The lights in the bathroom flickered on and off as I finished my makeup. Thankfully, Edward's Victorian era propriety kept him from lingering anywhere near my private rooms as he termed them. My bedroom and bathroom were off limits just like the world past my front porch. Only he'd voluntarily created the border on this side of the house. The front yard and everything beyond it were off limits because his spirit was confined to the house where he died. I supposed it was a good thing that unhappy haunts weren’t allowed to wander the earth freely. The world would be a chaotic mess, even more so than it was without disenchanted souls causing havoc.
The lights went off just as I finished my mascara. My windowless bathroom was drowned in darkness. I had to feel for the doorknob. My fingers wrapped around it just as the lights flashed back on. They flickered for a few seconds before going off again.
I left the bathroom and headed to the cellar door in the kitchen. Tom Fielding's work lights must have been running on their own battery pack. I shielded my eyes from the harsh glow bursting up the basement stairs. "Tom, the lights are out. I'm still getting ready for work. Haven't made my coffee yet."
His giant head peered around the corner where the antiquated fuse box was located. "Are you sure? I haven't turned off the electricity yet."
I turned back and glanced to the clock on the stove. "Yes, it's off."
Tom scratched his wide chin. "Hmm, not sure what's happening but then these old houses are such a wiring mess it could have nothing to do with my work. I'll see what I can find out."
"Thanks."
"The man is an imbecile," Edward scoffed behind me. I shut the cellar door, even though there was no way Tom could have heard the comment.
"I'm sure it's something that can easily be fixed. It has to be. I'm hosting visitors tonight, my first at the Cider Ridge Inn."
"I can tell you that the light fixtures buzzed, fizzled, popped and did everything but emit light yesterday while you were out of the house. I think you can expect to give your visitors quite the show this evening." Edward swept up Newman's ball. The dog sat straight up from his morning nap as if someone had flipped on his switch. Edward popped the ball up into the air and Newman caught it snugly between his teeth.
"Don't play catch with him right now. I'm late for work and there is no coffee and I'm already tense about tonight." I pulled the coffee carafe out from the machine and shook it to see if there was enough for a cold cup. "Darn it. There's not enough coffee here for a mouse. I'm going to have to stop by the coffee shop." I took a step and the tennis ball whizzed past my head and bounced off the wall before shooting back toward Newman.
I turned a fiery gaze on Edward. He shrugged his vaporous shoulders. "Sorry it slipped."
"It slipped? Balls don't generally fly like missiles when they've slipped. Please, Edward. Can't you find someplace else to be right now? I'm not in the mood for your antics."
"You are very disagreeable this morning." He floated up to his favorite perch on the kitchen hearth.
"Guilty as charged and yet I plan to stay disagreeable." The pressure suddenly placed on me by my sister and my editor had really pushed me out of the wrong side of the bed. Tom, in the center of it all, fudging with the electricity only made things worse.
The lights turned back on. I waited a moment to see if they had stabilized. It seemed they had. I quickly filled the coffee maker and dumped a good scoop of medium roast into the basket. I was going to need an extra kick today. I pushed the on button and the pot whispered its comforting hissing sound to let me know in a few minutes I'd be sipping a hot, rich cup of Joe.
The gentle sigh of all the appliances turning off followed. The green brewing light went off and I was back to square one. "Oh, come on. Not today."
Car doors and voices took me to the front window. Raine and Lana were deep in conversation, arms loaded with boxes. "Of course. And now my sister shows up to revamp the dining room for the guests." I zipped past Edward who was watching my hectic morning from his perch.
I swung open the front door. "Please tell me there's a fresh pot of coffee in one of those boxes."
Lana carried her box up the step. "I could tell you there is but I'd be lying."
Raine grinned as she trudged past with her box. "Sorry no coffee here either. Just linens, silverware and dishes."
"Could you grab the baskets from the truck, Sunni?" Lana called as she was halfway to the dining room.
"Sure, I've got nothing better to do this morning," I muttered as I walked out to Lana's truck. Lana had filled individual baskets with snacks, pens, notepads, and mini flashlights. She'd hand-painted names on each flashlight. I grabbed two of the baskets and carried them into the house.
Lana was standing in the center of my unfinished dining room mind mapping the arrangement of chairs and air mattresses. She pointed to the corner of the room for me to set down the baskets. Her hands settled on her hips as she stared up at the bare wires curling down from the ceiling. "I forgot you don't have a chandelier in here yet. There's plenty of light now through the windows but I'll need to bring over some lamps to set up around the room."
"Might be a lot of trouble for nothing." I lowered the baskets to the unfinished hardwood floors. "The electricity is being fickle this morning. Hence my impassioned plea for coffee."
Lana's lip curled. "Uh oh, Sunni without coffee can make for a bad morning. I could go back to the farm and make you a pot."
"No, I'll get some on the way to work. Tom Fielding is here working on the electricity. Hopefully he'll figure out why the lights are flickering on and off this morning. Guess those cute personal flashlights will come in handy."
Edward's constant need to be entertained by earthly humans brought him to the dining room. I scowled quickly at him which only made his image solidify more. Raine stomped right past him with two more baskets. She stumbled forward and nearly dropped the goodies. I froze to the spot as she swished her head back and forth looking for something. "Did you guys feel that?"
"Feel what?" Lana asked.
"It felt like someone brushed my arm with cold air."
I snuck a questioning look at Edward. He returned a sheepish smile. Ever since Raine had conducted a séance in the house to summon Edward, he'd found great entertainment in teasing her.
Raine wriggled once as if to get rid of a creeping sensation. "APPS certainly picked the right place for their visit. It seems the air is thick with paranormal activity today. Too bad they are mostly a bunch of amateurs. They'll probably miss every subtlety."
"Actually," Lana said, "flickering lights are perfect. Ghosts are always doing stuff like that."
Edward laughed dryly. "What nonsense. Why on earth would ghosts do something as mundane as turning lights on and off? Maybe I should pull on a bed sheet and yell boo as well."
I stomped my foot lightly and glowered at him to be quiet.
"Woo, sis, you need to go get that coffee. You're scowling like the Grinch this morning. Just leave all this to Raine and me and don't worry about a thing. I'm sure the visitors will hear plenty of creaks and moans in this old place, enough to keep their overactive imaginations chattering for months."
Raine cleared her throat loudly to show her displeasure at Lana's comment. "The cold touch on my arm had nothing to do with my imagination. It happened. There is a ghost in this house sure as there is a nose on my face."
Lana put up her hand to stop Raine's lecture. "Yes, you're right. But you have to understand, Raine, people like Sunni and me, who have no psychic ability, no connection to the afterworld, have a hard time believing. It's easy to be a skeptic when you can’t hear or feel or sense paranormal events. So you have to give us a break."
I was just disgruntled enough from my morning to feel defensive. "Don't lump me into your skeptic world, Lana. I sense things plenty in this house. Sometimes I'm even irritated by all of it." I raised a brow at Edward. He lifted his in return just before vanishing.
Lana appeared somewhat stunned at my confession. She laughed dryly. "Are you saying you've seen ghosts in the house?"
Raine's eyes widened as she waited breathlessly for my response. If there was anyone in the world I wanted to reveal my secret to, it was Raine. But I'd made a promise to Edward. Besides it was entirely up to him. He decided who could hear and see him and at the moment that club was small, namely myself and two border collies who weren't very discerning about the company they kept.
"I'm not saying I've seen an actual ghost," I said.
Lana's expression and condescending nod came straight out of the big sister's handbook on putting silly little sisters in their place.
"I just prefer to keep a more open mind," I said, adding in a little sister's 'so there' chin lift. It had about as much effect as it did back when I was ten.
"See, Sunni is a true friend," Raine quipped. "Now where do I put the air mattresses?"
"I'm out of here," I said. "Must. Have. Coffee." I waved on my way out the door.