CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER TWO

With her hand over her rapidly beating heart, Marie said: “You have to stop that, Aunt June.”

The ghost of her great-aunt simply smiled right back, gazing at her still-living great-niece. There was a mild electricity in the air—something Marie was still growing used to whenever she encountered June or any other ghostly presence. It was made all the more awkward by the fact that though she apparently now had no real problem seeing ghosts, she could still not communicate with them. She was pretty sure June heard her when she spoke, but when June opened her mouth to respond, Marie could hear nothing.

This was the fourth time she’d actually seen Aunt June since the night she had somehow expelled a ghost from Everett Inn nearly six weeks ago. The first time, she’d been pretty much terrified, but something about the way Aunt June had looked at her eased her right away. The three times after that had been exceedingly random, making Marie wonder if the gift to see her aunt’s ghost came and went whenever it wanted, or if June was choosing the oddest times to present herself to Marie: on the porch after walking Boo, in mid-sip while drinking hot tea, and after getting out of the shower.

Given Aunt June’s personality, she couldn’t help but think the timing was purposeful—Aunt June, trying to be funny.

“This is weird,” she said softly, not wanting Posey or Rebeka to hear her. “I’m not sure what to say to you.”

June nodded her see-through head. It was a little dizzying to watch. The nod seemed to communicate an agreement.

Yes,

she seemed to be saying.

It

is

rather awkward. But here we are…

June gave a knowing smile, as if she knew a secret Marie wasn’t privy to. She then slowly started to disappear, her shape and form fading out. It caused an acute sort of sadness within Marie, dwarfed by the awe of having just seen a ghost—June’s ghost, at that. And then, under it all, was a rather shaky foundation that she was surprisingly getting used to; it was the almost normal occurrence of seeing ghosts, something she assumed most people would find unbelievable.

But the last few months had changed her, had helped her to understand that she apparently had some sort of gift. And while she still wasn’t clear on whether it was her or Boo that had the ability to expel the spirits, one thing was quickly becoming clear to her: she without a doubt had the ability to

see

them.

Though, ever since casting out the ghost from Everett Inn, it seemed that the only ghost she could actually see was Aunt June. And

that

unlocked even more questions, the most prominent of which was: Was she only seeing Aunt June because June was the only ghost residing at June Manor?

She supposed another ghost-expelling job could answer that question, but she’d not had a call for one since Everett Inn.

All of this went parading through her head as she stared at the space where Aunt June had been standing. She felt herself almost trying to

summon

her back, but of course, it did not work. She was so focused on it that when her phone rang on the check-in desk behind her, she nearly screamed. She looked around, embarrassed, hoping Posey, Rebeka, or any of her guests had not seen her jump. Cheeks flushed red, she picked up her phone. She nearly answered it out of automatic habit but froze a bit when she saw the name on the caller display: Brendan.

They hadn’t spoken in four days, which, while it did not sound like a lot, was quite a stretch for them. In the six weeks that had passed since they’d worked together at Everett Inn, they’d only seen each other one time—a quick lunch as Brendan came back through to get some last-minute information on Everett Inn to help sell the pilot he’d put together for his new show.

Whatever romantic energy had existed between them had pretty much fizzled out as far as she was concerned. She feared that it was because her initial worries had come true—that Brendan had been more interested in her because of her help with his show than anything else. She did not think he’d done this intentionally, though; they were great friends who just happened to have gotten caught up in the moment and kissed a few times. Nothing more than that.

When she answered his call, she did her best to keep this in mind. “Hey there,” she said. “You running that network yet? You calling to offer me a television show about how to properly run and maintain a previously haunted bed-and-breakfast?”

“Hi to you, too,” he said.

God, she hated how much she liked to hear his voice. Admitting she liked him as more than a friend several weeks ago had been hard enough. Now admitting that she was going to be fine maintaining the friendship without the possibility of romance was even harder.

“No joke,” she said. “How’s everything going?”

“Well, you weren’t too far off the mark,” he said. “And I hate to do this, but I really don’t have too much time to talk. I wanted to catch you before I head into this meeting.”

“Good meeting or bad meeting?” Marie asked.

“Potentially very good,” he said. “There’s good news to lead off, though, and I wanted you to be the first person to hear it.”

“You got it?” she asked, growing excited already.

“

We

got it. There’s a bit of a bidding war going on right now. Two networks want the show. This meeting is to sort out which is the best fit.”

“So…either way, the show is a go?” she asked.

“The show is a go. And we know for a fact that one of the networks would want to feature the footage with you.”

The wave of excitement and pride that washed through her was so unexpected and powerful that she felt tears coming to her eyes. “Brendan, that’s fantastic.”

“I know. I’m…well, I’m still sort of in shock. It won’t sink in until after this meeting.”

“Will a decision be made after the meeting?”

“If not during the meeting, then certainly by the end of the day. They want to try to get at least six episodes ready for the spring television programming schedule, so there’s no time to waste.”

“I’m so happy for you!”

It was odd, but it was true. They’d known one another for only a short time but she knew how badly he wanted this—how much he

deserved

this. More than that, she found that she was proud of him, too.

“Thanks. But you know, you were a big part of it, too. If I’d never met you, I don’t know that this whole thing would have even happened.”

“Well then, I’m glad to have met you.”

“Yeah,” he said. And then there was a pause—a little catch in his voice. “Same here.” It was the sort of comment that

felt

like there might be more to it, but went left unspoken. “Okay. I’ve got to get into this meeting. I’ll do my best to keep you posted.”

“Please do. Good luck…not that you need it anymore, huh?”

He snickered a bit, gave a goodbye, and ended the call. Marie was grinning as she pocketed her phone. She felt nervous for Brendan, wishing she were a fly on the wall in that meeting. She knew how dedicated he was to his work, and how seriously he took the supernatural. And now that she was also getting more exposed to that world, she understood some of why he so cherished it.

Still grinning, she looked back to where June had been standing less than five minutes ago. She heard Posey in the kitchen, tinkering around and hopefully having made that cucumber water. She also heard a light whirring from somewhere further back in the house, the sound of the Dust Buster being used by Rebeka. The hammering and sawing from Benjamin and his crew, the very distant crashing of the sea, it all combined into a hum that warmed her heart. Coupled with Brendan’s news and the recent success of June Manor, Marie couldn’t ask for more. She was beyond happy—and it was not something she’d experienced often.

She couldn’t sit still in it, could not be stationary. She gave a little whistle for Boo and he came obediently, trotting along with his tail wagging. She hooked his leash to his collar and headed outside, just a little walk down the driveway to check the mail. Something to get a bit of her nervous energy out.

Outside, the noise of construction was louder. She could absolutely understand how guests would find it bothersome, but it was an almost musical sound to her ears. It meant growth; it meant that she’d managed to achieve the goal she’d set for herself, and then some. She was filled with thoughts and images of those two additional rooms also being rented out, and of how that would likely be the end of the new construction. She had been studying up on what made a successful bed-and-breakfast, and there was something to be said for the exclusivity and small stature. People enjoyed the small feel of a bed-and-breakfast, especially near the beach. If it was too big, it started to feel almost like a hotel and that was not—

Marie had reached the mailbox, reached inside, and grabbed the mail without much thought. She was too absorbed in her own mental picture of those two new rooms. Yet, as she routinely flipped through the mail, everything came to a stop. Her thoughts, the flipping through the mail, even her footsteps back toward the house.

Buried between her cell phone bill and a flyer for a furniture store, there was a single item that made the world feel as if it had stopped spinning.

It was a single card, a picture of a vast expanse of desert with a highway sign for Route 66. She knew what it was right away—not just a card, but a postcard.

She turned it over, though deep down in her heart, she knew what she would find there. And she was not disappointed.

It was enough of a shock to see her mother’s handwriting, much the same as it was on the postcards tucked away in the hidden room upstairs. It was an entirely different matter altogether to see that same handwriting having written the date in the upper corner of the postcard—just three days ago. The date seemed to almost magnify the fact that she’d not seen her mother since her childhood.

And yet, another thing still, to read the message on the back and realize that her mother, now confirmed to be alive by this very postcard, had no idea Aunt June had died.