Watch for the Dead (Relatively Dead Book 4)

by Sheila Connolly

  “Yes, we’re having a good time. We’ve been to the beach, and we saw a lighthouse, and went to Provincetown and Woods Hole. And I’m making sure she uses sunscreen.” Abby rejected the idea of mentioning the kitten—that could wait. Leslie had enough on her plate for now.

  “Can I talk to her? Is she awake?”

  Abby looked up to see Ellie leaning against the door frame. “She is, and she’s right here.” Abby held out the phone to her. “Ellie? It’s your mother.”

  Ellie took the phone and said, “Hi, Mommy. How’s Daddy?” She wandered out into the hallway, and Abby realized she hadn’t warned Ellie not to talk about Olivia—Leslie didn’t need to know that Ellie was seeing ghosts in more places. But Ellie could probably figure that out for herself. Ditto with the kitten, but maybe Ellie would be smart enough to keep quiet about that too. She glanced at Ned, who shrugged silently.

  Ellie wandered back into the room. “Okay, Mommy, I will. Say hi to Daddy, and tell him to get better. See you soon. Love you.” She clicked off and handed the phone back to Ned.

  “Did you tell her about—” Abby began.

  “Nope. Not about Kitten either.”

  Abby felt a guilty relief: she didn’t want to condone lying, even by omission, but it was simpler not to get into all this with Leslie right now. “She’ll find out soon enough, at least about the kitten.” Abby glanced between Ned and Ellie. “I was thinking of calling my parents and asking them if they’d like to come down for the day, or maybe overnight? Like, tomorrow? Is that okay?”

  Ned raised an eyebrow. “They know about us, right?”

  “Of course they do. For months now. I’m sorry we haven’t had the chance to get together.”

  “What about me?” Ellie said.

  This was trickier. “Ellie, they don’t know that we’re babysitting you. And before you ask, my mother doesn’t have this thing of ours. But Olivia was her great-grandmother, and I’m wondering if she heard any stories from anyone else in the family that might explain anything. It’s pretty much a long shot, but you never know. Don’t worry—she and my dad are really nice, and we can just hang out, maybe barbecue.”

  “Where is it they live?” Ned asked.

  “Maine. Actually, it’s a summer place that my dad inherited from his side of the family. I never lived there, but they’ve been there for years now and they seem to like it. Even the winters—they did beef up the insulation and get a better furnace. Anyway, I think it’s only a couple of hours from here by car, so it wouldn’t be too much of a drive for them. Everybody okay with it?”

  “Up to you,” Ned said. He and Ellie shrugged in unison, and Abby had to suppress a laugh.

  “Okay, I’ll call. Mom’s a morning person, so I’ll try her now. You two can go figure out breakfast.”

  When Ellie and Ned had trundled down the stairs, followed by Kitten, Abby found her phone and called her mother.

  Her mother answered on the second ring. “Why, Abigail Kimball, I thought you had been kidnapped by aliens! How long has it been?”

  “Too long, Mom. Sorry.” Their calls always seemed to start the same way, with an apology.

  “And how’s that young man of yours?”

  “He’s just fine. We’re just fine. That’s kind of why I called.”

  “Something important?”

  Like a wedding? No, not yet. “A friend of his loaned us a beach house on Cape Cod at the last minute, and we were wondering if you’d like to come down for a day. Or you could spend the night—we’ve got lots of room.”

  Her mother was silent for a moment. “What a lovely idea. Let me check with your father. Can you hang on?” Without waiting for an answer, Rebecca Kimball covered the phone with her hand, but Abby could hear her yelling “Marvin?” and then the rumble of her father’s voice. They conferred briefly, then her mother was back on the line. “Today okay with you? He says it’s a two-hour drive, so no problem. We can stay over, or not—up to you.”

  Abby gulped. “That would be great, Mom. I’m so glad you can make it. We’ll see you later today—lunchtime, maybe? Here, let me give you directions. Just take 95 south from where you are, and then get on Route 495 and keep going ’til you get to Cape Cod, then . . .” When Abby had wound down she added, “And if you get lost, just call, okay? We’ll be here.”

  When she had hung up, Abby felt quite virtuous. She hadn’t meant to keep Ned and her parents apart, but there had always been something in the way—Ned’s work, or spending a day a week with Ellie, or working on Ned’s tumbledown Victorian house. And she would have to work out how to explain Ellie in a way that made sense. What could explain why the woman who had fired her from her job months earlier would be entrusting her with her daughter now? They’d have to come up with a story. And maybe Ned could get a sense of her mother and why she seemed totally devoid of any extra-normal empathy?

  Downstairs Ellie and Ned were clanging pots around and generally making a mess. “What’s for breakfast?” Abby asked when she walked into the kitchen.

  “Pancakes, we think,” Ned told her.

  “We got syrup yesterday!” Ellie proclaimed proudly.

  “What did your mother say?” Ned asked.

  “They’re coming today. They may or may not stay overnight.”

  Ellie gave her a sidelong glance. “Is she . . . like us?”

  “No, sweetie, I told you, she isn’t. She gets along really well with people—living ones, that is—but she doesn’t see the others.”

  “Did she outgrow it?” Ellie asked.

  “I never really thought about that, but it seems more likely that it was never there. I don’t know why. But she’ll like you.”

  “What’ll we do?”

  “I don’t know if they’ve seen the Cape, but mostly I want them to get to know Ned. They haven’t met him. So maybe we’ll just hang out. Is there something else you want to do? We still have Sunday and maybe Monday to do touristy stuff.”

  “We should check the neighbors and see if anyone’s misplaced a kitten,” Ned reminded her. Ellie pouted.

  “I know, you’re right,” Abby admitted. “I really don’t think she could have wandered far, since she’s so little, so can we limit our hunt to right around here?”

  “That’s fair. Ellie, I’m sorry, but you can imagine how some other kid would feel if they had lost the kitten?” Ned said.

  Ellie wouldn’t look at him. “Yeah, I know. But she likes us.”

  “That she does. We’ll see what happens. We’ll go right after breakfast, okay?”

  “I guess. Are you going to go? Or Abby?”

  “Ned, I think you should go,” Abby said. Let him be responsible if Ellie has to give up the kitten. “I’ve got to clean up here, and make sure there are sheets on the other beds. And stuff.”

  “That’s fine. Eat up, Ellie.”

  Chapter 13

  Rebecca and Marvin Kimball pulled into the sandy parking space behind the house less than three hours later. Abby had scurried around tidying, not that they had had much time to make a mess, and it had been pretty much spotless when they arrived. But there was always sand, which seemed to end up everywhere. As she walked out the back door to greet her parents, Abby wondered whether they had kept a go-bag waiting by the door, in case Abby had made just such an offhand invitation. She came down the steps and hugged each of them as they emerged from the car.

  Ned and Ellie had heard the car approaching, but hung back to let Abby greet them. They had made the rounds of the houses within half a mile, but most people were, as Abby had predicted, renters, and no one had brought a litter of young kittens along with them. It seemed absurd to push the search any farther, with posters on electric poles or an ad in the local paper. Anyone who could misplace a tiny kitten didn’t deserve to have it anyway. The only odd thing was that the kitten was so friendly, so it was clearly accustomed to being around people. In any event, Ellie was over the moon about having clear title to the little creature. They could worry about Leslie’
s reaction later. After this odd weekend was over.

  “We made really good time,” Rebecca burbled. “Not much traffic anywhere—I guess whoever was coming down here for the weekend or week was already here.”

  “Yes, I’m told the highway backs up for miles starting on Thursday afternoon. Please, come in.”

  Ned held the door for them. Ellie hung back in a corner of the kitchen, unsure of her welcome. Not surprisingly, Rebecca made a beeline for Ned. “So you must be Abby’s new—heck, I don’t know what you kids call each other these days. You must be Ned. She’s told us about you, but not enough—she never said you were so good-looking! Isn’t he, Marvin?”

  Marvin glanced at Abby and shrugged, smiling, as if to say “What can I do?” “Hello, Ned. Good to meet you. This looks like a nice place—Abby said it belongs to a friend of yours?”

  “Yes, it does, sir. It’s been in his family for quite a while, but he doesn’t spend a lot of time down here. Most people on the Cape tend to rent out their places during the summer, which is how they afford to live here the rest of the year.”

  Rebecca had finally spotted Ellie, who was watching the greetings with a carefully neutral expression. “And who’s this?”

  “I didn’t get a chance to tell you, Mom. This is Ellie. Her parents are friends of Ned’s, and her dad had to have emergency surgery, so we said we’d look after her for a few days while he recuperates. I didn’t have time to explain on the phone. Ellie, come say hello to my mom and dad.”

  Ellie stepped forward and extended her hand to Rebecca. “It’s nice to meet you, Mrs. Kimball.” Abby almost held her breath, wondering if there would be any connection between them. Maybe her mother had been hiding her abilities all of her life, and they would suddenly burst forth now, with Ellie. Their hands touched, and Ellie cast a quick glance toward Abby: nothing. Well, it wasn’t a surprise.

  “Please, call me Rebecca. If that’s okay with Abby? I know kids are pretty informal these days—not like when Marvin and I were young. But Mrs. Kimball sounds so stuffy.”

  “Okay,” Ellie said. “Nice to meet you too, uh, Marvin.”

  Marvin Kimball bent down and shook hands formally with Ellie. “The same goes for me. So, you been having a good time here on the Cape?”

  “Yes, sir. It’s pretty, and there’s a nice bookstore not too far away. And I got a kitten.”

  “Well, isn’t that nice? Can you introduce me to your kitten?” Marvin asked, then looked at Abby and winked.

  “Sure. She’s taking a nap, upstairs. Come with me.” Ellie took his hand and led him out of the kitchen.

  “The kitten was kind of unplanned,” Abby explained. “Ellie doesn’t have any pets at home, but the kitten showed up during a bad storm and we couldn’t just leave her outside. She’s a real sweetie, and still very young.”

  “I understand. Well, since Marvin gets to meet the cat, why don’t you give me the grand tour of the place. When you said ‘a house on the Cape’ I didn’t know if I should picture a shack on the beach or a Victorian mansion.”

  “This is kind of somewhere in between,” Abby said. “I think it was built around 1900, and it’s on the harbor, not the ocean. Let me show you. You coming, Ned?”

  “Sure. Although I can’t add much information about the house. I hadn’t been here for years, and all I remember is some sort of wild weekends, when we were all a lot younger.”

  They walked through the house, which didn’t take long. They ended up on the porch. “My, this is lovely,” Rebecca said, and she sounded like she meant it. “Which way does the sun set?”

  “Right out there,” Abby pointed. “I have to admit we spend time out here watching it. When it’s not raining, of course.”

  “I can see why. Nice friends you have, Ned.”

  Marvin and Ellie came clattering down the stairs and found them on the porch. Ellie was carrying the kitten, who looked completely relaxed, unfazed about being hauled around like a sack of flour and meeting strangers. “This is the kitten,” Ellie said. “We couldn’t find anybody who owned her, so now she’s mine.”

  “She is adorable,” Rebecca said. “What’s her name?”

  “We haven’t decided yet.”

  “Well, I’m sure you’ll find a good one—one that fits her.”

  “So,” Abby began, “what would you like to do today? Cape Cod’s not all that big—you can reach Provincetown on the far end in an hour or so, assuming you don’t stop along the way. Do you want to see beaches? Stores?”

  “We came to see you, dear,” Rebecca said, smiling, “And Ned, of course. But I have heard there are some glassblowing places around here. I love handblown glass, and I’ve never seen it made. Do you think we could find one of those?”

  “Of course we can! And we should probably pick up some more food. Why don’t we eat lunch out, and we can grill at dinner? Are you staying overnight?”

  “If we’re welcome,” Rebecca told her.

  “Of course you are!” Abby breathed an inward sigh of relief: she really wanted some quiet time to poke around her mother’s buried memories, if there were any, and that would be possible only if they sat down and relaxed together, rather than rushing from place to place.

  “Why don’t I go check the Internet for those glass places?” Ned offered.

  “Good idea. Then we can plan.”

  Ned disappeared toward the dining room, where Abby’s computer was, and Ellie and Kitten followed him. Rebecca waited until he was gone, then said, in a low voice, “Why on earth have you been hiding this lovely man?”

  “Well, I wasn’t exactly hiding him. But after Brad, I guess I wasn’t sure how things would go.”

  “You moved in with him, what, three months ago?” Rebecca countered, although her tone was kind.

  “About that. You were counting?”

  “Only because I love you, and worry about you. I know you followed Brad up to Massachusetts with certain assumptions, but then everything seemed to fall apart so quickly. I wasn’t sure how you were coping. And I also wasn’t sure that this Ned of yours wasn’t just someone you grabbed on the rebound.”

  “No, Mom, he isn’t.”

  “And I can see that. So I’ll stop worrying about you, at least for now. And I won’t ask you about jobs, or what you think you’re doing with the rest of your life. We can just enjoy this time together.”

  “Thank you. I’d really like that.” Abby glanced at her father, who, typically, was silent. Not detached—he just seemed to like to watch his womenfolk when they were happy.

  Ned returned quickly. “There are a few choices. One is Sandwich Glass, which is the oldest and biggest, but also the most commercial. There are a couple of smaller places, with one or two craftspersons, that you might find more interesting. Which would you prefer?”

  “Oh, the second kind, definitely,” Rebecca said, beaming at him. “I love to see how things are done, and to talk to the people.”

  “How about lunch in Falmouth, then?” Ned suggested. “Daniel told me about a place on the harbor, on the far side of town, that has great seafood plus a nice view. Unless you’re allergic to shellfish? Or scenic harbors?”

  Rebecca laughed. “No to both. It sounds great. Abby, why don’t you show us where to park our bags and let me freshen up, and then we can go? I’d hate to waste this lovely weather.”

  Upstairs, Abby guided her mother to one of the back bedrooms. “The front room is a bit bigger, but Ellie claimed that one when we arrived, and I’d hate to displace her.”

  “Not a problem, dear. How long have you known Ellie?”

  “A couple of months, I guess. How did you guess we knew each other?”

  “Just that she seems comfortable with you. With both you and Ned, actually. She seems very self-possessed for a young girl. What is she, eight?”

  “Just. She starts third grade next week. And you’re right—she’s very mature for her age.”

  “So were you, darling, at that age. Well, point me to the bathroom
and I’ll be good to go.”

  “Right down the hall there.”

  Abby joined the men downstairs. They were still on the porch, and Ned appeared to be explaining the history of this little enclave of houses. “Daniel told me that these were built mainly as summer homes by people from the Boston area—it was a popular area in the later nineteenth century. Of course, it wasn’t as easy to get here back then—there were bridges, but they were pretty simple, until they built the existing ones in the 1930s. But of course, the Cape was settled long before 1900—the Mayflower pilgrims landed at what is now Provincetown, before they decided to settle in what became Plymouth. There’s a monument in Provincetown.”

  “Ned, how much time have you spent here?” Abby asked.

  “The occasional visit—I’ve known Daniel for a long time. But you know I like the history.” He smiled at her.

  “Of course.” Abby smiled back.

  Marvin smiled at the two of them.

  Rebecca came quickly down the stairs. “All set!” she said. “And I swear I’m hungry again.”

  “You must have gotten an early start, Mom,” Abby said.

  “Right after you called. Isn’t that right, Marvin?”

  “It is. Of course, we were already up. So, where are we off to?”

  “Falmouth, a couple of miles away, and lunch,” Ned told him. “Let’s take my car—it’s the most comfortable, since there are five of us.”

  “Ellie?” Abby called out. “You ready to go?”

  “Coming,” she called, and appeared a few moments later. “Kitten’s on my bed. We’re going to close everything, so she can’t get out, right?”

  “Of course we will.”

  “Can I bring my camera?” Ellie asked.

  “Sure. There should be lots to take pictures of.” Abby turned to her parents. “Ellie just got a camera this past week, so we’re learning how to use it. She takes good pictures.”

  “Maybe she can take a picture of all of us?” Rebecca asked, her eyes twinkling.