find a way to get inside. It may take a while, but I'll figure out something," she lied.
When the waitress brought them another beer, they remained quiet until she left. Mary cracked a peanut and toyed with the shell.
He glanced down at his watch, then rubbed his hands together. "I'm not sure how to tell you this, but Audrey's coming later tonight. I called her when you arrived, and she took the first plane out. She's due in at eight." He glanced at her pale face, and grasped her hand. "Don't look so scared, Mary. She wants to talk to you about what you saw when we were at the plantation."
Mary searched for something witty to say, but the words wouldn't come. She sat there, mute and confused.
He patted her hand. "It'll be okay, Mary. Really. I'd appreciate it if you would take the time to talk to Audrey. All you have to do is tell her about what you saw, and how Magdalene wants your help. She's really interested in past lives and that kind of stuff. That's all I'm asking. Please."
She sat there, not saying anything.
He squeezed her fingers. "Mary, I promise you. It'll be okay. Please, believe me."
Green eyes stared into his. "I don't know if I can do this, Jack.
He shook his head. "Look, let's go get something to eat. Once Audrey arrives, we can get together for a drink." He glanced at the frown on her face and begged, "Please, Mary. She has less than two months to live, and she really wants to meet you. Please don't refuse a dying woman's request."
"This is very hard for me, Jack," she said. "This whole setup is weird."
"I know it's a strange request, but please don't say no. Right now, Audrey's clinging to anything that will help her find peace. If you tell her about seeing the past, maybe that will give her something to hope for, something to hang on to. Please, Mary." He squeezed her fingers. "It'll be okay, I promise."
She peeped at him from under her lashes. "I hope so, Jack. I don't think I can take too many more surprises."
They ate dinner in silence, and Mary wondered if this would be the last meal she and Jack would eat alone. She tried to feel good about meeting Audrey, promised herself things would work out, but the more she thought about it, the worse she felt. Why couldn't she be like some of her friends, and not have such a terrible conscience?
Jack glanced at his watch and signaled the waiter. He paid the bill, kissed her cheek, and whispered that everything would work out.
She watched him leave with mixed emotions. A curious sadness filled her and she wondered if this was how a mistress felt when her lover went home to his wife. Would Jack always leave her to return to Audrey? She felt tears gather in her eyes and told herself to snap out of it; her five minutes of 'poor me' were up. She finished her glass of wine and returned to her room.
The minutes on the clock ticked by in slow motion as she waited for Jack's call. To occupy her time, she took a shower and put on her best sweater and matching pants. At least she wouldn't look like a hag when she met Audrey.
The phone rang and she stared at it as if it was a snake. When it continued to ring, she picked up the receiver.
"Mary, why don't you join us in the bar in about ten minutes?" Jack asked.
She took a deep breath. "Is Audrey with you?"
"Yes. We got back about a little while ago." There was a slight pause, as if he sensed her nervousness. "It's okay, Mary. Audrey's excited about meeting you."
"I'm glad somebody's excited. I'll be down soon." Before she could change her mind, she hung up. She paced for several minutes and checked her hair and make-up. Taking a deep breath, she stepped into the elevator and tried to imagine what Audrey looked like.
The ground floor arrived all too soon and she literally forced one foot in front of the other. She spotted Jack standing at the back; he waved her over. The room was crowded, so it took her a few minutes to reach their table.
She was surprised when she saw his wife. Audrey was tiny, with petite features, short blonde hair, bright blue eyes, and a button nose. The translucent quality of her skin indicated the severity of her illness. Mary felt a pang of sympathy for the woman. She looked like a tiny ceramic doll. Audrey started to rise as Mary approached.
"Please don't get up," Mary said. She looked at Jack and he cleared his throat.
"Audrey, this is Mary Corbett."
Audrey smiled and held out her hand. "I'm so glad we could meet. Jack's told me all about you."
Mary clasped her hand and was amazed at how small it was. She smiled and Audrey squeezed her hand in encouragement. Her grip was surprisingly strong for such a tiny woman.
"Jack told me you were nervous. Please don't be. I wanted to meet you. I'm dying to hear about everything you experienced at the plantation. In fact, I've been bugging Jack for several weeks to introduce us."
Mary sat dumbfounded. This woman wasn't anything like she'd expected. All her reasons for disliking Audrey disappeared on sight.
Jack reached out and touched her arm. "How about a beer?"
Mary found her voice. "That would be good." She returned her gaze to Audrey. "I hope you had a good flight. When I flew in we had several rough spots, and I wondered if we were going to land in one piece."
Audrey tried to speak, but had a coughing spell. Jack leaned over, patted her on the back and handed her a drink of water.
"Are you all right?" Mary asked. "Can I get you something?"
Audrey wiped her eyes with a napkin. "No, thanks. I have a cold and when I start coughing, my eyes water."
Mary nodded. "I know what that's like. Are you taking anything for it? They have a gift shop in the hotel. I'm sure they carry cough syrup." As soon as the words left her lips, she cursed herself for being stupid. Of course Audrey was taking something for her cold. She was probably under a doctor's care.
Audrey smiled. "I already have a prescription." She reached over and touched Jack's arm. "I hate to be rude, but I'm exhausted." She turned to Mary. "I'm so glad to finally meet you. When do you think we could get together to talk about what you saw at the Voodoo ceremony?"
Mary looked down at her watch. "Why don't we meet for dinner tomorrow night? I'm working with Jack at the McGregory house, and we're going to try and get an early start tomorrow. I'll probably be there most of the day."
Audrey nodded. "Okay, how about six tomorrow night?"
"That's fine." She watched Jack escort Audrey to the elevator with mixed emotions. She tried not to feel jealous, but couldn't help it. Were they sharing the same bed? Would he make love to her? The thought of Jack making love to another woman made her stomach tighten into a painful knot. Every time she thought about their marriage, it left her feeling alone and depressed. How much more of this could she take?
She suddenly remembered how frail Audrey was, and felt ashamed of her reaction. How could she feel jealous, guilty, and sorry for the woman at the same time? What a strange set up this turned out to be. She'd steeled herself to dislike the woman on sight, and here she was feeling sorry for her.
Jack rang early next morning and asked her if she minded driving to the house alone. He explained that Audrey had a bad night, and he hadn't had any sleep. He offered to bring lunch for th
e crew when he arrived. Mary assured him she could handle things, and they made arrangements to meet in the lobby so he could give her the key.
As she stepped out of the elevator, she spotted him talking to the desk clerk. It was obvious he'd been up all night. His navy suit was wrinkled, probably from sleeping in a chair, and dark circles rimmed his blood-shot eyes. Her heart went out to him. Poor Jack, was this how he spent most of his nights? He looked exhausted. She asked about Audrey and he replied that she'd finally fallen asleep. He was waiting for a day nurse, and once she took over, he planned to grab a couple hours sleep. She assured him she could handle the cleanup and told him not to worry.
As he handed over the key, his fingers clung to hers. She squeezed his hand in sympathy and resisted the temptation to kiss away the worry lines etched in his face. Instead, she swallowed the lump in her throat, turned, and headed for the door. Jack needed her to be strong, and that's what she intended to do. She regained control over her emotions by creating a mental to–do list as she drove toward the house. Everything depended on the realtor doing his job. If he hadn't contacted the workers and trash removal people, it was going to be a long day. A very long day indeed.
Jack watched Mary leave the lobby with mixed emotions. He felt guilty as hell dumping the workload on her, but right now he couldn't leave Audrey. She was too exhausted. He wished for the umpteenth time that she hadn't made this trip. Unfortunately, once Audrey made up her mind to do something, neither hell nor high water could stop her. Her body might be frail, but her mind wasn't. She was still as headstrong as ever.
He recalled her delight when he told her Mary was the other curator for this assignment. In spite of the severity of her illness, she'd immediately announced her intention to join them. All his pleas for her to remain in New York went unheeded.
As usual, he'd been right. The trip had exhausted her to the point that he thought she wouldn't make it through the night. He'd called in a local doctor, who'd assured him that she'd over-exerted herself and needed to rest. Then he'd been subjected to a lecture on the folly of such a long trip in her condition. Like he didn't already know that. He'd been tempted to deck the obnoxious physician, but managed to hold onto his temper. It had been a good thing, too, because the doctor offered to make arrangements for a day and night nurse to stay with Audrey while they were in town. After the man left, he'd spent the rest of the night keeping an eye on Audrey's condition.
The clerk offered to call when the nurse arrived. As Jack made his way upstairs, he wondered what else could go wrong. God, what a mess things had turned out to be. Why couldn't life be simple? He didn't know why, but he had a gut feeling that the worst was yet to come. And--whatever it was, he wasn't going to like it.
Mary managed to arrive at the house in one piece, despite the icy road conditions. As expected, the place was deserted, so she waited in her warm car for the workers to arrive. Even though the electricity had been turned on, the fireplaces were the only possible source of heat, and she wasn't about to start a fire until someone checked the chimneys. Besides, the place stunk to high heaven, and she wasn't about to spend any more time in there than she had to.
Twenty minutes passed and nobody arrived. Irritated, she called Mr. Wayans on her cell phone to check on the workers, and reminded him they needed someone to make sure the chimneys were safe. He promised to have an inspector out within the hour. When the work crew eventually arrived, she gave them suggestions for getting rid of the trash and garbage. A few minutes later, the trash truck pulled up, followed by the chimney inspector.
He went inside and checked the living room chimney first. Mary was relieved when he told her it was safe. While he checked the other two, she dragged in several pieces of firewood and kindling from the porch and used some of the newspapers to start a fire. It took a while, but eventually warmth replaced the bitter cold.
The inspector reappeared and informed her the two other chimneys were also safe. After he left, the workers started a fire in each fireplace and worked in the front room while the rest of the house warmed up.
A taxi dropped Jack off at the house around noon, and he carried in hot cocoa and lunch for the group. It took the entire day to clean the house, requiring that the trash truck make several trips to the dump before they were through.
That night, as he drove her car back to the hotel, she mustered the courage to ask him about Audrey. "Jack, would you mind telling me about Audrey's illness?"
He frowned and remained silent.
"If you don't want to, that's all right," she said.
He slowed down. "Audrey and I grew up together. We've been friends for a long time. She's like the sister I always wanted, but never had. I'm an only child. We have the kind of friendship where you can tell each other everything. She was almost killed in a car wreck, and after that, we discovered that our relationship was more than platonic. A couple of months later, I asked her to marry me."
He rubbed his face with his gloves. "I met you the week before the wedding. Even though I was attracted to you, it was to late to cancel everything, so I went home to Audrey and tried to forget about you." He paused for a moment, watching her face.
When she remained silent, he continued. "We were happy for the first couple of years, but this past year, our relationship started to change. I'm not sure what happened. It was as if we drifted apart gradually, until there wasn't much left. I still love Audrey, but it's like she's my sister, not my wife. I was going to ask her for a divorce, but she got sick, and that changed everything. We found out she had ovarian cancer, and it's in the last stages. She's already had chemotherapy twice. We'd hoped that would slow it down, but it hasn't. Last week the doctor told her she has less than two months to live." He brushed his eyes, as if to rid them of tears.
Mary reached out and placed her hand on his arm. "I'm so sorry, Jack. I had no idea she was so ill." She shook her head in dismay, then blurted out, "If she's so sick, why on earth would she come to Montana in the middle of winter?"
"She wanted to meet you, in order to talk to you about what happened at the plantation. I guess she figured this might be her only chance. Besides, her doctor said she could go, as long as she stayed where it's warm. We live in New York, so she's used to cold weather."
Mary was amazed by his response. "She came all the way out here to see me? I'm not that interesting." She stared out the window at the snow-covered pastures.
He grew quiet as they skidded on a patch of ice, and Mary held her breath until he regained control. A few minutes later he pulled the car over to the side of the road and turned to her, his eyes moist with unshed tears. "Now do you see what I meant when I told you we were friends? Do you understand why I can't divorce her?"
She wrapped her arms around his shoulders while he grieved for his friend. When his tears ceased, she silently reached into her pocket and handed him a tissue. "I'm so sorry, Jack. I wish there was something I could do," she offered, her voice thick with emotion.
He squeezed her hand. "Be her friend, Mary. That's all she wants." He pulled the car back onto the road. Neither spoke as they approached the hotel. Jack seemed lost in thought, and Mary had no desire to pry any further into Audrey's illness.
She paused at the front desk. "Jack, would you please tell Audrey I'm running a little late?"
"She asked me to join you for dinner. Do you mind?"
"No problem. I'm sure we'll need somebody to keep the conversation going," she said as she disappeared into the elevator. When she got to her room, she phoned Mac to tell him about the McGregory house. She was just about to hang up when he finally answered.
"Mac, this is Mary."
He sounded surprised. "How's the weather?"
"I'm freezing my butt off out here," she said. "I have two things to say to you. First, I want you to know I think you're a dirty rat for not telling me about Jack. Second, this house is the most bizarre setup I've ever been in." She explained about the condition of the house, and how they'd had to hire a clean
ing crew to get rid of the filth. "And, to top it off, there isn't really anything of value. Mr. McGregory's idea of art is a black velvet painting of dogs playing poker. The house is disgusting. No wonder he died of a bacterial infection. That place needs to be burned to the ground to kill all the bacteria and fungus. I'm tempted to wear an oxygen breathing apparatus every time I walk through the door."
He laughed at her melodramatic description. "I'm sorry about not telling you Jack was there, but I was in a bind and needed you. I knew you could do it if you had to."
"I hate to admit it, but you're right. It shouldn't take us more than half a day to complete the inventory. Now that we've removed the trash and garbage, the rooms only contain very few items. Evidently Mr. McGregory was somebody who believed in having only the bare necessities. I've never seen a house with so little furniture. It's really strange."
"Some people are like that. Thank God there's only a few, or we'd be out of business. Look, when you get back, I'll make it up to you." He paused for a few moments. "I'll pay you for one week while you're gone."
"That's okay, Mac. I know you wouldn't have asked me if you weren't in a jam. I'm not mad. Besides, as soon as I finish my summary and clear off my desk, I start my leave of absence, remember?"
"Make sure you catalogue everything in the house before you leave. The heirs have already called twice asking if the inventory's through. When are you flying back?"
"I'm trying to get a flight out tomorrow evening, but the travel agent hasn't called back. If I can't change my tickets, I'll leave the next day."
"Humph. If you can't get out tomorrow, e-mail me the file. I'll forward it from here." He disconnected the call, cutting off her response.
She looked down at her watch. It was time to meet Audrey and Jack. She thought of a dozen reasons why she didn't want to go, but since Audrey had come all this way to meet her, she wasn't going to weasel out. Having dinner with her was the least she could do.
Jack and Audrey were already seated. The trio stared at each other for several minutes in awkward silence. Mary racked her brain for something nice to say and blurted out the first thought that came to mind. "How's your cold?"
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