by Bobbi Holmes
“Oh my god, a dog!” Cheryl blurted out, staring down at Sadie as if she had three heads. Ian immediately dropped to one knee to comfort Sadie, while Lily rushed to his side.
“Is she okay?” Lily bent down and ran her hands over Sadie, who seemed to appreciate all the sudden attention, and rewarded Lily with a wet lick across the face.
“She’s fine,” Ian said, glancing from Sadie—who was now wagging her tail—to Cheryl.
“Are you sure? It looks like she really crushed Sadie’s poor paw.” Lily glared up at Cheryl.
“Oh my god, I barely stepped on her. I can’t believe Dani has a dog in the house. What about the guests with allergies? The dog hair?” Hands on hips, Cheryl looked down at Sadie and Lily, who both sat on the floor, while Ian stood over them.
“What, you don’t like dogs?” Lily asked.
Before Cheryl could answer, Ian said, “I hadn’t considered that—with Danielle getting ready to open this place, she really doesn’t need to contend with dog hair. And some people are allergic…”
“She’s yours?” Cheryl’s expression of disdain quickly vanished.
“Yes, this is Sadie,” Ian introduced.
“Oh, she’s so cute,” Cheryl cooed. Leaning down she awkwardly patted Sadie’s head.
“She doesn’t like her head touched like that,” Lily said when Sadie shied away from Cheryl’s touch.
Cheryl ignored Lily and leaned over again, giving Sadie another quick pat before standing back up.
“What are you guys up to?” Cheryl asked sweetly, her eyes still on Ian. Taking a few steps back, she sat on a chair facing the sofa, where Lily and Ian now sat, side by side.
“I’d hoped to convince Lily to take a walk on the beach with me, but it seems she and Danielle have other plans, with getting this place ready to open for business.”
“The beach? That’s where I was headed. But I’m not sure how to get there. If you don’t mind, I’d like to tag along with you.” Cheryl asked.
“The beach is just across the street,” Lily told her, pointing in the right direction. “Not exactly hard to find with the big ol’ Pacific Ocean out there.”
“Aw, come on Lily, it’s the least I can do for Danielle. With you two so busy getting this place ready for the open house I don’t imagine she has time to show her cousin around. I’ll be happy to walk her down to the beach.” Ian patted Lily’s denim clad thigh while flashing Cheryl a smile.
“The beach across the street doesn’t allow dogs,” Lily reminded.
“I guess I’ll have to drop Sadie at my house first.”
Cheryl stood up and snatched her straw purse from the table. “Oh thank you Ian, I really do appreciate you taking the time. And I’m sure Dani and Lily will be glad to get me out of their hair for a while.” Cheryl flashed Lily a smile.
Ian stood up and patted his thigh, signaling Sadie it was time to leave.
“No, Ian,” Lily blurted out. Ian looked at Lily, a questioning frown on his face.
“What Lily?” Ian asked.
“Sadie can stay here,” Lily said quietly. “No reason to leave her alone at your house. She’s fine here with us.”
“Are you sure? Cheryl has a point about the dog hair and allergies, and once Danielle starts taking guests...”
“No,” Lily stood up. “Sadie is fine here. She’s not a problem.”
“Well now that that’s settled, I’d really like to pee before we go. Is there a downstairs bathroom?” Cheryl asked.
Inwardly Lily cringed at Cheryl’s choice of words. I’d really like to pee—Seriously? Lily thought. She walked to the doorway and pointed to the powder room door.
Cheryl smiled at Ian then hurriedly made her way to the bathroom.
“You don’t like her much, do you?” Ian asked, wrapping his arms around Lily and pulling her close.
“Gee, how could you tell?” Lily half heartily attempted to pull out of his embrace before leaning back against his chest and allowing him to wrap his arms around her waist. He rested his chin atop her head.
“First clue was the way you hurled the shoes at her. Considering those heels, that might be considered attacking her with a deadly weapon.”
“And you thought those were Danielle’s gaudy shoes?” Lily scoffed.
“You failed to tell me Marlow House had its first house guest. But obviously you are not thrilled with Danielle’s cousin. Why?”
“For one thing she plans to challenge Dani for half of the estate.” Lily turned around in Ian’s arms so that she could face him. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she pulled his face to hers and brushed a kiss over his lips.
“She is? Interesting.” Ian brushed a second kiss over Lily’s mouth.
“I saw the way you were checking out her boobs,” Lily whispered.
“Hey, you can’t blame me. They were…well there…practically in my face.” Ian gave her a little squeeze.
“You didn’t have to offer to take her to the beach.”
“You can go with us, you know. I’d rather spend the afternoon with you.”
“No, I have too much to do.”
“She might try to take advantage of me.”
“Well, you’re a big boy. I don’t have any claim on you.” Lily nipped Ian’s lower lip.
“Ouch!” Ian ran his tongue over the injured lip. She hadn’t drawn blood. “Are you jealous?”
“Not my style,” Lily hugged him a little tighter.
“Could have fooled me,” Ian whispered into her ear before nipping her earlobe.
Lily pulled back and looked into Ian’s face. Narrowing her eyes she said, “You were trying to make me jealous!”
“I wanted you to spend the afternoon with me. I was jealous of Danielle.”
“Oh my!” Cheryl called out from the doorway, surprised at what she was seeing.
“You ready to go?” Ian asked, still holding Lily in his arms.
“Umm…yes…I mean…are you two…?”
“Are we, Lily?” Ian asked, looking down at the woman in his arms, a mischievous grin on his face. When Lily’s only response was a blush, Ian said, “I’m quite mad about redheads.” Ian gave Lily a grin. He dropped a kiss on her nose before releasing her.
“Lily, when you and Danielle are done doing whatever you have planned today, go out to dinner with me tonight, okay?”
Lily glanced from Ian to Cheryl, who stood silently in the doorway, a perplexed expression on her face.
“It’s a date, Ian. Have a nice walk. I’ll take good care of Sadie.”
“I know you will.” Ian reached out and gave her pony tail a playful tug as he prepared to leave.
Lily and Sadie followed Cheryl and Ian to the front door, and said good bye one final time. Ian and Cheryl made their way down the front walk to the street. For a moment Lily considered changing her mind and going with them, but she really didn’t want to spend time with Cheryl, and she figured if Ian decided he was interested in someone like Cheryl, she wouldn’t want him anyway. When Ian and Cheryl reached the front gate, Lily closed the door and went into the house to find Danielle. Sadie raced off ahead of her, charging up the stairway to the attic.
Chapter Six
Danielle was just getting off the phone when Lily entered the kitchen.
“Did she leave?” Danielle asked.
“She went with Ian to the beach,” Lily said.
“Ian? You let her go with Ian?”
“Well, I don’t exactly own him.” Lily shrugged. “Although I admit, the idea did make me uncomfortable at first.”
“It should. I never told you, but she hit on Lucas at our rehearsal dinner.”
“You’re kidding?” Lily glanced at the door, wondering for a moment if she should get down to the beach.
“That was before Lucas’ wandering days—at least I think so. He was pretty horrified and she claimed she’d had too much to drink and it was all a misunderstanding.”
“Has she always been like that?” Lily asked.
&
nbsp; “Cheryl and I are only a month a part. Growing up our families did a lot together and I think our parents—our mothers particularly—thought we should think of each other as sisters. In their minds sisters were supposed to share everything—and I’m afraid Cheryl took that message to heart. Of course, only when it applied to what I had. When we were teenagers I hated it when she’d come over when I had a boyfriend at the house because she’d shamefully flirt with him.”
Lily grabbed a plastic tumbler from the cabinet and started making herself a glass of iced tea. “I can’t imagine my sister ever flirting with one of my boyfriends. Violation of the sister code.”
Danielle leaned back against the kitchen counter and watched Lily. “I guess since we were cousins, there was no code.”
“So did your parents ever say anything about how Cheryl behaved around your boyfriends?”
“They never saw it.” Danielle shrugged. “I think the hard part for me back then, by the time Cheryl was fourteen she was already built like Marilyn Monroe, while I barely had any boobs and looked more like a little girl. I’m afraid the boys lost interest in me pretty quick once Cheryl set her sights on them. Of course, once they dumped me she really wasn’t interested in them. One time I said something to her, and she told me if I was dating a guy who would drop me so quickly over the first pretty girl who flirted with him, he was the wrong guy for me.”
“No wonder you two are so close.”
“It wasn’t just the boyfriend thing. When she came over to our house she thought it was perfectly acceptable to borrow my things without asking. If I tried to complain my mother told me not to be so selfish—Cheryl was family.”
“Did you ever do that with Cheryl’s stuff?”
“No. But since she was always bigger than me, even though we are practically the same age, Aunt Susan always gave mom the clothes Cheryl outgrew. So in Cheryl’s mind she was already sharing her stuff with me. Fact was, I hated it when I had to wear one of her hand-me-downs. By the time something actually fit me it was not only out of style, but also it wasn’t really age appropriate.”
“Were you guys together a lot when you were growing up?”
“Pretty much. Our families took vacations together. Every summer we’d get a place at the beach for a few weeks. I remember Aunt Susan would always let Sean, Cheryl’s little brother, bring a friend along. But our mothers wouldn’t let us invite friends; they said we had each other.”
“Didn’t your parents ever see how you two didn’t really get along?”
“Oh, to them it was because we were more like sisters—at least in their minds. And you know, sisters fight. They would laugh about our squabbles. In some weird way they found it endearing. I know that sounds odd, but I think that’s how they rationalized our relationship while maintaining this fantasy that we were as close as sisters.”
“Sisters that didn’t like each other, I guess.” Lily shrugged. “I wonder how Cheryl felt about it all.”
“You mean being stuck with me, like I was with her?”
“Yeah.”
“I assumed she hated it too. By the way, I just got off the phone with Mr. Renton.”
“He’s back in town?” Lily asked.
“Yes. And he said if I’d come over to his office now, I could talk to him.”
“I thought you wanted to take Cheryl with you.”
“No. I’d rather see him first without her. Cheryl has a way of wrapping men around her finger, and while I haven’t met Mr. Renton in person yet, I assume he is a man.”
“Well, if you’re lucky he’s gay,” Lily teased.
“That would be nice.” Danielle chuckled.
“I’ll stay here and work on that to do list. Plus, I’m dog sitting for Ian.”
“I thought I heard Sadie rush upstairs.”
“She’s probably with Walt….yikes, I almost forgot.”
“Does it bother you, being alone in the house with…with a ghost?”
“No, not really,” Lily lied.
“Well, don’t worry about Walt. He’s a good guy.” Danielle glanced at the plate with Lily’s second partially eaten sandwich of the day. “You never finished your lunch.”
“I sort of gave up on the idea of eating. Anyway, Ian asked me out to dinner tonight, so I’ll go with a healthy appetite and order everything on the menu—a payback for him taking Cheryl to the beach.”
“I guess that means I’ll be alone tonight with my dear cousin.”
“Sorry, afraid so.”
“Oh well, maybe Mr. Renton will have good news for me and I’ll be able to convince Cheryl there’s no reason for her to stick around.
• • • •
After Danielle left for Mr. Renton’s office, Lily went back upstairs to retrieve the croquet set she’d left on the second floor outside the Red Room. The set, including the mallets and balls were crammed into a large canvas bag Lily had found in the attic. Alone in the hallway, she heard what sounded like Sadie running back and forth in the attic overhead. Looking up at the ceiling, she stood silently and listened. What is going on up there?
Cocking her head ever so slightly, her attention focused on the sound overhead, she heard Sadie let out a bark then run across the length of the attic, and then back again. Sadie barked a second time, and repeated the series, running back and forth across the attic, before coming to a stop and barking.
Curious, Lily left the croquet set on the floor and walked to the staircase leading to the attic. With her hand on the banister, she trod lightly, not wanting to alert the attic occupants of her arrival.
Just as she entered the top floor, a tennis ball hurled by her head and smacked the wall as Sadie raced in her direction. The dog snatched the ball in her mouth just after it hit the floor and bounced up. Turning from Lily, Sadie raced back across the attic and dropped the ball in the far corner. Sitting down, the ball on the floor before her, Sadie looked up and barked, her tail wagging excitedly.
Motionless, Lily stared across the room. Sadie’s playmate was not rushing to throw the ball, much to the dog’s disappointment. Sadie stood up and barked again.
Is he watching me? Lily wondered. Clearing her throat, Lily mustered her courage and said, “Hello Mr. Marlow.”
There was no response, although she didn’t really expect one. She hadn’t been able to see or hear him before, there was no reason she would be able to now, just because she was aware of his presence. She took several more steps in Sadie’s direction. The dog continued to wait for Walt to toss the ball.
“I think Sadie’s getting impatient. I don’t mind. You can throw the ball if you want.” Lily said, her voice shaking.
She took two more steps toward Sadie, when the ball seemed to rise on its own from the floor, and then flew across the room and hit the wall. Sadie was already racing for it, and once again grabbed the ball mid-air before it hit the floor for a second time.
“Holy crap…” Lily muttered, her eyes wide in disbelieve. It was one thing to say you believed in ghosts, it was quite another to bear witness to paranormal activity. Lily gulped nervously, her heart felt like a war drum beating wildly in her chest.
“You two have fun!” Lily called out, her voice no more than a squeak. She turned to the attic door and raced from the room.
Walt leaned over and picked up the ball from the floor. Sadie sat down and looked up at him, her tail wagging.
“I believe we may have frightened poor Lily,” Walt told Sadie as he stared at the doorway. He could hear Lily’s footsteps racing down the wooden stairs. He tossed the ball across the room again. Sadie raced for it.
“I must say,” Walt said aloud, “I would rather not have frightened her. Wasn’t a bit satisfying, like with those two thieves.”
When Sadie returned with the ball and dropped it on the floor, Walt leaned down and looked Sadie in the eyes.
“I think that’s enough for now, girl. Why don’t you go downstairs and check on Lily.”
Sadie continued to stare at Walt, her
tail wagging. She barked once.
“Go on. We can play later.” Walt pointed to the doorway. Sadie let out another bark, then turned from Walt and raced from the room, heading downstairs to find Lily.
Lily was just going out the kitchen door to the back yard, the canvas bag with the croquet set in her arms, when Sadie raced into the room.
“Where’s your friend?” Lily asked nervously, glancing around the kitchen, sniffing the air. There was no hint of cigar smoke.
“You want to come outside with me Sadie, and help me set this up?” As if Sadie understood the question, the dog raced out the doorway to the back yard, pushing Lily to one side.
Momentarily losing her balance, Lily awkwardly held onto the canvas bag as she shifted her weight and repositioned her hands to get a better grip. One of the wooden balls rolled out and hit the floor with a loud cracking sound. Lily cursed and leaned down to get the ball, without setting the bag down. She was afraid if she did, the rest of the balls would tumble out. Unfortunately, before she could snag the errant ball, it rolled under the kitchen table.
Trying to juggle the load, Lily attempted to reach the ball with her toe and nudge it in her direction. When that proved impossible to do because of the bulky and heavy bag in her arms, she cursed again. Preparing to set the bag down and let all the balls roll out, she stopped when she smelled it…cigar smoke.
Glancing around the kitchen, she wondered where he was. Then she saw it: the wooden croquet ball rising slowly from under the table—floating effortlessly in the air—coming toward her. Yet, it wasn’t hurling in her direction as had the tennis ball earlier. She watched, mesmerized as the croquet ball returned to the canvas bag, slipping inside with the rest of the set. Lily stood there a moment, her heart again pounding.
“Thank you Mr. Marlow,” Lily said at last. Swallowing nervously, she flashed a weak smile and turned to the door leading to the back yard. When she reached the door, she paused a moment and turned back to the kitchen.