Before anything more could be said, George came around from the side of the house dressed as if he were headed for home, spotted us and walked over to join us. “The fountain die again?”
“Yeah and you’ll never guess why?” Raymond’s response told me that he was about to spill the beans with George and I tried to motion him to be quiet but Raymond rushed on without looking in my direction. “Tess thinks Nathan was attacked here.”
George scowled and sent a glance my way that made me move closer to Kade. His expression was quite clear. He thought I was out to cause trouble. And I was pretty sure I knew why. He was worried his brother was going to get dragged into this. It had to be the driving cause for his displeasure and explain his animosity. “Is that so? What has that got to do with the fountain and how on earth would you know something like that, Tess? The papers reported that that boy died when his boat hit a pile of rocks.”
I lifted my shoulders to try and lighten the weight of Raymond’s words. “It’s just a guess, George. But it might explain why Nathan is still haunting the place.” It was on the tip of my tongue to call him out about Carter being his brother but bit my lip to keep myself from saying anything. If Kade wanted to bring it up, then so be it. Kade said nothing.
George shook his head as if he didn’t quite understand me. “I don’t know why you want to blame everything on a ghost. Especially when the existence of them can’t even be proven.”
“You lived here during that time, George,” Kade said. “Surely there was some suggestion of foul play?”
“What are you all talking about?” Modesta had come upon us so quietly none of us had even heard her approach.
Raymond nodded his head toward me. “Tess here thinks that Nathan boy was murdered and that’s why his ghost is haunting the resort.”
Modesta’s eyes were hard and cold as they met mine. “You should no talk like that. You hurt the reputation of this resort and that of Nancy and Jack.”
Her animosity was no longer surprising at this point. George’s hostility, on the other hand, only made me more curious. What had changed since our earlier talk? And then he and Modesta shared a look and I knew. The two of them had obviously shared their concerns about me and came to the conclusion that I was trouble.
Raymond moved closer to me in a protective gesture. “Tess is trying to help, Modesta, so please stop glaring at her.”
Kade noted Raymond’s protectiveness and as our gazes met, I felt his emotional withdrawal like a punch in the gut. He couldn’t possibly believe Raymond and I were anything but friends, could he?
“Are you not worried about the reputation of this resort and that of your aunt and uncle?” Modesta crossed her arms, her small foot tapping pointedly as she waited for him to explain himself.
“I’m beginning to think Tess believes I had something to do with it,” George said.
Modesta gave a small gasp. “Díos mio, why would you think that?”
“First of all, I’ve never suggested such a thing and I don’t know why you would say that, George. And secondly, if it is true and Nathan was murdered, it shouldn’t have anything to do with Sea Willow Haven. I don’t see why that revelation will hurt the reputation of this fine place. I really am trying to help Nancy and Jack.” Although I knew it was pointless to argue my case, I couldn’t ignore the urge to do so anyway.
“What exactly is your problem, Modesta?” Kade asked. “The animosity coming from you is quite obvious and I don’t understand it.”
Modesta nodded her head toward me but kept her gaze on Kade. “Ever since she come here, the ghosts become more angry.”
“Certainly they are a little more active, but I am not making them angry, Modesta. They are trying to communicate with us.” Why I was wasting my breath, I don’t know. Modesta’s face told me that she wasn’t going to accept anything I said.
“Talking to the dead is work of the devil. You do the work of evil and now it is evil taking over this place.” Modesta’s eyes, narrowed in fright, told me it was fear talking, not hatred and certainly not logic.
“My intensions are only good, Modesta. Intension determines whether something is good or bad … don’t you think?”
“The devil does good deeds sometimes to lead the innocent astray.”
Good grief, she was not going to even try to understand or give me a chance. Fine. Just so long as the rest of them didn’t turn against me too. Especially Kade. It was that last hastily added thought that made me realize how important Kade was becoming to me. If he sided with the likes of Modesta, I’d be devastated. And I’ve had enough with devastation; I couldn’t deal with any more. “I think I’ll go find Nancy and Jack before turning in for the night.” Best to orchestrate a retreat; this was a losing battle and I didn’t have it in me to beat my ahead against a brick wall. I did it often enough with my own doubts, I wasn’t about to do it for someone else.
George stepped in my path, blocking my way. I stopped and waited for him to say what he wanted to say. “Tess, you seem like a nice enough girl but the thing of it is, we don’t know you very well. Modesta here, she loves this place and she cares very much for Nancy and Jack. She is just concerned about what’s been going on around here. No one is blaming you.” He gave Modesta a quelling glance and then turned his hazel eyes back to me. “We don’t want any more trouble. Bringing up past tragedies has a way of making them new again. The past is best kept in the past.”
“Even when the past is causing problems in the present? Whatever happened to Nathan and Abigail could happen again, don’t you think?”
Modesta gasped and made the sign of the cross over her heart. Obviously, I was now the evil one from whom she needed protection. “You see? She is making threats.”
“Modesta, she is not threatening anyone. She’s trying to prevent another tragedy.” Kade’s quiet, no-nonsense voice calmed the growing atmosphere of hostility. “If Nathan was indeed killed, then his killer is still alive. What if he decides to kill again?”
George heaved a large exaggerated sigh. “See what I mean? Talk like that is going to close Sea Willow Haven down.”
“Not if we can discover what happened all those years ago,” Kade told him. “Look, Tess has an ability that we don’t understand and maybe some of you don’t even believe in, but the fact is, she’s discovered things that could help quiet the … unexplainable activity that has been occurring here lately.”
“By doing the devil’s work?” Modesta’s voice cracked on a high note of rising hysteria and recognizing this, Kade put his arm around her and hugged her to him. “I won’t let anything happen to you, Modesta. I care about Nancy and Jack just as much as you do. You know that don’t you?” Modesta nodded, her eyes downcast. I would rather she was looking at me so I could read her expression.
“The only people that know any of this are the five of us and Nancy and Jack. So long as we all agree to keep quiet about this, no one else need know anything at all. Agreed?” Kade waited until everyone nodded their agreement before nodding himself. “Then the reputation of Sea Willow is safe.”
“So what are you going to do now?” Raymond asked.
Kade looked at me as if he expected me to answer that question. I wasn’t about to tell them my plans for later that night so I merely shrugged my shoulders. “I’m not sure.”
“Well, I for one am going to go home,” George said. He still gave me a look that said he didn’t quite trust me. That was fine, the feeling was mutual. His silence about Carter being his brother was really disturbing. “If you want my opinion, I’d give it all a rest. Things will calm down eventually. They always do.” With a brief nod toward Kade and Raymond, George turned and headed back to the house. And that’s when I noticed Hank standing a short distance away. How long he had been standing there? What had he heard and why didn’t he join us while we were talking? Although I was pretty sure Hank saw me spot him, he didn’t acknowledge me. He was too busy watching George. A feeling of trepidation washed over me as I watc
hed Hank follow George into the house. What if Hank told him about my plans for tonight?
Modesta touched Kade’s arm, clutched it and pulled him closer to her. “You watch yourself, Mr. Sinclair. I pray for you to be safe.” Without so much as a glance in my direction, she hastened off into the house, to find Hank and George no doubt.
Raymond glanced at first me and then Kade and then shoved his hands in the front pocket of his jeans and shrugged his bewilderment. “Well, that was interesting. I had no idea Modesta was so … well, like that.” He took a step back and waved a hand toward the house. “Guess I’ll go on in and chat with Uncle Jack before I head out for the night.”
“Do you have another date?” I asked. And I knew, even as I asked it, that I was trying to convey to Kade that there was nothing going on between Raymond and myself. And I hated that I felt I needed to do that.
“Yeah, actually, I do. That girl I told you about the other night … the one you said my parents liked. I’m going to see a movie with her.” Raymond’s face lit up with anticipation as he spoke and I knew instinctively that this relationship was probably “the one”. How great for him. How uncomplicated.
“Have a good time tonight, Raymond.” I gave him a quick hug as he passed by and he dropped a brotherly kiss on the top of my head in response.
“You two keep out of trouble. I’ll want to hear more about those deaths tomorrow. Don’t have the time right now because I really need to talk to Uncle Jack before I head out.” He sent a parting wave toward Kade before hustling off, and then we were alone. Suddenly, I didn’t know what to say. What I wanted to do was take Kade’s hand, lead him to someplace private and walk into his arms. His spiritual energy was so strong and I wanted to draw on that. I also just liked the feel of it … being in strong, reassuring arms. God, how I missed that.
“You look awfully lonely right now.” Kade held out a hand and I took it without hesitation. As if he were just reading my mind, he pulled me along with him to his cottage. As soon as we made it through the door, he drew me into his arms and held me close. It was the most natural thing in the world to tilt my head back for his kiss. It started out slow, almost tentative, and then grew in intensity. In unison we pulled apart, drew in deep breaths and then he was kissing me again, pulling me closer, holding me tight against him. The heat generating between us was almost too much to bear. I needed air, I needed him.
“Kade.” I pulled away and stared up at him, breathless, my heart pounding, my eyes searching his face. I hadn’t thought this was possible … this wanting another man. But I did. I wanted him. It wasn’t just physical. It was so much more. “Kade …”
“Shhh.” Kade brushed my hair back and kissed my forehead, then my nose and then my mouth but only briefly. He relaxed his hold and pulled back enough to look into my eyes. “I don’t want to talk about what’s happening between us, Tess. I just want to let it happen. I’m attracted to you on so many levels. It’s not just physical.”
His face was dark, rough with passion and it made me respond in kind. I wondered if I looked the same and figured that I probably did. I was doing nothing to mask those feelings from him. “I feel the same. And I agree. Let’s not talk about it.”
“But we need to take it slow.” He was reading my mind so very well. His eyes dropped to my mouth and then he closed his eyes, drew in a breath and stepped back. “Would you like something to drink?”
“No. I really should get going. I want to do some meditating tonight.” I hated lying to him and felt incredibly guilty for not telling him my plans. But I also knew, especially now, that I couldn’t tell him. He would not let me go up into the turret room on my own and I really felt that I needed to do this alone.
“Okay. But first I’d like to know more about your vision.”
“Nathan made it to the well the night he died. Someone came up behind him and knocked him out. He was dragged back down to the beach and murdered. I got only a quick glimpse of the man who did it. He was young … late teens, early twenties. That’s all I got.”
Kade nodded, thinking. “It would fit the description of Carter I’m willing to bet.” He opened the door and waved for me to precede him. “I’ll walk with you back to the house and then I’m going to go talk to Jack and Nancy. Hopefully they will let me go through some more of those old files. Maybe I’ll discover something that will help us.”
Kade walked with me all the way to the door of my room. He glanced up and down the hallway and then pulled me into his arms for another quick, hard kiss before he stepped back. “Have a good night. I’ll see you in the morning.”
“Okay, Kade. You too.” I stepped into my room and watched him walk away. Part of me wanted to call him back and tell him what I was up to. But I held my tongue and then he was out of sight and the opportunity was gone. I shut the door, leaned against it and sent up a quick prayer that we were all kept safe tonight. Then I set about preparing for the night’s activity. It was time to solve the mystery of Abigail and Nathan and put their restless spirits to rest. Once free from their fear, they could continue on their souls’ journey. Hopefully.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
It took until nearly one in the morning before sounds of activity in the house settled down and during the long wait, I tried to keep calm and open. I prayed, I meditated and then I prayed again. And when doubts crept in, I dealt with them; there was no room for fear. Sheila would be with me and though she could not interfere with my life … as proven through her failure to warn me of Mike’s pending accident, I hoped that she would help me stay in tune with my own intuition which would, in turn, keep me safe. In the end…we only had ourselves to depend on. This particular lesson had been the hardest for me to learn, probably because of my resistance to accept it. Although I couldn't recall when it happened, it seemed that I no longer resisted such a notion. There was even some comfort in the fact that all I really needed was my own self. Everyone and everything else was gravy. I could do this. I didn’t need anyone with me and I didn’t need Kade Sinclair. I didn’t even need Sheila, but I did want her there. And if I wanted to be really truthful, I wanted Kade there as well. His presence, however, would change the dynamics of the atmosphere and interaction with the spirits. Yes, I had to be alone. I knew it. But it didn’t keep the small niggling suspicion away that perhaps I should have shared tonight’s plan with someone other than Hank. Not because I didn’t trust Hank, but he wasn’t here was he? He lived miles away and if by some chance I needed some help, well, he wasn’t going to be able to deliver it. So what should I do? Wait and try this tomorrow? No. If I waited, it wouldn’t happen and this needed to happen.
Holding that thought, I cautiously opened the door and peeked down the hallway. Wall sconces lit the corridor and made it clear that, for now, I was the only one up and about. At least, I silently corrected, I was the only living, breathing person up and about. The very air seemed to hum with excited energy and I knew as I made my way to the door leading up to the turret, that in the spirit world, there breathed anticipation. They always seemed to know when communication with them was about to occur and I wondered, not for the first time, how that worked exactly? Was there a beacon of light that alerted them to an open channel? Was it the power of attraction that led them to these moments? In the past, I would put out invitations for spirit communication long before the appointed hour and when the time came, they were there…those requested and then some. Earlier this evening I had done the same, requesting contact with Abigail and Nathan. As I opened the door and entered the curving stairwell, I felt it as sure as I felt my breath coming in deep and fast that they were up there and they were waiting.
Awareness tingled in every nerve ending of my body. The air almost crackled with charged energy and I had to stop and calm myself in order to focus. My pounding heart sounded loud in my ears and I wished I could block it somehow for the noise was distracting. After a quick prayer for protection against anything that wasn’t for my highest good, I pulled the door closed behi
nd me and switched on my flashlight. Just as I had told Hank I would do earlier, I tied a small string of bells to the doorknob. Their cheerful chimes sounded loud and misplaced in the waiting stillness and I tried my best to keep them quiet as I secured them to the door. Though I wasn’t really sure if such an action was necessary, it made me feel better to know they were there. Just in case.
Now to face the impending contact. One more deep calming breath and then I headed quietly up the stairs. I stopped once because I thought I heard a sound behind me and swung around. Nothing. Of course there was nothing. But I had heard something. After flashing my light carefully along the stairwell and the closed door with its very silent bells, I turned and continued up the stairs.
The small sitting room was bathed in soft light from the full moon shining through the window. Though it was sufficient lighting, I found myself wanting to turn on the light. But I wouldn’t; Kade could still be up and see it. I couldn’t take that chance. I kept my flashlight beam down and made a thorough sweep of the room, even checking under the sofa before switching it off. Satisfied that no one in the flesh was waiting in the room with me, I walked over to the window and saw the rocking chair was back in its place. I wondered if Hank had fixed it already but didn’t want to take the chance of breaking it if he had used wood glue as he’d mentioned earlier. I glanced over at the ruined sofa and knew that was out too. Besides I didn’t want to sit across the room so far away from the window. I wanted to be here, in this spot. It was where Abigail spent most of her time when in this room. Already I could feel her. She hovered on the edge of my conscious awareness and I knew giving her my concentrated attention would bring her into focus … into my world. I sat on the floor and closed my eyes. It was now or never.
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