Ghost Who Came for Christmas

by McIntyre, Anna J

  Anna quickly looped her arm around Chris’ and glared at Brian. “That’s just plain harassment. You and I were just kidding around, and he was obviously eavesdropping on our private conversation. If he makes you go down to the station you need to sue for harassment!”

  Brian stood in silence for a few minutes, looking from the man to the woman. Shaking his head, he let out a sigh. “Fine, you can go. But stay out of trouble while you’re in Frederickport.”

  “What took you so long?” Joe asked when Brian returned to the table. He then added with a laugh, “I was beginning to wonder if you decided to take off and leave me with the check.”

  “I swear, women never cease to amaze me.” Brian pulled out his chair and sat down.

  “What are you talking about?”

  “I ran into two of Boatman’s guests by the restroom. That guy you said you met and the young blonde.”

  “What happened?”

  “I could swear the man was threatening her, but when I called him on it and suggested I might take him down to the station and check him for priors, she jumps in with all this noise about me harassing him, and if I take him in he’ll sue me.”

  “Not the first time an abused woman sticks up for her abuser.” Joe paused and then frowned, glancing over to the table where Danielle’s guests had been sitting. He watched as they made their way out the door, the blonde occasionally looking back in their direction.

  “What is it?” Brian asked.

  “According to Joanne, those two just met. So, why would he be threatening her and why would she be sticking up for him?”

  “One thing I’m fairly certain about, those two didn’t just meet. There’s some history there.”

  “I should let Danielle know,” Joe muttered.

  “Didn’t you say the blonde just showed up on the doorstep and begged for a room?”

  “That’s how Joanne described it.”

  Brian laughed. “It’s pretty clear what’s going on.”

  “What?”

  “She obviously followed him to Frederickport, knew he was staying at Marlow House. He probably broke up with her before he got here, and she’s determined to get him back. Some women just can’t take no for an answer. I guess I can understand his frustration.” Brian picked up the check from the table and looked at it. Tossing it back to the table he stood up and pulled his wallet from his pocket.

  “So you don’t think I need to mention it to Danielle?”

  Brian pulled some money from his wallet and threw it on the table with the check. “I suppose you could if you want, but I don’t see the point.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  “Would you mind if we stopped at the arts and craft store?” Anna asked as they got into Chris’ rental car. She had pointed out the store earlier that afternoon, on the way to the diner.

  “Oh, can we?” Jessica asked excitedly. She sat between her mother and Anna in the back seat of the car.

  “Jessica, we can’t buy anything,” Patricia whispered.

  “Sure we can stop, and I’ll treat,” Chris offered.

  “You’ve already bought us lunch,” Patricia reminded.

  Chris started the engine and headed for the craft store. “Hey, it’s Christmas.”

  When they pulled up in front of the craft store, Richard looked out the window and said, “I’ll just wait in the car.”

  “No you won’t!” Chris said with a laugh. “Us guys have to stick together, and the women already out number us! You certainly aren’t going to make me go in there alone.”

  Richard gave a disinterested shrug but got out of the car. He figured Chris had bought his lunch, the least he could do was go along with the group.

  They followed Anna around in the store as she picked up three cans of spray paint: gold, green, and silver. She then had Jessica help her pick out miniature Christmas ornaments—tiny silver balls, bells, glittery stars, and other festive miniatures, along with several small bottles of white glue. Chris paid for the purchase and carried the sack out to the car for Anna.

  “What are you going to do with all that?” Richard asked when he got into the car.

  “You’ll see,” Anna said cheerfully as she fastened her seatbelt. “You’re going to help.”

  “Me?” Richard glanced in the back seat at Anna and frowned.

  “Yes. Everyone in this car is going to help—right after dinner. All except Chris; I won’t make him if he doesn’t want to since he was nice enough to buy us all lunch and pay at the craft store.”

  On their way back to Marlow House, Chris stopped at a gourmet shop to pick up a few items. He asked the group if there were any other stores they wanted to visit. Since Patricia was on a tight budget and reluctant to spend any money, and Richard had nothing to buy, they didn’t stop again.

  After dinner that night, four of the five guests of Marlow House gathered around the kitchen table to do Anna’s craft project. They soon learned the project she had in mind involved the old, thick phonebooks Danielle had given Anna. Since there were only four phonebooks, Chris begged out of the project. Richard tried to join him, but Chris’ gentle teasing and Jessica’s begging convinced Richard to be a good sport and join in the craft project.

  He sat at the kitchen table and looked down at the phonebook before him. “What exactly are we doing?”

  Anna had left the items they had purchased in the sack, which remained sitting on the kitchen counter. Jessica kept looking over at the sack, anxious to bring out the items from the craft store.

  When Anna noticed Jessica’s eagerness, she patted the young girl’s hand and said, “Not yet dear. First we each need to make our book into a Christmas tree.”

  “Christmas tree?” Jessica asked.

  “Yes. Haven’t you ever made one of these before?” Anna glanced from Jessica to Patricia.

  Jessica shook her head. “No.”

  “First we fold our book into a Christmas tree, staple the covers together. Then in the morning, we can take them outside and paint them. You can make yours green or silver or gold. And when the paint dries, we glue on the ornaments,” Anna explained.

  “I haven’t done one of these since I was a little girl,” Patricia said, her voice barely a whisper.

  Richard stared down at the phonebook before him. Without waiting for Anna’s instructions, he opened the book and folded the first page down, so that the top edge of the page rested along the book’s inner spine.

  “Very good, Richard!” Anna praised.

  Jessica looked over to Richard and asked, “You’ve made one of these before?”

  Richard shook his head and then folded the next page. “No. I don’t think so.”

  “What’s this?” Danielle asked when Chris handed her a cup of hot cocoa and sat down on the sofa with her.

  “We stopped at that gourmet shop on Main Street, and I picked up some of their hot chocolate mix. Lily mentioned something about you liking your chocolate.”

  “What woman doesn’t?” Danielle grinned and then gently blew on the hot cocoa before taking a sip.

  Cupping his own mug of hot cocoa between his hands, Chris watched Danielle.

  “This is really good. I’d never tried their cocoa before.”

  “I hope you don’t mind. I helped myself to some of your milk in the kitchen, and used one of your pans. But I washed it and put it away.”

  “No problem.” Danielle took another sip. “That was pretty sneaky, by the way.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “How you managed to get out of Anna’s craft project. I have to say, I felt a little sorry for Richard.”

  “Yeah. I think he could have turned down Anna, but I knew he was going to cave when Jessica jumped in and started begging him to do the project.” Chris laughed. “But it will be good for him. Get him into the Christmas spirit.”

  “I imagine it’ll take more than a craft project to get Richard into the Christmas spirit. But I’m glad to see all the guests seem to be getting along so well.”
Danielle finished the last of her cocoa.

  Chris looked over at Danielle’s empty mug and smiled. “I take it you liked it?”

  “It was delicious.”

  Chris handed her his full mug and took her empty one.

  “No, that’s yours,” Danielle protested. But she took his full cup.

  “Nah, I’m more of a beer guy. You drink it.” Chris set the empty mug on the end table.

  “He’s feeding you chocolate?” Walt said with disgust when he appeared the next moment.

  Danielle held the cup out to Chris. “You sure you don’t want to drink it? It’s really good.”

  “No I want you to have it. I always heard the way to a woman’s heart is with chocolate.” Chris grinned.

  “Oh brother!” Walt flopped down in the chair facing them and crossed his legs. With a wave of his hand he summonsed a lit cigar and glared at Chris.

  “So why did you decide to spend your Christmas here?” Danielle asked.

  Chris leaned back in the sofa and looked over at the Christmas tree. Its lights seemed to twinkle.

  “I’ve been living on a boat for the last six months. Owner sold it, so I had to move anyway. Figured I might as well go somewhere for the holidays, before I had to look for a new place to live. Found Marlow House online. Looked like an interesting place. Plus, it’s close to the ocean. I like being close to the water.”

  “Ask him what he does for a living,” Walt said. “You still haven’t found out what he does.”

  “Didn’t you want to spend Christmas with your family?” Danielle asked instead.

  Chris shook his head. “There really isn’t any family. I’ve been on my own for a while.”

  Danielle leaned back on the sofa, the mug cupped between her hands. “There seems to be a lot of that going around.”

  “What do you mean?” Chris asked.

  “I don’t have any family—my last family member was killed this summer. I get the idea it’s just Patricia and Jessica; Patricia doesn’t seem to have anyone. And Richard, I know his parents died a few years back, and he doesn’t have any brothers or sisters. As for Anna, well, the fact she wanted to stay here instead of being alone for Christmas, makes me think she doesn’t have anyone.”

  “Perhaps that’s why everyone seems to be getting along so well. Christmas has always been a time for family, but none of us have that—so here we are,” Chris suggested. “We’ve created our own little family.”

  “If he gets anymore maudlin, I’m leaving,” Walt groaned.

  “What about Lily, does she have family?” Chris asked.

  “Yes. She comes from a large family, they’re close. But she and Ian spent Thanksgiving with them. Ian’s sister lives in Portland, and she’s going to come here for Christmas. She’ll be arriving Christmas Eve.”

  “Is she staying here?”

  “No. She’ll stay with her brother, across the street.”

  “Have Ian and Lily been an item long?” Chris asked.

  “This palooka knows how to beat his gums,” Walt grumbled.

  “They started going out after we moved up here, in June.” Danielle flashed Walt a quick frown.

  “I like Ian. Interesting guy. I’ve read a couple of his books.”

  “Baloney,” Walt muttered. “I’d be surprised if this palooka even knows how to read.”

  “I confess; I haven’t read any of his books. But I’ve seen a few of his documentaries.” Danielle sipped the cocoa.

  “I was hoping, maybe, one night I could take you out to dinner. Ian was telling me about a nice little seafood restaurant he takes Lily to.”

  Walt stood up abruptly. “Is he asking you for a date? You don’t date your guests.”

  “That would be nice…” Danielle glanced over to Walt and back to Chris. “But I’m afraid I’m pretty tied down here. For one thing, I’m responsible for providing dinners.”

  “And it would be very unprofessional to start going out with your guests,” Walt added.

  “I was thinking maybe one night after Christmas. I heard you say something about how Joanne prepares dinner a few times a week. Maybe we could go one of those nights.”

  “Okay…sure. That would be nice,” Danielle smiled.

  “Is this because you think he’s good looking?” Walt asked. “What was it you said he looked like—I know—an underwear model? Danielle, are you forgetting what I told you about looks being deceiving. I don’t trust this guy. You don’t even know what he does for a living. Although, I suspect he does nothing for a living,” Walt ranted.

  “Good, then it’s a date. By the way, I’ve been meaning to ask you something—about Walt Marlow.”

  “Walt Marlow?” Danielle squeaked.

  “Yeah, the guy who was killed in the attic—the one whose portrait is in your library.”

  “Yeah, I know who you mean. I’m just surprised you brought him up.”

  “Why is that? I can practically feel his presence in this house.”

  “Umm…me too.” Danielle set her now empty mug on the end table. “So, what did you want to ask?”

  “What did Walt Marlow do for a living? Do you know?”

  “Umm…well…his grandfather founded this town, he built ships.”

  “I know that, but what did Walt Marlow do?” Chris asked.

  “Well…I know he inherited his grandfather’s estate.”

  “That’s it?” Chris asked. “Did he ever actually do anything aside from spending his granddaddy’s fortune?”

  Chapter Seventeen

  Danielle had just crawled into bed when Walt burst into her room and announced, “I didn’t just while away my time spending my grandfather’s money!”

  “I never said you did.” Danielle pulled the blankets up over her.

  “I just want you to know: I was quite active in charity work.”

  “Walt, it’s okay. Really.” Danielle snuggled down under the sheets and blankets.

  Standing by the bedside he scowled at Danielle. “I did not appreciate his implication.”

  “If I didn’t know better, I would swear he was saying that stuff to bug you.” Danielle yawned and leaned back on her pillows, folding her hands over the top of the blankets.

  “What do you mean?” Walt sat on the side of the bed.

  “I can’t explain it exactly. But when he says certain stuff, I just get the weirdest feeling he’s talking to someone else. And in this case, you. Because it obviously irritates you so much.”

  “Are you saying he knows I’m in the room?”

  “Of course not.” Danielle yawned.

  “Then what are you saying? He likes to talk to imaginary people?”

  Danielle shrugged and scooted farther down in the bedding.

  “And you’re still willing to go out to dinner with him?”

  “What can I say?” Danielle yawned and rolled to her side, curling up in the fetal position, her back to Walt. “The man looks like an underwear model. I’m weak.”

  After breakfast on Tuesday morning, Richard, Anna, Patricia, and Jessica were outdoors in the side yard of Marlow House, spray painting the phonebook Christmas trees they had folded together the night before. Danielle had given them some old newspaper to spread out on the ground, which they had placed the trees on before painting.

  Looking down at the now painted trees, Anna said, “I guess you were wrong, Richard, you have made these before.”

  He glanced over to Anna. “What do you mean?”

  “I didn’t tell you how to fold the phonebook, but you just started doing it right.”

  Richard shrugged. “You said we were going to make trees, and I figured that’s how to do it.”

  “I can’t wait to decorate mine!” Jessica said excitedly. “Did you ever make these before, Mom?”

  “Yes, when I was a little girl. My mother taught me how.” Patricia let out a weary sigh, her eyes still on the paper trees they had just painted.

  “How come we never made them before?” Jessica asked.
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  “I’m not sure.”

  “What was your mother like?” Anna asked.

  “Honestly, it’s kind of hard to remember.”

  Anna studied her. “Did she die when you were very young?”

  “I was ten. So, I guess not that young. Older than Jessica.” Patricia reached out and took hold of her daughter’s hand.

  “My parents were killed three years ago,” Richard told them. “Maybe it would have been better had they died when I was young, so, it wouldn’t bother me now.”

  “Who said it doesn’t bother me?” Patricia asked.

  “I just meant—well, you said you don’t really remember her,” he stammered.

  Patricia gently squeezed Jessica’s hand and looked off into the distance, seeing her memories instead of the surrounding landscape. “Oh, I remember some things. Mostly Christmas.”

  “Like what?” Anna asked.

  “My father was killed by a hit and run driver a few years before mother died. Those last few years were especially rough. He didn’t have any insurance, and she had never worked before.”

  “I’m so sorry,” Richard whispered.

  “Oh, it was a long time ago.” Patricia flashed Richard a sad smile. “Anyway, those last few Christmases we couldn’t afford a real Christmas tree. But we would make phonebook trees.”

  Jessica pulled on her mother’s hand. “You mean like these?”

  “Yes. Just like these. Mom would cut the buttons off my old clothes to use as decorations. And we’d paint bottle caps and add glitter.”

  “I considered getting glitter, but I didn’t think Danielle would appreciate that,” Anna said with a laugh.

  “No, I imagine she wouldn’t.” Patricia grinned.

  Richard stared blankly down at the painted trees and said, “First you spray paint the bottle caps gold and then add glitter while the paint’s still wet, so it’ll stick.”

  “Yes.” Patricia looked up at Richard. “You used to do that too?”

  “No, but I just saw it.” Richard rubbed the heel of his hand against his forehead.