“SOME GHOSTLY NEWS for our viewers tonight. In Brooklyn Heights, right near the famous Brooklyn Bridge, a hundred-year-old mystery has been solved and you won’t believe how it happened…”
“It was nice of her to agree not to use our names,” Emma said as she sipped from her Blue’s Clues mug. She cringed as the hot liquid touched her swollen lip. The news camera had captured the red mist, and with it, a very faint ghostly apparition, a split second before it faded away. Emma was rather impressed with the footage, but there were sure to be skeptics to dismiss such compelling evidence.
Ryan shifted beside her on the couch. “Nice? We handed her an award-winning story. Believe me there’s nothing nice about it.”
She rubbed his knee. “How does your wrist feel?”
Ryan held up the heavy cast on his arm and grimaced. “Weird.”
Thankfully, no one at the hospital had questioned their story about falling down a flight of stairs. Nicole had no trouble believing it either.
The doorbell rang, and Emma grabbed the bowl filled with candy sitting on her coffee table, plastering a pleasant smile on her face for the trick-or-treaters.
But when she answered the door, it wasn’t a young girl dressed as Hannah Montana or a teenager dressed as wolverine. “Betsy! Come in.”
“Hello, dear. I hope you don’t mind me dropping by. I asked my daughter-in-law if she wouldn’t mind stopping here before driving me home.”
“Not at all. Where are your grandkids?”
“Their mom took them trick-or-treating around your neighborhood. She didn’t want the kids to get bored. She’ll be back soon.”
Emma showed her into the living room, where she took a seat in the chair next to the couch. Ryan greeted Betsy with a smile.
“Oh, dear, I’m so sorry about your arm. I hope it doesn’t hurt too much.”
Ryan waved away her concern. “Nah. Besides, I should be flying high on painkillers any minute now.”
“So.” Betsy clasped her hands on her lap. “Let’s hear it.”
It took the better part of an hour for Emma to explain all the events of the afternoon.
Betsy’s hand shook as she brought it up to her throat. “So you’re telling me that I bought a home in which my aunt was murdered and buried?”
“Yes.” Emma went to her, placing her hand on the older woman’s shoulder. “Oh, Betsy, I’m sorry. I’m not being very thoughtful. This must all be very upsetting.”
She smiled tentatively. “I must admit, when our grandparents told us about their Aunt Ruby, my siblings and cousins and I always fantasized that she’d gone off on a great journey where she put her gifts to good use. Or she’d run off with a man to a tropical island somewhere.”
She looked at Emma with tears in her eyes. “Now, I learn she was murdered and stuffed in a fireplace for over a hundred years. I’d say that would upset just about anyone.”
“She did make sure it would be safe for you to live there.” Pulling a tissue from its box, she offered it to Betsy.
“Thank you, my dear.”
“I’ll be right back.”
Emma went into her office and came back with Ruby’s letters.
“What are these?” Betsy asked, taking them.
“They’re the letters we took from behind the mirror. We don’t need them anymore. They belong to you.”
Betsy went through the letters, reading each one as Ryan and Emma watched the evening news. When Betsy was done, she handed them back to Emma. “Thank you for sharing them with me.”
“What? But they’re yours.”
“These letters mean more to you than they ever will to me. In fact, I want you to have everything behind the mirror.”
Her eyes grew wide. “What? Oh, no Betsy, I couldn’t. What about the Smith family?”
“I was unsuccessful in my attempt to find them.” Betsy took Emma’s hands in hers. “My dear, you have done so much for that house. You returned it to its former beauty. You found and freed the ghost of a good woman. And you saved my life from evil unimagined.”
Emma shook her head, overwhelmed by it all. “But I didn’t do it for a reward.”
“I know that, dear. None of those things behind the mirror will ever mean as much to me as they do to you.”
“I really can’t.”
“I will be very hurt if you don’t accept.”
The last thing she wanted to do was hurt this dear woman. “Thank you.”
“Good. Now tell me what you’re hiding from me.”
She glanced over at Ryan, who looked as curious as Betsy. “What makes you think I’m hiding something?”
Betsy simply sat forward and raised her eyebrows.
Emma studied the letters in her lap. “I’ve spoken to Ruby. I’ve touched her. In fact, she took me into a memory and I saw how she died.”
“You didn’t tell me that,” Ryan said in surprise.
“I didn’t have the chance until now.”
“Why would you hide that from me?” Betsy asked.
“Because I didn’t want you to wonder why she chose to reach out to me instead of you.”
“She will come to me. Now that she knows it’s safe.”
“How did you know I was hiding something from you?”
Betsy sat back and grinned secretively. “Ruby was my aunt.”
“And?”
“She was an intuitive. She knew things about people they didn’t even know. Some say she could read minds. She especially liked finding soul mates and getting them together. Those kinds of things run in families.”
“You have gifts, too?”
“We all do. Some are just stronger than others.” She studied her. “We shouldn’t be afraid of them. We should embrace and use them to do God’s will.”
She nodded.
Betsy stayed with them for about an hour before her family came to collect her. Emma walked her to the door. Ryan had long since passed out on the sofa.
“I’m going to be at the brownstone tomorrow,” Betsy said. “I want you and Ryan to be there when I say goodbye to Ruby.”
Emma glanced back at the man she loved, snoring and catching flies. “We wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
***
Any fears Emma had about entering the brownstone were put to rest as soon as she stepped over the threshold. The house felt warm, as if it hugged her as soon as she entered. There was no red mist, no smell of musk, and no feeling of impending doom.
It no longer felt angry.
With most of the work completed, it looked almost the way it had back in 1888, but with the modern conveniences of the twenty-first century. Soon, Betsy would be moving in and her vision of living out her final years facing the Brooklyn Bridge would come true.
Emma was going to miss this place terribly.
“Would you please join me in the master bedroom?” Betsy said as she greeted them in the parlor.
Together, Ryan with his left arm in a sling and right hand clasped firmly in hers, they mounted the steps to the third floor. When they entered the room, Emma stopped short and gasped.
Ryan stopped also. “What? What’s wrong?”
By the fireplace, Ruby stood with a welcoming smile. Hilary was at the window, glaring and looking as though she wanted to commit several more murders.
“It is all right, my dear.” Ruby waved her forward. “Now that her sins are known to the world, she is no longer a danger to you or anyone else. That is to be her own private hell for all eternity.”
Emma stepped forward and looked to Betsy for reassurance.
“Ryan, give me your right hand. Emma, touch his arm,” Betsy instructed.
Emma did as she was told, but with a frown of confusion. “Why?”
“Because Aunt Ruby wants Ryan to be able to hear what she has to say.”
Emma didn’t question further. She wasn’t sure she was ready to hear the answer.
With all three of them linked, the room filled with a lovely sky-blue haze. Ruby and Hilary came more into focus, seeming more solid.
Ryan stiffened beside her. “Oh, God, this is weird.”
“Ryan, Emma, my dear Betsy, I am so pleased you were able to join me before I go.”
Ruby drifted closer, her smile beaming as she spoke to Ryan. “I want you to take care of my special girl here.” She nodded toward Emma.
He looked at Emma and grinned. “You bet.”
“I do hope to be at your wedding, but I can’t promise anything.”
Ryan looked as if he she’d just ordered him to kiss a man. “I—well—we’re not—”
Ruby sighed. “Please don’t act like you weren’t going to ask her.”
“Well, yeah, I was, but I wanted it to be a surprise.”
Ruby reached out and touched his cheek. He shuddered, but his smile was warm. “My dear boy, I was murdered and holed up in a fireplace for over a hundred years. When I was set free, I declined an invitation from God to go to heaven simply so I could stay here and help you and Emma get together. I think I, at least, deserve to hear the proposal.”
Ryan turned to Emma. “She has a point.”
She nodded, holding her breath.
“So, uh…” He shifted from foot to foot and rolled his head. “Will you marry me?”
She choked back a sob. “I have a feeling if I even think about saying no, I’ll be the next one walled up in a fireplace.”
“Is—is that a yes?”
Don’t cry, don’t cry. It’s only gonna hurt. Despite her inner chanting, tears slid down her bruised face. “Yes!”
Happiness shone in Ryan’s eyes. He kissed her gently.
Emma’s heart exploded with love. She cupped his face in her hands and deepened the kiss, the pain of her swollen lip be damned.
Betsy cleared her throat. “Now, now, there’s time enough for that later.”
Ruby took Betsy’s free hand. “I’m so glad I was able to meet you. I trust you will make sure my story is told in our family for generations to come?”
“I promise.”
Ruby released her niece’s hand and turned to Emma, who said, “I think I’ll miss you most of all, scarecrow.”
The ghost looked at her in confusion. “I beg your pardon?”
She offered a sheepish grin. “It was after your time.”
“Emma. My heroine. You have questions for me.”
Damn, these intuitives can be annoying. Well, no sense in denying it, so she might as well ask away. “Why is it I can talk to ghosts? Why am I suddenly getting visions?”
Ruby placed her finger on her chin, an odd thing for a ghost to do, Emma thought. “I could not become a ghost until my remains were removed from the house. So when you broke though the fireplace wall, my essence escaped and it passed through you. You must have felt it.”
“I did. So you think you gave me some of your gifts when you passed though me?”
“No, I believe you always had those abilities, but they lay dormant. When I passed through you, I awakened them. If I had to guess, those headaches you suffer are not due to chocolate but to suppressing your abilities.”
“I’m not sure I want to thank you for that just yet.”
Ruby chuckled. “You will, in good time.” Her brow furrowed, her eyes shifting between Ryan and Emma. “Who is the child?”
Emma glanced at Betsy and Ryan before turning back to the ghost. “Child?”
Ruby’s eyes became intense as she studied them. “Your ribbon is in a bow. There must be a child.”
Emma had no idea what ribbon Ruby was referring to, but she answered anyway. “Well, I have a daughter, Nicole.”
Ruby’s eyes moved to Ryan. “You love her like your own.”
He nodded.
“It’s because of this child that you were able to defeat Hilary.”
“I thought it was the seashell and the salt.” Goodness, she was confused.
“That helped you save Betsy, yes, but by the time Ryan arrived the sun had already begun to sink toward the horizon, and on Halloween, no less. Hilary’s hatred had grown much stronger. Only the bond that forms from the shared love of a child would’ve been strong enough to fight her and win.”
“Nicole saved us,” Emma whispered.
“Yes, and you must thank her for me.” Ruby stepped back.
As if on cue, a flicker of light appeared in the center of the room, growing larger and larger until it lit up the space with a dancing golden glow.
“I believe that’s my sign, but before I go…”
She turned to Hilary, now just a dull, dark shape. The evil spirit glared back. “I have never been one to seek revenge in life. It is a hateful emotion that wastes energy best used for more positive things. Because of your sins against me, you are to live in this house with my descendants to whom you owe an eternity of servitude. I find no joy in this, only sorrow that you could not overcome your cowardice and hatred, even in death. I leave now, knowing Hilary Smith will never again cause another human being an ounce of pain.”
The brilliant white light burst, and then Ruby was gone.
Emma stared at the spot where her Lady in the Shawl once stood. The lilacs were gone. The blue mist was gone. The mystery was gone.
Only the memories remained, along with the man by her side.
She smiled sadly. “I’ll miss her.”
Betsy put a comforting arm around her shoulder. “No, you won’t. I have a feeling Ruby will find ways to make sure she’s remembered.”
“You think so?”
“I do. Especially any time you use your gifts.”
Emma chuckled nervously. “But I don’t know how to use them.”
“Let’s start with a simple exercise. Look at your fiancé and think of your future together. Concentrate hard, now.”
Feeling rather silly, Emma looked into Ryan’s eyes, the eyes she loved so much, and concentrated. Then she gasped and blinked several times.
“What?” he asked, startled.
Emma’s mouth opened, but no sound came out. After only a few heartbeats she found her voice. “Oh, nothing, I was just surprised when it actually worked.”
He smiled eagerly. “So, what did you see?”
“I saw that we’re very happy.”
He hugged her. Emma laid her chin on his shoulder, chewing on her lip. She did see them as happy. She just wasn’t sure how Ryan would react to one day being the father of four kids.
Some things were better left as a surprise.