I nodded. I was exhausted.
“I’ll give you the keys and you can settle in. We’ll have a nice meal after you’ve rested. I’m making your favorite.”
“Risotto with fresh tomatoes?”
“That’s the one.”
I hugged my Gran close. “I really missed this.”
“So did I.”
The house was just as I’d remembered it.
“It’s good to be back home,” I said to Rebecca.
“It is,” she agreed. For all intents, my home was hers as well. She didn’t remember much before she realized that I could actually see her.
Even though I’d been tired driving up here, now I was full of energy. I looked around the house, running through every room. Then I found fresh lemonade in the fridge and just had to have some.
Rebecca looked on jealously as I drank the whole glass.
“Now I’m exhausted,” I said.
My room was as embarrassing as I’d remembered it. Full of posters of long forgotten pop stars and boy bands. Not to mention everything was pink.
I slept for a couple of hours. When I woke, I found Rebecca staring down at me.
“What is it? You know I don’t like it when you do that.”
“I was just making sure you were still with us,” she joked.
“With the living you mean?” I retorted.
Rebecca stiffened. “Yes, that’s what I meant.”
“Is Gran home?”
“She came in an hour ago. She’s been quite busy in the kitchen.”
As soon as I opened my bedroom door I could sense the scent of my favorite meal.
I practically ran down the stairs.
“Get ready,” Gran called from the kitchen as soon as she heard me. “Dinner will be served in fifteen.”
Just enough time for a quick shower. I even had time to wash my hair. It was good to get rid of the dirt and grime from the road. I almost felt like myself again. All I needed was a home cooked meal.
The meal was delicious.
“I can’t believe how good this is. This is like…heaven.”
Gran laughed. “How long has it been since you’ve had a home cooked meal?”
“Probably ten years. As long as I’ve been gone from this town.”
I left town when I was eighteen and now here I was, ten years later, still back at the same place I started. I tried not to think of it as going backward, but it was hard.
“And in all that time you haven’t stepped foot in the kitchen?”
“Nope,” I said between mouthfuls of food. I washed it down with some more lemonade. Then I took some of the homemade bread and munched on that as well.
“You’ll never get a man if you don’t know how to cook,” Gran said as she put more rice onto my plate. I added more of the tomato and pepper sauce.
“It doesn’t work like that anymore, Gran,” I reminded her. “Now both men and women have full-time jobs.”
“The stomach is still the best way to a man’s heart,” she said.
I decided to leave it alone. I did not want to get into a fight on my first day back in town and certainly not over such a delicious homemade meal.
Afterward, I curled up on the couch in the living room to rest a bit from the heavy meal. Two cats came and jumped on me, vying for attention. A yellow tabby and a dark gray, almost black beauty.
“What are your names?” I asked the little creatures.
“The yellow tabby is Marmalade and the gray is Ebony,” Gran said when she saw us.
She brought out tea and cookies.
“As delicious as that looks, I can’t.” I took a closer look at the cookie plate. “Though I definitely want to.”
“You don’t have to, Millie, it’s just here in case you do. It’s only polite to provide dessert after a full meal.”
“I’m family, Gran. You don’t have to be polite to me,” I reminded her.
Gran laughed at that. “You always had a sense of humor. It’s good to see that you haven’t lost it in the big city.”
Before I could come up with a reply, the doorbell rang.
“Are you expecting anyone?” I asked.
Gran shook her head. “No, but I’m sure it’s nothing. Just rest and I’ll get rid of whoever it is.”
I was all too happy to listen to that instruction. I petted the cats and nearly fell asleep again. Then I heard footsteps coming toward the living room, and not just my grandmother’s. There was someone else in the house as well.
“Rebecca,” I whispered.
Rebecca appeared behind me.
“It’s just an older lady,” she said.
That older lady turned out to be Mrs. Valentine from across the street.
“Hello dear,” Mrs. Valentine said. “It’s so nice to see you back in town.” I didn’t believe one word that was coming out of her mouth but I still smiled politely.
“What brings you here so late?” I asked.
Gran stepped forward and spoke up before Mrs. Valentine could.
“There’s been a murder in town,” Gran said.
Three
“A murder? What?” I immediately jumped up. The cats scattered every which way, annoyed by the interruption to their precious nap time.
Mrs. Valentine sat down. “My grandson, Jonathan, is a police officer and he informed me. He told me to stay at home but I couldn’t sit still. I needed to tell someone.”
“You’ve come to the right place,” Gran said, edging the cookie plate toward Mrs. Valentine. “I’ll go get you a fresh cup of tea.”
Mrs. V looked thankful. Then she looked at me suspiciously. “This town hasn’t had anything like this happen in decades and here you are, back in town, and there’s a murder…”
“What are you implying?” I have little patience for people who beat around the bush, especially people who were construing something as awful as that.
“I’m just saying that it seems you attract trouble wherever you go…”
“I don’t attract trouble, Mrs. Valentine, I just talk to ghosts and help them move on.”
The look on Gran’s face as she came back with the tea was priceless. She almost dropped the precious porcelain.
Mrs. V was thankful for the distraction. She immediately took a cookie and put it into the hot liquid and then stuffed her mouth.
After Mrs. V seemed to calm down and after I got a certain look from my Gran, Mrs. V was ready to spill the beans.
“It’s absolutely awful,” she said. “Jonathan said that they found the body by the lake. A man’s body. He was wearing a business suit and everything. They’re looking into the cause of death but he said that foul play is definitely suspected.”
I had a feeling that Mrs. V had a habit of reading a lot of mysteries or at least watching a lot of them on television. I couldn’t help but feel a sense of excitement beneath the worried-old-lady routine.
“That’s awful,” Gran said. “Do they know if he’s a local?”
“Thankfully, Jonathan said that he didn’t recognize the man. Not that it isn’t just as awful, of course.”
“Of course,” Gran agreed.
“I wonder if I should offer my services? It might be good for business,” I said to Gran.
“My Jonathan will have none of that,” Mrs. V said. “He doesn’t believe in any of that nonsense, as he calls it.”
“That’s interesting, since I saw the ghosts of his parents after their car accident. He sure seemed to believe me then.”
Mrs. V shook her head. “He was just a child. He has wizened up since then and he has no time for charlatans.”
“Are you calling me a charlatan?”
“Not you specifically, dear, just the people in your profession.”
“I need some air,” I said. “I think I’ll go out for a drive.”
“Be safe!” Gran called after me.
“Don’t you dare bother my Jonathan!” Mrs. V yelled after me.
I breathed a sigh of relief once I was
outside. It was late afternoon but there was still about an hour of sunlight left. If I was to be of any use, I was going to have to hurry.
I got into my beaten up car and tried to remember where the lake was. I was pretty sure it was pretty close, but which direction?
“That was rough,” Rebecca said and nearly made me drive off the road.
“Don’t do that!” I said. “And where were you while I was being insulted by that old bag?”
Rebecca smiled sheepishly. “I didn’t like her energy so I kept my distance. Who knew you couldn’t handle an old lady skeptic by yourself…”
“Yeah, very funny. Just stop doing that teleporting thing. You know it freaks me out.”
“I can’t help it. I think of you and I’m immediately there. Why take the slow way if this way is much easier and not to mention much more natural when you’re in my state?”
“Well, I’m still living and I have a heart so maybe you should be more considerate.”
“I’ll try,” Rebecca promised.
I looked at her quickly. I was still amazed, even after all these years, that I had an actual ghost shadowing me. She was see-through just like the rest, but she had something they didn’t: a well-rounded personality. Most ghosts I came across were in crisis mode or denial mode or revenge mode. Rebecca was none of those things. She acted like a friend would. And now that I thought about it, she was my best friend, as weird as that was to say. I guess when you can see ghosts and you don’t know how to shut up about it, friends and not to mention boyfriends, are hard to find.
“Do you remember where this damn lake is?”
“How could I forget? Watching you and Jonathan fogging up his car has scarred me for the rest of my afterlife.”
“Ha ha, very funny. You should have been a comedian.”
“Who knows, maybe I was.”
I took a good look at her. She looked more like a hippie than a comedian. “Yeah, sure.”
“Take a left up ahead. You should be able to see it after that unless something’s changed since the last time we were here.”
Rebecca was right. As soon as I took the turn I saw the police lights in the distance. The lake looked about the same. The only thing different about it was that it was swarming with police. Or as much as police as a little town like Silver Bells Cove could afford.
I parked my car out of the way and slowly got out. Was I really ready for this?
As soon as I saw Jonathan hovering over the body, now covered up by a white tarp thankfully, I knew it was a mistake to come here.
Before I had a chance to turn around, he spotted me.
“Crap,” I said under my breath. “Brace yourself.”
Rebecca floated around me. “Why? He can’t see me!”
I shoved her away with the wave of my hand.
“Still talking to ghosts, I see,” Jonathan said as he made his way toward me.
I didn’t know how it was possible but he was even more handsome than I remembered him being. He had filled out a lot since the last time I saw him. He used to be lean, and now he seemed to have put on some muscle as well. The way he filled his police uniform made me look away for fear of blushing.
“Yes. Did you think I was making that up?”
Jonathan shook his head and smiled. The way his dimples showed when he did made it hard for me not to blush. I hated that he still made me feel like I was in high school again. I was a grown woman for goodness sake. Reason number thousand that coming back to Silver Bells wasn’t a good idea.
“Let’s just say that I believe that you believe that you see things, whether any of that’s actually real remains to be seen.”
“Oh no, your grandmother was right. You have become a skeptic since the last time I was here.”
“The way we left things, can you really blame me?”
“Excuse me for not wanting to stay in this town for the rest of my life and pop out a couple of kids before hitting twenty.”
“You know I never asked you to do any of that.”
“You proposed.”
“And you said no. Can we move on now?”
“That sounds like a good idea,” I said. “So, what can you tell me about Mr. Dead over there?” I pointed to the white tarp. I looked around but couldn’t spot the man’s ghost. Rebecca seemed to be thinking the same thing.
“I’ll see if I can spot him nearby,” she said and then flew away.
“Hello, Earth to Millie.”
“Ugh. Only my Gran calls me that and you know it.”
His smile was wide and maybe even a little mischievous.
“Why did you just space out?”
“I didn’t space out. Rebecca was talking to me. She said she’ll look around for Mr. Dead.”
“Mr. Dead has a name. Maybe it’s better if you learned to show some respect.”
“Believe me, if you saw ghosts, you wouldn’t put much stock in someone being dead. He’s not gone, he’s just changed frequencies.”
“How very scientific of you. I think I might believe in all things supernatural now.”
I hated it when Jonathan joked with me. That was probably one of the many reasons why I said no to his proposal. Well, that, and the suffocating feeling I got at even the thought of having that ring on my finger. Thankfully, no one knew about the proposal except us two. It saved him some embarrassment when I left town. We agreed to tell everyone that our break up was mutual.
“And what is his name?” I asked, trying to get back to the subject at hand.
“Nice try. You know civilians aren’t allowed to know that.”
“I’ll find out anyway. Straight from the ghost’s mouth probably.” Let’s just hope he’s one of those ghosts who does remember his own name. And more importantly still, his murderer.
“Enough chit chat. I see my boss is giving me the stink eye. It’s time for you to go. See you if I see you, okay?”
As much as I wanted to fight him, I knew he was right.
I went back to my car and waited for Rebecca to make her appearance, which she did after a couple of seconds.
“Took you long enough,” I said.
“I was gathering intel,” she said and smiled.
I rolled my eyes. “Out with it.”
“His name is Bart Samuel. Apparently, he was new to town. He was trying to open a hotel and restaurant nearby.”
“Wow, that’s great. So did he tell you who murdered him?”
“I didn’t get to speak to him. I didn’t see him anywhere around here. I just overheard the sheriff and a couple of cops talking.”
“Good job, Rebecca.”
“I live to serve. So, do you want to go back there and show your ex that you have powers?”
“I hardly think it’s worth the time. He’ll probably think I used my cell or something. Let’s get out of here. It looks like we have a restaurant to visit.”
I didn’t know what I expected when I heard the words “hotel” and “restaurant” in the same sentence, but it certainly wasn’t a pile of rubbish that barely resembled anything at all.
There were a couple of trucks parked around the property but it looked like all the workers had since moved on. For the day at least.
We were on the other side of the lake. This part had the best view of the lake and our little town across it and now there was going to be a hotel here. How lovely.
“This is kind of…ugly,” I said.
“Now we know why he was murdered,” Rebecca said.
“Oh, you think it was someone who didn’t want this monstrosity built here?”
“Can you think of another motive?”
“No, you’re probably right. I’d be thinking of killing the guy myself if he wasn’t already dead.”
“That’s not very nice,” a man’s voice said behind us. I jumped up in shock.
Then I saw that it was a man in a sharp-looking suit. Probably in his mid to late forties. It looked like he was well on his way to bald. Oh, and he was also see-through.
“Bart, I presume?” I asked him.
“The one and only.”
I looked closer at him. He seemed awfully cheerful for a guy that was dead.
“Umm, you do realize that you’re…how do I put it…”
“Dead?” He asked. “Like your little friend here,” he pointed to Rebecca.
“Yeah, exactly.”
“I kind of realized that when I suddenly became invisible to everyone.”
“Great, this is going to be easier than I thought,” I said.
“How so?” Bart asked.
“You know you’re dead. That’s half the battle with you ghosts. Now tell me if you remember who killed you or how and that kind of thing?”
“I remember exactly how it happened,” he said.
My first case back in town and I was going to solve it in under thirty minutes. That was a record even for me. And who knew how much business that would mean after I advertised the fact that I, a ghost hunter extraordinaire, solved the case all on my own.
“Do tell,” I urged Bart. “And then maybe you can move on to the afterlife.”
“It happened last night. I was overseeing the progress on the hotel when I heard something behind me. Before I had a chance to see who it was, I felt an incredible pain in the back of my head and I passed out. Next thing I knew I was a ghost. It was quite frustrating trying to get people’s attention but pretty soon I realized I must be dead. Otherwise, why would everyone ignore me? People love me or hate me, but they never not notice me.”
I rolled my eyes. He was one of those.
“This is going to be harder than I thought but at least you’re self-aware. That’s something.”
“I guess. Though it’s been kind of boring. That is until you two came along.”
“Dude, you’ve been dead for less than half a day.”
“Exactly,” he said with a smile.
I felt bile rising up in my throat. “That’s…I don’t know what to say to that.”
“What can I say. I was a man who liked to work hard and play hard. I only wish I could have done it longer.”
“Do you have any idea who could have done this to you?”
“Pretty much the whole town hated my hotel project. There’s even a petition to stop it from building. They call themselves Keep Silver Bells Green, which doesn’t even make much sense if you ask me.”
Ghostly Apparitions (A Ghost Hunter P.I. Mystery Book 1) Page 2
