Chasing Manhattan

by John Gray

  Both of them looked up at the stars above, as Gavin continued, “This ceiling was first made in the early nineteen hundreds, and they spent a lot of time and money on it. It’s a replica of the sky above the earth.”

  Chase looked up at the twinkling lights and was taking it all in.

  “After it was up for a while people started to notice that it’s actually backwards,” Gavin added.

  “Backwards? Backwards how?” Chase asked.

  Gavin pointed. “East and west are backwards, so you’re not seeing things the way they’re supposed to be.”

  Chase asked, “How could that happen?”

  Gavin stared up. “Well, the theory is when they projected the image up on the ceiling to paint, it flipped everything left to right, and nobody noticed until it was all done.”

  Chase smiled now. “That’s crazy. And they never fixed it?”

  Gavin replied, “No. In fact, years later when the ceiling got damaged and it had to be fixed, they decided to just do the new ceiling the same way as the original.”

  Chase asked, “Backwards again?”

  Smiling, Gavin replied, “Yep.”

  Chase didn’t know what to make of it.

  Then Gavin did something that reminded her why she loved him.

  “I did a little digging, and there’s a story no one talks about,” he began.

  “They say after years of everyone calling the stars backwards, a little girl no older than six came through the station with her grandmother and looked up. She pointed out that it’s only backwards if you are looking up from the earth, but it looks PERFECT if you are looking down from heaven. So, this is how the angels see it.”

  Chase squeezed his hand and looked at Gavin, saying, “I like that explanation.”

  Gavin smiled. “Me too. Raise your chair up now so I can tell you the rest.”

  Chase and Gavin both sat upright at the center of the train station, and as people walked around them, he explained, “I lied to you because I didn’t want you to know I was going to Seattle.”

  Chase was from Seattle, and her eyes went wide with wonder, as he continued, “I know your dad was never part of the picture and your mom raised you alone. I wanted to talk to your mom, to ask her a very important question.”

  Chase leaned in closer to Gavin now, “What question?”

  Gavin fiddled with his hands nervously, then, “I wanted her blessing when I ask you to marry me.”

  Gavin looked in Chase’s soft eyes, and suddenly hers darted down toward Gavin’s hands looking for a ring box.

  This caused Gavin to blurt out, “NO, NO, not now. I didn’t mean this moment. I mean this is pretty neat with the romantic ceiling and all but, I’m not asking you tonight.”

  Chase let out a sigh of relief, saying, “Good. Not that I wouldn’t say YES but I’m in jeans and a sweatshirt with no makeup on, Gavin. A girl wants to look pretty for that, ya know, moment.”

  Gavin replied with a smile, “The lady wants to look nice. Got it. I’ll make a note of it.”

  Gavin paused a second, then said, “Well, that about covers it.”

  Chase replied in a most serious tone, “I love you and I understand why you kept this secret until now, but please don’t ever lie to me again. I don’t like the way it made me feel inside.”

  Gavin understood completely saying, “I promise. Never again.”

  Gavin looked up and realized Ronnie and Jinx were standing over them both. “Oh, sorry, guys, you did say ten minutes. We’re all set.”

  They both got up, surrendering their recliners.

  As the workers dragged away the recliners, Gavin waved over to Stu and the lights in the train station became bright again, causing Gavin to say, “Let there be light.”

  Chase teasing him, said, “Oh, do we fashion ourselves to be God now?”

  Gavin gave her a hug and looked in her eyes. “No, just a man in love who wanted to give you the stars.”

  With that they both looked up at the ceiling again.

  They stared a moment, then Gavin said, “That question is coming and coming soon, you know that, right? The big one. I just need to get a few ducks in a row.”

  Chase looked from the stars above to the light gleaming in Gavin’s eyes, then said, “Well, good luck with those ducks then.”

  As the two walked hand in hand to exit Grand Central, Chase said, “Bravo, by the way. All this. It is what JC would do.”

  Gavin didn’t say a word. When things go perfectly you shut your mouth and hold your girl’s hand like you mean it.

  CHAPTER 30

  Tag, You’re It

  A week had passed since Gavin gave Chase the stars, but today it would be the groundskeeper, Nick, showing everyone some fun. His knock, bright and early, brought Chase to the front door, wearing a pair of oversized flannel pajamas.

  Nick took off his wool cap, out of respect, saying, “Morning, ma’am. I wanted to stop by and talk to you about taggin’ a tree.”

  Gavin walked up to join the conversation with his coffee in one hand and a piping hot cup for Chase in the other. On cold days like this, Chase enjoyed holding the mug between her chilly fingers almost as much as drinking it.

  “Do you mean Christmas trees?” Chase asked. “We used to do that in Vermont.”

  Nick replied, “Yes, ma’am. I figured we’d head over to Faddegon’s nursery in Hawthorne.”

  Chase replied, “Hawthorne? Like the famous writer?”

  Nick played along. “No. Hawthorne like the not-so-famous hamlet, a couple of towns over.”

  Gavin then asked, “What’s the difference between a town and a hamlet?”

  Nick replied, “A town has more than one stop sign.” Chase then asked Gavin, “Did we want to get a tree? We hadn’t really talked about it.”

  Nick, sensing they might say no, quickly added, “I should tell you Bob, the owner, has a big horse-drawn wagon with room for a dozen people. We ride out, everyone picks a tree, and by the time you come back, Bob’s wife, Ginny, has a fire going, and there’s cider donuts and hot cocoa.”

  Gavin rubbed Chase’s back, and said, “Hot cocoa on a chilly day sounds fun.”

  Chase smiled and looked at Nick’s kind, wrinkled face, realizing, in his own way, he was a handsome man for his age.

  She then asked, “Did you say the wagon can hold a dozen people?”

  Nick replied, “Oh, yes, ma’am. The more the merrier.”

  Chase looked at Gavin and started counting on her fingers, “You and me, Charlie and Mary from next door, maybe her parents, that’s six.”

  Gavin interjected, “Raylan and Bonnie makes eight. Matthew, your driver, is nine. Oscar, I mean Peter, is ten.”

  They were both thinking about those last two spots open when Chase said, “We shouldn’t leave out Deb from the cafe. I don’t think she’s seeing anyone, though.”

  Gavin, smirking, replied, “Do you blame them?”

  Chase whacked his arm, lightly joking, “Hey, none of that, she’s sweet once you get past the hypochondria. So, she’d make it eleven.”

  Chase looked back at Nick and realized he wasn’t that much older than Deb, asking, “What about you, Nick? Would you come with us?”

  He thought a moment and said, “Sure, if you wanted me to, why not.”

  Gavin smiled and said, “Nick, my man, how do you feel about a pretty woman with crazy red hair who spends all day on the internet searching for something to be wrong with her?”

  Nick smiled with that tooth still missing, then said, “Sounds like my kinda gal.”

  The three of them laughed as Chase took a quick sip of her coffee and said, “We have some calls to make, then. How about we all meet here at the house at four?”

  Nick nodded and said, “Sounds like a plan.”

  Gavin took Chase by the hand and led her back inside to start dialing their friends.

  Everyone arrived on schedule, and the drive over to Hawthorne took less than ten minutes. Bob, the owner of the nursery, was wai
ting—an older gentleman wearing a leather cowboy hat atop his thinning gray hair. He also had a red and white Santa jacket on with a thick black belt that was too small to clip over his belly.

  Bob removed the hat like a circus ringmaster, saying, “Good evening, one and all, welcome to my farm. You’ll find the perfect Christmas tree a short wagon ride away. There’s a nip in the air, making this officially hug your honey weather, so sit tight together on that wagon, and don’t be shy with your affection.”

  Bonnie looked beautiful in a pink jacket, her hair and make-up done up more than Chase had ever seen her. It was her hand that drew Chase’s attention, however, wrapped tightly around Raylan’s as they walked over to the wagon and he helped her up to a seat.

  Charlie and Mary were signing something back and forth, and while Chase didn’t understand, it must have been something funny, because both were grinning as they talked. Peter, the man everyone knew as Oscar until just recently, was there too, and more than once he’d sign something to Charlie and she’d give him thumbs up in reply.

  Peter saw others watching his silent conversation and said to the group, “I was asking about her dog, Bella. She’s doing great.”

  Charlie’s parents were not in attendance, as a prior engagement kept them away, but that was okay because it gave everyone more room to spread out. Matthew, Chase’s driver, was wearing a faded Wrangler denim jacket and matching jeans, prompting Gavin to observe, “Matthew, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you not in a suit. You look good, amigo!”

  “Ah, this,” Matthew said, running his fingers down the front of the jacket, “seemed more appropriate for a wagon ride.”

  Deb was there as well in a bright orange jogging suit, that on anyone else would have looked out of place, but she somehow pulled it off.

  “You must be the beautiful Deborah I’ve heard so much about,” Nick, the groundskeeper, said with a smile.

  Blushing instantly, Deb giggled and replied, “Stop it now, I mean it.”

  Nick took her hand to help her up into the wagon and said, “Impossible. I could never stop complimenting a beauty like you.”

  That last line made everyone smile. In that moment, Deb felt as young as a teenager; the aches and pains that were the bane of her daily existence were suddenly gone.

  Bob did a quick head count and said, “So ten is what we have, and ten is what we’ll return with. Let’s go find everyone a tree.”

  With that he snapped a whip in the air, and the pair of large horses sprang to life, tossing the wagon backward as they marched toward the woods and the mysteries of the forest.

  It took less than twenty minutes for each couple to find and tag a tree. No one would cut it down today; Bob told them to return the following weekend to take their prizes home. The ride back to the nursery was quick, and everyone smelled the warm fire that had been lit in their absence.

  “Oh my gosh, are those cider donuts?” Deb exclaimed.

  All eyes turned toward a long table filled with hot mulled cider, cocoa, and those donuts they’d heard so much about. Everyone was looking at the sweet treats, with the exception of Nick, his dreamy gaze fixed instead on Deb.

  As the group gathered with their drinks by the crackling fire, Matthew surprised everyone when he asked, “So, Chase, we’ve never really talked about what’s been happening at the house.”

  Chase almost choked on her cider, taken so off guard by the question.

  The looks on at least some of their faces told Chase they knew something strange was afoot at Briarcliff Manor: Bella, the elevator, her knowing Oscar was really Peter. They waited in silence for her explanation.

  “Yes, happening.” Chase began. “Well, when I came here, to Manhattan, I thought for certain what happened before in Vermont …” Chase stopped herself there, then asked, “Are you sure you want me getting into all this here?”

  Nick, Deb, Charlie, and Mary had no idea what Chase was talking about, but they were eager to hear it just the same.

  She glanced at Gavin as if looking for advice, and he said, “It’s up to you.”

  Chase continued. “What happened in Vermont didn’t happen here, you know, me knowing stuff, until I purchased the house in Briarcliff.”

  Raylan had read Chase’s novel cover to cover, so he asked, “Is it like before, with the church windows?”

  Matthew interrupted then. “No, not at church. I took her to Saint Pat’s a million times. Nothing happened there.”

  Chase looked at Matthew. “That’s right, he’s right, not at church.”

  She paused now, knowing how ridiculous what she was about to say sounded.

  Finally, she just spilled it. “You’ll think this sounds nuts, but after I lived a little while in the new house at Briarcliff Manor, my dog, Scooter, became obsessed with the board game Scrabble.”

  Deb, without thinking, blurted out, “Your dog knows how to play Scrabble? Now that’s impressive!”

  Several of them burst out laughing, but Chase ignored their reaction, instead reaching over to touch Deb’s hand, showing she was not mocking her, saying, “No, Deb. He doesn’t play. He just kept barking at the game, so Gavin and I played it, and when we did, I kept getting the same words over and over again.”

  She could tell no one was following, so she explained further, “First it was the name Bella. Every time I mixed up the little wooden tiles in the Scrabble game, I got the name Bella. Every. Single. Time. Bella, Bella, Bella. Which led us to bring Bella to meet Charlie.”

  Gavin then, trying to help her, added, “You see, Chase had been worried all day about Charlie, and then we play Scrabble, and she gets the name Bella. We had no idea what it meant, but the next day we were in the café, and that’s the day everyone learned the dog we all called Ella …”

  Raylan finished his sentence: “… was really named Bella. So, you put two and two together?”

  Chase replied, “That’s right.”

  Nick was curious. “You said you got the same words, plural. What other words did you get?”

  Chase turned to Nick. “The first time we played it was Bella. A couple weeks later when we played it was brake.”

  Matthew spoke then. “That’s why Chase had us all check the brakes on our cars—remember that day?”

  Several of them shook their heads in the affirmative.

  Matthew continued. “Everyone’s car brakes were fine. Then, a few days later, Chase was parked outside my building and saw the word again, BRAKE, literally lighting up on a sign. She ran upstairs to warn us.”

  Bonnie, who had been silent as a monk up to this point, finally spoke. “This is crazy. You really think letters from a board game were talking to you?”

  Chase turned to her, “I’m not sure what to make of it, Bonnie, I’m just telling you what happened.”

  Peter interrupted then, asking, “Was this how you knew about me?”

  Chase replied. “Yes, I was playing the game with Charlie when the word bird kept coming up, and she told me about the tattoo on your neck, the screaming eagle.”

  Matthew asked, “And is that it?”

  Gavin jumped in again. “Yes, that’s it, and that’s all there’s going to be.”

  Chase looked at him, surprised, and saw Gavin glance toward Nick, the groundskeeper, with a guilty expression.

  “What? What don’t I know?” Chase asked the two of them.

  Nick spoke first: “Earlier today, when you were upstairs in the shower, Gavin asked me to take those board games and put them in storage down in the basement. They’re locked away in an old chest.”

  Chase then looked at Gavin, searching for an explanation, so he offered one. “You just seemed so stressed over it, and I know you probably don’t realize it, Chase, but you walk by that room where the games were kept a dozen times a day and look in as if one of them is going to start talking to you. I’m sorry, but I just thought it would be best to give you a break.”

  Chase paused a moment, and her flash of anger was replaced by understandin
g, realizing both men were only trying to help.

  Finally, Chase said, “Well, nothing has happened for a while anyway, so, I’m fine with it. It will be Christmas soon, and we need some peace and quiet anyway, don’t you think?”

  Bob, the owner of the nursery, raised his glass and said, “I don’t know what the heck any of you people are talking about, and frankly you all sound nuttier than my aunt Lu Lu’s fruit cake, but here here, let’s toast to a peaceful holiday.”

  As everyone joined in, Chase noticed Bonnie looking down at her left-hand ring finger and fidgeting with something shiny, asking, “Hey girl, whatcha got there?”

  Bonnie touched the stone and said, “Raylan gave me a promise ring. I’m not sure what we’re promising each other but it means the world to me.”

  Chase looked down at her own hand bearing the promise ring Gavin had given her years earlier, and replied, “I know exactly what you mean, Bonnie.”

  Nick reached over on impulse and took Deb’s hand. Without hesitation, she squeezed his right back.

  Charlie then made two fists with her tiny hands, bumped them together, and pointed toward the sky.

  Deb saw Charlie make that sign and asked, “What did she just say?”

  Peter responded, “Charlie says there’s a lot of romance in the air.”

  As the group of ten boarded their vehicles for the short drive back to the house, Scooter, Chase’s loyal dog, was sitting in the library back home in Briarcliff Manor, staring at the windows. He was looking specifically at one pane of glass in the center, the one Chase was told to never, ever, clean or touch.

  Scooter started barking as if he saw something that clearly was not there. The Scrabble game was indeed locked away, but that did not mean the mansion at Briarcliff, so full of history, shadows, and mischief, had finished revealing its secrets. And a big one was about to show itself the moment Chase got home.

  CHAPTER 31

  Hidden Heart

  Despite the colder weather, Gavin had left a window open in the front of the mansion at Briarcliff. So, before Chase reached for the doorknob to go in, they both heard Scooter barking loudly from deep inside the house. Any pet owner can tell you that dogs have different barks: one when they’re excited, one when they feel threatened, and one when they want your attention. That was the bark Chase heard four times at the church back in Manchester, Vermont, years earlier, and the same one she was hearing right now.