An Isle of Man Ghostly Cozy Collection - DEF

by Diana Xarissa

  “You really should take better care of yourself,” Fenella said. She held up a hand. “I’m sorry. I’m not nagging, really.”

  “I know,” Daniel replied. He smiled at her and then took her hand. “I missed you,” he said softly.

  “I missed you, too,” Fenella replied. Although she’d been busy seeing the sights and having fancy dinners with Donald, she’d often found herself thinking about Daniel and wondering if he ever thought about her.

  “So tell me everything that you did in London,” Daniel said.

  Fenella took a deep breath and then began a brief overview of her time away. When she started talking about Hampton Court Palace, however, she found she couldn’t be brief. “It was amazing,” she told the man. “I could have stayed there for a week. I went all the way through it twice and then I walked around the gardens for ages. I really wanted to go through the palace a third time, but they were getting ready to close for the night by that time. It’s the first place I’ll visit on my next trip to London, I think.”

  “I haven’t been there since my school days,” Daniel said. “My parents used to drag us through historical sites during the summer months, but I was never all that interested, if I’m honest.”

  “How could you not be interested?” Fenella asked.

  Daniel shrugged. “One old pile of rocks looks much like another to me,” he said, sounding apologetic.

  Fenella opened her mouth to argue, but their waiter interrupted. “Your starters,” he said as he placed plates full of food on their table.

  “Starters,” Fenella echoed. “Not appetizers.”

  “I’m happy to call them either,” the waiter grinned.

  It only took Fenella a few bites to decide that everyone who’d said good things about the place was absolutely correct. “Wonderful,” she pronounced.

  “It’s all very good, isn’t it?” Daniel replied. “I’m impressed, and this is just the starters.”

  Their main courses were delivered a few minutes later, and they didn’t disappoint either.

  “Tell me more about London,” Daniel said as they began to eat.

  An hour later, Fenella felt stuffed, and as if she’d dominated the evening’s conversation. She’d told Daniel all about the various sites she’d seen, but she’d managed to avoid mentioning her evenings with Donald.

  “It sounds as if you had a wonderful time,” Daniel said as the waiter cleared away the dishes.

  “I truly did, but it’s nice to be home.”

  Fenella was able to honestly say that she didn’t have room for dessert, even though several items on the menu sounded tempting. “Next time I eat here, I’ll skip the starters and save room for dessert,” she told Daniel as they made their way back to his car.

  “Except it’s pudding, remember,” he told her with a grin.

  Fenella laughed. “I knew that,” she said. “But it sounds wrong. Pudding is a very specific thing in the US and it wasn’t even on the dessert menu there.”

  The drive back along the coast was perhaps even more beautiful as the sun was setting. Daniel pulled off the road at one point so that they could admire the sun as it went down over the sea.

  “It’s so beautiful here,” Fenella sighed.

  “I’m going to miss it,” Daniel said with a sigh.

  “Miss it?” Fenella asked, feeling as if her heart had stopped beating as she waited for his reply.

  “I’m being sent to Milton Keynes for a course,” he told her. “It’s CID training, essentially, with an emphasis on homicide investigation.”

  “I see,” Fenella said quietly.

  “It’s an eight-week course,” Daniel continued. “I’ll be going towards the end of the month and I won’t be back until early September.”

  Fenella blinked several times and swallowed hard. “That seems a long time away,” she said after an awkward pause.

  “Technically, I’ll have some time off on the weekends, but they’re organizing a number of weekend short trips for us so that we can visit different cities in the UK and also around Europe,” Daniel told her. “The idea is for us to see how policing is done in a variety of different settings.”

  “That sounds interesting,” Fenella said grudgingly.

  “I’m sure it will be,” he told her. “I’m looking forward to the course, but I will miss the island. And I’ll miss you.”

  Fenella turned to look at him and nearly burst into tears. She hadn’t realized quite how much she’d come to like the handsome policeman, but the thought of not seeing him for months on end was upsetting her terribly. His eyes met hers and then he leaned forward and kissed her gently.

  When he lifted his head, he sighed. “Of course, I don’t expect you to sit home every night while I’m away. If Peter or Donald want to take you out, you should go.”

  Fenella blushed. She hadn’t mentioned seeing Donald in London, but now she felt as if she should have. “I don’t know,” she said after a moment. “Then again, you might meet someone special in Milton Keynes.”

  Daniel shrugged. “I suppose we’ll have to wait until September to pick this conversation back up,” he said. “I promise to be totally honest with you about whatever happens while I’m away. I hope you’ll do the same?”

  “Yes, of course,” Fenella said quickly. “And maybe I should tell you that I saw Donald a few times while I was in London,” she added, hoping he wouldn’t get angry.

  “I’d heard he was in London,” Daniel said. “Of course you’re free to spend your time with anyone you choose.” His voice was cool, and before Fenella could reply, he’d restarted the car and pulled back onto the road. They were silent as he drove her home.

  “I won’t come in, as I know Shelly is there,” he told her as he stopped the car in front of her building.

  “Will I see you again before you go?” she asked, hoping she didn’t sound as desperate as she felt.

  “I have a lot of work to get through before the end of the month,” he told her. “But I may manage to get to the pub once or twice between now and then.”

  Fenella nodded, and then leaned over and kissed him. The kiss took her breath away and left her wanting more. A car horn sounded behind them.

  “You’d better go,” Daniel said. “I’ll ring or text you if I’m going to make it to the pub in the near future.”

  Fenella nodded and then climbed out of the car, feeling miserable.

  4

  Fenella let herself into her apartment and found Shelly on the floor playing with Winston, Katie, and Smokey.

  “Have Smokey and Winston made up?” she asked her friend.

  “I think it might just be a temporary ceasefire,” Shelly replied. “But I can try and take Winston home with me, if you want.”

  “It’s up to you,” Fenella said. “I don’t mind having him, or at least I don’t think I mind. If he doesn’t let me sleep, we might have a problem.”

  “As Harvey is my friend, I’ll try taking Winston home,” Shelly told her. “Let’s see how that goes.”

  The pair chatted for a short while before Shelly began to yawn after every other sentence. “I think that’s my body’s way of telling me that I need an early night,” she said with a laugh after she yawned in the middle of a word.

  “I could do with an early night myself,” Fenella said. She walked with Shelly to the door. Shelly was holding Smokey, who was curled contentedly in her arms.

  “Come on, Winston,” Shelly said. The dog lumbered after her. “I’ll come back for his bowls in a minute,” she told Fenella.

  As they made their way next door, Fenella stood in her doorway and watched. Shelly opened the door to her apartment and set Smokey down. The cat walked through the door and then turned around and glared at Winston. When Smokey began to hiss, Fenella sighed.

  “Winston, come on back,” she called. “You can stay here. Obviously, Smokey is feeling territorial.”

  “I’m really sorry,” Shelly said. “If you have any trouble, ring me straight a
way. I’ll come and sleep in your flat and you can sleep in mine or something.”

  “We’ll work it out eventually,” Fenella said. “I’m just hoping we’ve tired Winston out enough for today.”

  The elevator doors opened with a “ping” and Peter stepped out into the corridor. “Ah, I was wondering why you weren’t at the pub,” he said to Shelly and Fenella. “I’d forgotten all about Winston.”

  The big dog greeted the man with enthusiasm, and Peter gave him a good rubdown. “Where is he staying tonight?” Peter asked after a moment.

  “My place,” Fenella said. “I just hope he sleeps.”

  “He might need another walk,” Peter suggested. “He seems awfully energetic at the moment.

  Fenella had to agree. The dog was wagging his tail and panting all over Peter as the man played with him. “I guess we’ll have a walk, then,” she said with a sigh.

  “I’ll come along, if I may,” Peter said. “I’ve been in meetings all day and once I got home I went straight to the pub. Some exercise is exactly what I need.”

  “Maybe you need a dog,” Shelly suggested.

  “If work were slightly less hectic, I’d be very tempted,” he replied. “As it is, if Harvey hasn’t turned up by the weekend, I’ll keep Winston for a few days.”

  “The weekend?” Fenella echoed weakly. It was only Tuesday. There was no way she wanted to keep Winston until the weekend.

  “We’ll all take turns, somehow or other,” Shelly said. “Maybe Smokey will get used to him, given enough time.”

  “Let’s get that walk out of the way,” Fenella said. “I’d still like a fairly early night.”

  “I hope you don’t mind if I don’t come along,” Shelly said. “I’m exhausted.”

  “I don’t mind at all,” Fenella told her.

  “I’ll take him tomorrow for one of his walks,” she said. “That makes more sense than both of us going every time.”

  “It does,” Fenella agreed.

  “I’ll plan on taking him for his evening stroll tomorrow,” Peter offered. “Tonight, you can show me what needs doing.”

  “It’s pretty straightforward,” Fenella told him. “You hold onto his leash and you clean up his mess.”

  Peter made a face. “I suppose that comes with the territory,” he said.

  “It isn’t that bad,” Fenella said. “At least it hasn’t been so far.”

  She walked back into her apartment and grabbed Winston’s leash. Sliding into the first pair of shoes she came to, she rejoined the others in the corridor.

  “Those shoes do not go with that dress,” Shelly told her.

  Fenella glanced down and laughed. She’d slipped on black sneakers, and Shelly was right, they didn’t go well with the lovely dress.

  “Maybe I should change my clothes,” Fenella said. “I’d hate to get this dress dirty.”

  “I can wait,” Peter told her.

  A few minutes later, a more suitably attired Fenella walked with Peter and Winston down to the promenade.

  “Should we take him on the beach?” Peter asked.

  “I’d rather not get covered in sand again,” Fenella replied. The trio walked in silence for a few minutes before Peter spoke again.

  “You’ve not told me about your trip,” he said. “What did you see and do?”

  Fenella gave him roughly the same brief rundown of her trip that she’d given Daniel. This time, however, she slipped her dates with Donald into the conversation.

  “It sounds as if you had a wonderful time,” Peter said when she’d finished. “I travel to London for work frequently, but I haven’t been there as a tourist in years. Maybe the next time you go, I’ll go as well. I’d love to take you to the theater. Donald shouldn’t get to have all of the fun.”

  Fenella wasn’t sure how to reply to that, so she changed the subject. “Ready to head back now, big guy?” she asked Winston. He looked up at her and then obligingly turned around. They walked in companionable silence until they were across the road from their building.

  As they crossed the street, however, Winston began to bark loudly. “Whatever is wrong?” Peter asked.

  Winston began to pull hard on his leash, nearly pulling Fenella off her feet as he went. “He wants to go this way,” she called to Peter as the dog half-dragged her away from their apartment building. Within seconds, Fenella knew where Winston was going. She stopped him at the gate.

  “He wants to go home,” she said sadly as Peter caught up to them.

  “No doubt he’s missing Harvey,” Peter said. He crouched down and gazed at the animal. “You have to stay with Fenella for now,” he said. “We’re all looking for Harvey, though. Hopefully, he’ll be back soon.”

  It took some effort, but eventually Fenella and Peter managed to persuade Winston to come with them. The dog sat in the elevator, looking miserable, as they rode up to the sixth floor.

  “I wish I could do something to make him feel better,” Fenella said as she and Peter walked off the elevator.

  “I know. If you think of something that you think I could do, just ask,” Peter said.

  “We need Daniel and Gloria to find Harvey,” Fenella said. “I hate to think what we’ll do if something awful has happened to him.”

  Peter gave Winston a firm pat. “You’ll be fine, won’t you,” he said briskly. “We’ll find you a new family if we have to and you’ll be just fine.”

  Fenella let herself into her apartment and let Winston off his leash. He seemed to sigh as he walked across the room and flopped down near the windows. Katie quickly joined him, snuggling up close.

  “I think we all need some sleep,” Fenella told the animals. She filled up their water bowls and then headed to the bedroom. Katie wasn’t far behind, and she jumped into her usual spot in the center of the bed. When Fenella walked out of the bathroom some time later, Winston had joined Katie, sprawling across the middle of the bed, seemingly in every direction.

  “Where am I meant to sleep?” Fenella demanded.

  “The guest room bed is quite comfortable,” Mona said softly from the doorway.

  Fenella shook her head. “This is my apartment. I should be able to sleep in my own bed.”

  “Winston is traumatized,” Mona said. “You’re lucky he’s able to sleep at all. He’s happy there. You’ll be fine in the guest room.”

  Fenella opened her mouth to object further, but then she sighed. Mona was probably right. If the big dog was already asleep, in spite of his upset, she really shouldn’t wake him.

  The bed in the guest room wasn’t as comfortable as the king-sized bed in the master bedroom, but it wasn’t too bad. The biggest problem for her was that it was considerably smaller than the bed she was used to. “I’ll probably fall out of bed at least twice before morning,” she muttered to herself as she tried to beat a pillow into a comfortable shape. In spite of everything, she was asleep in minutes.

  “Meeroow,” Katie said some time later as she jumped onto the bed.

  Fenella opened one eye and then shut it tightly. “It’s the middle of the night,” she said. “You can’t possibly want food.”

  Katie didn’t reply; she simply curled up as close to the middle of the bed as she could and went to sleep. Fenella had only just closed her eyes when she heard an odd sound. She opened them to find Winston staring at her.

  “What do you want?” she asked, afraid that she already knew the answer.

  Winston looked at her for a moment and then carefully climbed over her into the bed. Katie leapt up and jumped onto Fenella’s head as Winston shuffled around, turning and pawing at the covers until he had things arranged to suit himself. Then he plopped down and seemingly went straight to sleep. Fenella, now feeling as if she was perched right on the very edge of the mattress, looked at Katie, who had climbed off her head and was now staring at Winston.

  “This isn’t going to work, is it?” Fenella asked.

  Katie wiggled her way up against Winston and then settled in, her tiny bo
dy pressed against his. Fenella sighed. “Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t go back to my own bed and shut my bedroom door?” she muttered.

  Katie opened one eye and then squeezed it shut again. Fenella snuggled down, hoping that she might be able to sleep in spite of everything. Moving again seemed like too much effort, but in the morning she was sorry she hadn’t tried it.

  “I feel as if I didn’t sleep at all,” she told Mona as she poured food into each of the animal’s bowls. “Every time I drifted off, one or the other of them moved or made a noise or something. It was awful.”

  “You should have gone into your room and shut the door,” Mona suggested.

  “I was too tired to do anything that ambitious,” Fenella replied. “And I couldn’t stand the thought of the pair of them shouting at me through the door all night, which you know would have happened.”

  “They look happy enough,” Mona remarked as Katie and Winston both raced into the kitchen and began to eat their breakfasts.

  “They both seemed to sleep very well,” Fenella said. “Katie seems to like having Winston around, and he doesn’t seem to mind her.”

  “Maybe once Harvey comes back, you should think about getting a dog,” Mona suggested.

  “I don’t think I have enough energy for a dog,” Fenella said as Winston went to the window and began to bark. “He wants a walk, doesn’t he?”

  “Probably. Harvey used to have him out every morning by seven,” Mona told her. “He was an early riser.”

  Fenella sighed. “I need a shower,” she said. “I can’t take him out looking like this.”

  Mona looked her over with a critical eye. “I’d agree with you, except I’m not sure poor Winston can wait until you’re presentable,” she said. “He looks as if he’s getting a bit anxious.”

  Fenella looked over at the dog, who was pacing back and forth, still barking at the sea. “Yeah, great, wonderful, just what I need,” she muttered. In her bedroom she pulled on a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt. Her hair seemed to be sticking out in every possible direction, so she fought it all into a ponytail.