“Mom listens to all that stuff. That’s where I get it from. Today’s music sucks.” Trey sat up straight and leaned across the table. “So how’s the apartment hunting going?”
“I think I’ve found a place. The Lincoln Apartments look pretty good. I put an application in.”
In truth, I hoped they accepted me, but I was in no hurry to move. I knew I couldn’t leave the Raven’s Rest until my mystery was solved. Coleman Hollis was reaching out to me. I had to know why.
Trey’s eyes were twinkling. “Won’t the ghosts miss you?”
I smiled. “I’m sure they will. One of them, at least.”
“Any more experiences?”
“Nothing big. No visions or whispered words. But I often feel like there’s someone with me in the room, and I’ve felt cold spots, especially near the fireplace. And when I woke up this morning, it felt like there was a hand on my chest. Like someone trying to comfort me.”
“Yeah? I feel a hand that ain’t there, I’m not gonna be comforted. That’s for sure.”
“It was a little unsettling.”
Gloria finished with her readings and glanced briefly at her son. “Trey, don’t forget to call in the supply orders before you leave.”
“Yes, mein Kapitän!” Trey flashed his wicked grin toward me. I had grown accustomed to the banter between him and not only his mother, but all of his family members who worked at the Coffee Cafe. He waited until Gloria groaned with disgust, and only then did he get up to finish his duties for the day. As he slid his chair in, he asked me, “So what are we doing tonight? Wanna see that movie?”
We’d been discussing the latest superhero flick earlier and the possibility of driving to Sterling to see it. There were no movie theaters in Banning. “Sure,” I said.
“It’s a date,” he said, just before disappearing back into the kitchen.
I smiled. Trey, with his black jeans and long hair, was so different from the type of guy I usually found myself attracted to. Considering my track record, though, that was probably a good thing. Kevin had been my ideal, or so I thought at the time. Handsome as hell, strong and opinionated. Quite the alpha male. A little too much so, as had become apparent. Trey was a nice contrast. He was cute and cuddly, struggling to put across the impression that he was tough.
I wondered, though, if dating right now was a good option for me. It was too soon after leaving Kevin, and my head was in an odd place. Logically, I knew I should just remain friends with Trey for now.
The heart rarely listens to logic, however. Whenever I saw that impish grin, my soul felt uplifted, reborn. Life had meaning again. And my groin agreed, and the groin was hard to argue with.
I decided, then and there, that I’d take Trey back to the Raven’s Rest after the movie. And I hoped we’d find out just how good of friends we were going to be.
And in the way that the world tried to make you feel guilty for impure (but fun!) thoughts, I looked up just then to see Gloria Ramsey staring at me. She was still behind the register, seemingly lost in thought. She had her head tilted and seemed to want to say something. After a moment she picked up her ledger and the pen she’d been using and came over to my table. She nodded at the chair Trey had just vacated. “Mind if I sit?” she asked.
“Please do.”
She settled herself and smiled gently at me. “You and Trey seem to be getting along rather well.”
“He seems to be a nice guy.”
There was a twinkle in her eye, and I knew she had concluded that Trey and I were interested in each other. “He works better when you’re here. I’ll give him that. Just don’t start picking up his bad habits.”
“I’ll try not to.”
Mrs. Ramsey sighed. “Are you enjoying working here, Michael?”
I felt she was beating around the bush, avoiding what she really wanted to ask. “Yes, I am.” Maybe if I kept my answers short and sweet she’d get to her point.
She fidgeted, making circles on the tabletop with her forefinger. “And you’re still staying at the Raven’s Rest?”
She knew I was, so I merely nodded. My apartment hunting had been discussed all morning.
“That place has a reputation, you know.”
“I’ve heard,” I said.
Mrs. Ramsey sat up straight, finally ready to speak her mind. “I’ve heard you and Trey talking. You’ve had some interaction with the spirits there.”
I noted that she didn’t say “supposed interaction” or “spirits that are supposed to be there.” As her attitude seemed friendly and welcoming rather than skeptical, I replied, “Yes. Several times now.”
“Did you know that I used to work at the Raven’s Rest?”
I shook my head, surprised. “Trey never mentioned it.”
“It was years ago, right after it became an inn. Trey’s father was still around back then. I cleaned the rooms. The owner then was a man named Nelson. He’s the guy who bought it from Darryl Hollis. Anyway, it wasn’t long before I began to hear the stories about the Raven’s Rest. Other employees would talk, and a few of the guests. I didn’t put much stock in it. Just stories. Then one evening I saw a ghost.
“I was working late. They’d had a big dinner party, a sort of murder mystery thing. Lots of people from town came. I was really just there to help serve food and to help clean up afterward. Almost everyone had gone home, and Mr. Nelson asked me to take some linens upstairs and put them in the closet at the end of the hall. I went up, as asked, but as I walked down the hall I heard some voices coming from one of the rooms. The Raven Suite. No one was supposed to be in there, and I knew I was the only person in that part of the building. I called out, but no one answered. The voices stopped as soon as I spoke. I almost dropped the linens and ran downstairs, but something stopped me. Shaking like a leaf, I went to the doorway to the suite.
“The door was open, which it shouldn’t have been. And inside, I saw….” She paused, her eyes closed as if revisiting that night. “I saw a young man. Thin, with long blond hair. He was wearing jeans and no shirt. And he looked so lost. So sad. He was standing by the fireplace, and he just stared at me. And then he said something.”
“What did he say?” I asked.
Mrs. Ramsey bit her lip. “He said, ‘I can’t find him. Help me find him.’ It wasn’t like a normal person talking, though. This was like the wind, words in the wind. It chilled me right to the bone. I let out a little cry and ran down the hall like a shot! How I got down the stairs without falling and breaking my neck I have no idea, but by the time I found Mr. Nelson I was a blubbering mess. He didn’t believe me, of course. But some of the other staff did, and later we talked about our experiences.”
“I’ve seen him too,” I said. “Coleman Hollis.”
She nodded. “Several of us tried to get the authorities to look into his disappearance. You can imagine how the police reacted when they found out we thought Coleman was dead because we’d seen his ghost. Anyway, we were told there was no evidence of foul play. So a few of us got a Ouija board and tried to contact Coleman’s spirit.”
“What happened?”
Mrs. Ramsey made a sour face. “The table we were using moved. Unfortunately, it turned out that it was just Billy Soames, shifting one of the legs with his feet. But me and a couple of others were serious about learning about Coleman and what happened to him. I looked into him and his family the two years I worked there, and tried and tried again to find out why he was haunting the Raven’s Rest. I obsessed over it, really.”
I gathered from the look on her face that the story didn’t have a happy ending. “Did you learn anything?”
Shaking her head, Mrs. Ramsey said, “I never even saw the ghost again. Oh, I heard noises every now and then, or a door would open or close, but no spirit. Trey was just little then, starting school. And I guess I was spending too much time at the inn, even when I wasn’t working. Walter, Trey’s father, got fed up and left. And in the end, I learned nothing. Maybe there isn’t anything to learn
.”
Mrs. Ramsey reached out and grabbed my hand, holding it in both of hers. “What I’m trying to say is, sometimes there’s a mystery with no answer. I thought that if I could find out why Coleman’s ghost was haunting the Raven’s Rest… well, I thought I could help him. Get him to move on. Go on to heaven, if you will.” She shook her head sadly. “But I couldn’t. I don’t think anyone can. And if you’re seeing Coleman’s ghost… well, I don’t want you to make the same mistake I did.”
“I’m not planning—”
She didn’t let me finish. “I talked with Erin Hughes. She tells me you could have had a room at the Lincoln Apartments and moved in by now, but you held off putting in your application.”
“I put in my application yesterday, actually. I just haven’t figured out a date to move in.” I had loads of reasons for delaying a move, but the reality was that I didn’t want to leave the Raven’s Rest until I knew what Coleman needed from me.
Mrs. Ramsey patted my hand. “You’re a good person. I can tell. And I think you’ll be good for Trey. God knows he needs someone good in his life. But as far as the Raven’s Rest goes, my advice is to leave it be. Coleman Hollis will always reside within its walls. Whatever is keeping him there, nothing is going to change. So you don’t fret about it. Just leave it be and get on with your life. Don’t be talking to Jesenia Maupin and having her read her tarot cards for you. Just let it go.”
I hadn’t realized anyone knew about my chat with Jesenia, other than Trey, and I knew he hadn’t said anything to his mother. “It just seems like he’s calling out to me.”
“I thought he was calling out to me too, all those years ago. But in the end, nothing happened. I found out zilch.” She smiled encouragingly, then got to her feet. “Well, that’s my say on the matter. Now maybe you’d better go check on Trey and make sure he hasn’t broken every plate I own.”
I nodded and went back to the kitchen. I appreciated Mrs. Ramsey’s concern, of course, but I knew I had to keep trying to learn more about what happened to Coleman Hollis. After all, I had an advantage that she didn’t have.
I was the spitting image of Coleman’s lover, Bryan.
Chapter SEVEN
THE MOVIE had been the usual Hollywood drivel, but Trey and I enjoyed it, more for the company than anything happening on-screen. We had a huge bucket of popcorn, only half of which got eaten, and held hands during part of the movie like high school kids. As the credits rolled and we disengaged our hands so we could put our jackets back on, I did have a moment where I thought, What the hell am I doing? I shouldn’t fall for this guy. Sort out the mess that is your life first before dragging someone else into it. But that thought was fleeting.
I liked Trey, and reason had absolutely no say in the matter.
As we walked back to his car, a beat-up Ford that suited him perfectly, Trey shuffled as he zipped up his coat and shivered. “Damn, it’s getting cold.”
“The little kids will have to wear coats over their costumes tomorrow night when they go trick-or-treating. I always hated that. Spider-Man never wore a coat over his tights.”
“I should have known you went as Spider-Man.” Trey’s teeth were actually chattering as he fished out his keys.
“And I suppose you went as John Lennon or someone like that.”
Trey smiled. “I did go as Tom Petty one year. No one knew who the hell I was supposed to be. Shows you what a dumb town this is.”
“Good God, how old were you?” I asked as we got into the car. I immediately jammed my hands between my thighs to warm them. Trey was right. It was damned chilly.
“I was ten. I had Mom color my hair blond, and she glued fake sideburns onto my cheeks, and I wore this battered top hat and carried my electric guitar. People thought I was a rock-and-roll version of the Mad Hatter from Alice in Wonderland, which I guess is close. Pissed me off at the time, though.” Trey started the engine and messed with the heating controls. Cold air poured out. “It’ll warm up soon. So, home? Or there’s this bar in town….”
“Let’s go to the Raven’s Rest. We can get some hot cocoa to warm ourselves up.”
As it turned out, the kitchen was closed by the time we got there, so we had to forgo the drink. I did, however, invite Trey up to my room.
“Are you sure your ghost won’t be jealous?” Trey said with a smirk.
“I’m hoping he’s taking the night off.” We were walking down the hallway, and I couldn’t help but look at the door of the Raven Suite as we passed. If I could open the door, what would I find? An empty suite or a blast from the past? Would I see Coleman Hollis’s room from 1984, complete with Boy George poster? I admit I rushed to get to my by-now-so-familiar Ulalume Suite.
Trey hovered by my side as I swiped the key card. “Kind of a disappointment, those things being used here. Ruins the old-world charm. They should have real keys.”
“People lose real keys, and that can cost money. These are easier to replace, I think.” I opened the door and stepped in. As I flicked the light switch, I tried to take in a sense of the room. In my days at the Raven’s Rest, I’d learned to take note of the signs that told me I wasn’t alone in the room: The hair on the back of my neck bristling. A sudden cold spot. The dimming of the lights.
The room seemed normal, and I breathed a sigh of relief. Trey followed me in, his mouth open as he took in the room. “You’ve been here how long? This must be setting you back a packet!”
“It’s off-season, thankfully, so the rates are reduced. Still, it is gouging into my savings.”
Trey slipped off his jacket and tossed it onto the bed as he gazed around. “Love the fireplace.” He bounded over to the window and gazed out. “Nice view of the gazebo. Any ghosts hang out there?”
“None that I’ve seen, although Lonnie informs me apparitions are often spotted out there. Are you saying you’re a believer now?”
Trey turned from the window and flashed me a wicked grin. “I’m still on the fence. When I see one, then I’ll believe wholeheartedly.”
I moved over to him, putting my arms around him. “They’re pretty quiet tonight. Maybe they’re gearing up for Halloween.”
He kissed me briefly. I could still taste the popcorn butter on his lips. He stared into my eyes. “I wish I knew why I was so damned attracted to you.” When he realized how that might be taken, he added, “You’re so different from the guys I usually like.”
“Funny. I was thinking the same thing about you.”
“So what was your ex like? Kevin, I think you said his name was.”
I pulled Trey close to me. “He was sexy as hell. He’d played basketball in high school, so he was the jock type. When we started going out, I thought he was Brad Pitt and Cary Grant and Peyton Manning all rolled into one.”
“Interesting combination. Who’s Cary Grant?”
“Actor back in the black-and-white days. The epitome of sophistication and charm, traits I soon learned that Kevin could only fake for short periods of time. He… well, let’s just say he was moody. He yelled a lot. We fought constantly.”
“So why did you stay with him so long?”
Because I thought I deserved him. Because he told me I couldn’t live on my own. Aloud I said, “I’m not sure. I guess I always hoped he’d change. Become nicer.” I really didn’t want to talk about the past. The present was very much in my mind, and to get Trey thinking along the same lines, I put my hands on his butt and squeezed. “Do we really want to talk about Kevin?”
Trey smiled. “Who’s Kevin?”
And then he kissed me. I was pretty sure I melted in his arms. We swayed a bit as I closed my eyes and put all thoughts but Trey out of my mind. His taste, his scent. The way he gently bit my tongue as we kissed. The way I could sense, through his lips and tongue and the way his muscles felt against me, that he was fighting back the urge to giggle when our swaying almost made us lose our footing and we collided against a chair. Even that couldn’t make us break off that kiss.
When
I opened my eyes, I found myself looking into his. There was a question there. My intuition was that he was wondering if we were going to go further, and if we were, if I was ready. To answer, I planted my lips against his with a fierce passion, and ground our pelvises together. If that didn’t let my intentions be known, nothing would.
With a slight giggle, Trey forced me to back up until my legs came into contact with the bed. I began to peel off his black T-shirt. He scrambled to yank my sweater off me. Once we were both shirtless, we went back to kissing. My hands were all over him, on his neck, his back, and, briefly, on his firm buttocks. It was like I was desperate to touch every part of him. His skin felt warm and electric.
Trey pushed forward, and we both fell onto the bed, our lips parting for the briefest of moments as we bounced on the mattress. Trey was grinning like an ape. He was on top of me, and I have to say I liked feeling his weight on me. There was something secure about being able to look up into his face. I did notice that he had slight bags under his eyes, making me wonder if he’d been getting enough rest, and that he needed to trim his nose hairs. These imperfections, far from putting me off, made me like him even more. He was human. Not perfect by any means.
He slowly removed my glasses. “I don’t think we’ll be needing these,” he said as he set them on the nightstand.
“Where did you go?” I said jokingly, patting the bedclothes at my sides theatrically, like I couldn’t tell he was on top of me.
“Funny,” Trey said.
We kissed again, and I fought the urge to just rip his jeans off him. His skin was so warm against mine, and he touched like he knew just where I liked to be touched. Trey raised himself off me slightly to run his fingers over my abdomen. Finally he gently groped my crotch. Again he looked at me questioningly, clearly wondering if he was going too far too fast.
I kicked off my sneakers. “Let’s get comfortable,” I said. Meaning naked.
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