Phantoms of Fall (The Haunting Ruby Series Book 2)

by Joy Elbel

  The only thing that made the day bearable was knowing that I was going to tell Zach the truth. It was funny to think after all of the lengths I went to to conceal things from him that it should all end like this—with me dying to tell him the truth, to strip it bare and lay it all out there for him to see. One thing’s for sure—I was going to feel a whole lot better after it was done. And the best part—the truth was all he ever really wanted from the start.

  When the final bell rang, we were off and running. I knew that he was taking me to City Lights for dinner but he had a surprise planned first. His only hint was that we were going to be doing something a city girl like me would have never done before. After warning him that I drew the line at milking cows, he assured me that it was something I would love.

  So imagine my surprise when he drove me straight to Rosewood. Was this a subtle hint that I needed to shower or something? I took a quick whiff to make sure I didn’t smell bad. Nope—the Midnight Kiss and my deodorant were still doing their jobs. I watched with fascination as he got out of the car and went into our garage. What in the world did he have in mind?

  When he reappeared with two rakes in his hand, I was baffled. Yard work? This was his idea of a date? Maybe this was how he bought my dad’s approval—free yard work in exchange for his daughter’s hand. Hmm, my dad should have held out for more.

  “Okay, follow me,” he said, handing me a rake and walking toward the oak grove. “Hey, I don’t know what kind of deal you made with my dad but it’s your deal not mine.” I dragged the rake behind me unenthusiastically.

  “This has nothing to do with your dad,” Zach replied as he started to rake the scarlet oak leaves into a pile. “Come on, just trust me.”

  Of course, I trusted him so I started raking leaves alongside him. About ten minutes later, the pile was huge and when he leaned his rake against a tree, I thought we were done so I did the same.

  “Watch this!” Zach took off running at the pile of leaves and then just flung himself into the middle of it. With a poof, the mound of scarlet foliage exploded into the air as his weight came down on it. “Whoo!” he shouted, tossing armloads of leaves into the air.

  He was right—it looked like a lot of fun. Stupid, juvenile, not a care in the world kind of fun. Just the kind of fun I needed to ease some of the stress I’d been besieged by since the first day of school.

  “My turn, my turn!” I yelled as I hurriedly reformed the pile with my rake. Zach helped me until the heap was big enough to jump in again. Then with a smile on my face, I stood in front of the pile with my arms outstretched and fell backwards into it. With my eyes open, I watched the sky as I fell. It was a soft landing, with the weight of my body sending the crimson leaves into an upward flutter until they fell back down around me. It gave me a feeling I hadn’t felt in months. I felt free.

  How did he do it? How did he take the simplest things and turn them into the best moments of my life? When we tired of jumping in the leaves, he lay down in them and attempted to make an autumn version of a snow angel. They were the worst angels I’d ever seen but that didn’t matter. I got down and flapped my arms right along with him.

  Leaf angels gave way to leaf fights until we both fell into the leaves exhausted and laughing harder than I’d laughed in years. When he wasn’t looking, I grabbed a handful and threw them in his face.

  “Oh, so that’s how you repay me for showing you a good time, is it?” Zach rolled over onto his side and propped himself up on one elbow.

  “Yep—that was the best part!” I giggled as he feigned anger. “That’s it—you’re really going to get it now!” Zach straddled me around the waist and held me down as he shoved handful after handful of leaves on top of me, burying me except for my face.

  When he was done, I asked between giggles, “Are you happy now?” He leaned over, placed his lips on mine and gave me a long, smoldering kiss. “Now I’m happy,” he said as he started to brush the leaves away from my hair. “And what makes me the happiest is seeing you smile—I haven’t seen nearly enough of it.”

  He helped me up off of the ground and we took turns brushing each other off before driving to City Lights. It was a Monday night and a little earlier than most people ate dinner, so the restaurant was empty except for a few older couples in the front of the dining room. Zach asked the hostess to seat us at the most private table they had and she complied. She led us to a booth in a back room that I didn’t even know existed.

  Our table looked like something you’d expect to see in the VIP room of a trendy club. It was a circular booth recessed into the wall with deep purple curtains hanging at the sides for the ultimate in privacy. The seats were made of a matching hue and the tablecloth was a silvery gray. Both the music and the lighting were soft and romantic and the hostess lit the silver candle on the table before she walked away. I felt like a princess as I made myself comfortable and Zach slid in close beside me.

  Once our waitress brought our drinks and took our orders, I knew we were alone for at least fifteen minutes so I decided to broach the subject of what we almost did during the party.

  “So I thought a lot about what we almost did last night,” I said as I folded and unfolded my napkin nervously. This was going to be harder to talk about than I thought.

  I could feel the familiar nervous bounce of Zach’s leg under the table. “Did you change your mind about that? Are you glad Rachel interrupted us when she did?”

  Did he change his mind? I couldn’t tell but I spit out the truth anyway. “No, the exact opposite, actually.”

  The bouncing under the table came to an abrupt stop. “Oh, so you still want to…soon?” “I do—but I want to make sure we don’t get interrupted again.” With my nerves in check, I dropped the napkin into my lap and relaxed a little.

  “You and me both, Ruby. I would have died if it was anyone but my sister at that door.”

  “Me too—which is why we need to plan this out a little.”

  “Good idea. Any suggestions?” I took a sip of my soda and bit off a mouthful of breadstick while nodding my head. I barely ate all day and my stomach was growling like an angry bear.

  “I want to do it at Rosewood. All we need is a plan to get Dad and Shelly out of the house for….” I had no idea how long it would take. If I estimated on the low end, I could hurt his feelings. On the other hand, if I guessed too high, I could be setting an unreachable standard for him. Uggh—just ask him, Ruby!

  “So, how long do you think we’ll need anyway?” There, I said it. Zach slid the basket of bread my way and I gladly shoved another bite of it into my mouth.

  “Well, I’ve been thinking about that, too. I suppose an hour or two would be enough but I was hoping for more.” Zach started to play the “nervously fold and unfold the napkin” game now, too. “I know it may be asking too much, but I’d like to spend the night with you—or at least have enough time to safely fall asleep with you in my arms.”

  That was the right answer. “Okay, but if you want to spend the night we’ll have to get your parents out of town with them. Casino, maybe?”

  Zach shook his head. “That’s a no-go. Mom and Dad are saving up to buy Mom a new car. There’s no way they’ll want to go gambling.”

  “I guess we’ll have to settle for an afternoon then but I don’t know how we’re going to pull this off.” The waitress arrived with our meals and all conversation ceased while we shoveled the food in. I was seriously starving but Zach was always hungry so I knew he would understand.

  Halfway through his stuffed chicken breast, Zach paused with his fork above his plate. “So, any ideas on how to get them out of the house for a day?”

  I washed down the last bite of my roast beef before answering him. “I do have one idea but I don’t want to sound obvious when I suggest it to them.”

  “What’s your idea?” he asked before popping another bite into his mouth. “Shelly loves the book The Phantom of the Opera— she’s always wanted to see it on Broadway but never has.
Now that she’s not writing she has enough spare time to do it, but I don’t know how to approach it without sounding like I’m up to something.”

  “That’s a good idea—it’s at least an eight hour drive round trip from Charlotte’s Grove to New York City—not including the musical itself.” Zach gave me the same sexy smile from the night before. “You have no idea what I can do with ten hours alone with you.”

  “But I’m ready to find out,” I said as a wave of warmth spread throughout my body. Simply put, it was the perfect plan. Now how were we going to pull it off? After breaking into the school unnoticed and without any help, getting Dad and Shelly to New York City should be easy.

  “If you keep talking like that, I won’t be able to wait for the perfect moment.” “Oh, if you want to do it tonight, I’m okay with that.” A little disappointed, but okay. It wasn’t until the moment was almost perfect that I realized how much I wanted it to be.

  “No, sweetie—I’m just kidding.” Zach placed his hand on my leg. “We’ve waited this long, a little longer won’t kill either of us. Have you ever read The Phantom of the Opera?”

  “No, Shelly always told me I would like it, but that was back when I made a conscious effort to do the exact opposite of everything she suggested. Why do you ask?”

  “You need to ask Shelly to borrow her copy and then tell her how much you loved it. Plant the seed in her head and you never know what might grow on its own.”

  He was a genius. I knew I wasn’t just dating him for his looks, his charm or his sense of humor—I loved the fact that he was smart, too. We lingered over our empty plates for quite a while just talking before we left the restaurant. We talked about his adventures in anger management and how scared he was when he thought he would get kicked out of school. He told me about how his parents made him apologize to Ryan and pay for his medical bills. And how truly lucky he was that Ryan’s parents hadn’t decided to sue.

  “I’m really going to have to start saving for our apartment soon—I don’t want to have to rely on you for money.”

  Oh no. I didn’t apply to the same college he did! What was I going to do now? I could still apply but I missed early admissions. Pendleton University was a popular school—the earlier you applied the better your chances were of getting in. He was going to be disappointed but I had to break the news to him.

  “I didn’t exactly apply to Pendleton, Zach.”

  His face sunk visibly with the news—he looked at me like I just threw a kitten into the toilet. “What? Why?” “When we weren’t together I assumed our plans were dead—I applied to a school in Philadelphia instead.” I started to feel like I threw that kitten in and flushed it, too.

  “So you’re going to Philly then?” I could hear the hurt in his voice. “No, of course not! I’ll apply to Pendleton and if I don’t get in now, I’ll shoot for the spring semester instead.” I placed my hand on his shoulder. “Either way, I’m still going where you go and when you go, Zach. I could just get a job and work full time for the fall semester. And besides, it would give me more time to write anyway.”

  “Write? What are you writing?” “While we were apart, I started writing a book. It was the only the thing that kept me sane. When I finish it, I’m going to try to get it published.”

  “Ruby, that’s awesome! What’s it about? When can I read it?”

  “It’s far from finished but you can read what I have so far if you want.”

  “Definitely—why wouldn’t I? I want to be a part of everything you do.” We started to get the stink eye from our waitress and when I looked at the clock I saw why. We’d been at the table talking for almost three hours. My curfew was in an hour so Zach paid the bill and we walked to the car. There was only one thing left to discuss and we needed to be completely alone for that conversation.

  33. One Phantom Too Many

  “I’m sorry we don’t have more time to talk about your ghost. It’s my fault—I should have been watching the clock.” Zach said as he parked the car at the bottom of the hill. “Time just seems to melt away when I’m with you.”

  How could I have been so stupid? I should never have missed out on so much time with him. Now that we were back together I wanted every moment of my day to be spent with him. There couldn’t be another boy out there who would deal with my ghost problems so sanely and rationally.

  Zach reclined his seat and slid over so I could join him. It was a cool night so he pulled the blanket out of his backseat and wrapped it around us.

  “Before I start though, I have one question to ask you. You said you could feel Garnet that day—I get that. But last night you said you knew I could see ghosts—plural—how did you figure that out?”

  “I just put the pieces together. It seemed like too much of a coincidence, you know, after everything that happened over the summer. The Wakefield family lived in that house for over half a century with no explosions. You live there for three months and damn near blow the place up. Then you kept talking about the girl that was following you around school but somehow she was never there when you tried to point her out to me. When you started working at Something Wick-ed with Rita—that was clue number three. I spent a lot of time researching near death experiences during my suspension and found that it’s a common side effect.”

  Wow. I thought I kept everything such a secret but he was more observant than I gave him credit for. He knew me better than I even knew myself.

  “You pay attention to everything, don’t you?”

  “Only where you’re concerned.” That comment deserved a kiss so I gave him one. But just a quick one—I had to tell him everything and if we kissed for too long that would never happen.

  So I spilled it all, everything up to the point where I decided to break into the school. I was dreading that part. Would I cease to be his perfect girlfriend once he knew? I was ashamed of what I did but I stood behind my decision. What I learned that night was crucial and there was no other way I could have learned it.

  Nothing I said so far seemed to surprise him. He listened unfazed until I said the words. “So I snuck into the school on Halloween in the hopes of catching an anniversary residual haunting that would prove that Mr. Raspatello killed Garnet.” I spoke quickly and then braced for the impact.

  Good thing too. “You did WHAT?” Zach shouted, twisting in his seat to face me. “I left a window open in the locker room on Friday so I could get in but then I couldn’t get back out that way. I was trapped in there—I had to break a window to escape.”

  Zach ran his hand through his hair and leaned forward against the steering wheel. “I don’t like it, Ruby. You’re sick all the time—I was afraid to mention it earlier but you’ve lost a scary amount of weight. When I hold you, I’m afraid you’re going to break in half! This shit’s getting dangerous! Breaking and entering, chasing down a killer—you could have gotten caught or, worse yet, killed!”

  “But that’s the good part—Mr. Raspatello is innocent! I watched Garnet kill herself. If only I could have read what was on that suicide note. This whole thing might be over now if I had.” I hung my head sadly. “Now, I may never know why she did it, never be able to give her what she wants. Garnet Hartley may never rest in peace!”

  “Wait a second—did you say Hartley?” Zach asked with a curious expression.

  “Yes….” I answered slowly and with hesitation. What did her last name have to do with any of this?

  “Her father’s name wouldn’t happen to be Jonathan, would it?”

  I sat up in excitement. “How did you know?” “Every year at school on the last day before Thanksgiving break, we have an assembly on suicide prevention. I’ll give you three guesses as to who the guest speaker is.” Zach fiddled aimlessly with his keys. “Now I really wish I’d paid attention to him all those years.”

  “Shut the front door! Are you serious?” I grabbed him passionately and kissed him before he could answer. He really was the best boyfriend in the whole world!

  When our l
ips finally parted, Zach smiled. “Can we go back a few seconds and do that again?” “You made me so happy—I could do that all night long!” I had to be home in about twenty minutes so unfortunately that wasn’t an option. But we crammed as much lip locking into the next ten minutes that we possibly could.

  On the ride home, I chattered on about how close I was to finding the last piece of the puzzle. I must have told him I loved him a thousand times but each time he returned the sentiment.

  “See, you should have told me everything right from the beginning—then you wouldn’t have felt like you had to break into the school for answers.”

  Zach walked me to the door and gave me a good night kiss. “I have to work at the shelter tomorrow but I’d like to see you—for a little while at least.”

  “Absolutely,” I replied instantly, “What do you want to do?”

  “What do I want to do?” he said laughing.

  With a playful punch to his chest, I answered, “Besides that! Any ideas?”

  “Yeah, I’d really like to read what you’ve been writing—if that’s okay with you.” “Sounds perfect.” Letting him read my book would be like handing him the last piece of my soul that he didn’t already have. Well, next to last, that is.

  We agreed that he would meet me at Rosewood at seven the next night. After one last kiss, he started for his car. Halfway there, he turned around and returned to the porch. Throwing his arms around me, he hugged me tightly to him.

  “Be careful, Ruby—I don’t want to ever lose you.” he whispered in my ear. “If you need me, I’ll help you with anything regardless of the danger.”

  It was the sweetest thing he could have said to me. It was exactly what I needed to hear. For the first time in a while, the tears forming in my eyes had nothing to do with fear or pain.