The Book of Eleanor

by Nat Burns

  I went back to take care of my tables.

  The storm was the huge topic of conversation. That and my paling purple neck. I just sidestepped most of their questions about the bruises and ignored Sanchez’s scriptwriting, contemplating gaze. The storm could not be ignored, however, and an alert had already been issued for the island. I knew that meant The Point would be next.

  Mama stood to one side, talking to locals seated at a table. I sidled closer to overhear.

  “S’posed to be a bad one,” Charlie Reiner said, pointing with a slice of toast to emphasize his words.

  “That’s what I hear,” Mama agreed. “I guess we’ll have to close up for the duration. When are they saying it’ll hit?”

  “Tomorrow night, middle. I guess this’ll nix any breakers coming.” This was delivered with a petulant pout by Jimmy Chambers, who ran one of the liquor stores on the island. “Like we need more grief after last year’s blow.”

  “Now, Jimmy, you just calm down. You know they’re coming. Every hotel on the island is booked to capacity. They won’t back out of it just because of this short squall.” Mama said, moving aside so Gail could get in and freshen the coffee cups.

  “Let’s hope it’s a short one,” said Missy Centavo, owner of Gilda’s Boutique. “I still haven’t repaired all the wind damage from last year.”

  Estella Garcia glanced wistfully out the side window. “I guess I’ll have a backlog of flowers if they close the causeway. Are they gonna close it, Maylie? Have you heard?”

  “Tomorrow night at eight,” I offered. “Tunny and the other boys were in talking about it earlier. It’ll be on the local news in the morning, they said.”

  A collective sigh sounded. Dealing with storms rolling through periodically was the price we paid for living in paradise.

  I moved away to clear off table sixteen. It was off to itself, and I took a few private moments to think about Grey. She had surprised me deliciously that morning, joining me in the shower. When I opened to it, even now, I reeled from the passion she carried inside her slender body. I knew already that my need for her in the physical sense was going to be as insatiable as the craving I carried for the rest of her.

  I glanced over at table twelve where we’d breakfasted. I could still see her there, her eyes shining as she flirted with me, teasing me for not allowing her to please me the way I’d pleased her. I tucked my head, knowing I was blushing. I eagerly looked forward to tonight when we would take our time and explore one another at length.

  Grey

  I had witnessed firsthand a phenomenon I had only heard about from newspaper stories. Whenever there was a storm brewing, everyone and his brother went shopping.

  I blew sweaty hair off my forehead and carefully backed my SUV into the alley next to my building. All I’d needed was a few groceries and a few things for the Bookmark. Who knew twenty-five people would want generators and plywood at the same time I wanted wooden blinds for the windows?

  Grumbling under my breath, I unlocked the side door and methodically unloaded my purchases from the SUV. I stacked the larger supplies for the Bookmark in the smaller side room and carried a few of the more portable things in to the coffee areas. I locked the SUV. Toting two bags of groceries, I made my way into the apartment.

  “Hey, Ossie, Mama’s home,” I called out as I entered the apartment.

  I stopped. Both cloth bags dropped from my hands and landed on the carpeted floor. Oranges rolled out and made a slow path directly across the center of the floor where Oscar Marie lay flat on her back, purring as though she were being rubbed. I could actually see the fur on her neck moving as if brushed by an invisible hand. To make matters worse, she lay in a scattered pile of photos that someone had dumped from the photo boxes I had stacked under the television table.

  “No, please, don’t hurt my cat,” I whispered. “Anything but that.”

  A loud but unintelligible whisper sounded in the room. Oscar Marie leapt to her feet and arched her back. The sound of her loud hiss of anger tore through me.

  While I watched her for clues, a dark shadow materialized next to me. I felt an uncommon warmth pass over me as the darkness moved across me and away. I leaned over to pick up Oscar Marie. I cradled her close even though her tail was twitching a dire warning of don’t mess with me.

  I wasn’t sure whether I comforted her or she comforted me. I looked down at the photos and saw they were family photos of Mary and me at various functions. I saw several Christmases and Thanksgivings, as well as most of the vacations we had taken during the past ten years.

  I walked slowly around the pile, rubbing Oscar Marie and trying to make sense of any message that had been left for me. After a few moments, I placed Oscar Marie on the back of the sofa and pulled out my cell phone. I found and pushed the number Angie had pecked in that morning as I lifted one of the grocery bags and carried it to the kitchen.

  “Hey, glad you called,” she said. The sound of her voice warmed me in delicious ways. “I was just thinking about you.”

  “Good thoughts, I hope,” I said, eyeing the living room cautiously while I fetched the second bag and gathered the scattered oranges.

  “You know it. Is everything okay?”

  “I guess.” I paused, hating to be forced to deal with this again. “I just wanted to let you know that Mary was here after I got home. She was petting Oscar Marie.” I didn’t want to mention the photos. It seemed too painful.

  “So you saw her?” I could hear dishes clashing in the background.

  “Well, it was a shadow, kind of. She didn’t hurt me or Ossie, so maybe she’s calmed down now,” I said hopefully.

  “How did Oscar Mayer react?”

  I laughed at Angie’s pet name for Oscar Marie. “She seemed to be liking it until I scared the spirit off. I think she’s a little ticked at me now.”

  “Well, that shoots down my theory of hoping the ghost had gone away,” she said with a deep sigh.

  “I guess,” I agreed.

  “Hey, did you hear about the storm?”

  “I did and I’ve been experiencing the panic firsthand. I’m just now getting home from my trip into town. People were everywhere today.”

  “Yeah, we’ve even been swamped here. Things are under control now, though, and I need to go batten down some hatches. Do you wanna go?”

  I glanced around the apartment, knowing I’d be stuck there for the next day or so weathering the storm. “Sure. Can I bring Ossie? I have a carrier.”

  “Sure. You guys come on over when you’re ready, and I’ll wrap up here.”

  We signed off. I realized how comforted I’d become just hearing her voice, and wondered if I would always react that way.

  I put the groceries away, gathered the photos, and placed them back into their box. I laid my hand on the top of the box for a long moment, knowing that part of my life was definitely over and a new chapter had begun. Now if Mary would realize it, we could all move on.

  I sighed and stored the box under the television. I looked at Oscar Marie, standing on the dining table, and asked, “Hey, Ossie, wanna go for a ride in a Jeep?”

  Angie

  Grey was starting to relax.

  I sensed a real shift in her mood when she and Oscar Marie met me outside The Fat Mother. I pulled Grey close and planted a kiss on her, letting her know I had really missed her, right there on the sidewalk in front of the restaurant. She blushed adorably. With an arm wrapped around me, she led me to the Jeep.

  The wind was already up. I turned my eyes west, searching for storm signs. Nothing yet, but I knew from a lifetime lived here that squalls could come on fast enough to take your breath away. I took the carrier from Grey’s hands and helped her into the Jeep.

  “Hey there, hot dog, ready to go for a ride?” I reached through the metal grate and scratched Oscar Marie’s ears. She purred, but still looked around nervously as I buckled her and Grey in securely.

  “So where are we going?” Grey asked as I backed the Jeep ou
t of the parking space.

  “Well, since we’re still ghost hunting, I thought I’d stay with you guys during the storm. If that’s okay?” At her nod, I continued. “I need to go drop the shutters on my house and also go batten down the SPICEY.”

  “The SPICEY. You never did tell me what that is.” She donned a large pair of sunglasses and was, if possible, even more adorable than before.

  “Ah, that’s right, we got sidetracked. It’s the South Padre Island Center for Extraordinary Youth. I teach there.” I paused when harsh reality washed over me. “Or at least I did.”

  I pulled up in front of the center and unbuckled Oscar Marie and Grey. I carried the cat carrier and unlocked the door, ushering Grey inside.

  “I’m going to make some calls this evening to cancel school tomorrow and the next day, I think. Just to be on the safe side,” I told her as we went inside. I switched on the lights. Grey walked into the common area. I set down Oscar Marie’s carrier and moved to give Grey a tour.

  “This is where we do the lessons,” I explained, pointing out the colorful area that held ten desks. We had laid soft, oversized foam tiles on the floor, and their primary colors had been carried up onto the wall with poster board squares. We had a chalkboard that had been donated and the colorful squares outlined it as well. We had tacked up a number of the kids’ drawings. I took Grey over and pointed some out to her.

  “This is amazing,” she said, looking around. “And what do you do over here?”

  We moved to the long tables that we used for art projects and for eating our lunches. I explained their use. She touched several castles that had been left there.

  “Wow, would you look at these,” she exclaimed.

  “Yeah,” I agreed. “Pretty awesome, huh?”

  “And this?” She pointed at Fred’s hospital bed.

  “We have one little guy. Well, he’s a teen, actually, that has pretty severe CP—cerebral palsy. We keep him close so he can participate. He just loves it. We had another bed-bound guy named David, but he passed on a while back. We’ve actually lost two of our students, but we have a good bunch now. I know one thing, I will sure miss seeing them every day if we have to close for good.”

  Grey studied my face. “But what has changed?”

  “Progress. That’s a constant, though, not a change. We have to move out of this building by the first.”

  “Oh, no, and this is such a good location, close to your other job. Have you found another place yet?”

  I took a deep breath. “Not yet. I have some people looking, but most of the places big enough aren’t affordable.”

  Grey grew quiet long enough that it drew my attention. “That’s why, isn’t it?”

  “Why…oh.”

  “Why I’m paying two thousand dollars. Now I understand.”

  “I know, honey, and I so apologize for that. I realized as soon as you left how dead wrong that was. That’s why I came by that night, to apologize and take it back. To tell you that of course I would help you for nothing. I never got to it because of the cabinets and everything, but that was my intention.”

  Grey laughed and hung her head, shaking it. “If you only knew what I have been thinking about you,” she said teasingly.

  I had to share her merriment. “That bad, huh? I can see why you would think some pretty awful stuff about me. I really am sorry, Grey.” I leaned and hugged her, my chin on her head.

  “Well, I’m sorry that you have to move the kids. Why do you have to leave?”

  I told her the story of the grand new marina while I moved around the interior of the building and rolled down the hurricane blinds. Grey helped me lug out our two waterproof plastic tubs. We placed all the records in one and the artwork and books in another. I flipped the seals tight and stacked the tubs in my office. I double-checked the lock on my waterproof moneybox and placed it next to the others.

  I locked the office door and took one more quick scan of the classrooms. Everything looked secure. Taking Grey’s hand, I picked up Oscar Marie and deposited them both in the Jeep. I walked around the school’s exterior, fastening the clasps on the blinds and making sure there were no outside items that would fly away in a strong wind.

  “It looks like you’ve had a lot of practice doing this,” Grey said when we pulled out.

  I made a face at Oscar Marie, who was peeking at me from inside the carrier. “I grew up here. It’s second nature.”

  “I thought we didn’t have as many bad storms here.”

  “Well, the thing about the storms here is that they’re not nearly as powerful as the ones on the east coast, first of all, and in the second place they move through really quickly. This is just going to be a powerful, low pressure system. When it meets the heat of the Gulf waters, it can cause some grief. I don’t expect it to be bad.” I took her hand to reassure her. “Are you worried?”

  She smiled at me and squeezed my hand. “No, not if you are with me. If it was a major hurricane, I might be quaking in my shoes, though.”

  “Well, we’ll get my cottage shored up, and then head back to your place. Who knows? Maybe we can think of something to take your mind off that possibility.”

  She looked at me and raised an eyebrow. “If we’re alone, that is.”

  I grimaced comically. “Yes, there is that.”

  Grey

  “There’s something I need to tell you,” Angie said quietly.

  I had fixed simple teriyaki noodle bowls for dinner while Angie made her phone calls, and now we were seated out on the dock enjoying the meal and the storm tinged evening. A brisk wind had come up. I could definitely tell the weather was changing.

  I took a deep breath. “Is it bad? You’re already in a relationship, right?”

  She scowled at me. “What? No, silly! I just didn’t want to tell you this earlier because…well, because I didn’t want you to send me away. I mean, not that I did anything wrong, it’s just...” Her voice trailed off.

  I waited impatiently.

  “The ghost isn’t Mary,” Angie said finally.

  I chewed that morsel of information for a moment or two. “So how do you know this? You did see something, didn’t you?”

  “Yes.” She lifted her bowl and drank the remaining broth, then set the bowl aside. “It’s the woman on the book. The author. Her name is Eleanor Copeland, and she was a pretty famous poet back in the forties.”

  “In New York, right? I read that on the back of the book.”

  “That’s right. Well, Eleanor fell in love with this woman named Annalise, and they were going to go to California together sometime in the early fifties. Unfortunately, Eleanor was hit by a speeding cab before they could leave the city.”

  Sadness filled me. “That’s awful. That must be the Annalise she mentions in those poems.”

  Angie nodded. “And I think I know what Eleanor wants. Why she’s haunting you.”

  “Well, don’t keep me in suspense.” I placed my bowl on the rough planking of the floor and waited, clasping my hands together in front of me.

  “She wants us to find Annalise.”

  I watched her, wondering if I’d heard her correctly. “But if they lived back then, Annalise would have to be, like, eighty or ninety years old. She might even be dead herself.”

  “I know. I thought of that today.” Angie sighed.

  “Eleanor told you this during that trance you were in?” I tried to wrap my head around this new information.

  Angie shook her head slowly. “Well, here’s where it gets a little sticky.” She paused and moved her hands across her face, scrubbing at it. She eyed me from behind her fingers. “Mary came to me at work today.”

  I studied her. “No, wait. Why would Mary—” I leapt to my feet, unable to understand and direct my thoughts.

  Angie rushed to hold my arms, her expression grim. “Mary came to me, like one of my normal visions. I saw when and where she bought Eleanor’s book. Eleanor came to her, haunted her. But Mary figured it out and she was
helping Eleanor find Annalise.”

  “Mary never mentioned this to me. How could she be working on something like that and me not know anything about it? That’s just wrong.” I studied her face. Could Angie be lying to me? Why would she?

  “But honey, Mary showed it to me. I saw her on her computer looking up information about Annalise.”

  I looked into her eyes and saw the pain there, and the fear that I wouldn’t believe her. I realized suddenly that she must face this situation almost every day of her life in one way or another. I had to have faith in her. I had to believe her because I loved her.

  I calmed myself. “Did Mary find Annalise?”

  Angie released my arms and moved to the railing to peer into the shallows below. “That I don’t know. But I believe that’s what we need to do to put Eleanor’s angry spirit to rest. We need to find Annalise.”

  I moved to stand at the railing next to her.

  “Look,” she whispered urgently. I followed her pointing finger and there, glistening in the glow emanating from the condos on the breakwater, was a pod of four dolphins frolicking in the shallows of the bay. We watched them for a long time, the wind whipping fiercely around us, until the dolphins moved too far away for us to see them.

  Angie turned to press me against the railing with the length of her body. She stared into my eyes while I wrapped my arms around her muscular waist. “The wind’s really getting up,” she said calmly.

  I returned her penetrating gaze. I wanted this woman so fiercely, I couldn’t even think about it in any sort of coherent fashion. She set my blood on fire.

  “Kiss me, Angie,” I whispered. “I want you so badly.”

  She closed those magnificent eyes and a low whimper sounded. Then her lips were on mine and I felt her need as it seared through me. I adored—no, craved—the firm pressure of her strong hands against my back. I loved the long, lean lines of her body when she pressed against me. She fit me perfectly. I felt as though I could never get enough of her touching me, skin to skin, face to face.