by Bobbi Holmes
In the next moment the dog lunged, running full force at Marcella. Before she could move, its front paws landed on her chest, knocking her down. The terrified woman found herself sprawled out on the bedroom floor, looking up into the eyes of the pit bull, its face just inches from hers as the dog’s heavy body kept her pinned to the floor.
Twelve
Marcella had never been fond of a dog licking her, but she decided that was preferable to one sinking its teeth into her flesh. Still on the floor, flat on her back, she thought if her heart beat any faster, it would surely burst out of her chest. She opened her eyes and passively accepted the sloppy wet kisses covering every inch of her face. If she survived this pit bull attack, she would definitely need a good shower.
Finally managing to rein in her composure, she warily tried pushing the dog away as she sat up while talking baby talk in hopes of keeping the canine in his current mood. To her relief the dog remained in friendly mode and promptly sat down on his butt. No—her butt. Marcella silently corrected herself, noticing the dog was female.
“Nice doggy,” Marcella said again, pulling herself up. She looked at the dog, which was no longer sitting, but wiggling its butt in an enthusiastic tail wag. “Umm…I think I need to go now.”
Not wishing to press her luck, Marcella quickly exited the bedroom and headed toward the kitchen. Yet the dog was obviously not ready to say goodbye to her new friend and trailed closely behind her. As soon as Marcella reached the kitchen, she quickly entered and closed the door behind her, barricading the dog from the room.
With a sigh of relief, her heart still racing, Marcella flew out the kitchen door into the side yard, running into her husband, practically knocking him to the ground.
“Let’s get the hell out of here!” she cried.
“What happened?” he asked.
“There’s a pit bull in there!”
“Did it bite you?” he asked.
“No, but I thought it was going to lick me to death.” She ran toward the gate leading to the street. She stopped suddenly when she spied a car pull up and park.
“Out through the alley!” she shouted, grabbing hold of her husband’s hand. The two ran through the side yard and out the back gate into the alleyway.
Joanne intended to open the side gate so she could pull up in the driveway and park near the kitchen door. She had sacks of groceries to carry into the house. But she knew Hunny was inside, and she didn’t want her to get out of the yard. Joanne was not concerned about Hunny getting out and hurting someone. She worried what Pearl Huckabee might do if the pit bull got out and into the neighbor’s yard.
She entered through the front door and was greeted by Hunny. When she reached the kitchen door, she was surprised to find it already closed.
“That’s odd,” Joanne said. She glanced down at the dog, who stood by her side with her butt and tail wagging. “Did you close the door, girl?” She looked at the door again and frowned. “Although, I’m not sure how you could have done that, since it opens into the kitchen.”
Melony and Adam joined their friends for brunch at Pearl Cove. Seated at a table overlooking the ocean, the party included Walt, Danielle, Heather, Chris, Lily, Ian and Connor. Also in attendance were the spirits Marie and Eva, but only the mediums could see and hear them—and only those who lived on Beach Drive were aware of their existence. Both Melony and Adam remained utterly clueless about the ghostly members of their party.
“I am so sorry about your house,” Melony told Chris for the second time.
“There are a couple of nice houses on the market,” Adam told him.
Chris shook his head. “No. I’m going to rebuild. But I’ll need you to find me something to rent while it’s under construction. I’m guessing it’s going to take me six months to a year to rebuild.”
Adam cringed. “At the moment, I don’t have any rentals. I should have something after Christmas. And most of my owners have restrictions on what kind of dogs they allow. Of course, for the right price you could probably get what you need.”
“Or maybe buy something to live in while he builds, and sell it later?” Heather suggested. “Then pets aren’t an issue.”
“Only problem with that, there is still escrow to consider. Chris is going to need something he can move right into. That will be more challenging. Our local market is a little tight right now, and I can’t think of any vacant houses currently on the market,” Adam explained.
“He is welcome to stay with us while he figures out something,” Danielle said.
Adam looked over to Danielle and then glanced to Walt to see his reaction.
Walt shrugged. “He has already moved into our downstairs bedroom. I told him he could stay as long as he agreed not to prance around the house naked.”
Chris rolled his eyes at Walt and said, “Oh, shut up.” He laughed.
Confused, Adam looked from Chris to Walt and then to Danielle.
“It’s nothing,” Danielle assured Adam. “They’re just being silly.”
Melony changed the subject. “Your brother is coming today?”
“He should be here this afternoon,” Chris told her.
“I wonder how Pearl Huckabee is going to like Marlow House turning into a boardinghouse again,” Adam teased.
“I hardly call two holiday guests a boardinghouse,” Danielle scoffed.
Lily went on to tell Adam and Melony about the tantrum Pearl had thrown the previous day.
“That woman really is horrid,” Melony said.
“Well, it is Christmas, so I guess we should try being more positive with her,” Danielle suggested.
“Yeah, right,” Heather said with a snort.
“Did you lose everything?” Melony asked.
“Just material things,” Chris said. “All my photographs—pictures from when I was a kid—I digitalized them all a few years ago. I have them and copies of most of my important documents saved on the cloud. Of course, I have some things over at my office. The other stuff is all replaceable.”
“The clothes you have on now, are those new?” Melony asked.
Chris nodded. “Yes. I have this amazing assistant. She picked up just about everything I needed to get by for a few weeks.”
Melony looked over at Heather and smiled. “You went shopping for him?”
“Yeah. It was kind of fun. I’ve never been able to go clothes shopping and not worry about how much I was spending. It would have been more fun had I been shopping for myself.”
They all laughed, and Chris said, “I’ll tell you what. I’ll give you back that credit card to use, and you can go on a shopping spree for yourself.”
Heather perked up. “Really?”
Chris shrugged. “Sure.”
Heather frowned. “Umm…does this mean I don’t get a Christmas bonus?”
Chris laughed.
While Danielle and her friends enjoyed their brunch at Pearl Cove, Joanne put the groceries away at Marlow House, and Marcella and Forrest walked back to the pier to retrieve their vehicle. Over on the main street, Sunday business was brisk with Christmas shoppers. One of those shoppers was Elizabeth Sparks, who leisurely window-shopped while searching for the perfect gift for her mother.
She stood outside one store window, checking out the winter jackets worn by the mannequins, when she had the eerie sensation someone was watching her. Instead of turning around, she glanced to the right and caught the reflection of a man in the store window. He stood not far from her, seemingly looking in her direction, yet with his sunglasses she could not see his eyes. A shiver traveled up her spine. This was not the first time she had seen the man. She knew he was watching her.
Pearl Huckabee stood at her upstairs bedroom window, looking down at her neighbor’s yard. With a scowl she watched as the pit bull ran around the lawn, playing with a ball, periodically tossing it in the air before catching it. The dog was alone.
Parked in the side drive was the car that belonged to the woman who cleaned for the Marlows.
Pearl was about to turn from the window when she noticed another car drive up the street. It belonged to her other neighbor, Heather Donovan. If she was not mistaken, the neighbor who had burned down his house was sitting in the passenger seat.
Curious, she remained at the window and watched. It looked as if Heather stopped down by Chris’s house. She then turned the car around and came back down the street. Chris was no longer with her. Heather pulled into her own driveway, and a minute later, Chris Johnson came driving down in his car. He parked in front of Marlow House.
“Wonderful, we are going to be having all these cars parked over here,” Pearl grumbled. She noticed motion from the backyard and spied Walt and Danielle Marlow entering their backyard from the alleyway. Pearl assumed they had just parked the Packard in their garage.
She watched as the pit bull greeted the Marlows. A moment later Danielle went inside the house while Walt sat down on the back porch, petting the dog.
“When you left, you locked poor Hunny out of the kitchen,” Joanne told Danielle when she walked into the house. “She couldn’t go outside.”
“We did?” Danielle frowned. “I could swear we left the door open.”
Joanne shrugged. “No big deal. I don’t think she was locked out long.”
Joanne left the kitchen to go upstairs to finish preparing the guest room.
“I guess we locked Hunny out of the kitchen when we went to brunch,” Danielle told Walt when he walked into the house with Hunny a few minutes later.
Walt glanced toward the open doorway leading to the hall. “Where’s Joanne?”
“She went upstairs. Why?”
Before Walt could explain, Chris walked into the kitchen. “I parked my car in front of your house. I hope that’s okay.” Chris leaned down and greeted his dog.
“When Joanne leaves, you can park in the side drive if you want,” Danielle told him. “Walt and I usually park in the garage now.”
“Chris, can you please shut that door? I need to tell you both something, and I don’t want Joanne to overhear.”
Curious, Chris shut the door and turned to face Walt, Hunny by his side.
“I guess we accidentally locked poor Hunny out of the kitchen when we went to brunch,” Danielle began.
“No we didn’t,” Walt countered.
“Yes we did,” Danielle argued. “Joanne told me Hunny was locked out of the kitchen when she got here, so she couldn’t use the dog door and get outside.”
“I know that door was open when we left. I checked it,” Chris argued.
“But Joanne said—” Danielle began, only to be cut off by Walt.
“Danielle, I know what Joanne told you. Please, I need to tell you this before she comes down here,” Walt said impatiently.
Both Chris and Danielle turned their full attention to Walt.
“What is it?” she asked.
“Someone was in the house again. According to Hunny, while we were gone, she found a lady in Chris’s room, going through the things Heather just bought him.”
“What lady?” Danielle asked.
“My guess, whoever went through the house yesterday.”
“What exactly did Hunny say about it?” Chris asked. He then frowned and added, “That sounds like such a weird question.”
“Technically speaking, Hunny didn’t say anything. But she did tell me about the lady—who Hunny believes was a very nice lady. She gave her lots of kisses.”
“This woman who broke in our house kissed Hunny?” Danielle asked.
Walt laughed. “No. Hunny kissed her. She said she tasted a little like bacon. I suspect whoever it was had just had breakfast.”
“Are you saying the woman is the one who locked Hunny out of the kitchen?” Danielle asked.
“According to Hunny, yes. Which made Hunny rather sad. She believed she had just met a new friend,” Walt told her.
“Who is this woman who keeps breaking into our house?” Danielle asked.
Walt shook his head. “I don’t know. Hunny had never seen her before, and I’m afraid dogs are not terrific at giving good descriptions. I just know it’s someone who tastes a little like bacon.”
Thirteen
Wrapped in warm jackets, Marcella and Forrest walked along the beach in front of the Seahorse Motel. It was not an easy task for either person, as walking in the sand had become progressively more difficult as the years went by. But they didn’t want to be cooped up in their small motel room, and they needed to discuss what they should do next. Marcella wasn’t crazy about sitting in some restaurant, going over their plans. One never knew who might overhear them.
“I’ve been thinking about that dog,” Marcella began.
“You mean the dog that neighbor said the Marlows didn’t have?” he asked.
“True. But she did mention a pit bull who lives down the street,” Marcella reminded him.
“You think the Marlows were dog sitting for their neighbor?” he asked.
She shrugged. “That would explain why the dog was there. While I got out of there pretty quick, I don’t think anyone else was in the house.”
Forrest stopped walking, his breathing labored. “Let’s go back to the motel. Walking in this sand is killing me.”
Marcella nodded. “I was just going to suggest that.”
When they reached the motel a few moments later, Marcella nodded to the registration office and said, “Let’s go in there for a minute. I want to find out more about that dog.”
“How are you going to do that in there?” he asked.
“I have a hunch.”
A man stood behind the registration desk instead of the woman who had checked them in the previous day. He wore a name tag; it read Sam. Sitting on the sofa was the elderly gentleman from the room next door, reading a newspaper, and Marcella wondered briefly if the man always hung out in the front office. Perhaps he was lonely, she thought.
“How can I help you?” the man behind the counter asked Marcella when she approached.
“Hello, we are staying here. And yesterday, when we were sightseeing, we noticed there was a house fire down from the pier.”
“Ahh, the fire over on Beach Drive, yes. I heard the house was destroyed.” He shook his head in sympathy. “Right before Christmas. Poor Chris.”
“He was a friend of yours?” Marcella asked.
“More an acquaintance. He works for the Glandon Foundation.”
“Glandon Foundation?” She frowned.
“They do a lot of nonprofit work.”
“I hope no one was hurt,” she said.
“From what I understand, he managed to get outside with his dog.”
“I hope his dog wasn’t hurt,” she said.
The man shook his head. “From what I heard, no one was.”
“I’m curious, what kind of dog is it? I love dogs.” Marcella smiled sweetly.
“A pit bull.”
“Oh, those can be mean dogs,” Marcella said with a shiver.
The man shrugged.
“I hope this Chris and his dog are able to find someplace to stay. So sad to lose your home, especially right before Christmas,” Marcella said.
“From what I heard, he’s staying over at Marlow House. He’s a close friend of the Marlows.”
“At least that explains where the pit bull came from,” Marcella told her husband after they left the office and headed back to their motel room.
“Now what? We weren’t counting on a dog being there.”
“True. But as much as that dog about gave me a heart attack, she really wasn’t much of a guard dog, unless licking excessively is some new way of trying to apprehend robbers. Next time I will take along some dog treats.”
The Hoopers didn’t notice Colin following them out of the motel office. He watched as they went into their room, shutting the door behind them. He took a seat outside, on one of the plastic beach chairs the motel had set up between their doors. Leaning back in the chair, he glanced over to the Hoopers’ room and notic
ed someone inside opening the window blinds so they could look out.
“I just need to keep you two out of my way,” he said under his breath before looking from their window and glancing out to the parking lot. A few moments later Owen drove up in his car and parked. Colin watched as his other neighbor got out of the vehicle and started walking up to his room.
“Good morning. Although, I suppose it is afternoon now,” Colin greeted him when Owen was within earshot.
Owen nodded. “Afternoon. It’s a little chilly out here, isn’t it?” He glanced up at the sky and discovered the rain clouds that had been gathering earlier had vanished. He looked back to the man sitting in the plastic patio chair.
“I enjoy the brisk sea air. I don’t believe I introduced myself earlier. I’m Colin Bari.” He smiled at Owen and extended his hand. Colin had been fairly certain the young man had recognized him earlier, considering his expression. Colin didn’t imagine Owen was quite ready to run into anyone he had once known—not yet. As soon as Colin said his name, he noticed Owen’s subtle change of expression. It was obvious to him the name meant nothing to Owen, and Colin was certain his young motel neighbor was probably feeling a pang of relief, believing he had been wrong in thinking Colin was someone from his Frederickport past.
Owen accepted the handshake and said, “Nice to meet you. I’m Owen—Owen Gardener.”
“Would you like to join me?” Colin motioned to the empty chair next to him. “The sun actually feels pretty good, especially since the breeze stopped.”
“Maybe for a minute,” Owen said with a smile as he sat down in the empty chair.
“Are you here visiting family for Christmas?” Colin asked.
Owen shrugged and said, “I’m just passing through. I don’t really do much for Christmas anymore.”
“Really? I love Christmas. It is my favorite time of year,” Colin said.
“Are you here visiting family for Christmas?” Owen asked.
