The Ghost and the Bride

by Anna J. McIntyre

  “No one said she’s putting her nose up over anyone,” Ian grumbled.

  “Oh, you know what I mean. And really, Chris is not only ridiculously handsome, he’s worth a fortune. What exactly is Danielle Boatman looking for, anyway?”

  “Who said she’s looking for anything?” Ian asked. “I thought you were a feminist?”

  “What does being a feminist have to do with this?”

  “Does a woman need a man in her life to be happy?” Ian challenged.

  Kelly rolled her eyes. “This is not about needing anything. But why would a healthy heterosexual woman so casually pass up men like that? We are talking about two exceptional men here.”

  “In all fairness, Joe did arrest Danielle.”

  “Joe was just doing his job. And he practically arrested me too. To be honest, I found it kind of sexy.”

  “Lucky for you, Danielle didn’t find her arrest so charming.”

  Kelly shrugged. “Do you think she’s gay?”

  “What?” Ian frowned.

  “Oh, I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with being gay. Just that…”

  “No, Kelly. Danielle isn’t gay. She’s a widow, remember?”

  Kelly shrugged again. “That doesn’t mean anything. I have a couple of friends who’ve come out after a divorce.”

  “I don’t want to talk about Danielle’s love life.” Ian stood up. “I’m going to bed.”

  “But she doesn’t have one!” Kelly called out to her brother as he walked away, Sadie trailing behind him.

  In his bedroom, Ian picked up a framed photograph sitting on his dresser. It was of Danielle, Chris, Lily, and himself. Adam had snapped the photograph at one of their cookouts on the beach. He then remembered what Chris had told him several weeks earlier when the two had gone to Pier Café for a couple of beers.

  “I think she’s in love with Walt,” Chris had told him.

  “Walt? Walt is a ghost,” Ian had responded, still trying to adjust to the reality that one of Marlow House’s inhabitants was a ghost.

  “Oh, she never has come out and said it. But I’ve seen how they look at each other. I think she cares for me. But I know I can’t compete with whatever she feels for him. I don’t think she can help it.”

  “But…but he’s a ghost. How would that work?” Ian had stammered.

  “I’m not suggesting they could ever be a couple. That’s simply not possible. What Danielle and I see of Walt is nothing more than an illusion. Smoke and mirrors. The guy no longer has a body, which tends to be a prerequisite for a romantic relationship.”

  “For someone who doesn’t have a body, I suspect there are a few guys who might argue, considering the few punches he has thrown.”

  “But that’s just energy he’s manipulating,” Chris had explained. “If you or I slug someone, chances are, our fist is also going to feel the punch.”

  “What are you saying?” Ian had asked.

  “Ghosts are able to manipulate energy. Each to a varying degree, considering their circumstances. Danielle calls it harnessing energy. When a ghost who can harness energy takes a punch at someone—only the person getting punched can feel it. The ghost doesn’t feel a thing. It also works that way if a ghost decides to take a woman in his arms and give her a kiss. She might feel something—physically—but he won’t. Tends to make a very one-sided relationship.”

  “What about in a dream hop?”

  Chris had shaken his head and said, “Nope. Same in a dream hop. For a spirit, everything is basically all in the mind. Nothing’s physical.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Positive.” Chris had nodded.

  “But does Danielle know this?”

  “Yes. Danielle understands. But that doesn’t change anything for me. As long as she has these feelings for Walt, I don’t think it’s possible for her to love someone else that way.”

  “I suppose we don’t choose who we fall in love with,” Ian had told him.

  To which Chris had responded, “The really irritating thing, I like Walt.”

  Twelve

  “Another ghost?” Lily asked on Saturday morning. Danielle had just told her of the mystery man she had spotted the day before. The two were alone in the kitchen. Danielle had just finished making a pot of coffee. The rest of the house was still sleeping. Or at least that was what they assumed, since no one had yet come out of their rooms and the house was quiet. It was just a few minutes past seven in the morning.

  “That’s what Walt and I assumed. If you didn’t see him, and he and I clearly did, what else could it mean?” Arms folded across her chest, Danielle leaned back against the counter, waiting for the coffee to brew.

  “Any idea who he might be?” Lily asked as she took two coffee mugs from the overhead counter.

  “No. I was hoping you might know. After all, he apparently arrived with your wedding party.”

  Setting the mugs in front of the coffee pot, Lily considered the question a moment and then shook her head. “I can’t think of anyone who’s died recently that meets his description. You say he looks to be in his late thirties or early forties?”

  “That would be my guess. It’s not anyone I know, but…” Danielle stared blankly across the room, lost for a moment in her own thoughts.

  “But what?”

  “Well, there is something familiar about him, now that I think about it.”

  “Familiar how?” Lily filled the mugs.

  Danielle added cream to her coffee and considered the question for a moment. She and Lily then walked to the kitchen table with their steaming mugs and sat down. After a sip of her coffee, Danielle said, “You know how sometimes when you’re watching a movie, and you see an actor you don’t know, but you know you’ve seen him in another movie or TV show, maybe in a commercial, yet can’t place him? It’s the same with him.”

  “You think he’s an actor?”

  Danielle groaned. “No. Just that I feel like I’ve seen him before, but can’t place him.”

  Lily shrugged. “Sounds to me like he must be connected to you and not me, if he looks familiar to you.”

  Danielle sighed. “I suppose you’re right. I just assumed he must be connected to someone in your or Ian’s family.”

  “Did you see him at the restaurant last night?” Lily asked.

  “No. Just here, in the house. He was standing in the living room and then he just vanished.”

  “Wish I could help you, but to be honest, I don’t have time for ghosts.” Lily sipped her coffee and then added, “Except for Walt, of course.”

  Leaning back in her chair, Danielle fiddled absently with the handle of her coffee mug. It sat on the table before her. “So what is the plan today?”

  “I’m giving the family the tour of Chris’s office. Want to come?”

  Danielle frowned. “Really? Did you tell them who he really is?”

  Lily shook her head. “Oh no. Ian and I already discussed it. We’re not saying anything to our family. Of course, Kelly already knows. But if Mom knew, she would start acting all weird and nervous around Chris. And as it is, Laura is already drooling over him. I can’t even imagine how they would start acting if they knew he was worth billions.” Lily cringed.

  “Last night Laura was grilling me about Chris and my relationship. She seemed rather pleased to know he and I are just good friends. I have a feeling she doesn’t care about his net worth, just that he’s hot.”

  “And he’s crazy about you,” Lily reminded her.

  Danielle shrugged. “I adore Chris. But to be honest, it just isn’t there. You know that chemistry.”

  “Oh pooh. Sometimes I don’t understand you.” Lily shook her head and then took another sip of coffee.

  “Hey, maybe Laura will snag him, and then Chris will be your brother-in-law. It would be nice to keep him in the family.”

  Lily giggled. “It would be fun to see Laura snag him and then discover who he really is. Of course, I doubt they’ve ever heard about Chris Glandon.�
��

  “Then why the tour of the Glandon Foundation offices?” Danielle asked. “Just for something to do?”

  “Dani, we’re touring the Gusarov Estate, not the Glandon Foundation Headquarters. At least that’s how they’re seeing it. They want to see where I was kept.”

  “Oh,” Danielle said with a cringe. “I didn’t even consider that.”

  “How could you not? Of course they’re curious to see where my kidnappers kept me. And I suppose it will make Mom feel a little better, seeing the room. It’s not like they had me in some dungeon. Considering everything, it was first-class accommodations. Of course, not that I would have noticed the difference since I was in a coma.”

  “Good thing you didn’t say that when making your settlement with the Gusarov Estate,” Danielle teased.

  “True that.”

  “Now that I think about it, your parents have already seen the estate. I know they drove by it when they were here.”

  “But Mom never went inside. And according to Dad, she has been having nightmares about it. She keeps seeing me in some dreary underground basement room. I’m hoping this will help her.”

  Danielle grew serious. “You never said anything about it.”

  “I didn’t know. Laura told me yesterday, and I asked Dad about it. I guess Mom didn’t want me to worry. So she never said anything.”

  “Moms are funny. They continue to worry about their kids even after the danger has past.” Danielle smiled wistfully.

  Later that Saturday morning, as the guests and residents of Marlow House sat around the dining room table, eating breakfast, Kent announced he would not be joining the group for the tour of the Gusarov Estate.

  “I hope you understand,” Kent said as he spread strawberry preserves over a slice of toast. “But I’m afraid yesterday tired me out a bit more than I expected. I think I would rather stay here and rest.”

  “I don’t need to go,” Pamela said quickly. “I can stay here with you.”

  Danielle, who was sitting at the end of the table, noticed Kent’s friendly expression briefly vanish, replaced by a harsh glare at his wife. The next moment, the glare was gone, and in its place a smile.

  Kent reached over to Pamela and patted her hand. “Don’t be silly. You go with the rest. There is no reason for you to stay with me. I can read something—if Danielle wouldn’t mind me borrowing a book from her library.”

  Pamela frowned at her husband. “Read a book?”

  “Help yourself.” Danielle told him.

  “Thank you. Umm…I was wondering…I noticed a computer set up in the library,” Kent said.

  “Yes, that’s new,” Danielle said. “We put it in, oh, about two weeks ago. I figured it would be nice for the guests, if something comes up and they need to use a computer.”

  “Doesn’t everyone have a smartphone these days? Or a tablet?” Laura asked. “I never use my computer anymore. I’d think all you need to offer guests these days is good Wi-Fi.”

  “We do offer Wi-Fi. The real reason: Dani doesn’t want our guests to use her personal computer.” Lily chuckled.

  “Oh hush,” Danielle told Lily, smiling guiltily. She then shrugged and said, “I suppose Lily is right.” Turning to Laura, she said, “True, our guests usually have their own devices. But it doesn’t always work out. A while back one of our guests was a real estate agent. He had a contract come in, and he hadn’t brought his laptop with him. He couldn’t do what he needed to do on his phone, so he asked me to use my laptop. I really couldn’t say no, but to be honest, I didn’t feel comfortable having him use my computer. And then I remembered motels often have computer rooms for their guests. So I figured why not get a computer for the library, one our guests are welcome to use.”

  “I think that’s a good idea,” Laura said.

  “If you can’t find a book you want to read, you’re welcome to surf the computer in the library,” Danielle told Kent. “It doesn’t require a password.”

  Standing alone in the attic, Walt glanced around and shook his head at the disarray. He didn’t mind sharing the space with Lily’s brother, but he wished the young man was a bit tidier. The sofa bed remained unmade, the bed still pulled out—not turned back into a sofa—with the sheets piled in the middle of the mattress in a crumpled heap and the quilt abandoned on the floor by the foot of the bed. Cory’s suitcase was open, sitting on the floor instead of the luggage rack Danielle had added to the room for his convenience. Instead, he used the rack as a makeshift laundry hamper.

  The previous night, after Cory had returned from the pier, the young man had lain awake for hours, text messaging into the early hours of the morning. Smartphones, much less text messaging, had not been a reality in Walt’s day. But after his exposure to Danielle and Lily and his many hours watching television, Walt knew exactly what Cory was doing. It didn’t mean he understood it.

  Why doesn’t he just use that phone to call the person instead of ruining his eyes and typing on a ridiculously minuscule keyboard? Walt asked himself. Walt had been just a few years older than Cory was now when he had died, but he felt decades older. I suppose I really am decades older, Walt told himself after the thought popped into his mind.

  Shaking his head at the mess and resisting the temptation to straighten the room, Walt walked over to the window and looked outside.

  Lily’s family was currently gathering on the sidewalk, deciding which vehicles to get into. Both Lily and Danielle had pulled their cars to the front of the house, parking behind the rental car driven by Lily’s parents.

  While watching the people below, Walt saw him—the mystery man who had been standing in the living room the day before. Stepping closer to the window, Walt laid his palm against the glass pane and stared outside.

  Danielle’s back was to the man, and she didn’t seem to be aware of his presence. Walt wanted to tell her he was there, but when she looked his way and saw him motioning in the man’s direction, she only flashed him a smile.

  “She thinks I’m just waving goodbye,” Walt grumbled.

  In the next moment, the group filed into the various vehicles and then drove off. The mystery man went with them—but not in the car Danielle was driving.

  Turning from the window, Walt moved to the first floor. He found Kent in the library, sitting in front of the computer.

  “I’m not sure I understand this world today,” Walt muttered, standing behind Kent as the man typed away on the keyboard. “There is no way I’d spend the time I do now in front of a television or a computer—if I knew how to use one—if I could go out into the world. But here you are, miles away from your home, and the sun is shining outside, new sights to see, and you choose to be in here.” Walt shook his head in disgust.

  He continued to look over Kent’s shoulder, watching the monitor.

  “PayPal? What’s that?” Walt murmured, seeing the PayPal website come up on the computer monitor. A few minutes later, Kent removed what appeared to be two credit cards from his pocket and set them on the desk next to the computer. Like smartphones and text messaging, credit cards had been introduced to Walt by Danielle. They certainly hadn’t been part of his world.

  Walt continued to watch Kent, wondering what he was up to.

  Thirteen

  While Walt watched Kent, Pamela sat in the passenger seat of Lily’s car as they headed to the south side of town. Danielle had taken her car with Lily’s parents, while Lily’s siblings had taken the rental car. The siblings wanted to go shopping for their sister’s wedding gift, and Danielle had her own errands to run after the tour of the former Gusarov Estate, which was why they hadn’t all tried squeezing into two vehicles instead of driving three.

  Silently, Pamela gazed out the passenger window, lost in thought.

  “Everything okay?” Lily asked.

  Pamela shrugged and turned to Lily. “It’s just that…” Pamela shook her head and leaned back in the car seat, letting out a deep sigh.

  “Just that what?”

&nb
sp; “Kent saying he intended to read a book. He never reads. Ever.”

  “You say he’s changed. And I’d say taking up reading is a good change.”

  “I suppose. But it just seems weird. He never was interested in reading books. Oh, he’d read the newspaper and magazines. Occasionally he would read a nonfiction book, but that was rare. I suppose he might have learned to appreciate reading when he was in the hospital.”

  “What’s really bothering you?” Lily asked.

  “It’s just that now that he’s home, I was hoping we might be able to get back to where we were. Yet each day, it seems we’re farther and farther apart, like I don’t even know him.”

  “He hasn’t been home that long. Give it some time. Maybe you two should seriously consider counseling.”

  “I already suggested counseling. He told me I could go if I wanted to, but that he wasn’t interested.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  Pamela shrugged. “I still wonder what he was doing in Morro Bay the day of the accident. Not that it’ll change anything now, but I can’t help wondering why he was there. He was supposed to be at work that day, and according to his boss, he asked for the day off. I would have never known he had missed work if he hadn’t had the accident.”

  Lily frowned. “And he didn’t tell his boss why he needed the day off?”

  Pamela looked seriously at Lily. “I’m going to tell you something I’ve never told anyone. Promise not to say anything?”

  “Certainly. What is it?”

  “There’s a woman who works in his office, Marilyn. She’s always been really nice to me. After the accident, she came to visit Kent in the hospital. Of course, he didn’t recognize her. But she told me something in confidence.”

  “What?”

  “I told her I didn’t understand why Kent had been in Morro Bay, and wondered if she knew. She didn’t. But when I mentioned I was going to ask their boss about it, she told me not to bother.”

  “Why would she say that?”

  “She said she had overheard their conversation when Kent asked for the time off. He didn’t mention what he had to do—just that it was personal business. But then…then he asked his boss that if he ever saw me, not to mention he had asked for the time off.”