The Ghost and the Christmas Spirit

by Bobbi Ann Johnson Holmes

  “That is certainly reflected in the current appearance of the property,” Danielle said.

  “And this Eloise, she had money?” Heather asked.

  Elizabeth looked to Heather. “Yes. Her husband’s family was very wealthy, and she ended up with everything. I’ve never been in her house, but I have driven by it when I was in Astoria, so I understand what Danielle is saying about it being run-down. I was rather shocked when I first saw it.”

  “So what did she do with all her money if she took free classes and never spent anything on her house?” Heather asked.

  “She liked garage sales,” Elizabeth said with a laugh.

  The server brought their dessert, and they briefly stopped talking. After she left the table, their conversation returned to the subject of Elizabeth’s stalker.

  “Are you going to say anything to the chief about this guy you think is watching you?” Danielle asked.

  “I don’t know. What am I going to say? It’s not like he has approached me. And it is not illegal to park in front of someone’s house,” Elizabeth said.

  “At least give the chief his description,” Heather said. “Maybe he can figure out who he is. If nothing else, tell us what he looks like. Maybe we have seen him.”

  Elizabeth set her dessert spoon on her plate and considered Heather’s suggestion. “I guess he is tall—not like basketball-player tall, but respectably tall. Every time I’ve seen him, he is wearing a baseball cap and sunglasses. And he has a dark beard. Hard to tell his age. He could be twenty or sixty for all I know.”

  “Probably not sixty if he has a dark beard. Unless he dyes it,” Heather noted.

  “A lot of people have beards. In fact, two of our guests staying at Marlow House have beards,” Danielle said.

  “Exactly, which is one reason I feel funny going to the chief. Everyone wears sunglasses too—one time or another. And look around in the diner, I see a couple of guys wearing baseball caps—and a few beards,” Elizabeth said.

  Ten minutes later, after they finished their dessert and waited for their bill, Danielle asked Elizabeth what she had planned for the rest of the day.

  “I need to stop at the museum. But I think I’ll walk and come back for my car. It’s nice outside.”

  “Do you want to do any more shopping?” Danielle asked Heather.

  “Not really, unless you want to stop somewhere.” Heather glanced at her watch.

  “Would you mind if we stopped at Adam’s office before we go home? It’s just down the street,” Danielle asked.

  Chris and Noah chatted while they strolled down main street Frederickport, enjoying the brisk December afternoon while the sun shone brightly overhead. Each wore a heavy jacket to ward off the winter chill. Chris buried one hand in his coat pocket while his other hand held Hunny’s leash. The pit bull walked on his left, looking at all the sights while careful not to tug on the lead.

  Not once today had Chris needed to jerk the lead while issuing the command to heel. Chris glanced down at Hunny and smiled, proud of the well-behaved dog. Reluctantly he had to credit Walt for Hunny’s training. It seemed being able to clearly communicate with a dog—especially one who wanted to please—made dog training a snap.

  Just as they were about to pass Lucy’s Diner, a man and woman stepped out from the restaurant, and without warning, Hunny lurched forward, jerking the lead from Chris’s hand. The next moment the pit bull, now an uncontrollable mass of wiggles and whimpers, demanded attention from the woman, who, with her companion, stood speechless and frozen on the sidewalk, looking down at the dog.

  “I am so sorry!” Chris shouted as he grabbed hold of Hunny’s lead and attempted to tug her away. But the dog refused to budge and continued vying for the woman’s attention.

  “I think she likes you,” Noah said, surprised at the pit bull’s unexpected behavior.

  “Oh my, umm…yes, I see that,” the woman said nervously as she glanced over at the man at her side and then back to the dog, who now cried pitifully as Chris pulled her away.

  “Can I pet her?” the woman asked hesitantly. “She seems friendly.”

  The man at her side remained speechless, but Chris loosened his hold, and Hunny happily returned to the woman, who now knelt before her, talking baby talk and accepting the dog kisses.

  “Good lord, I can’t believe that just happened,” Forrest told Marcella after the men and the pit bull left and were out of earshot. “That dog recognized you.”

  “Yes, she did. And thankfully she likes me,” Marcella said. “While I’ll admit, it was a little unnerving—after all, it is a pit bull—I feel better about going back over there. And if we don’t get the opportunity during the daytime, then I guess I’ll have to sneak in when they are all sleeping, and make sure I take plenty of treats for my new friend. If we are lucky, they will put it by the tree.”

  “You keep saying that. But so far, we have not been lucky,” Forrest snorted.

  “Are you sure about that? Did you see how that dog just greeted me?”

  Danielle and Heather were just saying goodbye to Adam when Chris and his brother walked into the office with Hunny. The two women lingered a few minutes, listening to Chris tell them about the woman Hunny accosted, and how he was relieved she took it better than someone like Pearl might have. Danielle and Heather then said their goodbyes and headed out of the real estate office with their packages, en route to Danielle’s car, which was parked down the street.

  After they passed Lucy’s Diner, Danielle glanced to the other side of the street and spied Owen Gardener sitting in his car. He wasn’t getting out of the vehicle, and he appeared to be staring at something. Danielle paused a moment and glanced up the street. She noticed Elizabeth, who had just walked down from the museum and was now getting into her car.

  “Why are you stopping?” Heather asked, no longer walking.

  Danielle nodded to Owen. “That’s one of our guests from the Seahorse Motel.”

  “You want to go say hi?” Heather asked.

  Danielle glanced back to Elizabeth; she was now in her vehicle. The next moment she drove off in the opposite direction. Looking back to Owen, Danielle watched as he drove away from the curb and headed in the same direction Elizabeth had just gone.

  “Owen has a black sedan,” Danielle muttered.

  Twenty-Two

  Someone was walking on her belly, and she had a pretty good idea who it was. Danielle opened her eyes, lifted her head from the pillow, and looked down the bed. She watched as Max strolled up her body. He began to purr.

  “Good morning to you too,” Danielle whispered as she stroked the silky black fur along the cat’s back. He settled on her chest, his nose just inches from hers. Danielle rubbed the fringe of white fur along his mostly black ears between two of her fingers.

  His loud purr woke the other person in the bed. Walt rolled over to face Danielle and opened his eyes. “He is drooling all over you.”

  Max turned to Walt and stared at him for a moment.

  “Well, you are,” Walt told the cat.

  The next moment Max abruptly leapt from Danielle and the bed. Walt looked over to the closed bedroom door and willed it to unlock and open. When it did, Max left the room. The door shut and relocked itself.

  Danielle sat up in the bed and asked, “What did you say to Max? I didn’t mind his morning snuggle, drools and all. He loves me.”

  Walt sat up. “Yes, he does. But he also wanted me to open the door so he could go out.”

  “So why not just wake you, why me?” Danielle asked as she reached over and kissed Walt and then climbed out of bed.

  “He is a cat, love.” Walt gave Danielle’s backside a friendly swat as he followed her out of bed. “Cats do things in their own way. Haven’t you learned that yet?”

  Danielle shrugged and went to use the bathroom. When she returned minutes later, she picked up her brush and drew it through her hair as she looked into the dresser mirror. Walt took his turn in the bathroom, and when he c
ame back into the room a few minutes later, Danielle said, “I keep thinking about Owen and how I briefly imagined he might be Elizabeth’s stalker.”

  “I suppose anything is possible,” Walt said as he sat on the side of the bed and pulled on his socks. “But as you remembered, Ruby said he didn’t arrive in Frederickport until Saturday. And from what Elizabeth told you, her stalker first showed up on Friday.”

  “Maybe he was here Friday and Ruby just didn’t know. But then again, Heather did go through his Facebook page for Marie, and she said he seemed like a rather boring—un-stalkerish—sort of guy. She thought it was amusing that I had jumped to that conclusion, especially when two black sedans drove by minutes later…But then, he was staring at Elizabeth…”

  “Yes, and Elizabeth is a very beautiful young woman. And from what Owen told us, he is separated from his wife. It’s not unusual for a married man to enjoy looking at a good-looking woman, much less a single man.”

  Danielle stopped brushing her hair and turned to Walt. She arched her brow and asked, “And just tell me, what beautiful young women have you been enjoying looking at?”

  Walt grinned at his wife. “Love, I am a very lucky man—I seem to be surrounded by beautiful women, my wife included.”

  After dressing on Wednesday morning, Danielle and Walt joined their guests downstairs for breakfast, which Joanne had prepared with the help of Chris and Noah. During breakfast, Chris asked Walt and Danielle if he could leave Hunny with them as he and Noah went on a little outing that day. The brothers wouldn’t be returning until late that evening.

  “Of course you can. I have no plans to leave today. Evan’s coming over later, and we’re decorating Christmas cookies,” Danielle told them.

  “Christmas cookies?” Colin perked up.

  “Mostly sugar cookies. I have some wonderful Christmas cookie cutters. Nothing gets me into the spirit of the season like decorating Christmas cookies.” Danielle grinned.

  “But they don’t taste as good as your chocolate drop cookies,” Walt said.

  “I already have some of those,” Danielle reminded him. “Unless you have eaten them all.”

  Walt grinned mischievously.

  “I always enjoyed decorating cookies. It’s a wholesome tradition, one that the family can do together,” Colin said.

  “You are welcome to join us,” Danielle offered. She then looked at Owen and added, “You too, Owen.”

  Owen smiled wistfully at the invitation and said, “I don’t remember decorating cookies as a kid, but there was a cookie my mom made every year. I always thought that was what Christmas tasted like.”

  “Do you remember what kind of cookie it was?” Danielle asked.

  “I don’t remember what it was called. Not sure it had a name,” Owen said with a shrug. “It wasn’t a regular cookie batter. I remember Mom spread the ingredients in a pan—graham cracker crumbs, coconut, chocolate chips, and walnuts, some sort of canned milk and melted butter. It was all gooey, and I thought it tasted better than chocolate chip cookies.”

  “Ahhh, I bet you’re talking about Magic Bar cookies,” Danielle said with a grin. “Those are great to make when you don’t have time to bake—but want a really delicious cookie.”

  “Magic Bar?” Colin asked.

  “Yes. It’s a recipe from the back of the Eagle Brand sweetened condensed milk can,” Danielle told them.

  “Hmm…not sure how I feel about learning what I thought was some secret family recipe came off the back of a can of milk,” Owen said with a snort.

  “Hey, don’t knock recipes from the back of cans,” Danielle teased. “Some of the most iconic recipes can be found there.”

  Colin and Walt resumed their game of chess while Owen drifted to the library to check out the collection of books. He was looking at the Bonnet reproductions—two life-sized oil paintings of Walt and Angela Marlow—when Danielle walked into the library.

  “Your husband does bear an eerie resemblance to his distant cousin,” Owen noted. “Actually, it is more than eerie. If I hadn’t heard the story of these portraits, I would have assumed this one was of your husband.”

  “After we sold the originals to the Glandon Foundation for the museum, this spot was empty. We had so much more room in here without those portraits. But then Walt had to figure out what he wanted to do with his reproductions, and they naturally ended up here. I think this is where they belong—and I am rather glad they’re back. Not that the originals are back, but you know what I mean.”

  “They do seem to belong,” Owen agreed. “But they are big suckers.”

  Danielle laughed. “I think it was Lily who said it showed they had healthy egos—having life-size portraits made.”

  The two moved from where they stood looking at the paintings, with Danielle taking a seat on the sofa and Owen sitting on the chair facing her.

  “Can I ask you a question?” Danielle asked.

  “I suppose.”

  “Why did you come to Frederickport for Christmas?”

  Owen considered the question for a moment. Finally he said, “I think I mentioned I’m separated from my wife.”

  Danielle nodded.

  “I needed to get away—rethink my life. My choices.”

  “I’m sorry about your marriage,” Danielle said. “I do understand how difficult it must be for you right now. I was married before Walt. My husband was killed in a car accident right before Christmas.”

  “Oh my god, that is horrible!”

  Danielle smiled awkwardly. “With his lover.”

  Owen cringed. “Oh…”

  “I wasn’t sure if I should grieve for my husband or for my marriage. It was a confusing time. Happy to say I am at a much better place now. And I believe you will be in a better place one day too.”

  “I appreciate you saying that. But the truth is, I am not sad my marriage is over. What I regret is that it ever began.”

  Danielle was not sure how to respond, so she said nothing.

  “In the beginning I thought I was madly in love with her. After all, she made me feel like the most important man in the world. For her devotion, she demanded all my attention, which I gladly gave to her. Until one day I realized the man I had been was no longer there—just the man she had turned me into. I don’t know if that makes any sense. But I gave up a great deal to make her happy, and in turn lost everything that was important to me. When I could no longer be what she needed, she found someone else. And you know what I felt?”

  “What?”

  “Relief. Tremendous relief. Like I had been released from some prison I had locked myself into. But I can’t go back and reclaim myself—reclaim what I lost. That’s gone now. I suppose I came to Frederickport to say goodbye. I never said goodbye the first time.”

  Danielle frowned. “Goodbye? To who?”

  Owen smiled. “Damn. I sound a bit dramatic. And I haven’t even had anything to drink.”

  “That’s okay.”

  “I guess I answered your question. Sort of. And if you will excuse me, I think I’ll take a little drive.”

  Colin made his chess move and then paused. He looked up. Owen is leaving, he thought. He looked at Walt and said, “How about we continue this game later? I’d really like to stretch my legs a bit.”

  After Walt bid Colin a goodbye and watched the elderly man leave the living room, he moved over to the sofa and sat down. Hunny, who had been napping nearby, followed Walt. The pit bull sat by the sofa and looked up, vying for his attention.

  Chris told us at breakfast that you met a new friend this morning, Walt conveyed to Hunny.

  The dog continued to stare at Walt. She cocked her head.

  Walt arched his brow. What do you mean it wasn’t a new friend?

  Hunny rested her head on Walt’s knee, her eyes never leaving his.

  The woman who smelled like bacon…are you sure?…she was with a man…what did he look like?…yes, yes, we all look pretty much alike, but we smell different…

 
“It looks like we are alone,” Danielle announced when she walked in the living room a moment later. “Joanne just left, and I saw Colin leaving out the front door, and Owen left a few minutes ago.” Danielle sat on the sofa next to Walt and set her cellphone she had been carrying on the coffee table.

  “Hunny had another encounter with our intruder,” Walt announced.

  “Don’t tell me she got in the house again?” Danielle groaned.

  “No. Hunny saw her downtown. Remember the story Chris told us about Hunny going goofy over some woman they met downtown?”

  “That was the woman?”

  Walt nodded. “According to Hunny. Now that both Chris and Noah saw the woman, they should be able to help us ID her and track her down. Find out who she is, and why she broke into our house.”

  Danielle leaned over to the coffee table and picked up her cellphone. She dialed Chris. The call went to voicemail. She then tried Noah. Once again, the call went to voicemail.

  “Drat,” Danielle grumbled, tossing her phone on the table. “Neither Chris nor Noah are answering.”

  “Why didn’t you leave them a message to call?” Walt asked.

  “They’ll see I called. I’m sure Chris will call me back. They’re probably driving through an area with no service.”

  “Even if they don’t, they’ll be back tonight, and we can figure this out.”

  Danielle slumped back on the sofa while Hunny leaned against her legs. She reached down and scratched the dog’s neck. “I think you need to have a long talk with this dog.”

  “What about?” Walt asked.

  “The woman, whoever she is, broke into this house. I know Hunny does not have the heart of a guard dog, but sheesh. When she runs into someone she knows has broken into our house, I don’t think the proper response is showering her with love.”