Restless Spirits

by Michelle Scott

  David took her seat across from Ethan. “What did you say to her?” he demanded.

  “I admitted that I had feelings for you,” Ethan said. He swallowed and willed his voice to hold steady. “She said that she already knew.”

  David’s eyes flashed. “What do you mean she already knew? Knew what?”

  “About you. About us.”

  David started to rise. “I have to go talk to her.”

  Ethan put his hand on David’s arm. “Don’t. Let her have some time alone.”

  David yanked away. “I don’t need you to give me advice.”

  “Do you love her?” Ethan asked.

  David’s eyes dropped. “I care about her.”

  “But do you love her?”

  He said nothing.

  “If you care about her, then don’t lead her on,” Ethan pleaded. “Don’t promise her something you can’t give.”

  “What do you know about it?” David demanded.

  “Nothing,” Ethan admitted. “I’ve never been in your situation. But I think that it’s better to be honest now than to regret it later.”

  David slumped in his seat. He kept his eyes downcast. “You really don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m not like you.” He didn’t sound convincing.

  Ethan balled up his napkin and threw it onto the table. “So why did you call me up here? And don’t tell me it was to help Tessa, because there were plenty of other people helping Tessa. Grant has money. You could have had any other psychic in the world visit her. So why me?”

  “I wanted to see you again. I wanted to see if –”

  “If what?” Ethan prodded.

  “If I still felt the same way about you that I did in college.” David drank down Jessica’s ice water and ran his fingers through his hair, a sure sign that he was upset. “Things between Jessica and I were getting more serious, but I didn’t want to take things farther until I saw you. You’ve been on my mind all these years.”

  “And you’ve been on mine,” Ethan said.

  “Until Jessica, I never went out with anyone after you and I broke up.” David finally met his eyes. “Did you?”

  “No one serious.” No one could have filled the empty place in his heart that David had left.

  Ethan hated the brokenness in David’s eyes. Once again, his best friend was struggling. Ethan longed to reach across the table and take his hand, but he couldn’t bear the idea of being rebuffed. “I know it’s hard. When I came out, it was the most difficult thing I’ve ever done. Somehow admitting who I was seemed more wrong than hiding it. But I’ve gotten used to it, and now it’s better. People either accept me for who I am, or they don’t. That’s on them. Not me.”

  “What about your family?”

  Ethan allowed a small smile. “My parents think it’s a phase I’m going through. My grandmother won’t speak to me. My aunt and uncle are really the ones who understand and keep me strong. You have Tessa,” he said. “You wouldn’t be alone.”

  David started to answer, but was cut off by a chime from his cell phone. “It’s Jessica,” he said. “She needs to see me.”

  Chapter Twelve

  When the two men entered the bed and breakfast, Jessica was waiting. Her eyes were damp and her nose red. One hand clutched a tissue. “Let’s talk in my room,” she told David. He shoved his hands in his pocket and followed her up the stairs.

  In the lobby, an old woman sat in a rocking chair by the fire. She held an e-reader in one hand while the other twined in the gray curls near her face. She was an older version of Emily, the woman who owned the B&B. This had to be the person who had grown up at Thunder Point.

  Ethan took a seat on the couch opposite her. She looked up and offered him the same, sunny smile that her daughter had earlier. “Are you the young man who was asking about the picture of my father?” When Ethan said that he was, she offered him a wrinkled hand. “I’m Hattie. It’s nice to meet you.”

  Ethan settled back in the couch. It was pleasant here by the fire, and he tried not to ruin the feeling by imagining what David and Jessica were going through upstairs. “Can you tell me about that picture? I saw a face in one of the windows, and I wondered if you knew who that was.”

  “You’re very observant,” Hattie said approvingly. “Not many people would notice a detail like that.”

  “It was an interesting picture,” David said. “Was that your father standing by the car?”

  Her smile increased. “It surely was. He was a chauffeur for the Muir family. He used to drive Mr. Muir – Grant Muir’s great grandfather – all over the state. Mostly to Detroit and back, but sometimes to Grand Rapids as well.” She clasped her hands over her e-reader and rocked slowly. “I grew up there. My parents and I had an apartment over the garage.”

  “And the woman in the window?” Ethan prompted.

  “That was Mr. Muir’s youngest daughter, Meredith.”

  Was it Ethan’s imagination, or did a slight breeze suddenly tickle the fire, making it burn brighter? And was that the faint aroma of roses? A chill touched his spine. Meredith seemed to have followed him. “What was she like?”

  Hattie’s eyes grew distant. “She was a feisty one. She smiled all of the time, but underneath that sweet exterior was a pair of devil’s horns. She always acted older than her years, and wanted to do the things that her older brother and sister did. Her parents never knew what to do with her.” Hattie laughed. “She was probably seventeen or eighteen when that picture was taken.”

  “Can you tell me what happened to her?”

  Hattie stopped rocking. Her eyes sharpened. She might have been in her eighties, but she wasn’t dull witted. “What makes you think something happened to her?”

  Ethan shifted uncomfortably. He hadn’t wanted to upset her. “I heard stories.”

  “From whom? Grant? I doubt he’d be talking about his great aunt.” Slowly, Hattie started rocking again. “Besides, why dwell on something so unpleasant when there’s so much better to remember? Nothing good comes from raking up mud from the past.”

  “It’s important,” Ethan said, worried that she wouldn’t tell him. When Hattie didn’t reply, he added, “I think I’ve seen her ghost.”

  He expected to be laughed at or have his suspicions waved aside. Hattie did neither. Her eyes widened. “You’ve seen Meredith?” Her voice was hardly above a whisper.

  “Yes,” he said firmly. “Her ghost and her daughter’s as well. Rose. Wasn’t that her baby’s name?”

  “Who are you?” Hattie demanded. “Are you a reporter? Or someone writing a book? There’s been enough trouble at the manor without someone stirring the pot.” She started to rise. “I believe it’s time for me to get my dinner.”

  “Please, Hattie,” Ethan begged. “I’m not here to cause trouble. I came to Thunder Point to help Theresa Muir. She’s been hearing voices, and her brother knows that I – well, I have certain abilities.”

  Hattie slowly lowered herself back into the rocker. “Mrs. Muir is seeing ghosts, too?”

  Ethan nodded. “Meredith is very upset about something, and I think it has to do with her daughter.” Once again, the faint breeze blew through the lobby. The smell of roses, stronger this time, followed it.

  “She has reason to be upset,” Hattie said. Her fingers nervously worked at a loose string on her sweater. “Her life took a grim turn when she became pregnant. I was quite young at the time, but I felt it. When Meredith couldn’t hide her pregnancy any longer, the house grew more and more tense. In that day, an unwed mother was terribly shameful. Meredith was hardly allowed out of her room much less out of the house. It was as if the light that had been burning inside of her died. And the spirit of the house died along with it.”

  Ethan imagined Meredith sitting all alone in her room knowing that her disapproving parents would never let her out of the house. He felt her sadness as if it was his own, and his eyes grew moist. She was only seventeen or eighteen at the time. Still a child! No wonder her ghost was so
mournful. “What happened to her? Who was the father?”

  Hattie shook her head sadly. “Meredith claimed that it was the son of Mr. Muir’s business partner, but the young man said it wasn’t so. Since Meredith was a hellion and the young man was attending seminary, everyone believed him.”

  “So who did they think was the father?”

  “A young rake who helped out around the manor. He was every inch the ladies’ man, and the entire household had seen Meredith talking to him.” Hattie looked at her hands. “He was far beneath her, society wise, so Mr. Muir paid him off, and he left Thunder Pointe. We never heard of him again.”

  Meanwhile, Meredith had been left to rot. Once again, Ethan felt the sharp twinge of hopelessness. It was as if Meredith was projecting her emotions onto him. He’d never experienced the unsettling phenomenon before. He put his hand to his head and closed his eyes.

  “Are you all right?” Hattie asked.

  “I’ll be fine.” Ethan gave himself a mental shake. This was sad history, but it wasn’t his sad history. He didn’t have to feel Meredith’s grief. It wasn’t his burden to bear. “So what happened to Meredith?”

  “If you’ve seen her ghost, then you should know the rest of the story,” Hattie said.

  “Her baby died, and she drowned. At least, that’s what I’ve been seeing.”

  “You really do have the sight,” Hattie said, awed. “Either that, or you’ve been researching the family.”

  “No. I’ve seen it. It was…disturbing.” He didn’t want to get into the gruesome details.

  Hattie was nearly sitting on the edge of her seat. Her wrinkled hands tightly gripped the e-reader in her lap. “Do you know who the real father was?”

  “You don’t think it was the handyman?” Ethan asked, surprised.

  “No. I never liked David Harlow, even if he was going into the ministry. There was something unsettling about that man.”

  David. The name that had been twice underlined in the old Bible.

  Suddenly, Ethan felt dizzy. He couldn’t catch his breath. The fire in the fireplace seemed to roar, and he broke into a sweat. From far away, he heard Hattie calling his name, but he couldn’t respond. Everything in the room faded into gray.

  David.

  Meredith lay in bed, under a mound of blankets. Outside, a blizzard blew. The wind rattled the windows, as if the storm had hands and was trying to destroy the house bit by bit. She was drowsy, nearly asleep, but the squeak of a floorboard alerted her, and she sat up, suddenly wide awake.

  Meredith called for her mother, but she didn’t answer. Instead, the bedroom door swung open, and footsteps crossed the room. The storm obscured the moon, making the darkness impenetrable. The house didn’t have electric yet, and when she tried to get out of bed to light the gas lamp, rough hands shoved her backwards. Before she could yell, a hand clamped over her mouth while the other jerked her nightgown over her hips.

  She fought back, hard, and was rewarded with a blow across the face. The wail of the wind covered her grunts and squeals, and no one came to rescue her. There was a stink of sour body odor. A reek she’d smelled before when her the son of her father’s business partner had cornered her in the library, demanding a kiss. At the time, she’d ducked away from him, but he wouldn’t allow her to escape a second time.

  “You did this to yourself,” he muttered as he pinned her down. “You led me on, you vixen.”

  Tears streamed from Meredith’s eyes. She thrashed and bucked, but was no match for his strength. When it was over, he climbed off of her and fled the room. By the time she’d finally alerted her mother, David was long gone, and all that was left was the terrible memory.

  “Ethan!”

  A hand touched Ethan’s cheek. Still reeling from the vision, Ethan slowly sat up. A very worried-looking David crouched beside him. David put his hand on Ethan’s arm and helped him back onto the couch. “You okay? What happened?”

  Ethan put his hands to his head. The foyer, the fireplace, and Hattie were back in place, but he could still see – still feel – the rape. It was as if it had happened to him. He felt dirty. Violated. Poor Meredith! No wonder she wasn’t at peace. First the rape, then losing her baby…it had been beyond what she could tolerate. Ethan had to find a way to put her to rest.

  Then a darker thought touched him. Meredith seemed infatuated with Tessa. Was she protecting another victim? His heart fell to the bottom of his stomach. Could someone have forced himself on David’s sister? And if so, who? Grant?

  No. Jeremy.

  Emily hurried in from the kitchen with a glass of water, but when she offered it to David, he waved her aside. “I need to get back to the manor. I have to talk to Tessa!”

  “Why? What did you see?” David asked.

  “I’ll tell you on the ride over,” Ethan said. He no longer cared about the awkwardness of being alone with David. He had too much on his mind. He stood, but his knees threatened to buckle. He grabbed the back of the couch before he keeled over.

  David slipped his arm under Ethan’s armpits. “Whoa! I think you should rest first.”

  “Emily, call a doctor,” Hattie said.

  Ethan shook his head. “No. I’ll be fine.” After the ravaging he’d experienced, David’s hold on him was comforting. It took some of the sickness away from his gut. “I just need to get back to the manor.”

  Seeing that Ethan wasn’t about to give up on the idea, David slowly agreed. “Fine, but you’re going straight to bed. I’ll sit up all night if I have to in order to make sure you stay put.”

  Ethan wanted to argue that it wouldn’t be necessary, but the idea of David standing guard over him was very appealing. “I need to get my things.”

  David fetched Ethan’s guitar and suitcase. Ethan offered to pay for the room, but Emily wouldn’t hear of it. “You just get better,” she said. Worry lines creased her forehead. “I still think you should see a doctor.”

  “I’m feeling much better,” Ethan assured her. He was able to stand on his own feet and walk himself to the car. With a wave over his shoulder, he left with David.

  On the drive back to Thunder Point, David was quiet and focused. The radio played an old Pearl Jam song, but the music somehow increased the silence instead of filling it. Ethan snapped it off. “So how are things with Jessica?”

  “Over,” David said flatly.

  “I’m sorry.”

  David cut his eyes at him. “Are you?”

  “Yes,” Ethan said truthfully. “I didn’t want either of you to get hurt.” He looked away. “But I knew it would happen. You two couldn’t be the couple you wanted to be.”

  David sighed, and his shoulders sagged. “I guess not. And you were right,” he added after a pause. “I never really loved her. Not like one partner should love the other.”

  “I’m sorry,” Ethan repeated.

  “It’s not your fault,” David assured him. “We’ve been arguing a lot lately. In fact, our most recent fight was whether or not she should have come up to see me at Thunder Point. She really wanted to, but I had told her not to bother. I really like her as a friend – we texted every day – but I was more comfortable when she wasn’t around.”

  Ethan felt like he was a priest in a confessional. Or a psychiatrist in an office. Either way, David was unburdening himself. Saying things that he had probably never admitted to anyone before, especially himself. “So you feel relieved?”

  Another long pause. “I guess I do. I’ll miss her – she’s a great person and a good friend – but it will be nice not to have someone pushing me to do what I don’t want to do.” Once again, he glanced at Ethan, sending him a silent message: And I don’t want anyone else pushing me, either.

  Ethan understood. The last thing he wanted to do was drive David away. He wouldn’t make any demands; he would simply be there. And if the right time came, and if David came to accept who he really was, Ethan would be waiting. He’d waited three years. He could wait a little longer.

  Dav
id finally smiled, breaking the tension. “Now, we can stay up all night playing Madden.”

  Ethan smiled back. “You won’t be happy about it when I kick your ass.”

  “Go ahead and try.” David’s hands had relaxed on the wheel, and the tension had drained out of his shoulders. “You put on some kind of show back at the B&B. What happened to you?”

  Now it was Ethan’s turn to be uneasy. “Meredith followed me there. I was talking to Hattie, the old woman, and I felt Meredith’s presence. The more Hattie talked about her, the more strongly I felt it. Then things got fuzzy, and I passed out. I think I was channeling her.”

  David’s eyes widened. “What did you see?”

  Ethan explained about what Hattie had told him regarding Meredith and her baby. Then, haltingly, he described the rape. The sickness in his gut resurged. He’d never live down the memory of those strong hands pinning him to the bed.

  “God! That’s awful!” David exclaimed. “I can’t believe that you had to endure that.”

  “I can’t believe that she had to endure that. And then not to be believed!” David had thought he’d been a victim when the Ladds had dragged him through the mud, but it was nothing compared to this physical violation. Not that his problems were small. But compared to this tragedy, they seemed much smaller now.

  Now came the tricky part. He’d gotten through the retelling of the rape, but that wasn’t the worst of it. At least, not as far as David was concerned. Ethan would need to tread carefully. “Meredith has tied herself to your sister,” he said. “It’s almost as if she’d protecting her.”

  “I suppose that’s one way to look at it. Tessa never felt threatened by the visitations,” David said, “but she was upset by them. Like you, she seemed to feel the horror.”

  “Right. And I think there’s a reason for that.” Ethan took a deep breath. “I think it’s possible that Tessa might have been raped as well.”

  David snapped his head to look at him. “What?!”

  “I don’t know for sure, but it would make sense. If the tragedy was repeated, Meredith might have wanted to do something about it.”