by Bobbi Holmes
“I’ve seen her,” Lily said. She looked at Ian. “If you saw her yesterday, why didn’t you tell me?”
Ian shook his head. “I just can’t believe any of this.”
“So you’re saying you really didn’t see Darlene yesterday? Or you imagined it? What, some sort of shared hallucination?” Danielle asked.
“Why didn’t you tell me Sadie was here?” Ian asked Danielle.
“When you came over here looking for Sadie yesterday, Lily and I had no idea she was in the attic. I didn’t find out until you both went looking for her. But I had a good idea Walt knew where she was, considering he didn’t seem upset she was missing.”
“Why didn’t Walt say something?” Lily asked.
Danielle shrugged. “It was Walt’s bright idea to get you two together to talk.”
Waving a hand, Walt summoned a cigar. “Wasn’t such a bad idea after all. They are talking.” He took a puff.
Danielle rolled her eyes at Walt, but continued. “I guess when Sadie jumped out the window, she came straight over here to see Walt. When we were at the wake and Ian came over looking for her, Sadie wanted to come downstairs when Ian called for her. But Walt convinced her to keep quiet and stayed put, hoping it would eventually get you two to talk and get back together.” Danielle looked to Ian. “Sadie doesn’t want to leave Frederickport. She loves you, but she also loves Walt.”
Ian shook his head, not able to comprehend what Danielle was saying. “How does a spirit communicate with a dog like that?”
Danielle smiled. “Apparently some animals—I’m not sure all—can see spirits. Both Max and Sadie, and even Hunny and Heather’s cat have the ability. And spirits are able to communicate with animals. It’s not that they actually talk, it’s more of a mental telepathy communication thing.”
Ian stood up, his expression blank. In a low voice he said, “I would like to go home and think about this.”
The kitchen door leading to the backyard suddenly flew open. Startled, Ian stared at it.
“I guess that’s Walt’s way of telling you it’s okay for you to leave. I suppose you do have a lot to think about,” Danielle said.
Without a word, Ian walked to the open door. He paused and looked back at his dog. “Sadie, come.”
Once again, Sadie did not budge. Confused, Ian looked to Danielle.
“Tell Ian Sadie will go with him, but first, I want to give him additional proof this is all real.”
Danielle glanced nervously from Walt to Ian. “Ian, Walt says Sadie will go with you, but first he wants to give you some additional proof that all of this is real.”
“What do you mean?” Ian asked dully.
Danielle shook her head. “I have absolutely no idea.”
The next moment the pad of paper and pen sitting on the counter next to the telephone floated to Ian. Speechless, Ian grabbed them both, then looked back to Danielle, who only shrugged. His guess was as good as hers.
“Tell Ian to write down a command for Sadie. Something like roll over or run around in a circle. Whatever he wants. I’ll read the paper and give Sadie the command. After she does it, he’ll know there is no way you set this all up.” Walt then added with a chuckle, “I’m fairly certain Sadie can’t read.”
After Danielle conveyed Walt’s message, Ian numbly scribbled run in a circle onto the piece of paper. He looked down at Sadie. In the next moment she ran in a circle.
“Did you write run in a circle?” Lily asked.
Numb, Ian nodded. “I tried teaching her to do that once, and she never learned.”
THIRTY
Martha stood at her mother’s kitchen counter, making sandwiches, when Henry charged into the room.
“What did you do with the money?” Henry demanded. They stood alone in Joyce’s kitchen as the rest of the family remained in the living room, discussing the recent turn of events.
Martha frowned. “What are you talking about?”
“You’re the closest one to Mom. I don’t see her doing this with Shane or Larry. And she certainly couldn’t have done it by herself. Hell, a fortune in gold coins fell into her lap and she couldn’t keep ahold of it.”
Setting down the butter knife on the counter, Martha wiped her hands on the sides of her jeans and turned to face her brother. “I still don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Gran’s money has to be somewhere. I can’t believe you don’t know where Mom put it.”
“You think Mom’s trying to cheat all of us and keep Gran’s money?”
Henry shrugged. “I don’t think she’s trying to cheat you. Just her sons. She always favored you.”
“If that’s true—about her favoring me—it’s probably because all any of you do is ask Mom for things. But if you think Mom somehow is trying to cheat you, you’re nuts. You saw the will.”
“Yeah. I saw a will. It doesn’t mean it’s actually the right one.”
“Then contact the attorney, and ask for your own copy.” Martha turned back to the counter and resumed preparing the sandwiches. “But you can make your own damn sandwich. I sure as hell am not making one for someone who thinks I’m trying to steal from the family!” Angry, Martha tossed the sandwiches onto a plate and turned away from Henry. She headed for the living room, leaving Henry alone in the kitchen.
“I SURE THOUGHT I would be getting more than ten thousand,” Shane grumbled as he snatched a sandwich off the plate Martha had just carried into the room.
Joyce sat alone on the sofa, one hand cradling her forehead as she wrestled with a headache. After telling her sons about the visit with the attorney, they had done nothing but rant and rave. That was over an hour ago. She hadn’t spoken another word since that time. She figured none of her sons would have given her a chance to speak had she had something to say.
“Who says you’re getting ten thousand?” Dennis asked from where he sat on the hearth.
About to take a bite of the sandwich, Shane paused and looked over at Dennis. “What, you math challenged, Dennis? Fifty thousand five ways is ten thousand each.”
“That property was left to your mother, not anyone else,” Dennis reminded him.
“Stay out of this; you aren’t family,” Henry said when he entered the room.
“Yes, he is. And even if Gran had left it to all of us, it still would not be ten thousand each,” Martha said as she offered a sandwich to her mother. Joyce silently took one from the plate and then smiled up at her daughter.
“You math challenged too?” Shane asked his sister.
“Shane,” Dennis began, “first of all, there is no guarantee your mother will be able to sell that property for that much. The attorney said it might be worth up to that amount. But even if she was able to, you still have real estate fees, which could be five thousand bucks.”
“Five thousand?” Shane shrieked. “What for?”
“I think Dennis is talking about a Realtor’s commission.” Larry spoke up.
“Then don’t use a Realtor; we can sell it ourselves,” Shane said. “What do you think, Henry?”
Henry plopped down on a chair and glared across the room at his mother. “I think we need to find out what happened to Gran’s money.”
Ignoring Henry, Dennis added, “And don’t forget, there is Gran’s funeral bill. That has to be paid out of her estate.”
“I don’t want to pay for that!” Shane whined. “We shouldn’t have to. It’s their fault they didn’t get paid up front.”
“It doesn’t work like that,” Martha said. “Gran signed papers saying the balance was to come out of her estate. The fact is, when Mom gets the estate settled, she’ll be lucky to walk away with a few thousand dollars. I think you guys need to stop talking about how you intend to spend her money.”
“But that’s not what Gran said,” Larry argued. “She said her estate was to be divided between all of us. Equally. And she said it was worth millions.”
“Then she lied,” Shane snapped as he sat down next to Henry.
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“Or someone took the money and changed Gran’s will,” Henry added.
“I know what happened to Mother’s money,” Joyce announced. All heads in the room turned in her direction.
“What, Mother?” Martha asked. She now sat next to Dennis on the hearth. Teetering on her lap was the plate holding what remained of the sandwiches.
“The attorney said Father was paid almost thirty thousand dollars for his patent. Back then, Mother would have considered that a fortune. They used part of the money to invest in property. If it’s worth fifty thousand now, it has increased in value. In Mother’s mind, she probably thought she was rich. After all, Mother always thought anything she had was better than anyone else’s.”
“That’s a big leap from fifty K to millions,” Larry snapped.
Joyce shrugged. “I can’t say what was in Mother’s mind. Maybe over the years, when she told the story of what they had made from Father’s invention, it grew. Sort of like a fish story. Each telling, the fish gets bigger and bigger. Until one day, the bluegill the fisherman pulled in becomes whale size.”
“That doesn’t explain why Gran said we were all in her will,” Larry said.
“That was an obvious lie. But I also understand why she did it,” Joyce said wearily.
“Why was that?” Henry asked.
“So we wouldn’t leave her. She loved us. She wanted to keep us close.” With those words, Joyce stood up and silently left the room. A few minutes later they could hear the door to her bedroom close.
“That is a load of crap,” Larry scoffed. “Gran was a manipulative, mean-spirited old woman. She didn’t give a damn about any of us. She obviously didn’t have enough money to live on her own, so she figured out a way to sponge off Mom all these years while playing all of us.”
“I have to agree with you,” Dennis said. “But no matter what, Agatha was Joyce’s mother. I don’t know what purpose it will serve to point out to your mother just how bad the woman was. All it would do is make your mother resent the years Agatha lived with her—more than she already does. This way, she can find solace in the illusion it was all from misguided love.”
“Bull crap,” Larry snapped.
Martha let out a sigh. “I’m not sure Mom actually believes what she just said.”
“There is only one thing left to do,” Shane said as he stood up. They all looked at him.
“What’s that?” Larry asked.
“Sue Danielle Boatman. Maybe Gran didn’t leave us anything, but the poor dear old woman—that woman who loved us so much she lied to keep us close—tragically fell to her death at Marlow House. This one is a slam dunk, guys. Maybe it won’t be as much as we imagined we’d be getting, but I don’t see how we can’t get at least five million.”
Martha looked at her younger brother. “Shane, there is no way Mom is going to sue Danielle Boatman.”
“And now that your grandmother left her estate to Joyce, you can’t sue without her. She’s the only one who can sue on behalf of the estate,” Dennis reminded him.
“Then we have to get Mom to do it,” Shane said stubbornly.
“Mom won’t,” Martha insisted.
Larry stood up. “Yes, she will. We’ll make her.”
Martha stood up, the plate falling off her lap, landing on the floor, scattering the sandwiches. “You can’t bully Mother!”
“Martha, you can either be with us on this, or get out of the way. If you know what’s good for you,” Larry threatened.
THIRTY-ONE
Lily hadn’t shut her bedroom door. When there were guests in the house, both Lily and Danielle kept their bedroom doors closed and locked. Since the next reservation wasn’t arriving until tomorrow, Lily didn’t bother closing her door.
She was just climbing into bed when she heard Danielle say from the doorway, “I’m surprised you didn’t go over to Ian’s.”
Standing by the side of her bed, wearing a nightgown, Lily looked over to Danielle. “Why would I go over there?”
“You love the guy, don’t you?”
“Yes. But what does that have to do with anything?”
“He obviously understands you were telling the truth.”
Lily let out a grunt and climbed into bed. “The ball’s in his court, Dani. He owes me an apology.”
Danielle walked into the room and sat on the side of the bed. Lily, who was under the blankets, rested her head on her pillow while she primly folded her arms over her chest and looked up to the ceiling.
“It wasn’t you Ian didn’t believe in—it was ghosts.”
“Oh, stop trying to defend him, Dani. You broke it off with Joe when he refused to believe you.”
“Umm, that’s a little different. As I recall, Joe arrested me and thought I should be tried for murder. I don’t seem to remember Ian wanting to send you to prison.”
Lily looked over to Danielle. “Okay, maybe it’s not exactly the same thing. But even if he couldn’t believe in ghosts himself, why did he jump to the conclusion I lied to him? Why didn’t he simply trust that I believed. After all, people believe in all sorts of things other people don’t believe in, and it doesn’t make them liars.”
“Remember, we talked about that,” Danielle reminded her.
Lily let out a snort and scooted down in the bed.
“From Ian’s perspective, ghosts are pure fiction. At least, he used to believe that. So when he sees things flying through the air, he assumes it’s some sort of trick.”
“And since I was sitting right there, I had to know how the trick worked.”
“So? Are you going to go over there in the morning and get this all straightened out?”
Lily sat up a moment, grabbed a pillow, hugged it, and then rolled over on her side. “Nope. Like I said, the ball is now in Ian’s court. He needs to apologize to me.”
“I HATE ALL THIS DRAMA,” Danielle told Walt. They sat together in the parlor, Danielle on the sofa and Walt on the chair facing her.
“I suspect Ian will probably come over in the morning and talk to Lily. They’ll work things out,” Walt said.
“I hope so. But Ian is not thinking clearly. I could tell when he left he’s still trying to process all this. And I wonder, now that he believes—at least I think he does—is he going to start thinking about how Lily has kept this secret from him for the last year, and then start obsessing on how she hasn’t been open with him?”
“I suppose that’s possible.”
Danielle let out a sigh and curled up on the end of the sofa, resting her head on a throw pillow. “I just want to see her happy. And…well…it would be kinda nice if she married Ian. I’d love for them to stay in Marie’s house and then have a few little Ians and Lilys that I could spoil.”
“You’re planning Lily’s family now?” Walt chuckled. “I thought women these days didn’t believe a woman’s destiny needed to include marriage and children in order to be fulfilled.”
“It doesn’t have to. I don’t see anything wrong with a woman deciding not to have children. Or not to marry, for that matter. The road to fulfillment is different for everyone. But there’s also nothing wrong with marriage and children. I know Lily would love to marry Ian, and I know she wants kids someday. She loves children; that’s why she decided to be a teacher. And frankly, I wouldn’t mind holding a baby. I could babysit.”
“Perhaps…you should have a baby of your own?” Walt suggested.
Danielle glanced over to Walt and chuckled. “It would be way easier to just borrow Lily’s.”
LILY OPENED HER EYES. She was sitting on an oversized surfboard in the middle of the ocean, her feet dangling in the cool water. Looking down, she noticed the swimsuit she wore looked like something her great-grandmother might have worn, with its skirt and modest top.
Looking to her right, she found Walt sitting next to her. Instead of a swimsuit, he wore his blue three-piece pinstripe suit. Like her, his feet dangled in the water, the lower portion of his pants’ legs submerged.
He smiled at Lily. “I didn’t think it was important. I might not be here long.”
“Where are we anyway?” Lily glanced around. In every direction, all she could see was ocean.
“Looks like the middle of the sea. Which sea exactly, I haven’t decided.”
“This is some big surfboard. You could practically have a party on it,” Lily said with a giggle.
She looked down at the water. “Any sharks out here?”
“Do you want sharks?” Walt asked.
Lily shrugged. “Not particularly. A dolphin would be a nice touch. I rather like dolphins.”
In the next moment a dolphin swam by.
Lily nodded approvingly. “Good work.”
“What kind of dream is this?” came a male voice from the other side of Lily.
She turned abruptly to her left. There sitting on the surfboard next to her was Ian. All he had on was boxers. Without a shirt, his impressive abs were on full display, something Lily had first noticed about Ian when she had initially spied him through the spotting scope from Walt’s attic.
“What’s he doing here?” Lily asked Walt.
Ian looked over to Lily and frowned. Leaning forward slightly, looking past Lily, he spied Walt on the other end of the board. “I really shouldn’t have eaten that burrito before I went to bed,” he muttered.
“Danielle was anxious for you two to work this out, so I thought I’d speed this up a little,” Walt explained. “You two need to talk.”
“This is like that other dream,” Ian muttered, furrowing his brow.
“If you’ll remember,” Walt reminded him, “it was established that other dream wasn’t a regular dream.”
“Wait a minute, you brought us both into a dream hop?” Lily asked.
“Yes. I’ve never done this before—more than one person. Oh, I’ve invited a spirit into a dream, but I’ve never combined two dreams. I must say, I’m rather impressed with myself.” Walt grinned.
