The foodstuffs downstairs had gone next. Katie didn’t trust any of the preserves--because God alone knew what a deranged mind like Maggie’s might have put into them. The mason jars all got thrown out. The canned food was donated to the church in town and a grateful reverend Baker had welcomed her to the town with a massive bear hug. She found herself liking him after one meeting.
Riley had volunteered to go through everything else downstairs, everything that was further toward the back of the basement, and Katie had left him to his own good judgment with all of it. She didn’t even want to know what was there.
So, pretty soon, they were going to have to get down to the business of knocking that wall out, and replacing the roof tiles, and laying out a detailed floorplan for whatever might come next.
She hummed to herself as she signed more of the documents that were required to make this all official. Sign here, initial there, read the fine print to see that the bank had tried to include an addendum that would have extended her payments by four years. She was going to have to call them about that. No way was she agreeing to--
Thump.
Katie hesitated over her paperwork, listening for the sound again. It had come from upstairs, in one of the rooms.
After another half a minute or so when she didn’t hear anything else, Katie went back to her forms. This paragraph here wasn’t right either--
Thump.
She dropped the pen on the desk. She’d definitely heard it that time.
Slowly, keeping her eyes up at the ceiling, she made her way to the stairs and started up.
This time it wasn’t so much a thump as it was a shuffling of something across the floor.
Almost everything had been removed from the upstairs. She and Riley hadn’t felt comfortable moving into the master bedroom suite, since that had been Maggie’s room, so that had all been stripped to the walls and taken out. The only rooms that still had anything in them was the room she had booked when she first came to Twilight Ridge and the attached bathroom.
So that’s where she started.
After everything that had happened she should be running for the nearest exit, not examining strange noises upstairs, but if this was going to be her home for a while--or longer--then she couldn’t get spooked every time something went bump in the night. Or, in the middle of the day either.
The hallway upstairs seemed to expand away from her with every step but soon enough she was at the door to room number three. When she and Riley had gotten up this morning, far too early, and started their day she had left the door open. She liked to leave all of the doors up here.
She wanted to see anywhere that something could be hiding.
Now the door to her room was closed.
With a slow breath, she took hold of the handle and opened the door.
Inside, she found her bed had been shoved four feet aside. A long scratch in the carpet tracked the movement. Boxes from her closet had been dumped onto the floor. They were opened and the contents had spilled across the floor. Most of it was stuff she had decided to keep from the other rooms. A few pieces of clothing, some knickknacks, other stuff. It wasn’t all for her but she figured it was all worth keeping.
Now all of it was all across her floor.
In the corner, a little side table fell over, and a lamp broke as it crashed to the floor.
“I’m sorry,” a voice hummed in her ear. “I got a little carried away.”
Katie launched herself across the bed, folding herself down behind the other side. There hadn’t been anyone there. Just a voice.
Just a ghost.
When she looked up, over the edge of the bed, the faded image of a woman shimmered into view. She was holding her arms, a miserable look on her ethereal face.
“I’m sorry,” she said, her voice humming and distant. “I just wanted...do you know where my children are?”
Katie looked at her more closely. She knew that face. It was the woman from the basement. One of Maggie’s murder victims! The one she’d been kicking so hard.
“Janet?” Katie said. “That’s you, right? What are you doing here?”
She stood up, carefully taking a step around the bed. This was a ghost, but somehow she got the sense that this one wasn’t dangerous. If anything the woman looked...lost.
Katie took another step closer. “Can I...I mean, is there anything I can do to help you?”
The ghost trembled and faded out more, and Katie swore she saw a tear running down a transparent cheek.
“I just want to find my family,” Janet said from the other side of death. “We were here together and then I was dead and I don’t know where they went.”
Katie stared at the woman in disbelief. A ghost, asking for her help.
Would her life ever be normal?
A knock on the door startled her. Riley was standing there, looking with wide eyes from Katie to the ghostly apparition in their bedroom. “Is everything all right?”
Katie shook her head. This Inn was full of ghosts. The town of Twilight Ridge was probably crawling with them, what with its history and the evil that had resided here for so long. If Janet had come looking for help, would other ghosts follow?
“Why don’t we all go downstairs,” she suggested. “I have a feeling that living in this town is going to be a whole new level of crazy.”
Riley’s grin was lopsided. “I like a little crazy in my life.”
As they went down the stairs, Katie saw faces pushing out through the walls. Ghosts, appearing out of nowhere, sensing someone who could listen to them.
Someone who could help.
Katie felt chills going up and down her spine.
What had she gotten herself into?
Chapter 26
In her bedroom, Katie woke up in the middle of the night. Her throat was dry, and the ragged edges of a dream were disappearing even as she tried to hold onto them.
It had been weeks since she and Riley had moved into the Inn permanently. There had been a lot of work to do.
Not all of it had been about fixing up the building.
They had finally settled on a name for the place. The Twilight Inn had a license to do business now, and most of the major renovations were done. With just a few finishing touches, they could open in a few days.
If the other residents of the Inn let them.
Riley stirred in his sleep next to her. He was better able to settle into their new surroundings than she had been. The noises, deep in the night, didn’t bother him. The objects moving whenever they weren’t looking was something he found interesting.
The ghosts were just people who wanted to talk.
Katie didn’t look at it that way. For the most part, the spirits had left them alone. They all needed something. That first one, the woman who needed to find her family, she had needed to know that her children were okay and once they had shown her a google search with photos of them playing with their father, the ghost had simply disappeared.
That was all well and good, but Katie had to worry about what would happen when the next ghost, or the one after that, told her that they weren’t leaving. Could the Inn operate with ghosts popping, quite literally, out of the woodwork?
She sat on the edge of the bed and yawned deeply, mussing her hair with both hands. They could always advertise themselves as haunted, she supposed. That should get them a lot of attention. People loved to stay in haunted houses.
When it wasn’t real. When it was part of a fantasy.
What about when it was real?
She got up from the bed and went into the bathroom. They still hadn’t moved into the master bedroom, and they probably never would. Once this place was up and running on its own she still wanted to get out of this town and move on to the next thing. Which for her, meant moving back home and taking a vacation from this vacation.
In the bathroom she snapped the light on, her bare feet cold against the floor. She was in just her panties tonight, after a few hours of fooling around with Ril
ey. They could still find moments of pure happiness here, even if they had to wonder what spirit might float up through their bathtub or sit down to breakfast with them.
Thankfully all of them had been, if not friendly, at least mostly benign up to now. It actually was kind of fun. Maybe Riley was right, and this would be sort of an adventure for them--
Above the sink, the mirror shattered. It cracked in spiral, spider web patterns before all the little chunks of glass fell across the sink and the floor.
From all around she heard the sound of laughter.
Cold fingers touched her naked shoulder.
Katie ran back for the bed and dove under the covers with Riley. She curled up into him, and threw the blankets over her head, and prayed that daylight would come soon.
The Haunting Of Heritage Inn
Dedicated to two wonderful friends: Paula & Jim
Chapter 1
Music played quietly in the background while Katie worked. It was an acoustic version of Kelly Clarkson’s Love So Soft. Not really Katie’s sort of thing but it was calm and mellow and that was the kind of ambiance she wanted for her new Inn.
The last thing Riley had crossed off his to-do list yesterday was the speaker system for the front room and the dining area. He was such a handy man to have around. He was an actual handyman, for that matter, a contractor who made his living doing home repairs. He was very good at what he did.
That wasn’t the only place he was ‘handy’ either. Katie knew she had lucked out in every respect when she had started dating Riley Harris.
The Heritage Inn officially opened tomorrow and they were right on schedule to have all of the minor--and not so minor--repairs finished before the first guests arrived. Katie could hardly believe it. All of her adult life she’d been in the business of real estate. Buying houses, fixing them up, selling them again. There was a lot of money to be made in flipping houses if you did it right. That was actually how she and Riley had gotten together in the first place. It hadn’t been planned. It just sort of worked out that way.
“Heritage Inn” was what they had decided to name her new business. It had the sound of history and tradition.
Buying an Inn situated in a little town in the middle of New Hampshire had never been a part of her plans, either. Like reconnecting with her childhood crush Riley, the Inn had just sort of happened for her.
“Katie! The plumbing in room four is clogged again.”
That was Riley now, still hard at work. “I told you we could hire someone to do some of this work. Remember?” Katie shouted.
She heard him on the stairs, even though they were around the corner from the check-in desk. They could hear each other just fine.
“I don’t like other people messing with my stuff,” he answered her. I’m possessive that way.”
“I like it when you're possessive.” She remembered last night, and then this morning again. Yes. He could get possessive any time he wanted to.
She could hear in his voice that he knew exactly what she was talking about, even if he was trying to be all business. “Look, I’m going to have to take the pipes apart under the sink up here. I’ll be another hour or so.”
“All right,” she called back to him. It was midmorning already, and she’d hoped that they could maybe get lunch together but that might have to wait. Once the Inn was up and running there would be plenty of time for them to hang out together. Who knew? He might actually get sick of her.
There was something wrong in that room. Number four. Riley had been trying to figure out for the last two weeks and it was still giving them trouble. That’s how long they had been working to renovate the old Harper Inn and make it their own. Now it was the Heritage Inn, and now it belonged to Katie and Riley.
He wasn’t the only one who could get possessive about stuff.
Katie allowed herself a moment to smile, because the Inn was opening tomorrow. All the other worries aside, tomorrow was the big day. There were still these several kinks to work out. The pipes in room four. The warped floorboards at the end of the kitchen. The cracks in the basement walls. She knew the ins and outs of home repair. Maybe not as well as Riley, but still. Between the two of them, they should have had this place all fixed up in a week, tops.
Instead, it seemed like every time they fixed one thing, something else went wrong. She was beginning to see her monetary investment in this place as a big financial risk.
Not to mention, the place was still haunted.
At least, she thought it was. When she moved in, the ghosts here had been ingesting the place like mice on a bender. Sometime in the last week or so, they had all gone silent. Like they’d moved out to find better accommodations.
So...maybe they were haunted. Maybe they weren’t.
Katie frowned over her paperwork. Yes, the Heritage Inn was going to be trouble, but something told her it was also going to be very exciting.
She smiled to herself and pushed her long black hair behind one shoulder. Her definition of exciting might be a little different than most people’s. She tapped away at the computer at the front desk, going over the confirmations of the guests who would be arriving tomorrow. They all wanted excitement too.
They wanted to see the ghosts.
She sighed, seriously hoping they would be disappointed in that respect.
When Katie had first come to Twilight Ridge as a stopover on an antiquing trip, she’d spent a few nights right here at this Inn. Maggie Harper had owned it at the time, and she had seemed like such a nice woman. Katie had made friends with her and even shared a drink or two with the woman.
It had nearly killed her. Maggie, as it turned out, had been keeping a very deep, dark secret. Although, she wasn’t the only thing dangerous here in town.
Once upon a time, this building that was now an Inn had been the stately home of a witch. Her ghost had lingered here for generations, waiting for revenge. Katie still had nightmares about it.
That ghost was gone now, and good riddance to her. Katie had thought that would be the end of the hauntings here in town. She and Riley had agreed to buy the Inn, and live here while they got their new business enterprise up and running.
Imagine her surprise when she found out the witch’s ghost wasn’t the only one haunting the Inn.
Oh, she could see them all, sure enough. When or how she had begun to see ghosts, she wasn’t sure. When she was a little girl there had been times when she thought she saw people who weren’t there. Maybe that was the start of it all. Maybe she never would know.
Regardless of how this ability in her had started, it was a part of her now. Same with Riley. He could see ghosts like she could. They were so alike, in so many ways, that sometimes it scared Katie. Like a ghost story.
Ha, ha, she told herself. Very funny.
There was so much to do, still. Not all of it was glamorous, like scrubbing out the toilets to make sure they were spotless. Like, making sure the keys actually fit the locks to the rooms. Katie had found out the hard way how important that one was.
Some stuff they did the guests would never even know about, which was how it should be, she supposed. No one should have to wonder if the wallpaper matched the drapes, or if the rugs had been steam cleaned just in case someone had died in a room they were about to sleep in.
Things like that were important, even if they weren’t in the standard how-to-run-an-Inn videos that she had watched.
Having the grass mowed, raking leaves off the lawn, all of that was now their responsibility. Paying some of the local kids ten dollars apiece, once a week, took care of the simple outdoor work. After that, it was all up to them.
Katie wondered if she really knew what she was getting herself into.
Chapter 2
Somehow, Katie seemed to be drawn to homes that were haunted. This time was no different. Something had attracted her to this place, in this town. Once she was here, things had started happening fast.
Now she was the proud owner of a haunted Inn, an
d tourists were eating up the chance to stay here and be scared out of their wits.
It was like the Bates Motel only without peepholes in the shower. She really thought the guests would frown on peepholes. Or psychos with knives interrupting their stay.
She closed out the program and set the computer to sleep mode. Her image was reflected back at her on the black screen, hazel eyes and a cute mouth and dangling earrings peeking out from behind her hair. There were worry lines there too. She was worried about the ghosts.
Having them disappear like they had should have been a blessing. No ghosts equaled no spirits jumping out of the walls to say ‘boo’ or drop a light fixture on someone’s head. Knowing they might be around, and that they might come spooking at any minute, was worse somehow. She’d much rather have them where she could see them. Katie didn’t know how many of them were hanging about but she knew it was more than one. They’d been noisy enough those first few days.
One of them had snuck into Katie and Riley’s room every night for three days. She was surprised they both hadn’t died from a heart attack. She knew that she personally had lots more gray hairs than she used to. Hopefully, they weren’t noticeable.
That ghost hadn’t been angry or violent, it had just been persistent. Once a spirit knew that someone could see them, they never let up. They kept coming back, to talk or beg for help or just plain try to scare the pants off you. That’s what Katie had thought they were in for here at the Heritage Inn when she had first seen the ghosts appearing.
So where were they now?
The first two people to book rooms for their grand re-opening were both paranormal investigators. They were really going to be disappointed if they got here and nothing went bump in the night. Although, Katie would sleep a lot easier, that was for sure.
Sight Unseen Complete Series Box Set Page 48
