by Bobbi Holmes
“I guess it was sort of the same thing with my Grandma. I had never known anyone who had died before. I don’t think I understood the finality of the situation. She just showed up at the table.”
“The table?” Lily asked.
“The service was at Grandma’s church. Afterwards, they served food in the fellowship hall. Cheryl and I were at this table with our parents—but they had gotten up to talk to some friends of Grandma’s. Cheryl left me alone for a minute to grab a cupcake off the refreshment table. And Grandma just showed up. She was sitting there in the chair next to me. We talked, she told me she was happy, that she would be watching over me and to remember how much she loved me. She told me to be happy for her. That was pretty much it.”
“And you told Cheryl?”
“Yeah. I guess I wasn’t the sharpest kid.” Danielle laughed ruefully. “I thought she would think it was cool, but she just got mad at me. Called me a liar. When our parents came back to the table she told them what I said. I don’t know…I don’t think my folks or Cheryl’s were overly concerned at the time. I remember being upset that they didn’t seem to believe me.”
“So what happened with the classmate?”
“Unlike Grandma, who only visited once, he kept popping in my room. Telling me I needed to get his parents a message. He just wanted them to know he was sorry. He’d taken his bike out when he wasn’t supposed to and ended up getting hit by a car. He was frantic to apologize to them. I’m afraid that didn’t work out so well.”
“I can imagine.” Lily shuddered. “Have you ever seen any other spirits…since then?”
Danielle didn’t answer immediately. Finally, she nodded her head.
“When? Who?” Lily asked anxiously.
Walt leaned back against the counter, looking from Lily to Danielle. With a wave of his hand a lit cigar appeared. He took a puff, and listened with curiosity to what Danielle might reveal.
“Maybe it would be best if we dropped this subject,” Danielle suggested, glancing over at Walt.
“No, come on Dani! I want to know. I love this kind of stuff! I still can’t believe you never told me about this.”
Danielle glanced from Walt to Lily.
“Do you smell that?” Danielle asked.
Lily took a deep breath. “Smells like cigar smoke. Funny, how that smell comes and goes. I didn’t notice it a minute ago.”
“That’s because he wasn’t smoking a minute ago,” Danielle explained.
“Who wasn’t smoking?” Lily glanced around the kitchen.
“Walt Marlow.”
“Walt Marlow?” Lily frowned.
“Yes. He smokes cigars.”
Chapter Four
Silently, Lily stared at Danielle, her brows drawn into a frown. It took her a moment to register what Danielle was saying. Lily’s expression shifted from confusion to surprise and finally to amusement.
“Oh, you almost got me!” Lily laughed heartily. “Walt Marlow, right…” Lily stopped laughing a few seconds later when she noticed Danielle’s serious expression had not changed. Mirth wasn’t tugging on the corners of Danielle’s mouth—there was no sign of suppressed laughter.
“Oh my god…you are serious, aren’t you?” Lily said after a few moments of silence. Danielle nodded her reply. Glancing around the room, Lily asked, “Is he here now?”
“Yes. Over there.” Danielle pointed at the counter near the sink.
“Hello, Lily,” Walt said, taking a puff off his cigar.
“He just said hello,” Danielle told her.
Slowly Lily stood up and faced the section of the counter Danielle indicated. Making her way to the spot she stopped a few feet before reaching Walt. She sniffed the air.
“Yes, the cigar smoke is strongest here,” Lily observed.
“You’re taking this rather well,” Danielle said.
“It’s not like I hadn’t wondered.” Lily reached out and waved her hand from right to left. Walt leaned back away from Lily, but not before her hand moved through his face twice.
“Tell her to stop.” Walt frowned, waving Lily away with his free hand.
“He doesn’t like that. You just smacked his face,” Danielle chuckled.
“Oh, I’m sorry.” Lily jumped back, looking at where she believed Walt would be standing. “Did I hurt him?”
“Of course not. He can’t feel anything. He doesn’t actually have a real body.”
“Now that hurt.” Walt glared at Danielle and then disappeared.
“Nice to meet you, Mr. Marlow,” Lily said.
“He’s not there any more.”
“What do you mean?” Lily looked at Danielle.
“I think my crack about him not being able to feel hurt his feelings. Or maybe it was because I said his body wasn’t real. Either way, he took off in a huff.”
Lily sniffed the air. “I can barely smell the cigar anymore.” She rejoined Danielle at the table.
“So you believe me?” Danielle found Lily’s acceptance of the situation a bit unnerving.
“Since I first got here…well, I sort of felt something. And then there was Sadie.”
“Sadie?” Danielle asked. Ian had rented the house across the street from Marlow House for the summer. Sadie was his golden retriever. The dog, like Danielle, could see Walt.
“The way Sadie acts when she comes over here is strange. She barks at nothing. But it’s not nothing, is it? She was barking at Walt Marlow.”
“Yes. It appears Sadie can see him.”
“They’ve become friends, haven’t they?” Lily asked.
“How did you know that?”
“The way she wags her tail at nothing… I guess it wasn’t nothing. Or how she likes to hang out alone upstairs in the attic when she’s here. But she wasn’t alone. Was she?”
“Sadie has become attached to Walt. It’s amazing how they communicate with each other—it’s like they can read each other’s minds.”
“I’ve read animals are sensitive to the supernatural,” Lily said.
“Are you saying you’ve been wondering if this house was haunted all along, because of how Ian’s dog was behaving?”
“It wasn’t just Sadie. The thought first crossed my mind when you screamed bloody murder that first day we arrived. Remember, in the bathroom? You saw him then for the first time, didn’t you?”
“Yes, but at the time you asked me if I had seen a mouse.”
“I couldn’t very well ask you if you’d seen a ghost. How would that have sounded? And then there was the cigar smell—coming and going.”
“Why didn’t you ever say anything to me?” Danielle asked.
“Oh right, Hey Danielle, I think your house may be haunted.”
“But when I first told you, just now, you thought I was kidding.”
Lily shrugged and said, “Well it’s one thing to have a feeling about something that’s out of the norm—and another to have someone come right out and confirm it. For a moment I thought you were pulling my leg, but then I realized you weren’t kidding, and it all sort of made sense to me.”
“You know, you’ve met him already,” Danielle said.
“I have? What do you mean?”
“In your dreams. Dreams are a way some spirits communicate with the living.”
“Hmmm, I’m not sure how I feel about that—Walt Marlow popping in and out of my dreams.”
“You believe me?” Danielle asked.
“I rarely remember my dreams. And if I do, I typically forget them shortly after waking up in the mornings. Those dreams, the two with Walt Marlow, were quite vivid. Some parts were a little blurry, but basically I can still remember them.” Lily glanced around the room. “Is he still gone?”
“He’s not here. At least I can’t see him.”
“He likes you, you know,” Lily told her.
“Well, I like him too.” Danielle shrugged.
“No, I mean he likes likes you,” Lily whispered. “It was obvious by the questions he asked me.”
“Lily, the man is a ghost.” Danielle scoffed.
“I’m just saying,” Lily shrugged. “Why is he here anyway? Is his spirit trapped or something?”
“Trapped?”
“Well, I figure when people die they go somewhere. When Grandma came back to say goodbye to my mother she was on her way somewhere. Walt Marlow died what, almost ninety years ago, and he’s still here.”
“Eighty eight but…”
“Oh, that’s why you wanted to prove he didn’t commit suicide! You did it for him!”
“Yes, he couldn’t believe he killed himself.”
“You mean he didn’t know?” Lily asked.
“No. He couldn’t remember what had happened. I’m pretty sure it was because he was knocked unconscious before he was strangled.”
“And he showed you where he hid that necklace, didn’t he?” Lily asked.
“Yes. I was worried we were going to have more break-ins once Ian published his story and people knew Walt may have taken the Missing Thorndike.”
“Wait a minute…when you first showed us the necklace you were so sure it was fake. I wondered why. He told you the stones weren’t real, didn’t he?”
“He thought they were fake.”
“Why?” Lily asked.
Danielle paused a moment, reluctant to break Walt’s confidence. “I really can’t say, Lily. I promised him.”
“You can’t tell me?”
“It’s a long story, and I promised Walt I would keep his confidence. Let me talk to him first. Please understand. All I can say is he did believe they were fake. It came as quite a surprised to discover they were real.”
“Gee, I can imagine. Especially considering they were hidden in his attic for a century. But I still don’t understand…”
“What, Lily?”
“Why is he still here?”
“I suppose he’s not quite ready to leave yet. For one thing, he’d like to find out how the necklace he stole—the one with the fake gems—turned out to be real.”
The doorbell rang, interrupting their conversation. “I think that’s Ian,” Lily said as she glanced at the wall clock.
“She took that rather calmly,” Walt said when he appeared a few moments later, after Lily left the room to answer the door. “Thank you for keeping my confidence, but you can tell Lily about the necklace. It might make things easier, especially if we’re to find out how those stones turned out to be real.”
“You left abruptly.”
“How do you know what I can or cannot feel?” Walt asked.
“I’m sorry if I hurt your feelings. But I meant your body can’t feel physical pain in the way a living person can.”
“And just how do you know that?” Walt challenged.
Danielle stood up, facing him. “Well, can you?”
“No…but…” Walt stammered. “But how do you know that?”
“Let’s just say I’ve picked up a few things since I first started seeing ghosts.”
“Oh my god…now you’re talking to yourself!” Cheryl called out from the doorway. “And you’re back to that nonsense about seeing ghosts!”
Danielle groaned and turned to face her cousin. Cheryl had changed her clothes and now wore a short cotton dress; its hemline fell just inches down her upper thigh. Judging by the pink straps pulled up through the neckline of the dress and tied around Cheryl’s neck, Danielle guessed her cousin was wearing a bikini, and the dress, its pink and orange floral print reminiscence of the sixties, served as a cover up. Danielle didn’t see how the garment could be used as just a dress; Cheryl would be showing the world her bottom if she leaned over just slightly.
“I knew you were standing there,” Danielle lied. “I know you were telling Lily stories about me.” Danielle sat back down at the table.
“I think I’ll leave you ladies to fight this out,” Walt said before disappearing.
“The way you say stories, it sounds like I made stuff up. You did tell us you saw ghosts.” Cheryl walked into the kitchen, sniffing the air. “There it is again…are you sure you haven’t taken up cigars? Not exactly ladylike.”
“I don’t think it’s necessary for you to gossip about me with my friends. We’ve all done embarrassing things when we were children. I don’t feel compelled to tell everyone I meet about the embarrassing things you did when you were a child.”
“Oh boo hoo, boo.” Cheryl giggled. “Boo hoo, Boo…now that’s funny.”
Danielle shook her head. “Whatever…”
“It’s not like I tell everyone I meet. I can’t recall the last time I even thought of you, much less talked about you. I just thought your friend might find the story amusing. And anyway, you don’t have anything embarrassing to tell about me.”
Danielle started to say, what about being in pageants all your life, but stopped herself. As much as Cheryl annoyed her, Danielle had no desire to demean her cousin. Cheryl was proud of her years in the pageant circuit, whereas Danielle compared the accomplishment to first place winner in a food eating contest. Danielle loathed food eating contests.
Cheryl nodded toward what was left of the sandwich Danielle had been eating. “I hope you don’t plan to serve those hideous sandwiches to your guests. If you do, you won’t be in business a month.”
“What are you talking about?” Danielle frowned.
“Lily brought me a sandwich, it was barely edible.”
“What is it they say, beggars can’t be choosers?” Danielle smiled sweetly.
Cheryl made a grunting sound and started to turn back to the doorway.
“Are you going somewhere?” Danielle asked, noting the straw purse in Cheryl’s hand.
“I tried to take a nap. But I couldn’t sleep. So I decided I’d go check out the beach.”
“You might get chilly. The beach is a little cooler here than what you’re used to. You might want to put some jeans on and grab a sweatshirt.”
“I’ll be fine. But thank you for worrying about me.” With a flounce, Cheryl walked toward the doorway. As she stepped out of the kitchen she called out, “Try not to talk to yourself too much!”
Danielle could hear her cousin’s laugh as Cheryl made her way down the entry hall to the front door.
Chapter Five
Ian sat quietly on the small sofa in the parlor of Marlow House, listening to Lily rattle off the list of things that needed to be done before the open house on the fourth. He’d hoped she’d join him for a walk along the beach, but he doubted that was going to happen this afternoon. She was dressed more for cleaning house—wearing her strawberry print apron and tattered denims and t-shirt—than for a leisurely stroll along the seashore.
He wasn’t paying close attention to what she was saying, and hoped there wouldn’t be a quiz when she was done. But he enjoyed watching her talk and move—she was a bundle of sexy enthusiasm. She’d secured her red hair into a casual side ponytail and he resisted his temptation to remove the rubber band and watch the hair tumble down.
Sadie lay curled up on the floor by his feet. She’d already lifted her head a few times since they had arrived, and had let out little whimpers, seeking permission to dart from the room and up the stairs to the attic. He didn’t know why Sadie acted this way at Marlow House—she had always been so obedient. Ian wondered if perhaps there were mice in the attic. That might explain why she found the top floor of Marlow House so fascinating.
Reaching down to give Sadie a reassuring pat, Ian noticed something tucked under the sofa next to his foot. He leaned down and reached for the item, picking it up. It was a hot pink stiletto high heeled shoe. The moment Lily noticed what was in his hand she stopped talking and faced him.
Smirking, Ian turned the shoe over in his hand, inspecting it. By its size, it was obviously not Lily’s. It was much too large. However, Ian would love to see Lily wearing a pair of these—in her size of course. He wasn’t sure how he felt about the color.
“Danielle surprises me,” Ian said with a chuckle.<
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“Danielle?” Lily asked.
“Well these are obviously not yours.” Ian glanced down at Lily’s small dainty feet.
“Oh, my shoes! I forgot I left them in here!” Cheryl stood at the parlor doorway staring at Ian.
“This is Cheryl, Danielle’s cousin. She just arrived today. The shoes are hers.” Lily walked to Ian and reached down, snatching the shoe from his grasp. In the next instant she retrieved the second shoe from under the sofa and then tossed the pair at Cheryl who was not prepared for the missiles hurled in her direction.
Cheryl’s straw purse fell to the floor as she fumbled with the shoes, catching one while the second shoe hit her in the shoulder before falling to the floor. Glaring at Lily, she leaned down and picked up the fallen shoe and purse.
Ian stood up and glanced from Lily to the new arrival, a curious frown on his face.
“Are you okay?” he asked Cheryl.
“I think so.” Cheryl’s instantaneous transformation from brassy to timid did not go unnoticed by Lily. “I’m Dani’s cousin, Cheryl. And you are?” Cheryl flashed Ian a beguiling smile as she walked into the parlor. Ignoring Lily, she set the purse and shoes on a table by the sofa and put out her hand to Ian, who accepted it
“Nice to meet you, Cheryl. I’m Ian, Ian Bartley. I’m renting the house across the street for the summer. I didn’t know Danielle’s family had come for a visit.” Instead of a handshake, Cheryl gently squeezed Ian’s hand, lingering a moment before finally releasing her hold.
“Actually, I’m Danielle’s only family.” Cheryl moved a little closer to Ian, looking up into his face. She gave him her entire attention.
Lily silently observed the pair, annoyed at the dopey smile plastered on Ian’s face as his gaze drifted from Cheryl’s eyes, down to her prominent bust line. Its cleavage peaked provocatively from the low cut neckline of the cotton shift. Instead of being insulted by Ian’s wandering gaze, Cheryl stood a little straighter, arching her back to give him a better view. Lily resisted the temptation to reach over and give Cheryl a good smack and Ian a kick in the shins.
While focusing all of her attention on Ian, Cheryl failed to notice the dog by his feet—who was now lifting her head up curiously at the new arrival. Cheryl took a step closer to Ian, and her foot landed on Sadie’s front paw. Sadie jumped up and let out a yelp. Cheryl in turn let out her own cry of surprise and jumped backwards, looking down at the dog.