Guests and Guilt

by Diana Xarissa

  Guests and Guilt

  An Isle of Man Ghostly Cozy

  Diana Xarissa

  Text Copyright © 2018 Diana Xarissa

  Cover Copyright © 2018 Linda Boulanger – Tell Tale Book Covers

  All Rights Reserved

  Created with Vellum

  Contents

  Author’s Note

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Acknowledgments

  Hop-tu-Naa and Homicide

  By the Same Author

  About the Author

  For everyone who is a little sister.

  Author’s Note

  Here we are, seven books into the series, and I thought it was high time we met some of Fenella’s relatives. She does have four older brothers, after all. I’m really enjoying writing about her, and it was fun bringing James over for a visit. Hopefully, if any of her other brothers decide to visit, things will go better for them.

  I believe the series is best read in (alphabetical) order, but each story should be enjoyable on its own, if you prefer. While the book is set in the Isle of Man, a UK crown dependency, Fenella grew up and lived most of her life in the US. For that reason, the book is written primarily in American English. The only exception is when UK or island-born characters are speaking. I try to make sure that they speak in British English. Fenella is trying to start to use British English, but she usually forgets.

  This is a work of fiction. All of the characters are products of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. The shops, restaurants, and businesses in this story are also fictional. The historical sites and other landmarks on the island are all real; however, all of the events that take place within them in this story are fictional.

  You are more than welcome to get in touch to share your thoughts or just to say hello. I love hearing from readers. All of my contact details are available in the back of the book. Thanks for spending time with Fenella and her friends.

  1

  “Hello, baby sister,” the voice on the other end of the phone said.

  Fenella frowned and then forced herself to smile. “James, what a surprise. I haven’t heard from you in ages.”

  “I’m really busy,” her older brother replied. “But I’ve been thinking about you.”

  “Have you, now? How nice,” Fenella replied, bracing herself for what she knew was going to follow. James always needed money. The only question was how much he was going to ask for today.

  “So much so that I’ve decided to pay you a visit,” was his unexpected reply.

  “A visit?” Fenella echoed.

  “Yep. I’ll be there next week. You can pick me up at the airport, right? I’ll send you a postcard with my flight details. I can stay in your apartment, can’t I? I can just crash on the couch. That would be fine.”

  “I have a guest room,” Fenella said as her stunned brain tried to think. As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she was sorry she’d said them. She didn’t want James staying with her. She didn’t even want him on the island.

  “Excellent. I won’t be any bother. I just need a break, you know? I’ve been working too hard lately.”

  “On what?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “What have you been working too hard on?” Fenella asked, wincing at the bad grammar.

  “The next book, of course.”

  “Yes, of course,” she sighed. “Send me the details, then, and I’ll pick you up at the airport.”

  “I can only stay for three weeks,” he said, “but that should be plenty of time for me to decide if I want to move there or not, shouldn’t it?”

  “Oh, yes, plenty of time,” Fenella said. Before she could say anything else, James hung up on her.

  “Plenty of time,” she muttered as she banged her head against the nearest wall.

  “My dear child, what are you doing?” Mona demanded.

  Fenella looked over at the ghost of her dead aunt who was still staying in the fabulous apartment she’d left to Fenella. “Trying to keep from screaming,” she said softly.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “James is coming for a visit.”

  Mona frowned. “I never liked James. I always thought your mother spoiled him, as he was the youngest, well, until you came along, of course. But that made things worse, because suddenly, at twelve, he wasn’t the baby anymore.”

  “Well, whatever you think of him, he’s coming for a visit.”

  “When? I shall have to go away to the ghost hotel while he’s here, I think.”

  “There’s a ghost hotel?” Fenella asked, surprised.

  Mona shook her head. “No, but perhaps I can petition for one before James arrives.”

  “You can petition…” Fenella began and then trailed off. Mona was always saying outrageous things about the afterlife. Fenella was usually better at just ignoring them, but clearly hearing from James had befuddled her.

  “So tell me about James,” Mona said. “I remember him as a child, of course, but when I used to visit your mother in the US, he was rarely there. Didn’t he write a novel or something?”

  “Yes, that’s exactly what he did. He wrote a book, got it published, and even won an award or two. That was thirty or more years ago, though. He’s been living on that one accomplishment ever since.”

  “I didn’t realize writing paid that well.”

  “It doesn’t. James got a healthy advance and was persuaded by my other brothers to invest it wisely. He bought himself a small house in the Poconos to serve as his retreat where he could focus on his next masterpiece. He gets enough royalties every year to just about survive, as his book keeps appearing on reading lists at various colleges and universities. As far as I know, he’s never done much more on book two than make outlines and then burn them in his fireplace.”

  “He’s not married?”

  “He’s too much of a free spirit to marry,” Fenella sighed. “I’ve stopped trying to keep track of his girlfriends. They never last long. His serious lack of money seems to deter most of them and his unwillingness to commit drives away the rest.”

  “He sounds charming,” Mona said dryly.

  Fenella shrugged. “I’m sure he can be when he wants to bother. He never seems to have trouble finding women. His problem is keeping them around.”

  “And now he’s coming here,” Mona sighed.

  “Yeah, hurray,” Fenella sighed.

  “Do you and James not get along, then?” Mona asked.

  “He went and talked to a lawyer about contesting your will,” Fenella replied.

  Mona gasped. “You can’t let him stay here, then. I won’t allow it.”

  “He’s my big brother. Of course he will stay here.”

  “I assume he wanted to contest my will because he wanted to get his hands on my money. As soon as he sees this flat, he’s going to start demanding that you give him some.”

  “He can make whatever demands he wants. The money is legally mine and it’s up to me how I spend it.”

  “Don’t give in to him, even though he is your brother,” Mona told her. “If I’d wanted him to have my money, I’d have left it to him.”

  “It’s my money now,” Fenella reminded her. “It may be easier to give him some just to get him to stop bothering me.”

  When Fenella had inherited Mona’s estate, she’d quit her job, sold h
er house, and moved back to the Isle of Man. While she’d been born there, her family had moved to the US when she had been only two, and she hadn’t even visited in the forty-plus years that had passed since then. The estate included the gorgeous luxury apartment where Fenella was now living, an expensive sports car, and several bank accounts. For some months Fenella had been living fairly frugally as she tried to work out how expensive life on the island was going to be.

  A recent meeting with the lawyer who was dealing with the estate had given Fenella a much better idea of her financial position. She’d been shocked to discover that Mona had been considerably wealthier than Fenella had initially believed. Money was no longer a worry for Fenella, and the idea of sharing some of her good fortune with her brother wasn’t out of the question any longer.

  “I still don’t like the idea of you giving him anything,” Mona said. “I want to be here when he arrives, but if he’s anything like you’ve suggested, I will probably stay elsewhere during his visit.”

  “I wish I could stay elsewhere during his visit.”

  “You can, of course. You own a number of properties around the island,” Mona reminded her. “Maybe you should go and stay in one of them, rather than staying here. There are some with multiple bedrooms, so you and James could each have your own room.”

  “That’s a tempting thought, actually. I’m not sure I want James in this apartment. It’s my home and it’s rather, well, personal to me.”

  “You haven’t done one thing to personalize the space.”

  “No, because it’s perfect just the way it is. James won’t appreciate it, though. He’ll just see dollar signs on every piece of furniture.”

  “Ring Doncan and find out which of your properties is empty,” Mona suggested. “I’m sure there will be a little house somewhere on the island that you could move into before James arrives. He doesn’t even have to know about this flat.”

  “I’d really rather be outside of the center of Douglas with him, actually. Here he can walk to dozens of pubs, and knowing James, he’ll want to try them all. It would probably be better for both of us if I could keep him from drinking too much.”

  “Ring Doncan,” Mona repeated herself.

  Fenella did just that, luckily getting an appointment for the next day.

  “What do you think?” she asked Katie, the small black kitten who’d walked into Fenella’s apartment just after Fenella had arrived. It hadn’t taken long for Katie to make herself at home.

  “Merrroowww,” Katie replied.

  “You don’t want to meet your Uncle James? No, I don’t blame you. Maybe you can stay with Shelly and Smokey while he’s here.”

  “Meerrew,” was the reply.

  “Go for a walk,” Mona suggested a short time later as Fenella paced around the apartment. “You’re making both Katie and me crazy with all your pacing.”

  “I’m worried about James’s visit.”

  “Yes, I know that, but wearing a hole in the carpets isn’t going to make things any better. Go walk up and down the promenade until you’re too tired to walk anymore. By then it will be time for dinner and then you can watch mindless television until bedtime. Tomorrow, you and Doncan can work out how to deal with James.”

  Mona was right, even if Fenella hated to admit it. She ran a comb through her shoulder-length brown hair. It was probably time to get her color touched up and more highlights added, she thought. While she would be fifty in less than two years, she didn’t want to look fifty. Keeping her grey hair covered up made all of the difference. She added a fresh coat of lip gloss to her lips and then shrugged. She wasn’t likely to see anyone that she wanted to impress on the promenade, anyway.

  She was locking her door behind her when the door to the apartment next to hers opened.

  “Hello, hello,” Shelly Quirk said in her typically bubbly way.

  “Hello,” Fenella replied. “I was just heading out for a walk. I don’t suppose you’d care to join me.”

  Shelly grinned. “I was just going to do the very same thing,” she said. “I had lunch with Gordon, and I ate far too much. I really should walk all the way to Peel or something, but I’ll settle for a brisk stroll up and down the promenade.”

  The pair rode the elevator down to the building’s lobby and then walked outside into the autumn sunshine. Fenella was glad she’d pulled on a light jacket before she’d left home. Shelly was wearing bright red pants with a red and white striped sweater on top. For Shelly, who loved colors and patterns in everything she wore, the look was almost subdued.

  “How is Gordon?” Fenella asked as they began their stroll.

  “He’s fine,” Shelly replied.

  “But? I can hear a but in your tone.”

  Shelly shrugged. “I just can’t work out what he wants, that’s all. I had a hard time last month, dealing with the anniversary of John’s death. Gordon was really understanding through all of that, when I didn’t want to go out or see anyone. Now, though, we’re back to going out once in a while, but I can’t tell if he’s just being friendly or if he’s, well, interested in more.”

  Shelly had lost her husband, John, just months before Fenella had moved to the island. When Shelly sold the home the pair had shared and moved into the apartment next to Mona’s, the two had become close friends. Mona had helped Shelly through the worst of her grief, encouraging the new widow to embrace life and celebrate with the bright clothes that had become Shelly’s signature.

  Not long after Fenella had arrived, Shelly had reconnected with an old friend, Gordon. He’d known both Shelly and John for many years and had been widowed himself some years ago. The pair were spending a great deal of time together, but Shelly kept expressing confusion as to where the relationship was going.

  “Ask him,” Fenella said, repeating her earlier advice. “Just flat out ask him where things are going. That’s the only way you’ll know for sure.”

  “Or I could just keep waiting,” Shelly sighed. “Waiting isn’t so bad. At least I don’t look like an idiot, asking him where things are going when things may be exactly where the man wants them to be right now.”

  “Or maybe he’s too shy to tell you that he’d like to take things further.”

  “And maybe I’m not ready for anything more than friendship, anyway.”

  Fenella stopped and gave her friend a hug. “Maybe the next time I see him, I should ask him what his intentions are,” she said. “He should understand that I’m just worried about you.”

  “I’m not ready for that yet, either, but I’ll keep it in mind. For now, let’s talk about you. How’s your love life?”

  “Nonexistent,” Fenella laughed, “and I’d thought things were going so well, too.”

  When she’d first moved to the island, it had felt like potential suitors were everywhere, but in the last month it seemed as if they’d all disappeared, leaving Fenella on her own.

  “Is Donald still in New York?”

  “Yes, his daughter is improving, but she’ll needs months of physical therapy and other treatments. He wants to bring her back to the island for those things, but she isn’t stable enough to move yet.”

  Donald Donaldson was a very wealthy man who’d romanced Fenella whenever he’d been on the island. She’s always felt as if he were simply playing with her, but he’d recently told her that he was really falling for her. She’d been trying to work out how she felt when his daughter, Phoebe, who lived in New York City, had been in a car accident. Donald had been in New York ever since, taking care of Phoebe. He called Fenella at least twice a week and had sent several bouquets of flowers to her while he’d been gone, but their relationship was on hold at the moment.

  “When did you last talk to Daniel?” Shelly asked.

  “He texted me a few days ago to say hi, but that was all he said, really,” she sighed. Daniel Robinson was a police inspector. Fenella had first met him over a dead body, and once the case was solved, she and Daniel had begun spending some time together. While
Fenella was pretty sure that they both had feelings for one another, Daniel had been off the island taking some classes for over a month now and the man’s occasional texts seemed to be coming further and further apart.

  Things were tense between them, as well, because Fenella had found herself caught up in a few murder investigations while he’d been away. After the last case, another inspector had casually mentioned that Daniel was involved with a woman he’d met on his course. Fenella had no way of knowing if that was true or not, but Daniel was due back in less than two weeks, so she’d probably have her answer soon.

  “Have you seen Peter lately?” Shelly asked. Peter Cannell lived in the apartment on the other side of Fenella’s. When she’d first arrived, he taken her out a few times, but things seemed to have settled into a comfortable friendship between them now.

  “Actually, now that you mention it, I haven’t seen him in ages.”

  “I know he’s been working more, but he’s out a lot of evenings as well. I wonder if he’s seeing someone.”

  “I don’t know, but we were never more than friends, really.”

  “Maybe you need a new man in your life,” Shelly suggested.

  “I don’t think so,” Fenella replied. “I’m enjoying being on my own, really. Katie keeps me company, anyway.”

  “I do love having Smokey around. She’s made my apartment feel a lot less empty. I don’t know that I could have made it through the anniversary of John’s death without her.”

  “Anyway, I probably need time to get over Jack.”

  Shelly laughed. “Do you really, though? From everything you’ve told me about the man, you were over him before you dumped him.”