They had started dating when she was a junior and he was in his first year of college, and they dated for the next three years. During that time, neither one had been faithful, but as soon as she graduated, he asked her marry him. She had smiled with those green eyes shining with excitement, and he had felt happiness fill him as they kissed. When she died, he lost a piece of himself and he did not know how to get it back. His father and his stepmother tried constantly to help him out, and he appreciated them for trying to help, but this was something he had to do on his own.
“Hi Cord,” he heard and looked over to see Susie standing there. Her brown eyes were shining with lust and Cordial felt a smile cross his face as without a word he walked around to the passenger side of the truck and opened it for her. She giggled as she slid inside and for a moment, Cordial saw a flash of green eyes with a scowl across her face as she hopped into the truck without any help from him, and he pushed it away as his silver eyes smiled at her. He closed the door heading around to his side and hopping in not noticing the door of the house opening and the young woman stepping out.
Shay watched as the truck drove away, and her heart clenched in her chest. She frowned as she turned around and walked back inside. She touched her chest lightly and she wondered what that feeling was. She did not even know the man so he could do whatever he pleased. She ran a shaky hand over her eyes and she knew she would have to stay away from him. As she thought before, if she wanted to leave this town with her heart intact staying away from him was the best plan. For she did not no why, but something was telling her that he could be very important and dangerous to her all in the same breathe. She gave herself a hard shake as she went back into the kitchen to help Nettie with dinner.
“Cord was gone, dear?” Nettie asked as she walked back in and Shay gave her a confused look. Nettie laughed as she explained, “His name is Cordial, but we all call him Cord”. Shay nodded her head at the explanation thinking to herself that she much preferred “Cordial”, and answered Nettie’s question, “He was just pulling away when I opened the door” omitting the part about Susie. Nettie watched her for a moment before she turned back to the pie she was making, frowning slightly at her own thoughts.
Later that evening, after they served dinner, Shay had gone back to her room. She fiddled with her phone before sighing and making her call.
“Hi, Mr. Lorenzo, it is Shay Montgomery,” she said politely.
“Yes, Miss Montgomery,” said the voice of her new boss and she heard the pompous in his voice.
“Mr. Lorenzo, I am going to be a little late for I had an accident, and it is going to take at least two weeks before my car will be fixed,” she explained. There was silence on the other end for a moment and then Mr. Lorenzo spoke with finality his voice.
“I agreed to give you this job because you were given excellent references, even though I think that your references were not for your ability required by the job, which I hired you. You have a week Miss Montgomery, and when that week is up, do not bother coming at all.” He hung up the phone and Shay sat there listening to the dial tone. She snapped her phone shut as what he said repeated in her head …I think that your references where not for your ability required by the job, which I hired you. Shay felt as if she had been slapped for she had assumed she had gotten the job for her ability and now she realizes he just gave it to her because he needed someone. Why did he give her the job if that is what he thought? She snarled to herself, and then she put her head in her hands. She would talk to Matt tomorrow, and she opened her eyes to look at the clock by her bed. It read midnight, and she looked at her laptop before getting undressed and slipping underneath the covers in a t-shirt and shorts. Her last thought before she drifted off to sleep: who was Charity McCloud?
She was flirting with the captain of the football team when she saw him. Even though she only glanced at him, she knew that she was going to get him. He walked by in his black jeans and leather jacket with that black hair and silver eyes, and she immediately felt her body light up. She gave him a quick look from her green eyes and a smile before turning back to…Steve she thinks his name was. She was only 15 but she knew how to get a man to do what she wanted. Of course, she had not given any one THAT yet but she had someone in mind already, and she planned to do it after she turned sixteen. She flirted with Steve until the bell rung and she headed to class. She saw the new girl as soon as she entered, and she had frowned for she was pretty in her own way. Not better than her, of course. She wondered if she and the new boy were related, and she smiled to herself as she sat down in the empty seat next to her.
“Hi my name is Charity McCloud,” she said flipping her long black hair back over her shoulder. The girl looked at her with gray eyes, but her hair was as black as the guy she saw.
“Raylee O’Ryan,” the girl said giving her a smile.
She sat back in her seat as the teacher called for class to begin. She looked out of the corner of eye towards Raylee O’Ryan and noticed her focusing on what the teacher was saying. She could use her and her eyes shined as she thought of the silver eyes that had checked her out before walking by; most definitely going to use her.
Shay woke slowly as the dream started to leave her. She curled into a ball as she shook slightly. All these years, she had thought they were just weird dreams and her mind had been playing tricks on her. She figured that they were her dreams that she had wished for herself although she had been disappointed to see herself as a selfish and conceited young woman, but she assumed that it was her imagination; a way for her to deal with what was happening for real. Now, she discovered from that one dream that she had been seeing someone else’s life. It did not make any sense, why would she be seeing this Charity McCloud’s life. Why? Kept repeating her mind as she try to drift back to sleep.
In very nice house across town, two figures entwined on the bed screamed out their release before collapsing on the bed. The woman lit her cigarette as she asked, “Well?”
The man leaned on one elbow as he traced a path on her stomach and was amazed how beautiful she was as he answered her question distractedly.
“Nothing much to tell, her name is Shay Montgomery and from what I gathered, she had only stopped in town for supplies before heading out,” he answered leaning down to give her a kiss on her stomach. The woman paid no attention as her eyes narrowed and she blew out a puff of smoke.
“Did she know Charity?” and he heard the resentment in her voice as she said her name.
“Not that I know of,” he said kissing up in between her breast until she was lying down again with her over him. He kissed her roughly on her lips as he took the cigarette from her hand and put it in the ashtray. Not another word was whispered but as he drifted off, she laid their looking into the dark. Her face, which had looked so pretty, was screwed up into the most frightening look. She had worked so hard and she knew that before long she would have what she had been dreaming off since she had been 30, and no one was going to stand in her way.
Chapter 6
The following day, Shay headed over to Matt’s Garage early for she had known that O’Ryan was coming over to do some work for Miss Nettie. She was going to keep out of his way until she could get out of town and in her mind, the sooner the better.
“Hi Matt,” she said smiling although her eyes were still wary but they were hidden behind her shades.
“Hi, Shay,” he said pulling his head out from under a hood of a Mercedes. “What can I do for you?”
Shay looked around and she sighed, “I was going to ask you if there was any way you could have my car fixed before the end of the week.”
“Sorry, Shay, but two weeks max. It probably will take even longer than that because there is a back order for the axel on your car so I am having a hard time getting the part,” he watched as a frown crossed her face before she nodded her head.
“Okay, thanks Matt. I will let you get back to work,” Shay said walking out of the garage and she headed slowly back to Nettie�
�s. Her mind was going over what was in her bank account for she was not broke but by the time she got the bill for her car, she probably would be. Without a job to go to, she was going to need whatever she had left to get herself back. She sighed in frustration for there was only place for her to go and that was where she had just come from. She sighed again and took her phone out of her pocket. She called her new boss first.
“Hello, this is Lorenzo’s Italian Restaurant, how may I help you?” the friendly voice said. Shay asked to speak to Mr. Lorenzo and she was told that he was with the new chef showing him the ropes. The friendly voice told her she could take a message, or she could try calling back later. Shay just said no message like there was any use; he did not even give her the week. She shook her head as she hung up the phone. She would wait to talk to Amanda because she would just tell her to come home and they would get her car later.
She was not paying attention where she was going so when she bumped into someone she quickly said, “I am sorry. I was not watching where I was going.” Then she looked up into the cool silver eyes, and she stepped back fast.
“Hi Shay,” Nettie said from the doorway and Shay turned toward her with relief and confusion. She had walked all the way back here without realizing where she was going. She frowned as she run a hand through her black hair knocking the scrunchy from it and it fell to the ground. Her black hair fell past her shoulders to the middle of her back before she snatched up the scrunchy and put her hair back into its customary ponytail.
“Did you have a chat with Matt, dear?” Nettie asked Shay who was walking up the steps and realizing as she got to the door that Cordial was with her. She ignored him the best she could as she nodded her head at Nettie.
Nettie looked at her face and said, “Not good news?”
“No, it would take at least the two weeks if not longer because the part he needs is on back order,” she explained. She opened her mouth to say more but then she snapped it shut. They did not need to know anymore about her for she was just a stranger passing through.
“Sorry, Nettie, it looks I will be staying a little longer than expected,” she said giving her a smile. Nettie just nodded her head as the phone rang and she went to pick it up.
“Hello, Nettie’s B&B. How may I help you?” she said into the phone and listened quietly to the other voice.
“Yes, Lucille, he is right here. Cord, your stepmother is on the phone something about dinner tonight?” She said handing the phone to him. He walked around Shay to grab the phone and Shay heard, “Hi, Lucille” before she slid away to her room quietly. She sat down on the bed and looked out the window. Then she booted up her laptop for she needed to find another job quickly. Besides, there was something else she wanted to check on, and she was still hesitant about doing it. She waited while the laptop finished booting up and she could not helping thinking about a pair of silver eyes or how it felt when she bumped into him. She shook herself out of her daze as her laptop beeped at her and she grimaced at her thoughts before focusing on her search.
Cordial got off the phone with his stepmother scowling. The woman was going to drive him crazy.
“She is giving you a hard time,” Nettie asked standing off to the side going through her mail. She frowned as she saw the envelope with Shay’s name on it and no return address. Weird, she thought to herself but she put it aside for Shay.
“Yeah, she wants me to come to dinner tonight because a daughter of a friend is in town,” Cordial said running a hand through his already tousled hair, and then he noticed Shay was not around.
“Where is Shay?” he asked before he could stop himself.
Nettie did not glance up but said bluntly, “Probably went back to her room. She does not sleep much for she is always up when I get up. I think she has nightmares but she does not talk to me about them. Now, how about we get started on those repairs?”
Cordial gave her a smile that made her old heart thump in its chest, and she looked at him with admiration as she said, “If only I was fifteen years younger” and sighed. Cordial laughed as he kissed her cheek and headed up stairs to fix a bathroom on the second floor.
Nettie went to Shay’s room after watching Cordial head upstairs. She knocked quietly on the door and she heard “Come in.” Shay was sitting on her bed Indian style and her laptop was sitting in her lap. She glanced up as Nettie opened the door, and she smiled.
“Here,” Nettie said walking in farther to hand her the letter, “this came for you today.” She watched as Shay’s green eyes dimmed with caution and she frowned although she took the letter. “Thank you,” she said putting the letter to the side on the bed.
Nettie waited for a moment before she asked, “What are you doing?”
Shay looked up at her and then said with a sigh, “I am looking for a job.”
“I thought you had one,” Nettie asked in confusion.
“I did,” Shay said nodding her head, “but when I called the other day to tell him I would be late, he gave me a week to get there. When I called back today, in respect, to let him know that there was no way for me to make it in the week he specified, I learned that he had already hired someone else. So I need to look for a new job before I head back home.” Nettie heard the way she said “home” and knew that she did not really want to go back there.
“I am sorry to hear about that,” she said and wondered why someone would hire her than not give her chance to show up.
Shay looked at her and smiled without humor as she did it again and answered her unasked question, “The only reason he gave me the job was because he needed someone fast. He made it plain when I called him about my car what he thought about my references and how I obtained them.” Nettie’s eyes widened as her statement sunk in. Shay’s face was composed although her eyes were bright with anger before she lowered her lids to hide them.
“Thank you, Miss Nettie, for letting stay here. If you would like, I can take over the cooking for you while I am here,” Shay offered and Nettie nodded her head for she knew from the other night that she was a good cook.
“Talk to you later,” Nettie said walking out the door and closing it behind her softly. She walked into the kitchen and leaned against the counter looking out her kitchen window. She was 56 years old and she saw plenty in that time and she saw that although Shay looked like the replica of Charity, there was a big difference. Charity had grown up in this town, loved by all and Nettie knew that she had been spoilt and conceited to the core whereas Shay had been raised in a much different environment. She frowned as she remembered Shay mentioning an orphanage and she implied from that comment, that Shay had a difficult childhood. The wariness and caution in Shay’s eyes underlined her every action and Nettie sighed for she wished there was a way to help her.
“I have to get going, Nettie,” Cordial said coming into the kitchen and he was looking at his cell.
“Of course, dear, as long as you promise to come back tomorrow to repair the other things,” she said smiling at him as she pushed the problem of Shay to the back of her mind.
“I promise,” he said giving her a quick kiss before letting his eyes scan the room as he walked out.
Shay heard the voices in the kitchen, but she ignored them as she updated her resume and sent it to two restaurants in the area of Providence, RI where Amanda lived.
She sighed as she finished the applications with her resume attached and she looked down to see the envelope lying next to her on the bed. She had forgotten about it as she reached down and picked it up. Opening the envelope, she pulled out the sheet of paper and unfolded it. She paled as she read the two-sentence typed letter.
Get your car fixed and leave town. The sooner the better or what happened to Charity McCloud could happen to you.
Shay put the letter back down and she looked at her laptop before she pulled it towards her. In the search box, she typed “Charity McCloud”. Plenty of websites popped up, but she went to the website for the town newspaper and she gasped as she saw the pi
cture. The picture showed a young woman standing in front of a house with her arms wrapped around the man that gave her such weird feelings. The caption read, “Fiancée of Current heartthrob Cordial O’Ryan Murdered”, and Shay felt her heart drop in her chest as she read the article:
Charity McCloud, fiancée of Cordial O’Ryan, was found in the woods five miles from O’Ryan’s house shot twice; once in the stomach and one in the heart. Miss McCloud that very day had been getting her last minute alterations for her wedding dress to wed O’Ryan on Saturday. She was found early on Thursday morning when young Jed Tomason used the woods as a short cut to the bus stop. Miss McCloud had just turned 19 and according her parents was going to attend the local university after her marriage to Mr. O’Ryan. Miss McCloud was considered a very well liked young woman and there are no clues to who would have wanted to harm her. Mr. O’Ryan has not commented on anything but this reporter saw his face when he was told the news and I must admit that he seemed devastated by the news. I hope that the local police can find some clue to why one of Pine Valley’s most loveable young woman, was murdered so close to her own fiancé’s house.
A Ghost of the Past Page 3
