Heiress

by Zingera, L. C.

  Ryan took Mel though the house, carrying her into the living room and placing her on the couch, he fetched a towel and began drying her hair.

  “You don’t have to baby me, you know,” she said crossly.

  “I’m not babying you. I’m taking care of you.”

  “Why?”

  “Because I love you.”

  Mel sucked in a loud breath. “Wow!”

  “Well, that’s not exactly the reaction I was hoping for,” he commented dryly, trying to keep the hurt out of his voice.

  Mel burst out laughing, then covered his hand with her own, as he stilled in his ministrations, taking the towel away and running her fingers through her damp hair then tucking the stray strands behind her ears.

  “I love you too,” she said, drawing a deep breath.

  “You’re not just saying that to make me feel better?” he groused.

  Mel laughed, cupping his face with her hands and kissing him sweetly. “Nope, just playing a little hard to get is all.”

  “Hmph!”

  “Now you sound like Nick.”

  Ryan groaned. “Nick is gonna kill me!”

  “Don’t worry, I’ll protect you,” she teased.

  “Maybe I should just make a run for it now, change my identity...” he laughed.

  “Don’t you dare!”

  “Ah, so you’d miss me, huh?”

  “Maybe, just a little bit.” She held up her finger and thumb in a little pinch sign.

  “Only that much?”

  Mel threw her arms wide. “This much? Will that soothe your ego?”

  “Almost.”

  “Oh, you had something else in mind?”

  “Yeah, this.” Ryan pulled the ring from his pocket, and slid it onto her third finger. It was once his mother’s, he always kept it close by in his small jewelry caddy along with a watch that had been his father’s; lately he’d found himself looking at the beautiful ring, rolling it between his fingers as he imagined asking Amelia to be his. “I don’t ever want to be without you, Verona Amelia Willis, say you’ll marry me?”

  Mel reached down, caressing her ring finger, trailing her fingertips over the engraved golden band with the tiny sparkling diamonds encrusted. Ryan held his breath.

  “Ryan, if you don’t breathe, you’re going to pass out.”

  “Say you’ll marry me, Mel,” he repeated in rush of breath and nerves.

  “Yes.” Mel’s eyes filled with tears and they coursed in rapid succession down her heated cheeks. “I’ll marry you!”

  Chapter Ten

  Ryan moved into Mel’s room, leaving his things in his own room where he could dress so as not to leave anything out of place where she might trip again. There still hadn’t been any resolution to the sounds they had both heard, the shimmering lights, or ghosts? He wasn’t sure what to believe any more. But at least nothing else had been left out of place again.

  Mel had called Drew and Nick with their news, and Drew had promised to help her plan a wedding when they returned, and hopefully Nick would have a few weeks to get used to the idea in the meantime, too.

  His logical brain still couldn’t countenance the idea that he’d really seen a ghost, maybe it had been simply a trick of the light after all. A strange shadow cast by the flickering lightning, playing tricks on his overactive imagination after a night of too little sleep?

  He’d almost convinced himself when he heard the whisper of his name being called in the hallway. He stepped out, leaving Mel sound asleep to find the shimmering apparition staring right at him.

  “Ryan?” she asked.

  The hairs on the back of his neck stood to attention, he struggled for breath, and nearly shot out of his skin when a hand touched his arm, Mel, soft-footed, had awakened and joined him.

  “Victoria?” Mel asked.

  “You’re very grown up now, Amelia,” Victoria said gently.

  Mel nodded. “It’s been a long time.” She turned to Ryan. “Victoria was my playmate, my so called imaginary friend when I was a little girl. It was you, wasn’t it?”

  “Yes.” Victoria smiled.

  Raven trotted out and sat down beside Mel, watching Victoria and swishing her huge tail. “She told me wonderful stories of Princesses and Pirates, and daring sea captains...”

  At the term sea captain, Victoria’s face fell.

  “I’m Ryan Hunter,” Ryan blurted breathlessly. “Are you searching for your Ryan, Captain Ryan Grady?”

  Abruptly Victoria disappeared.

  “Victoria,” Mel began.

  “She’s disappeared, Mel.”

  “Perhaps, but she can still hear us, can’t you, Victoria?”

  Going along with it, Ryan said. “I’ve heard you calling Ryan’s name, several times...”

  “I promised to wait for him, right here,” Victoria answered, slowly appearing before them once again.

  “Ryan is waiting for you, Victoria. He’s been calling your name, I think he’s asking if you’re ready to cross over, to be with him. He crossed over long ago, but you don’t seem to be able to hear him,” Mel said.

  “He told me he’d be back...” Victoria said stubbornly.

  “He didn’t have a choice in the matter, Victoria, his ship went down when he was on his way home.”

  “They told me he wasn’t coming back...ever.”

  “Who did?” Ryan and Mel asked at the same time.

  “Some of the locals...they said he went home to the Isle of Wight...”

  “You listened to local gossip?”

  “No, I...I just knew I had to wait right here. I promised.”

  “Victoria, Ryan never stopped loving you. He didn’t leave you by choice. If you could just believe that, and know that we’ve heard his voice, just as we can hear you...” Mel assured the shimmering apparition. “It’s been almost two hundred years, Victoria.”

  Ryan watched in awe as tears like shimmering flakes of glittering gold cascaded down as Victoria began to cry, “So very long?”

  Mel reached out toward the apparition, Ryan barely restrained himself from pulling her back, but there was no harm intended here, just sadness and longing in need of resolution.

  “Call his name, Victoria, and listen, have you ever really listened for an answer?”

  Shaking her head defiantly, Victoria disappeared once again.

  “Victoria, Victoria...” The deep resonant voice called faintly, growing stronger with each moment. “Victoria...I’m here, I’ve always been here...”

  Mel snuggled closer to Ryan as the distant masculine voice grew both stronger and closer. And the shimmering light before them coalesced into the form of a tall distinguished man, wearing a deep blue uniform.

  “Ryan!” Victoria whispered, materializing beside him.

  Captain Ryan Grady held out his arms and Victoria Grady flew into them.

  Chapter Eleven

  Ryan was not surprised when the pair of shimmering apparitions disappeared. He couldn’t believe what he’d seen, was any of it even real? But Mel was smiling a soft sweet smile, her eyes brimming with tears. Though she’d been unable to see the scene as clearly as he, she’d gotten the gist of it pretty well, and the shimmering lights had been cloudy but visible to her.

  “I think he’s been trying to get through to her for a really long time,” she said. “But she couldn’t believe he was really gone and stayed here to wait for him forever.”

  “It’s been an incredible few days, Mel,” Ryan said pulling her into his arms.

  “It’s quite a love story,” she said, snuggling closer.

  “Yes, isn’t it,” he said looking down into her beautiful features.

  “You’re staring at me again, aren’t you?” she laughed.

  “I am,” he admitted. “I enjoy looking at you, you’re beautiful and you’re mine.”

  “Drew says you’re really handsome.”

  “She did?”

  “I wish I could see you.”

  The light filtering in through a
chink in the curtains suddenly shifted, coalesced, and the two apparitions returned. Arms wrapped around each other.

  “Thank you, Amelia, for helping me to find my Ryan again. I hope you will be happy with yours.”

  Mel nodded tearfully.

  “But there is one small thing, a little gift I would like to give you before I go,” Victoria said.

  Ryan watched in awe as the shimmering ghost of Victoria Grady moved closer to Mel.

  “It is only temporary, Amelia, only for a few moments, but I want you to be able to see your Ryan, as you helped me to see mine again.”

  Ryan Grady and Ryan Hunter watched, side by side as Victoria’s shimmering essence entered Mel’s body. Mel closed her eyes for a moment taking a deep breath. Then a smile so joyful he could barely take it, spread slowly across her features as she opened her eyes and looked at him. She held out her hands.

  “Drew was right, Ryan, you really are truly handsome!”

  Ryan approached, taking Mel’s hands in his own as she drew him close, her beautiful blue eyes shining with happiness as she looked directly into his eyes.

  “Now I will always be able to carry your picture in my heart. Every time I hear you speak, I will know who is speaking to me, in my mind’s eye I will see you. Thank you, Victoria.”

  “No, oh Mel, please...” Ryan begged, there had to be a way for her to retain this precious gift.

  “No, Ryan, it’s okay. I will always see you, in here.” Mel tapped her temple with her index finger, but Ryan was unable to stop the tears coursing down his cheeks. He could tell that her vision had once again become unfocussed and she could no longer clearly see him, as Victoria once again appeared beside her Captain Ryan.

  “So, you think I’m handsome, hmm?” he teased Mel, attempting to keep his voice from cracking.

  “Yes, truly handsome and just a little bit...arrogant!” she laughed, as he tugged her close, enveloping her in a warm hug, and watching over the top of her head as Victoria, her hand held firmly in Ryan Grady’s, turned with a gentle wave and slowly disappeared.

  Chapter Twelve

  A month later Ryan knew Mel could feel the tension in his body as they heard the vehicle pull up in front of the house, he was strung tighter than a bow, she squeezed his arm comfortingly and laughed. “It will be okay, I promise!”

  “You’ll wait for me, just like Victoria did for her Ryan if Nick throws me off the cliff, right?” he grumbled under his breath, causing her to giggle and the tension to break, he managed a wry smile as the car drew to a halt and the doors slammed as Drew and Nick emerged.

  Mel had decided she wanted to get married right here at her Oregon house, overlooking the ocean, it would be a tribute to where they had declared their love for each other, and in a way, a celebration of Captain Ryan and Victoria Grady. He wouldn’t be surprised if the two reappeared at some point during their wedding ceremony.

  Drew flew into the room and swept Amelia into a motherly hug. Nick followed more slowly, his gaze swept over Ryan, then with a sudden grin, clapped him hard across the back with a giant beefy hand, nearly knocking him off his feet.

  “Congratulations, laddie! Welcome to the family!”

  ***

  The wedding plans moved swiftly. Drew and Mel had spent hours on the phone over the past weeks going over details of their outdoor wedding, Mel wanted everything that would tease her senses; fragrant flowers, the fresh crisp ocean air, the sounds of the waves below, the grass beneath her feet and some lovely classical music, played by a real band set up under a small gazebo that had originally been erected by Captain Ryan Grady for his sweet Victoria.

  Drew had arranged all the food. Nick was giving Mel away. Aunty June had fallen in love with Mel the instant they met and would be enjoying a break here at the house with Nick, Drew and Raven, while he took Mel on their honeymoon to Paris. They would begin there, and then, keeping in mind Mel’s love of the ocean, he would be driving her down the Cote D’Azur, from France to Italy until they felt like coming home.

  After that, Mel had agreed to visit a specialist to discuss some of the new surgical procedures developed in recent years in combination with stem cell research. An initial preliminary consultation had revealed that there was hope that her vision could improve significantly, though she would never see one hundred percent clearly. The brief use of her sight with Victoria’s help had given her a renewed hunger to see once again, after many years of acceptance of her condition.

  Max, Ryan’s friend had suggested that they start up their new business after the honeymoon. He’d arrived at the wedding with a big surprise, a large check. Alan Freyes the client that had not only ripped off Ryan and Max, but had lost most of their money in an investment that had turned out to be a massive Ponzi scheme, had been caught. Though only a small percentage of their money had been recovered, it was enough to make him more comfortable.

  But now, on his wedding day, Ryan, wearing a grey morning coat and an old fashioned cravat, pushed all other thoughts aside, as he watched his beautiful bride walk barefoot down the makeshift grassy aisle on the front lawns of the beautiful house. A delicate crown of wildflowers adorned her honey colored hair, her pink lips curved in a happy smile, and she wore a filmy handmade antique lace wedding gown that Drew had recently discovered in the attic, in a trunk that had once belonged to Victoria Grady. A quick glance upwards assured him that the two shimmering shadowy figures of Ryan and Victoria Grady truly were here in attendance and watching from an upper window, before he switched his gaze back to Mel, who was being escorted to the decorative, flower laden outdoor altar where he stood waiting, by Nick, attended by Drew as her matron-of-honor, and with Raven acting as the ring bearer.

  And then Ryan took Mel’s delicate hands in his own, as they each recited their vows.

  The End

  Other L.C. Zingera titles:

  A Contemporary Countess

  Lady Jane and the Cowboy

  The Rainesville Ranchers

  The Menace (A Romantic Comedy)

  A Duet of Regency Sex Comedies

  Cat and Mouse (A Regency Sex Comedy)

  The Billionaire and the Barista

  Van Night

  It Will Always Be You

  Taming Theodore

  Charlie In Love

  A Mystical Fantasy Duet (of Love Stories)

  My Sweet Mistress

  A Christmas Date

  Heiress

  http://lczingera.blogspot.com