Gram
I hold the letter in my hand, feeling my Gram all around me as I let the tears roll down my face. I call James and ask him to stop by when he has time. He pulls up about 10 minutes later, striding up the porch steps and into the house. “What’s up, Reg? You sounded weird on the phone.”
I explain about finding the letter hidden behind the picture and I ask him about it. He explains that he investigated all of her claims but never found any evidence. “So, what do you think it was James? I have been experiencing some of the same things here at the house.”
“I think it’s just your imagination. There’s no such thing as ghosts.”
I laugh at the expression on his face. “Who are you trying to convince? Me, or you?”
“You know I don’t believe in that stuff. I’ll fingerprint the picture frame if it makes you feel better. I bet someone is just playing tricks on you.” He goes out to his cruiser and gets an evidence bag. He bags the picture frame and seals it.
We both hear a door slam upstairs. James runs up the stairs, pulling his gun out of the holster. He comes back down a few minutes later. “No one up there and no windows are open. It was probably just the house settling.”
“Sure, James. You have no imagination! Someday a ghost is going to come up and scare the crap out of you, and I want to be there when it happens!”
“You would! Well, I’m going to head home to get some dinner. Let me know if anything else happens. I’ll have Steve fingerprint this tomorrow. If anything turns up you’ll be the first to know.”
I give him a hug and kiss on the cheek, “Thanks James!”
James leaves and I have the house to myself once again.
“I miss you so much Gram. I really could use your input on this situation with Deputy Miller. I felt that kiss today all the way down to my toes, but I can’t let him into my heart. I can’t leave myself open for that kind of hurt again.” It makes me feel better to say it out loud. If there is a ghost, I sure hope it’s Gram!
Chapter 13
I wake up the next morning to find the front door wide open again. I guess I’m going to have to start locking it; maybe that will stop it from opening on its own. Other than that, there were no other incidents last night. I get ready to go to the bookstore and my keys and my phone are both gone. I find the keys in the microwave and my phone in the guest room on the dresser. What a way to start the day!
I go to the diner to get coffee and doughnuts for the store. It sure will be nice when I get the coffee bar in the store. I have my hands full and I have my back to the door and push it open.
Suddenly it opens faster and I almost lose my balance. Strong hands steady me and keep me from dropping everything. “Thank you! That was almost a catastrophe!”
I turn to view my savior and hear, “No problem, Darlin’. You really should watch where you are going.”
“I guess so. Quit calling me Darlin’!” I stomp off to the sound of Logan’s laughter. What did I do in a past life to deserve this? I swear he’s stalking me!
It’s an uneventful day at the bookstore, other than the door locking itself once. I thought James was going to break his nose. I sent Mel home at three, she is looking tired. She really deserves a vacation. Logan walks in about four and waits patiently for my customer to leave.
“Hey, Darlin’, the boss asked me to walk you home and make sure your door isn’t hanging open again.”
“Great, he treats me like I’m five and don’t have the sense God gave a flea. I am so going to get him back for this. And quit calling me Darlin’!”
“He’s just doing his job; trying to protect everyone in this town, including you. You could show a little appreciation for it. Are you ready to go?”
“Just let me grab my stuff and lock the door.” We head out the door and I lock it behind us. He walks slightly ahead of me, trying to act as if I’m not there. I’m lagging behind trying to juggle my purse, laptop, and box of paperwork. “A gentleman would help me carry all this stuff you know.”
“You don’t think I’m a gentleman so why should I act like one?”
I stick my tongue out at him when he turns his back to me. I probably look like I’m five when I do that but I just can’t help myself. Something about him just rubs me the wrong way.
We get back to my house and find that the front door is still closed and locked, just the way I left it this morning. “Thank you, deputy, for walking me home. Everything looks just the way I left it so you can get back to whatever you were doing before James roped you into this.”
“No problem, Darlin’,” he says as he tips his hat to me and then walks back towards the town square.
“Don’t call me Darlin’!” I shout after him. I am going to have to have a serious talk with James. I don’t need a babysitter.
Chapter 14
After I finish my dinner and clean up the kitchen, I pour a glass of wine and pull out my laptop. I want to work on my coffee bar idea. I am typing away when I hear something hit the floor in the living room. “What now,” I mutter, “as if I don’t have enough going on I have ghostly things going on in my house. Gram is that you?”
No answer so it must be my imagination. I go into the living room and find a book on the floor. A semi must have driven by and the vibration sent the book falling off the shelf. I bend down to pick it up and notice it’s not a normal book, it’s a journal. I open the front cover and see my Gram’s handwriting. The first entry is dated the day I came to live here all those years ago.
My heart is breaking for you, looking so lost and alone when you arrived. I barely got a smile out of you, you cling to me and hang on for dear life. You have just lost your parents and your whole life. It’s your birthday and probably the worst day of your young life. You are only six, so young to have to face this kind of heartache. I hope that your memory of this day will fade, that the good times will overshadow the bad. I can’t believe you have been through so much at such a young age. The loss of your parents has shattered my heart, but it started to mend when the sheriff brought you here. I will always miss your mother, and the wonderful man she married. They were so happy when you were born!
Hopefully I will someday be able to tell you the whole story. Right now it’s just too raw.
Remember that your parents loved you more than their own lives. I will write a new entry each year, and eventually, you will be able to read this and hopefully remember everything with a smile.
There are a couple of pictures stuck in the front of the book. A picture of my parents in Las Vegas, it must be their wedding picture. And a picture of the four of us, I look like I’m about three years old. We all look so happy, standing here on the porch. I have never seen this picture. Gram must have stuck it in here and forgotten about it. I page forward and find that Gram had already started the entry for this year.
I am torn about telling you the truth. When your memory of that horrible night faded, I thanked God. It was too much for you to have to remember, the sight of your parents being killed by that crazy man. I discussed this with James and he told me I should tell you the whole truth. I will tell you the truth the next time you come home for a visit.
The entry is not finished; it looks like she started it just before she was killed. Paging forward from the beginning, I notice she usually only made one entry a year on my birthday. It must have been weighing on her; I wish she would have talked to me about it. I’ll have to talk to James about what they discussed. I don’t remember when my parents were killed. It’s just a big blank spot in my memory.
I call James and make plans to make him dinner. Marie is taking Olivia to dance class so it will be just the two of us. We need to discuss this, it must be pretty important if Gram discussed it with him.
The next day I make his favorite dinner, spaghetti with homemade sauce and garlic bread. The sauce is simmering and the water is heating up for the spaghetti. James knocks and walks in the front door.
“Hey Reggie, something sure smells good.
It must be serious, smells like your famous spaghetti sauce.”
“James, I need to talk to you about something,” I start, “I’m not sure what this is all about.”
“What is it Reg?” his expression becomes solemn. “You know you can talk to me about anything,” James replies as he pulls out a chair and sits down at the table.
“I found a journal Gram started on the day I came to live with her. The last entry was written about three days before she was killed.” I hand the journal to him so he can read the last, unfinished entry, “according to this my parents didn’t die in a car accident. They were murdered.”
“I know, Cassie. Your Gram talked to me about this a couple of years ago. She wasn’t sure if she should tell you after all this time. I’m surprised she decided to tell you, especially since the nut job reverend who killed your parents was killed a couple of years ago. I know she was always worried that he would get out of prison and come after you.”
“What?! She told you and you didn’t tell me?” I ask. “I thought we shared everything,” I say with my fingers crossed under the table. Well, I tell him almost everything.
“She made me promise not to tell you. She was afraid it would bring back the nightmares and the sleepwalking but she knew you would want to know.”
“I can’t believe she kept that from me. Usually I could tell when she was keeping something from me.”
“She worried about you all the time. You were all she had left. For some reason she seemed to be more worried than usual the last few weeks of her life. I tried to get her to talk about it but you know how she was. She kept talking about an evil presence. You know I loved her, but some of her ideas were really out there. She even thought this house was haunted.”
We reminisced some more about Gram while we ate. Then, my phone rang; it was Dan calling about the repairs that I needed to make on Gram’s house, starting with the front door.
James gets up, “I’ll catch you later Reggie. I’ve got to get back to work.” He gives me a peck on the cheek. “We’ll talk more about this later.”
After cleaning up, I head out to the porch to enjoy what may be the last evening of warm weather. The forecast calls for temperatures to start falling tomorrow. I see the deputy walking down the street, he’s probably headed home after his shift. Oh great, I think, here comes Mr. Personality. He looks at me and tips his hat.
“Miss Cassie,” he says.
“Deputy Logan”, I reply, thankful that he didn’t call me Darlin’.
After that kiss at the bookstore, he really gets under my skin. Must be that sexy southern boy drawl and the cocky grin. Good thing I’ve sworn off men!
The next day I head toward the bookstore. I still can’t believe I’m the one in charge. I hope I can do as well as Gram did. I do have some ideas to hopefully increase revenue. I have tons of contacts in the book industry, maybe I can have an online store also. Something to look into anyway.
When I get to the store, Mel is dusting the shelves behind the register.
“Hi Cassie!” she says and comes out from behind the counter to give me a hug. “I’m so excited that you decided to keep the store open, and not just because I work here. This store is a big part of the lifestyle around here.”
“I hope everyone in town is as excited as you are. I want to start looking at the books to see where we stand on cash flow and sales. I have some ideas but I need to make sure the store’s revenue can support the start-up costs.”
“Great! Our revenue is good,” Mel replies, “but there is always room for improvement. I’d be happy to keep on doing the books for you if you want. I did major in accounting when I went to college.”
“Sounds good to me. Let’s discuss where we stand and what extra money we have right now for upgrading our sales and inventory tracking. I have also been looking into having a coffee bar here in the store. Think about it and let me know. I value your input because you’ve been on the front lines here for a couple of years now.”
Mel heads back to the office for her laptop and I sit down in one of the two lounge areas in the store. The customers appreciate having somewhere to sit and relax, read the paper or a book. Gram was doing this long before the big chain stores started doing it.
“Ok, let’s get to work,” I say, “we’ve got a lot to cover.”
We are interrupted many times to help customers and ring them up. Surprising how busy we are for a small town bookstore, but Gram always prided herself on having a varied selection of books and having fair prices. People just don’t want to drive 30 miles to Fort Wayne to the nearest big chain bookstore when they can get the same books here. We also do a lot of special orders, a great service to have so we don’t have to carry such a large inventory.
The bell over the door rings again.
“I’ll get it this time Mel,” I say, “you keep working on that cash flow report.”
I turn around and there he is again, the disapproving deputy is in my store. Oh well, let’s get this over with.
“Hello Deputy Miller, what can I help you with today?” I’m glad Mel is here, no stolen kisses today.
“Miss Cassie,” he says and tips his hat, “I wondered if my special order has come in yet?”
Heavens to Betsy, gotta love that southern drawl. Makes my knees weak. “Let me check on that.” I go over to Mel and ask her about his order. “Yep, it’s on the special order shelf below the register,” she says, “the invoice is on top of the books.”
I return to the counter and bend down to get the books off the shelf. Hmmm… a science fiction and a biography. What a varied taste in books. I hand the books to him and our hands brush lightly, I feel a tingle all the way up to my elbow.
I croak, “that will be $30.54.” He smiles as he reaches for his wallet. God, I’m doomed… where did that smile come from? He must have noticed my reaction to his touch.
He hands me his credit card. “Here, put it on my card,” he says.
Get a grip Cassie. You’re not in a place to start a relationship right now. I take his card and run it through the credit card system, at least Gram had already updated that. “I just need your signature and you’re good to go,” I say. He signs the slip and hands it back to me, our hands touch again (I swear he did that on purpose). That small touch makes me weak in the knees. I lean on the counter to keep my balance, wow, he sure is potent!
“Thanks, Miss Cassie.”
I nod, “I’ve been wanting to read that biography, let me know if it’s any good.”
“Sure thing.”
Wow, how am I going to combat these feelings? It’s a purely chemical reaction, no big deal. I can handle it, I tell myself as I fan myself with a magazine off the counter. Gonna have to stay as far away from him as possible. I just won’t go see James at the sheriff’s office unless I know he is out on patrol or something.
Chapter 15
He’s after me again, gotta get away this time! I try to get to the bedroom door but he’s too fast for me. He grabs my arm and spins me around to face him. I look down so I don’t have to look in his crazy eyes, I swear they’re a different color. He has brown eyes like mine, but his eyes look green when he’s like this. God help me, he’s really going to hurt me this time! I start to scream and he puts his hand over my mouth to muffle it. I see the tattoo and think, “When did he get that tattoo? I don’t remember seeing it before.”
“You have to die, it’s the only way!” he cries as he stabs me with the butcher knife. I can feel the knife slide into me. “Someone please help me,” I whimper. Taking a deeper breath, I begin to scream.
I scream and scream, and suddenly, I’m awake. God, another nightmare! I scan the room, convinced he’s here to get me again. The sun is shining, the birds are singing; it’s a beautiful morning. Too bad it doesn’t feel beautiful to me right now. I’m covered in a cold sweat and the sheets are soaked with it. Might as well get up and get moving. There’s no way I’m going to go back to sleep on wet sheets. Ewww! Funny how the nig
htmare keeps ending with Matt stabbing me. That never happened. And where did that tattoo come from? Wonder where my mind gets these things…
After showering and stripping the bed, I put the sheets in the washer. Toast will do for breakfast today, I don’t think I could stomach much else after the nightmare. After eating, I putter around the kitchen cleaning up toast crumbs and rinsing the coffee pot.
“Anybody home?” I hear. Good, sounds like Dan is here to fix the front door. Sure enough, I find Dan standing on the front porch. “Hi Dan, come on in,” I say. “The front door is the one that keeps opening by itself. I think it needs the hinges adjusted or something.”
“I’ll get you fixed up in jiffy Cassie.”
“Can you look at the water heater, also?” I am opening all the drawers in the kitchen, searching for my keys. “The water isn’t very hot. I turned up the temp on it but it didn’t do any good. It looks like it’s at least 30 years old. Let me know if you think it needs replaced.”
“Sure thing, Cassie. I also brought the wood to fix the porch today, if that’s OK with you.”
“Sounds good.” I finally find my keys in the freezer. “I will leave you to it. I have to get to the store early today since I gave Mel the day off. She has been such a godsend since Gram died, keeping everything running smoothly. She deserves a vacation, but I can’t swing another full-time employee right now with estate taxes and everything. Call me on my cell if you need anything.”
“Will do. I’ll lock up when I’m done.” He starts pulling tools out of his toolbox. “I’ll keep a running total for you. We can settle up later.” Dan stops me as I start to walk out the door. “Thanks for giving Mel the day off today. She’s starting to look a little frazzled.”
I turn back and face Dan, grateful that I have a friend who can tackle the repairs that the house needs. “You’re a great friend Dan. I’m glad Mel has you. Too bad you don’t have a brother,” I laugh. “Thanks again for all your help.”
I head to the bookstore hopeful it’ll be a good day.
Saving Cassie (Fairfield Corners) Page 4
