by Olivia Swift
“I’ll call her in the morning.” He hesitated as he stood at the door. “Or now maybe.” He pulled out his phone and dialed a number. “Katie, it’s Sam and I don’t want your dad; I need to speak to you.” He told the girl where he was and wondered if she was interested in being a trainee truffle maker. Then he handed his phone to Magda.
“I adore your rose-cream truffles—eat far too many of them,” Katie said. “What were you looking for?” Magda outlined the job and said that they could meet up the next afternoon. They made arrangements and she handed Sam his phone back. They were standing in the doorway to the house.
“You are being extraordinarily helpful, Sam,” she said, “but thanks anyway.” She laughed. “It probably won’t last.”
“I enjoyed it.” He put one arm against the doorjamb behind her head.
She waved a finger in his face. “Back off, Barnes. The help was great, but there is no Loretta the tart hitting on you now.”
He threw his hands in the air and grinned at her. “Can’t blame a man for trying,” he said. “I’ll call you tomorrow about the plans and the foundations.” He strode away to his truck and swung into the seat like a cowboy onto his horse. He waved a hand as the truck roared away into the dusk of the early evening. Magda stood at the door until the beat of her heart settled back into its normal steady pattern, then she closed the door and went inside.
The cats were released into the living room, and Magda made a coffee and then sat with the two fluffy Birmans.
“What a little villain you were,” she said as she ran a hand over Crystal’s soft coat. “Sidling up to the man. His head is big enough to start with.”
She pulled out her phone to look at the photos of the stable and talked to the two cats about what she had in mind for the new café. Crystal lifted a paw and knocked the cell phone out of her hand. “Still being a villain,” Magda grumbled as she retrieved the phone.
She opened the photo gallery and flicked through the shots she had taken at the stable. Crystal swiped with her paw and knocked the phone onto the ground again.
“You little minx,” Magda told her, but Crystal jumped down and put her paw on the cell phone. Magda pushed the cat to one side and picked up the phone that was showing a picture of those lovely, huge double doors. She looked at the shot and wondered what the wood would look like when sandblasted.
Crystal actually stuck her head in the way and appeared to be looking at the picture.
“Crystal, you are starting to be a pain,” Magda told her and moved the phone above the cat to look at it more closely and then she gasped and looked again.
4
Magda found a magnifying glass and then pored over the photo of the double doors in detail. At the bottom, and with the magnification making it a bit clearer, was the pale, hazy outline of a—mostly white with darker patches—cat. It was almost invisible, and at a casual glance, could even have been a mark on the wood. If she had not seen the ghost cat earlier in the day, she wouldn’t have given it a second glance. It was the same cat that had walked through the wall. She sat back.
“Well, Crystal, did you really know what you were doing there?” Then she spoke to herself, “Don’t be ridiculous Magda. It was sheer coincidence.” Then she phoned Sam.
“This sounds crazy,” she started.
“Nothing new there, then,” he answered in a joking voice but listened to the tale of Crystal and the photo. “Do you want me to drive back over?” he asked because he knew it was not like Magda to call and confide. “I’ll come anyway,” he added.
She sat back and breathed a sigh of relief. The man could be annoying, but he was there when you needed him. It set her to wondering how Rula and her mom were doing. It was a two-hour drive, and her friend would have reached the hospital by now. Rula would have been her first call under normal circumstances.
She had made more coffee and had been pacing around the kitchen when she heard Sam’s truck and opened the door to let him in. He came inside and spontaneously gave her a hug before pulling out his cell phone.
“Look,” he said, “it’s on my phone as well.”
“What?” Magda said and flicked on her own phone. They both opened up the photos and found the one of the doors. Side by side, the two pictures were almost the same, but Sam had clicked the camera just seconds after Magda, and the image of the cat was in a slightly different place. They looked at each other.
“It seems unbelievable,” Magda said.
“But evidence on film,” he answered. “It is the same cat. We all saw it, and now we have actual proof.”
“What do we do about it?” Magda wondered as they sat side by side with coffee and gazed at the photos. “Maybe there is nothing we can do but learn to get used to having a ghost around.”
“I had been thinking that you should meet the people in the main house. She did say when I was working there that papers and things had been left in the house. She might be able to throw some light on what the place was like when the cat was alive.”
“You think that if we knew about the place, we might be able to set the cat free?” She laid her hand on his arm. “That sounds even crazier than I did before.”
“You hear these stories about stuff like that. I never really believed it but that was before I saw a ghost,” Sam said. He added that he had another reason. “I was going to suggest that you might like to see what they did with the house. You would be quite amazed.” Having seen the modern bedroom, he thought that maybe Magda would like some of the effects that Jennifer Cartland had incorporated into the design.
“I guess the more I know about the place the better, and it is, or was, my grandfather’s home.”
“The woman is easy to talk to, and I think, maybe a bit lonely. Her husband is away a lot,” Sam said. “She would be interested in what you are planning.”
“Okay. It can’t do any harm and might be a help. Tomorrow is too busy to do anything though.”
He nodded in agreement and told her that he was going to mark out the foundations for the men to start the day after.
“I have another job to finish as well and then I am all yours—speaking as a builder,” he added with a grin. “You feel okay now about the picture?”
“I know this sounds silly—“
“And you are a sensible businesswoman who could not possibly be silly,” he put in.
She went on to wonder if Crystal really did it deliberately. “She couldn’t know about the ghost cat, could she?”
“Where is she? Let’s see if she does it again,” Sam suggested. Magda opened the bedroom door and called to the girls who came in at their own speed as cats always do. Crystal made a beeline for Sam and rubbed against his leg.
“She definitely likes you,” Magda said, “and I always thought she had a brain.” Sam picked up a cushion and threw it at her. She grinned and caught it. “Try your phone.”
He sat on the sofa. Crystal jumped up beside him as he pulled out the phone. The cat appeared unimpressed and he swiped to the photo gallery. She took no notice.
“Thank goodness,” Magda said and then the cat knocked his phone out of his hand. Magda gasped, Sam picked up the mobile, and they both gazed at the picture of the double doors. “Now that is really spooky,” she said and dropped down onto the sofa.
“Does she ever do anything else that might be unusual?” he asked.
“Well, she looks at the house phone before it rings but that could be a sensitive ear picking up the vibration,” Magda answered. “I think that my cell phone and Crystal will now be kept well apart.”
Sam’s long and lean body looked surprisingly comfortable on her sofa and he took her hand.
“Relax. I promise to be a gentleman.”
“And I suppose you wouldn’t say no to trying the other cheesecake?”
“I could be angelic for that.” He grinned, and she went to find two plates to try out the raspberry-and-white-chocolate version.
There were no words as Magda ate her own
cheesecake but watched him silently appreciate every mouthful. She couldn’t help but smile.
“I should make a video of you eating that as an ad,” she told him. “Which one is best? The vanilla or the raspberry?”
“Ye gods! What a question.” He thought about it and decided that the raspberry was his favorite.
“I’ll leave these designs on hold until I have the new kitchen and somewhere to sell them,” she said. “You know this big, shiny kitchen you are making? I will need a big vat, for making chocolate, in the middle of the floor. Is that possible as well as an island work surface?”
“We will have to make a channel in the floor for electricity and water but we can position them to make the least disturbance. I really want to see those flagstones polished up. Can you list what else is a must in the kitchen in the next few days?”
Magda said that she would start a list, then they talked about going to see Jennifer Cartland the day after next.
“Tomorrow,” he added, “I will get the carpenter to look at those doors and make sure they work and then get them sandblasted. I will mark out the floor plan and finish the design, so you can see it and make sure it’s what you want.”
“It is exciting,” Magda said. “I can almost see it in my mind’s eye.”
“Tell me what you envision as you approach the entrance and see the café in front of you,” he asked her and felt her lay against him on the sofa. His arm was along the back and he dropped it onto her shoulders. There was no reaction and he smiled.
“There will be lots of shrubs in pots. I don’t want to dig a garden but I would like a garden effect. You can move them around and change the scene. The double doors would be open, and the tables and chairs on the veranda would have brightly colored cloths, which would match the color of the chairs. I like painted furniture and maybe there would be pops of color from those.”
“Tables outside as well, among the plants?” he queried, and she said that those ones would need to be water resistant. She knew that colored outdoor tables and chairs were available to buy and admitted that Branston had a point about stringing lanterns around the place.
“I’m sure Hikey Mikey will let me string some upon the walls, and we need to clean up the ground along the entrance.”
“Don’t let him hear you say Hikey Mikey. He hates it.”
Magda chuckled.
“I know but it sort of rolls off the tongue.”
“The balustrades you get nowadays don’t have to be made. They come in sections and slot into the poles that hold up the roof. I’ll find you some pictures because they come in a huge variety of shapes and shades.”
They talked around the ideas and jobs that needed to be done, and Magda was more comfortable and relaxed than she had been for quite a long time. Her eyes closed as she listened to him talking about the ground that could be laid in the entrance, and she never felt herself rest her head on his shoulder and fall asleep.
Sam pulled her closer and brushed away the dark-plum-colored hair that was across her face.
“Now there’s something I didn’t expect,” he told Crystal who had settled against his other side. The cat purred loudly in response as if she had heard and understood. Sam closed his own eyes and let himself drift away. He knew it wouldn’t last but it was good while it did.
Magda opened her eyes and saw Sam Barnes sleeping on her sofa. He was still holding her around the shoulders and she admitted to herself that something had changed. This man had come driving back to listen to her when he should have been doing other things.
He had always been a good-looking boy and that teenager had matured into a well-toned, six-foot man. Her hand was resting on his chest. She could feel his heartbeat and feel the shape of his rib cage under the shirt. His dark hair was trimmed by what looked like a top-notch stylist.
“No need to work out when you do building for a living,” she thought.
His dark brown eyes flickered and opened and a slow smile spread across his features.
“Is it morning?” he asked and she shook her head.
“About one o’clock, I think.”
“Get me a blanket, and wake me when it’s time for breakfast.” He closed his eyes but there was a smile on his face.
“Don’t you dare tell anyone you spent the night here, Sam Barnes.” She threw a throw over him, and he lifted his legs onto the cushion.
She switched off the light and called for the cats, but Crystal stayed determinedly on Sam’s chest and refused to move.
“Little hussy, that Crystal,” Magda muttered as she closed the bedroom door. When she slipped into the bed, it was noticeably cooler than having Sam beside her.
“Go to sleep, Magda,” she told herself but that was just not as easy as it seemed.
Morning sent fingers of daylight into the room as she lay for a few minutes until she heard a movement on the other side of the door and remembered he was on the sofa. She quickly pulled on clothes and went out to find him rooting around in the kitchen. He had found the eggs and bacon in the fridge.
“Okay, let me do the cooking.” She pushed him away from the stove. He grinned and made her a coffee as she worked. Crystal twirling around his legs like the little madam that she was.
“That cat is a little traitor,” Magda remarked.
“But beautiful like her owner,” Sam answered. Magda gave him a quick warning look. “Take a compliment,” he told her. “You’ll be better when you’ve brushed all of that hair,” he added and she smiled.
“That’s better. That’s the Sam Barnes I know.”
“And love?” he asked innocently, and she put the plate in front of him with a decided bang. He went on as though nothing had interrupted. “I enjoyed last night. Be honest and say that you did as well. Then I can go to work happy.”
Magda took her own breakfast and sat opposite.
“All right. In the name of building my café peacefully, yes, I enjoyed last night as well.”
He grinned as he ate and then told her he would get things moving and give her a call. “Then we can arrange to go and talk to Jennifer Cartland tomorrow.”
Sam stood up, kissed the top of her head and strode out of the door as if he had been there forever. Magda sat and thought about him. Then she shook herself from daydreaming and prepared to start her business day.
She suddenly realized that Rula had not been in touch. That was a worry, and she decided to call before she went to deliver the truffles.
5
Rula answered her cell, and Magda could immediately sense that something was wrong. Her mom was in an induced coma, and there was nothing Rula could do but wait until she woke.
“Her legs are broken but they will mend, and the doctors are hopeful that when they bring her around she will be fine, but they are just not quite sure.”
“Oh heavens,” Magda said. “What happens after that?”
“I think she will have to come home with me and be looked after. She will hate that because she is so independent, but the hospital says a private ambulance would get her there.”
“Hang on to that thought, Rula, and when you get here, we can all take turns at helping you out and helping her get better.”
“Thanks, Magda. I am just filling in time here, but there is nothing else I can do. I’ll pack up what I think she will need when she’s well enough to travel. Her neighbor will look after the cat.”
At the cat mention, Magda told her friend about the photos.
“On both Sam’s phone and mine. It was spooky, but he is taking me to meet the owner of the main house, and apparently there might be some information on my great grandparents.”
When Rula heard about the little hussy, Crystal, it made her laugh.
“I can just see your face when the cat sat on his knee. That has cheered me up, Magda.” Then she paused. “How long did he stay?” she asked and there was no answer. “Magda? Magda?”
“Okay. He sampled the cheesecakes. That man has a sweet tooth.”
“And,” Rula prompted.
“He ended up sleeping on the sofa, had breakfast, and went to work,” Magda admitted. “I don’t need a video call to know that you are grinning.” Rula laughed out loud.
“You made me smile. Thanks Magda.”
“Kiss your mom for me, and let me know when she wakes up.” Magda stood looking at the phone in her hand after they hung up. Melissa Groves was a lovely woman, and she sent up a little prayer to make her well.
The trunk of the car was packed from the night before, so Magda started off to make her delivery. Magda enjoyed taking them to the best restaurant in Whitenwicka Falls. The place was modern to the extreme with glass and chrome everywhere, but the chef and owner, Michele Grande, was always a joy to meet. His enthusiasm for his food was endless and to have that man appreciate her truffles was just such a privilege.
“Have you time for a little coffee with me. Magda?” he asked, and she took a seat among the potted ferns and palm trees that made the polished surfaces recede into the background. She confided to him that she was going into competition.
“Mama mia,” Michele said. “Tell me.” He smiled and patted her hand. “I am not a hot-chocolate shop, my darling. I will tell the visitors to visit your chocolate café—after I have sold them expensive works of art on a plate.” He laughed.
Before driving on to the ranch, she called Sam to tell him about Rula’s mom. She assumed Branston would be out with his band of horse riders and thought that maybe she would see him later.
“We will rally around as best we can,” Sam agreed. “Rula would do the same for any of us.”
“I delivered the truffles safely to Michele at the restaurant and I am now off to the ranch. I wonder what this Merle is like.”
“I have put the plans into motion, and I’m drawing the blueprints as we speak. I can bring a pizza over later and let you see what I’ve done.”
“Thanks,” she told him and hung up. It would have been exciting to see the start of her new venture if the worry about Rula and her mom was not on her mind at the same time.
