The Ghost and Family Secrets (eBook)

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Chapter 1

Adam Nichols sat at the front desk of his property management and real estate office, Frederickport Vacation Properties, eating his lunch alone on the last Friday in January. Normally, when not going out to eat, he would have lunch in his private office, but his assistant, Leslie, had a dentist appointment this morning, and she hadn’t returned to work yet. Adam needed to cover the front desk in case a customer came in. But considering it was the off-season, he doubted there would be any foot traffic today.

While sitting at the desk, eating a burger he had ordered from Lucy’s Diner, Adam reflected on the changes in his life over the last five and a half years, ever since Danielle Marlow—then Danielle Boatman—moved to town.

During that time, he’d lost one of the most important people in his life when his grandma Marie died. Or, more accurately, when someone murdered her. But he got her back, thanks to Danielle.

He remembered when he first met Danielle; she was good-looking, with her long dark hair always pulled back into a fishtail braid. He only knew it was called a fishtail braid because he once overheard Mel and Heather talking about types of braids, and he found fishtail was a hilarious name for a braid.

His grandmother had been born in the house across the street from Marlow House—the house Danielle inherited. When he first met Danielle, his grandma took the young woman under her wing, seeing her as the granddaughter she always wanted. Adam remained Marie’s favorite grandson—she only had two—but Grandma adored Danielle.

Initially he found Danielle attractive, but early on deemed her an airhead, especially after she made some comment about not wanting to offend whatever spirits lingered in Marlow House. But Danielle wasn’t an airhead; she was a medium. They were all mediums: her, Walt, Chris, and Heather. Heck, even Police Chief MacDonald’s youngest son, Evan, saw ghosts. Not to mention the little ones, yet according to Chris, they might stop seeing ghosts when they got older. Apparently, both his grandmother and Lily had seen ghosts when they were very young, but a few years before their adolescence, they lost the ability.

But the changes weren’t only about Danielle and his grandma. Back then he would never have imagined he would be married now, and married to Melony, of all people. In two weeks, they would celebrate their first wedding anniversary.

Taking the last bite of his burger, Adam glanced around his office. When Danielle first hit town, he’d had more people working for him. But these days, it was only him and Leslie in the office. Now finished with his burger, Adam picked up a napkin and wiped his mouth and hands and then gathered up all the lunch debris and shoved it in the trash can under his desk. He was brushing his palms together, as if wiping off imaginary crumbs, when the front door to the office opened, and a young woman walked in, holding the hand of a little girl. Adam assumed it was mother and daughter because the child looked like the woman’s mini-me. He estimated the conservatively dressed woman, with long, wavy chestnut brown hair and brown eyes, was in her late twenties, perhaps early thirties. If she wore any makeup, it wasn’t obvious.
“Afternoon,” Adam greeted, standing up briefly. “How can I help you? I’m Adam Nichols.”

“My name is Mary Da…Mary Walsh. I’m looking for a place to rent,” she said, her voice soft. “This is my daughter, Cassandra.”

Adam smiled at the little girl. “Hello, Cassandra. That’s a pretty name. How old are you?”

“Nine,” the little girl chirped.

Adam motioned to the nearby chairs, silently suggesting they take a seat, while he sat back down. Mary pulled one chair closer to the front of Adam’s desk and sat down, while Cassandra stood by her side.

“What exactly are you looking for?”

“I need something on a month-to-month basis. Fully furnished. It’s just me and my daughter. We don’t need anything large or fancy. We don’t have any pets. I’m not sure how long we’ll be staying; it depends if I can get work. I understand you specialize in vacation rentals, but I was hoping, since it’s the off-season, prices might be lower at this time of year.”

“Are you new to town?”

She nodded in reply.

“Can I ask what type of job you’ll be looking for?”

She perked up slightly. “I was thinking housekeeping. I’ll be honest, I’ve never had a job before. But I know how to keep house. Maybe you need someone to clean your rentals?”

Adam smiled at her offer. “I will definitely keep that in mind, but I have someone who already does that. You’ll need to fill out a credit application.”

Adam started opening one of the file drawers in his desk when Mary blurted, “I can’t fill out a credit application. I don’t have any credit. I’ve never had a credit card in my name or even my own checking account. Can’t I just use money? I mean, if it’s month to month, and I’m paying you up front, why do I need to fill out a credit application?”

Adam’s hand paused. He pushed close the file drawer he had just opened. Folding his hands together on his desk, he studied Mary for a moment and asked in a kind voice, “Are you running from something?”

As he asked, he felt a gentle tug on his right ear. He froze for a moment. Another tug. His Grandma Marie was here. He wondered when she had arrived.

“Um, I haven’t broken any laws. I’m looking for a fresh start.”
The little girl leaned closer to Mary and whispered something in her ear. When the girl turned around again, Mary asked Adam, “Can she use your bathroom, please?”

“Certainly.” Adam pointed toward the bathroom door on the other side of the office.

Mary looked at her daughter and motioned toward the bathroom, but Cassandra shook her head and leaned back toward her mother and whispered something else in her ear.

A moment later Mary smiled at Adam, stood, and said, “We’ll be right back.” After Mary and Cassandra went into the bathroom and its door closed, the pen sitting on Adam’s desk floated over the desktop and began writing on a pad of paper. When it stopped writing, Adam read the words Help her.

“Grandma, how long have you been here?” Adam whispered.
The pen wrote: I followed her into the office.

* * *
That evening, as Adam and Melony made dinner together, Adam told his wife about his new tenant.

“So you actually rented one of your properties without running a credit check? Sounds risky,” Melony—always the lawyer—commented.

“You weren’t there.”

“No, your grandmother was.” Melony chuckled as she finished grating the cheese for their tacos.

“Mel, you would have wanted to help her too. I know you. Anyway, I remembered Allen’s garage apartment, which sits empty at this time of year. When I told her the rent amount, for a moment I thought she was going to kiss me.”

Melony, who had just returned the unused cheese to the refrigerator, paused a moment and looked back at Adam. In a teasing tone she asked, “Was she attractive?”

Adam, who stood by the stove, frying ground beef, glanced over to Melony and smiled. “Yes, she was. But not as gorgeous as my wife.”

Which was a correct statement. Melony’s stunning good looks had even once given Danielle a moment of insecurity, but Melony’s physical appearance was not her most impressive attribute; her most impressive attribute was her distinguished law career.

“Did she like the apartment?”

“She did. But I have a feeling she would have taken it even if she hated it. She says she’s not running from the law, but I suspect she’s running from something.”

“Leaving a domestic violence situation?”
Adam shrugged. “Maybe.”

“She paid the first month’s rent?”
“In cash. I gave her a receipt.”

“And a security deposit?”

“When I brought up a security deposit, Grandma pinched me.”
“Pinched you?” Melony snorted.

“Yeah. Grandma may not talk to me like she used to, but she has a way of letting me know what she wants. But that darn pinch almost left a bruise.”

Melony laughed and said, “I assume you didn’t ask her for a security deposit.”

“And you’d assume right.”
* * *
Walt and Danielle sat at the kitchen table in Marlow House, eating dinner while the twins, Addison and Jack, sat next to them, each sitting in a highchair, each eating a cookie. They had finished their dinner before Walt and Danielle started theirs.

The ghost of Marie Nichols sat at the kitchen table with them, telling them all about Mary and why they should hire her to replace Joanne. Marie wore a floral summer dress appropriate for a sunny warm day, yet outside, the temperatures were in the lower forties with intermittent rain.

“Joanne’s working until the end of February,” Danielle reminded Marie.

“We both know she’s only staying that long because she doesn’t want to leave you high and dry. She’s waiting for you to find someone. Joanne is loyal. But she could take the next few weeks, train someone new—someone like Mary—and retire earlier if she wants,” Marie insisted.

“You just met this person today,” Danielle reminded her.
“I wouldn’t say Marie actually met her,” Walt snarked.
Marie ignored Walt and said, “True, but I spent all day with her and Cassandra. There is something both fragile—and fierce about that young woman.”

Walt arched his eyebrows. “Fragile and fierce? One can be both?”

“Certainly,” Marie scoffed. “Anyway, I’ll stick around and keep an eye on things. And if she turns out to be a serial killer, I’ll make sure she doesn’t send anyone to my side.”

Danielle chuckled. “Well, that’s comforting.”

“Come on, dear, the poor child is all alone.”

“You said her daughter is nine? Is she enrolling her in the local school?” Danielle asked.

“I doubt it. Not from what I overheard when she was talking to the little girl. Sounds like she’s homeschooled.”

“What will she do with her daughter when she’s cleaning houses?” Danielle asked.

“I was thinking she could just bring the girl with her.”
Danielle set her fork down on the table and studied Marie for a moment. “What is it about this woman? You seem rather invested in her.”

Marie considered the question for a few moments before answering. Finally, she said, “I saw her before she went to Adam’s office. This morning I was with Eva at the museum. Eva wanted to visit her portrait.” While some might wonder why Eva Thorndike, the ghost of the silent screen star and Walt’s childhood friend during his previous life, would frequently visit her portrait at the museum, Walt and Danielle understood. A ghost could not see its reflection in the mirror, so if they wished to remember what they once looked like, they needed to look at a photograph or painting of themselves. “Mary brought her daughter into the museum right after it opened.”

“And?” Danielle asked.

Marie shrugged. “I was curious and had already said goodbye to Eva, left her in the portrait room, when I noticed the two enter the museum. I followed her. She’s one of those people who talk their thoughts aloud when they think no one is listening. There was no one else in the museum other than the docent, and after a few minutes, Mary thanked the docent and told her they just wanted to take their time and look around.”
“You mean, she didn’t want the docent following her around the museum and giving them a personal tour,” Danielle said.
“Exactly. It wasn’t Millie. One of the new ones. Anyway, Cassandra seemed fascinated with the displays and paid little attention to her mother’s ramblings.”

“But you did?” Walt asked.

Marie nodded. “From what I picked up, she’s leaving an unhappy marriage. She has some money with her, but she still needs a job. You asked me why I wanted to help her. It’s because she reminds me of me—of what could have happened had I not had my own money. I’m not saying I was unhappy in my marriage, not exactly. But it didn’t turn out as I imagined when I initially said those vows. If I had wanted to leave, I could have because I had my own money. I suspect my husband would have tried to be far more controlling had I been financially vulnerable. While she obviously has a little money with her, she’ll need a job before it runs out.”