Haunt Water

by Leigh Selfman

  “If anything, he was the true hero,” I say softly.

  Anabella nods as Elizabeth comes out to join us. Phil sees her and immediately stands up.

  “Hi,” she says, shyly. “It’s nice to meet you.”

  “You too.” Phil eyes grow wet but a smile spreads across his face. “I can’t believe it. I can’t believe I have a sister.”

  She looks at him shyly, then she goes up and hugs him. He hugs her back tightly and I can see that he’s crying.

  Anabella is watching them, weeping softly and I realize I’m not part of this anymore.

  Though Trevor is reluctant to leave without at least getting one treat (and okay, so I am I) I pull him away and head home, desperate for a hot shower and good night’s – or rather, day’s – sleep.

  CHAPTER FORTY-TWO

  Exhausted, I pull into my driveway and instinctively look over toward Gabriel’s bungalow. I see him there, walking outside, holding a mug of coffee and looking right at me.

  I’m unsure of what to do, so I just sit in my car, staring. I can’t bear any more rejection. But on the other hand, I’m so done with ghosts and ghost hunting and even ghost-writing that I intend to give up that part of my life forever. And I’d like to tell him so.

  But he probably won’t listen.

  I get out of the car and head towards my door, but as I'm about to step inside, I see Gabriel come forward to the bushes that separate our houses.

  “Arden,” he says.

  I get a chill, hearing my name on his lips.

  I just hope it’s not going to be the last time.

  I turn and face him. My heart flutters.

  Part of me always knew it was only a matter of time until he broke up with me. And his next words confirm that that’s exactly what’s about to happen.

  “Arden, we really need to talk.”

  I nod, swallowing hard. I think about telling him that now’s not a good time. But really…is there ever a good time to have your heart broken?

  I decide to just get it over with. “C’mon on in,” I say. My voice comes out so soft that I’m not even sure he can hear me. But I assume he did since he comes follows me into my bungalow.

  I catch sight of my face in the mirror and see just how terrible I look. Pale and tired, bedraggled and dirty. Which is really too bad since I’d like to at least look good for my breakup –

  to give him a nice image to remember me by. To maybe even make him doubt just a little, that he’s doing the right thing.

  But it’s too late for that, I think sadly. It’s all pretty futile at this point.

  I motion to the couch for him to take a seat. Then I go into the bathroom and run a brush through my hair, wash my face and try to steel myself for what’s to come.

  “Don’t cry. Don’t cry. Don’t cry. Whatever he says, don’t cry,” I whisper to myself in the mirror. I turn and head back out into the living room.

  “Look, Arden,” Gabriel says, standing up to face me. “This is really hard for me to say.”

  His dark blue eyes look at me sadly.

  Don’t cry, don’t cry, don’t cry. Even when he says it’s not working out. Don’t cry.

  “The thing is…all this ghost stuff,” Gabriel shrugs. He shakes his head looking…something. Disappointed? Angry? Frustrated?

  I want to tell him I’m done with all that but I think it’s too late.

  And anyway…if he’d really break up with me over something that insignificant, then he must never have cared about me in the first place. Not in the way I care about him.

  “Look,” he says again, his eyes looking troubled. “I think…the reason I have so much trouble with all of this paranormal stuff is…” He shakes his head. “The thing is, I never told you about what happened. With my cousin.”

  I look at him in surprise. Did he just say his cousin?

  That’s the last thing I expected him to say. I didn’t even know he had a cousin. But as I see the look of pain that crosses his face, I realize there must be a reason he never told me about it before.

  “When I was younger,” he says, looking me in the eyes. “I had this cousin who disappeared. We never knew what happened to him. We always sort of assumed he died.”

  “Gabriel. I’m so sorry.” I want to go over and hug him but for some reason, I don’t let myself.

  “The thing was…my aunt was totally desperate for any kind of clue about what happened to Noah. And after a while, after the police gave up, she started listening to these ‘psychics.’ All these con artists who all just came out of the woodwork to take advantage of her. They all claimed to have information about what happened to Noah. But of course no one did. Not really."

  As he says these last words, his voice cracks and the look in his eyes is heartbreaking. I blink back tears as he continues.

  “But that didn’t stop her from believing them. She was desperate. And…I mean it wasn’t just all the money they stole from her…And they stole a lot. It was that…every time…every single time, she’d actually get her hopes up. She’d actually believe that they were going to help her find Noah. It just killed her. Every single time.”

  “I’m so sorry, Gabriel,” I say again. “I really had no idea.”

  “I know.” He looks at me somberly. “I know you didn’t. But you can imagine why any mention of this stuff…it all just really pisses me off.”

  I nod again…waiting for him to say the words that will end our relationship. And to be honest…I don’t even blame him.

  How could I? When I’m like one of the same shyster-psychics who destroyed his family?

  “But, Arden.” He sits down next to me on the couch and takes my hand in his. “I know you’re not like that. You’re not the kind of bad, manipulative, greedy people that they were.”

  I nod, still waiting for the ‘but’.

  The big ‘but’.

  Instead he says, “So that’s why I just want to forget all that. I can’t control what you do. I know that. And I don’t want to. But the thing is, I just don’t want to know about any of it. You might really believe in ghosts and psychic stuff and…whatever. I don’t know. But I don’t and I never will. And the whole idea of it will always piss me off. So do what you want, but just…leave me out of it.”

  He looks at me and I can still see the pain on his face. And the anger – especially when he says the words ‘psychics’ and ‘ghosts’. But he seems like he’s trying to control it. For my sake.

  “Oh Gabriel,” I say squeezing his hand hard. “I’m done with all of that. I really am. I don’t ever want to ever get involved with anything like that, ever again.”

  He frowns and looks at me with his beautiful, sensitive eyes.

  “I mean it,” I say. “I’m done. Okay? No more ghosts.”

  He sighs, and nods. Then I can’t resist. I move over and crawl into his arms and put them around me.

  I feel them tighten as he holds me. And finally, I relax.

  “I’ve missed you,” he whispers.

  “I missed you too,” I say, snuggling against his strong warm chest.

  “Why does your hair smell like smoke?”

  “Trust me, you don’t want to know. Not right now anyway. I’ll tell you another time.”

  He nods and we sit there, in each other's arms.

  Until Trevor, jealously jumps up in between us and starts barking and trying to get in on all the affection. We both laugh and pet him…and then Gabriel says the words I’ve been dying to hear for the last few weeks.

  “Why don’t you go shower and stuff and then come on over and I’ll make us breakfast.”

  CHAPTER FORTY-THREE

  Surprisingly, I don’t even feel tired after my shower. In fact, I look more bright-eyed and bushy-tailed than I have in weeks. I'm thrilled to going over to Gabriel's and thrilled to be giving up the ghosts.

  After an amazing breakfast of eggs and waffles and soy sausage and delicious coffee, Gabriel gets up and says he wants to show me something.

&
nbsp; He goes into his bedroom and comes back out with a photo. He hands it to me, a serious expression his face. “This is me and my cousin from way back. Oh. And of course his dog."

  I take it and study it. At which point my heart drops to my stomach.

  I'm looking at his cousin. And the yellow lab that's sitting next to his cousin. "That’s your cousin’s dog?” I ask as my heart starts hammering in my chest. “That’s Sparky?”

  Gabriel looks over at me. "Yeah. Noah and Sparky. They were inseparable.” Gabriel squints at me. “Did I tell you his dog’s name was Sparky?"

  "You must've," I mumble, swallowing hard. I lie, because I can’t tell him the truth. That the kid...the boy in the photo – he's the same one who's been showing up in my alley the last few days. The one who’s been looking for his lost dog.

  "What is it, Ard?" he says, obviously seeing my shock.

  As I look at Gabriel and my heart falls to my stomach. "Nothing," I whisper. But my mind is racing as I wonder how to tell him that I've been seeing his cousin every day for the last week. His cousin Noah who disappeared when he was child.

  "It's nothing," I mumble again. Then I sink back into his arms wondering what on earth I'm going to do now.

  THE END

  Thanks for reading, I hope you liked HAUNT WATER.

  For a limited time, you can read the first book in this series, or any of our other cozy mysteries, in a seven box set for just .99 cents on Amazon here: COZY MYSTERY 7 BOOK SET: CATS, CUPCAKES AND KILLERS

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