Kiss and Make Up (Bachelors of Buttermilk #3)

by Robyn Neeley

  “My business could be on fire. I’m so sorry, Marilyn. I’ll be back as soon as I can.” Caitlin hiked up the satin gown and bolted out the door.

  “Oh, my,” Marilyn said, watching Caitlin sprint across the street. “She’ll ruin the dress if she’s not careful.”

  “I’ll buy it.” Josh pulled his wallet out of his back pocket and whipped out his credit card.

  “It’s very expensive.”

  “How much?”

  “Twelve hundred dollars.” She sighed. “I hate to charge her if that’s not the dress she wants, but if she gets any dirt on it . . .” She paused and pulled a face, “Or smoke damage . . .”

  “Completely understand. I’ve got this. I’ll be back for my card.” He handed her his credit card and raced out the door toward all the commotion.

  As far as he could tell, there wasn’t any smoke or flames. He jogged across the street and headed in, quickly realizing it wasn’t smoke but water that caused the visit from the fire department—and lots of it. His shoes and pant legs immediately soaked. “What happened?”

  A flustered Caitlin spun around in the dress he’d just purchased, holding it over her thighs. The main lobby was entirely flooded with water up to their ankles. “Isn’t it obvious?” She looked straight at Josh, and he immediately knew she was accusing the resident ghost.

  “Hey, buddy,” Adam called out and sloshed over to him.

  “What is your definition of an emergency?” Josh asked, ready to smack him upside the head.

  “Tom and I thought we could handle it. It wasn’t this much at first, but then the sprinklers turned on a second time, and we couldn’t shut them down.” Adam shook his head. “It was really weird. The knobs wouldn’t move.”

  Caitlin turned to Josh. “Can I talk to you in the auditorium?”

  Josh followed Caitlin across the lobby, bending down to help her with her dress.

  “I’m fine,” she snapped, twisting away from him.

  “I just paid over a grand for this. Don’t ruin it.”

  Her forehead scrunched at that bit of news. “You bought the dress.”

  “Yes.”

  “Why would you do that?”

  “Because if you’re getting married, you’ll need it.” He walked passed her but stopped at the door to the auditorium. “And apparently I misunderstood you this morning when you said you were calling it off.”

  “Josh, I’m not getting married.”

  He opened the door, and all conversation about the wedding that was or wasn’t happening stopped. “Is Mary here?” Caitlin asked in barely a whisper.

  Josh took a deep breath and glanced down the aisle. He could lie, but sitting five rows up was indeed the backside of their mystery ghost. He nodded. “She’s here.”

  “Good.” Caitlin pushed past him, and he grabbed her arm.

  “What are you doing?”

  “To go talk to her, obviously. This is my theater.” She yanked free. “Where is she? Is she in the same spot she was last time?”

  “Caitlin, I think we should leave. Let Adam and the firemen take care of the lobby. Maybe we could bring my mother and Aunt Sheila over later to talk to her.”

  Caitlin’s expression softened, and she touched his arm. “We don’t need them. You can see her, which probably means you can talk to her, too. Please ask her what she’s doing here. I won’t say a word.”

  Josh looked down at Caitlin’s hand. Her gentle touch gave him all the courage he needed. “Okay, let’s go.” He started down the aisle. “Hello. I’m Josh, and this is Caitlin, the owner of the theater. Don’t be scared.” He paused, considering that statement. Were ghosts scared? Seemed like an oxymoron. “We just want to talk. Caitlin can’t see you.”

  Josh stopped in his tracks, his eyes widening as the woman stood. He had to be imagining this. The ghost was wearing a beautiful white dress that looked exactly like the one on Caitlin.

  “Josh, what’s wrong?” Caitlin asked.

  “Nothing.” He stared at the ghostly figure who held his gaze. Her dark hair was wet like last time but now pulled back off her face. “Are you Mary?”

  The ghost nodded, and Josh could feel all the blood draining from his face. “Why are you here?” he asked, mustering all of his courage.

  The ghost laughed as if he’d asked the stupidest question ever. “I’m waiting for the movie to start, of course.”

  Okay. That made sense. They were in a movie theater. “Which one?”

  She pointed a finger at Caitlin. That act caused the hairs in the back of his neck to stand up. “The one she showed the other day.”

  “Would you like to see it again?”

  She nodded.

  Caitlin tapped his back. “What does she want to see again? The blue spoon?”

  The ghost stepped into the aisle and stood in front of Caitlin. Josh didn’t turn his body all the way. He didn’t want to scare Caitlin.

  “May I ask,” Josh started, not looking in her direction. “Did you set off the sprinklers?”

  She ignored his question. “She is going to be a beautiful bride when she unites with Adam.”

  That did it. He turned to face the ghost. It was bad enough that the living were pushing Caitlin toward Adam. Now the dead had inside knowledge to? “That isn’t happening.”

  Within seconds, Mary’s glowing face was inches from his, her blackened eyes blazing in rage. “She will marry Adam,” she screamed and then flew up the aisle, disappearing into the air.

  “Josh.” Caitlin touch his arm. “Josh, is she gone?”

  “Yes,” is all he could say.

  “For good?”

  He shrugged and turned to face Caitlin, attempting a smile. “She said you looked beautiful.” He’d keep to himself the fact that the spirit had been wearing a similar wedding dress. That and her being adamant that Caitlin would marry Adam.

  “Are you okay? Can I get you something to drink?”

  A shot of tequila maybe. Raking his hand through his hair, he took a step forward. He needed to get out of the theater and do some thinking. “No, I’m good. Listen, Adam and the firemen seem to have a handle on things. I’m going to head back to the inn. I have a lot of work to do.”

  Caitlin followed him back up the aisle. “But what about lunch? Let me go change out of this dress and pay Marilyn.”

  “I told you, I already took care of it. It’s yours.”

  “Josh, I can’t let you do that.”

  “Consider it your wedding present from me,” he said and headed for the exit.

  13

  Caitlin glanced around the public library, searching for Bridget. She’d called her cousin this morning way before her day had gone to total hell, asking if she could do a search of 1937 obituaries to see if there had been a drowning in Buttermilk Lake.

  On the assumption that Josh’s grandmother’s imaginary friend was in fact real and now the ghost haunting the theater, she asked Bridget to see if she could find any obituaries where the deceased was named “Mary.”

  Bridget had finally sent a text saying she had found something interesting on microfiche and to meet her in thirty minutes.

  Before Caitlin left the theater, Adam had assured her that the situation was under control, and she should go change out of the dress. She’d pulled him aside to update him that she hadn’t broken off their fake engagement but would do it soon. He joked that he was ready to stage the breakup whenever she was.

  He’d also said she was a knockout in the wedding dress and Josh was a fool to leave when he did.

  Josh. Were they ever going to get on the same page?

  She thought back to his talking with the ghost, which had been incredible to witness. Sure, she knew the Stevens girls could perform spells, but to see Josh speaking to someone she couldn’t see was mind-blowing.

  If only she could have heard the spirit’s side of the conversation. At one point, Josh’s face had displayed sheer terror, but then a few minutes later, he was pissed off and bolting for the d
oor. What had the ghost said that made him so angry? And why did she try to flood the theater?

  Caitlin sighed. When did her days become about trying to figure out the motivations of a dead woman?

  “Hey, Caitlin.” Bridget approached with her hands full of books. “Let me just set these down in the stacks, and we can go into the archives room.”

  “Sure.” Caitlin followed her cousin to the back of the library.

  Growing up, Bridget had always wanted to be a librarian and had gotten her degree in library studies. Shortly after graduation, she had returned to Buttermilk Falls to work in the town’s library. Caitlin admired her cousin for knowing exactly what she wanted to do with her life even way back then.

  She thought she was finally headed down the right path herself. However, with the theater in disarray, Caitlin wasn’t quite so sure.

  She shook that moment of doubt off. The theater was hers, and no ghost was going to run her out of it.

  As they passed the children’s books section, she couldn’t help but grin. Soon she’d be reading to the triplets before bed, something she fondly remembered her mom doing with her as a little girl. She hoped they would love Charlotte’s Web and Paddington Bear as much as she had.

  Wouldn’t it be nice if Josh was with them reading to the kids as well before they turned out the lights and retired for the night?

  Who was she kidding? That wouldn’t happen. Not after the angry look on his face when she came out of the boutique’s dressing room. Would he feel different if he knew that she’d been fantasizing about marrying him, and that was why she’d tried on the stupid dress in the first place?

  When she returned to the boutique and changed back into her own clothes, Marilyn investigated the material. Caitlin had done an excellent job hiking up the dress. No watermarks were found. Marilyn said she’d have it dry-cleaned and it would be as good as new.

  Terrific. Caitlin was the owner of an expensive wedding gown that she’d never wear. Well, technically, Josh was the owner. Why did he buy the dress? Caitlin sighed. So many questions, and it was becoming more and more frustrating that she had no answers.

  “Come sit here.” Bridget motioned to a seat in front of a black microfiche machine.

  “I didn’t know these things were still used.” Caitlin sat down and set her purse on the floor.

  “Yeah. We’re beginning to digitize this stuff, but anything before 1940 is still on microfiche.”

  “Did you find anything?”

  “Well, the name ‘Mary,’ was very popular back then. Kind of like ‘Zoe’ and ‘Emma’ are today, but I did find something that you might find interesting.” She turned the knob a couple of times to the right. “Check it out.”

  Taking a deep breath, Caitlin inched closer, her eyes scanning the article’s headline. “Woman drowns in Buttermilk Lake.” She looked over at Bridget. “Josh and Jason suspected the ghost might have drowned.”

  Her cousin nodded and then got up, crossed the room, and shut the door. “That’s what you said on the phone earlier. Keep going.”

  Caitlin continued to read. “It says here she was a guest at the inn.” Her hand flew to her mouth. “And was to be married, but they found her body floating in the lake. How awful.”

  Bridget returned to her seat and scooted closer. “It also says that they could never locate her fiancé to tell him and that some town folks believed that he’d called off the wedding and left town the day before.”

  “What is this? The Buttermilk Inquirer?” Caitlin scoffed.

  “It’s all there in black and white. It says they found her body on May 2.”

  Caitlin eyes widened. The theater opened on May 1. She reached down into her purse and pulled out the photo frame she’d put in it earlier. “This picture was taken on May 1, 1937.”

  “And you think this is the woman? Why are you so interested in what happened to her?” Bridget asked.

  Caitlin leaned back. She might as well fill her cousin in. “A spirit has been haunting my theater since I became the owner, and we think it might be this woman,” she said, tapping on the picture frame.

  “Seriously?” Bridget’s eyebrow raised. “Have you seen her?”

  “No, but Josh has . . . twice now. You should have seen him the first time, he was scared out of his mind. We were watching a movie—you know, the one that Grandpa Reynolds starred in that I told you I found in Josephine’s collection. Well, apparently, the ghost was up front watching it, too.”

  “A ghost that goes to the movies. Interesting,” Bridget deadpanned then asked, “How do you know she wasn’t there before you bought the theater? Maybe she likes to catch an occasional flick.”

  “Josephine said she and her husband had never experienced anything out of the ordinary. Apparently the ghost wants to stir up trouble or prevent the theater from reopening. This morning my front lobby was flooded.” She pointed to the screen. “Josh said the first time he saw her she was drenched, and then we found a mysterious puddle near the seat she was sitting in. This might explain why.”

  “Would you like to take him a copy of the story? I can print it out for you.”

  “Yes, thank you.” She wasn’t quite sure Josh was ready to talk, but he had to see this.

  Bridget hit print and while she went to retrieve the article from the copier, Caitlin put the photo back into her purse. This had to be their ghost. The question: why had she chosen Caitlin’s theater as her haunting ground?

  “Caitlin, you have to see this.” Bridget came running over. “There was a second page to the article I didn’t see.”

  “What does it say?” Caitlin asked. Her eyes widened at the last sentence on the second page.

  Rest in peace, Mary Reed

  * * *

  Josh picked up two small rocks and took a seat at the end of the pier. Flinging one into the water and then another, he watched the tiny ripples.

  This thing with Caitlin had to end.

  He should listen to the living and now the dead, too. Caitlin and he weren’t meant to be. Maybe Caitlin had just got caught up in the moment last night and this morning. If she was really interested in taking things further, she would have ended her charade.

  But she didn’t.

  Earlier, he considered packing up and heading back to Manhattan. Magic spoons . . . ghosts wearing wedding dresses . . . he didn’t need any of this. He could easily be on the next flight out.

  He knew what was stopping him. The prospect of leaving Caitlin to deal with this ghostly intruder on her own frightened him. He wouldn’t do that to her, and he sure as hell wouldn’t let his kids near the theater.

  He leaned back on his elbows and let his legs dangle off the pier. He’d tried to work this afternoon, but once he returned to the inn, he couldn’t get any of the morning’s earlier events out of his mind.

  He surrendered to the fact he’d get no further with his perfume today. He was still more than a little miffed with his muse.

  He took a deep breath and tilted his head up to the blue sky.

  None of it made sense. Was this ghost the one who had spelled out his and Caitlin’s name on the blue box? And what about the whole “Kiss and Make Up starring Caitlin Reynolds and Josh Stevens” bit on the marquee? Did she do that? If so, why did she insist Caitlin belonged with Adam?

  All he knew—it was freakin’ crazy that he could commune with the dead. He’d never been jealous of Emma’s or Abby’s abilities. Curious, yes. Envious, no. Still, he had to admit it was kind of cool to do it. Josh Stevens, perfume chemist and medium, at your service. That made him chuckle out loud.

  “Does that laugh mean you are in a better mood?”

  Josh looked over his shoulder to see Caitlin, wheeling a double baby stroller toward him. “Perhaps. How did you get that down the hill?”

  “Easy. Cassie wiggled her nose and poof,” she joked and pointed behind her. “There’s a paved path to the left of the inn. The girls wanted to say hi to their daddy.”

  “Hi, Cassie a
nd Lily.” He smiled widely at his daughters all snuggly in their stroller but then arched an eyebrow at their mother. “Are you blatantly using our children to diffuse the earlier tension between us?”

  “Maybe,” she said coyly, adding, “Is it working?”

  “Not really.”

  She held up a brown paper bag. “Then how about a BBB Burger? I know it’s a few hours later, but I stopped by the Star Lite and got that lunch you promised me.” Reaching inside, she pulled out a wrapped burger and handed it to him.

  Josh let Lily curl her chubby finger around his. No matter how mad he was at Caitlin, he’d take any opportunity to spend time with his girls. “Have a seat.”

  Caitlin joined him, squatting down. She pulled out two bottles of water from the back of the stroller.

  Unwrapping his burger, he took a bite, his eyes rolling back. “Man, this tastes as good as I remembered.” He showed it off to the girls. “Just you wait until you are both old enough to try this.”

  “That is not happening any time soon.” She giggled, and he couldn’t help but like that sexy sound no matter how mad he was at her.

  “Have they eaten?” he asked, touching one of Lily’s little purple sandals.

  She nodded. “I wanted to get them out in the fresh air. I would have brought Jacob, too, but he was out like a light when I got home, so Penny’s with him.” Her gaze rested on him and then Cassie and Lily. “I’m so sorry about today.”

  “Why? You’re going to make a beautiful bride.”

  “Josh, I’m really going to fix this. I had every intention of talking to Marilyn this morning, but then one thing led to another and before I knew it, she’d put the gown in my hands . . .”

  “So she forced you to try it on?”

  “Well, no.” Her face fell. “You wouldn’t understand.”

  He probably wouldn’t. All he knew was that today was supposed to be the beginning of—who knows—maybe something really special between them, yet he’d purchased her wedding gown for her to wear when she married his best friend. “Did Adam and the firemen take care of things?” he asked, changing the subject.