Taquitos from Beach Taco sounded good. But what she really wanted was nachos. Nachos from Beach Taco were a killer—piled with beans, grated cheddar cheese, chili peppers, diced tomatoes and onions, and topped with salsa, homemade guacamole and their spicy sour cream concoction. Heather’s stomach growled. She was practically salivating at the thought. Unfortunately, even the smallest nacho order was too much for her, and Heather usually split them with Chris. But he had gone to lunch with his uncles, and while she might get Eva to join her for lunch to keep her company, the ghost wouldn’t be sharing her food. Plus, nachos weren’t terrific as leftovers. She had tried that once, and the tortilla chips ended up soggy and soft.
She wondered when Chris would return so she could go to lunch. Heather glanced at the clock and then at Eva, who sat on Chris’s office chair, staring toward the entry.
“You know, you didn’t have to stay with me. You could have gone with Chris,” Heather reminded her.
Eva looked at Heather and shrugged. “I got the feeling Chris didn’t want me tagging along. I suppose I could have gone without him knowing, but that seems deceitful.”
“So it is true, just because I can see a ghost doesn’t mean I will always see one if it’s there.”
In response Eva vanished. The next moment she reappeared. “I never left.”
“Ahh…so it is true.”
Eva shook her head. “Not necessarily.”
Heather frowned. “What do you mean?
“You should know by now our powers—so to speak—are often unique to our situation. Walt, for example, was fully capable of making himself invisible to someone like Danielle, as well as his ability to move objects, but harnessing those powers meant he was limited in range. I know of some spirits who can control who can see them—even making themselves visible to people who typically can’t see spirits.”
“Ahh…like Darlene Gusarov.”
Eva nodded. “Exactly. And some spirits are incapable of making themselves invisible to someone like you. Of course, that doesn’t mean they can’t harness that particular skill with practice.”
Heather sat up straight in the chair and looked to the entry. “I think I heard something,” she whispered. “They’re back.”
Hunny, who had been sleeping in the corner, jumped up and ran to Chris, who had just walked in the front door, his uncles trailing behind him. While Chris had left the diner first, his uncles had arrived back to the office minutes after he pulled up.
Before leaning down to greet his dog, Chris tossed an envelope on a nearby table. “I stopped at the post office after lunch, picked up some stamps.”
“That’s what took you so long. I’m starving.” Heather snatched her purse from under her desk and stood up.
“You could have come with us,” Chris reminded her.
“I like my eyes.”
“You could have closed up and left to get something to eat,” Chris added.
“I wanted to keep Eva company,” Heather said with a grin.
After Heather left the office, Loyd looked down at Chris’s dog and said, “I thought the dog’s name was Hunny.”
Chris glanced down at his pit bull, who now sat by his side, tail wagging.
“It is Hunny,” Chris told him.
“I thought Heather just called her Eva?” Simon asked.
Chris looked innocently to Simon. “She did?”
“And what did she mean she liked her eyes?” Loyd asked.
Chris shrugged. “I think it’s in reference to not wanting to stab them with a fork.”
“What in tarnation does that mean?” Loyd snapped.
Chris chuckled. “Nothing. Just an inside joke.”
“Inside joke? Not a very funny one,” Loyd grumbled.
“So what are you two planning for the rest of the afternoon?” Chris asked. “I have a few things here I have to wrap up. In fact, I was surprised to see you pull up when I got back. I assumed you were out exploring.”
“I’d like that tour you offered earlier,” Loyd said. “I’m feeling pretty chipper today. I think I can handle those stairs.” To emphasize his point, he whacked his cane against the floor several times.
“Sure, I’d love to give you a tour,” Chris said. “Now?”
“If you don’t mind. Not sure if I’ll feel this good later.”
Chris turned to the doorway, Loyd following him, but then paused and looked back at Simon, who had just sat down. “You want to come with us, Uncle Simon?”
“No. You two go. I’ve already been up there. I think I would like to rest.”
“I’ll stay down here too,” Eva called out.
Chris flashed Eva a smile and then looked down at Hunny. “You stay down here until I come back.”
“Hunny, dear,” Eva said, translating for Chris, as Hunny wasn’t really sure what Chris was telling him, “you stay with me until Chris returns.”
Hunny looked from Eva to Chris and then let out a little grunt before walking to Chris’s desk and lying down under it.
“I’m impressed; she seems to listen to you,” Simon murmured.
“I had a little help,” Chris said with a chuckle before continuing on his way upstairs with Loyd.
After Chris and Loyd left the room, Simon stood up and eyed Hunny nervously. “I wish he would have taken you upstairs.”
“If you and your brother would simply go back to where you came from, you wouldn’t have to deal with Hunny,” Eva smirked.
Eva watched Simon as he walked to Chris’s file drawer and opened it. “Oh, you nosy thing you! Just wait until I tell Chris.”
She watched as Simon hastily rifled through the files. After a few moments he pulled out a piece of paper, set it on the desk, and then snapped a picture of it with his phone. In an instant Eva changed positions and was now sitting on the edge of the desk, looking down at the document. After taking the picture, Simon returned it to its place in the file cabinet and then removed another document.
“What are you up to?” Eva wondered aloud.
She watched as Simon hastily removed one document after another from the file drawer, snapping a photo of each one. He did this five times and then quickly shut the drawer—all the documents returned to their original files.
She watched as he looked at his phone. He appeared to be doing that texting thing. She then heard a swishing sound coming from his phone. Simon smiled, congratulated himself on the good work, and then tucked the phone back in his pocket.
“I need to speak to you about your uncles,” Eva told Chris after Loyd and Simon left the office.
“Eva, I know you don’t like them. But it is Christmas, and they are family, and—”
“Simon rifled through your file drawer and took pictures of some of the documents.”
Chris stared at Eva. “He didn’t.”
She nodded. “He did.”
“What documents?”
“Open the drawer, and I’ll show you which ones.”
Chris frowned at Eva, but he went to the file drawer and opened it. She stood by his side, looking into the drawer as he shuffled through the files, trying to find the documents that had interested Simon.
Eva pointed to the corner of one piece of paper sticking out of a file. “Wait, let me see that one.”
Chris removed the document and showed it to Eva. She nodded. “That was one of them.”
“Why would he be interested in that?” Chris muttered.
“I have no idea why he took a picture of it. I just know that’s one of them. I counted. He took pictures of five different pages from that drawer.”
“Okay, let’s see if we can find the other four.”
Lily dunked her chocolate chip cookie in her glass of milk before taking a bite. She sat with Danielle at Marlow House’s kitchen table, discussing their plans for Christmas.
“How’s your mom handling it, you not spending Christmas with them this year?” Danielle asked.
Lily shrugged and dunked the last bite of her cookie. “I reminded her we spent last Christmas with them. And I told her I want to spend Christmas in our own house. I wanted my own tree.”
“Does this mean you aren’t having Christmas dinner here?” Danielle asked.
“Are you kidding? I’m not about to miss the feast you put out.”
Danielle grabbed herself a cookie. “I’m surprised Ian’s parents aren’t coming for Christmas. After all, both their kids live here.”
“Please, they were here for Thanksgiving; isn’t that enough?”
Danielle chuckled.
Lily picked up a napkin and wiped her hands. She crumpled it up and tossed it on the table. “You know what Kelly asked me?”
“What?”
“She wanted to know if it was true, were you really dating Walt Marlow.”
Danielle smiled. “So it’s out there now.” She took a bite of her cookie.
Lily nodded and leaned back in her chair. “Yep. I reminded her how helpful you’ve been since his accident. And, well, he’s been in Frederickport for over nine months; it’s not like he’s a stranger. I told her, considering everything, I wasn’t surprised that he eventually asked you out.”
“What did she say to that?”
“She wanted to know if he still had amnesia.”
Danielle let out a sigh.
“You do seem happy, Danielle, and so does Walt. But—it is so freaking weird. I still can’t get used to actually seeing him. I mean, other than in a dream hop.”
“It doesn’t seem that strange to me anymore. It did at first. But not anymore.”
“So what now? I always suspected you had feelings for Walt, but now that you have a real chance with him, are you going to take it? Or is this going to be like you and Chris?”
Before Danielle could respond to Lily’s question, Chris’s uncles walked into the kitchen from the hallway.
“Afternoon, Danielle,” Simon greeted her.
Danielle stood up from the table and faced the men. “Did you have a nice lunch with Chris?”
“We did. And I remembered you telling us about those homemade cookies, wondering if we could have some,” Simon asked.
“Certainly.”
Simon and Loyd looked over to the table and noticed the redhead looking their way.
“Oh, Simon, Loyd, I’d like you to meet my friend Lily. Lily and her husband live across the street.”
“Nice to meet you, Lily. I assume you know our nephew?” Loyd asked.
“Certainly. Chris is a good friend of mine. I used to live at Marlow House when he stayed here.”
“Really?” Loyd asked.
Danielle brought out more cookies and offered the men something to drink. After they took a seat at the table with Lily, the landline began to ring.
“If you will all excuse me, I’m going to take that in the parlor,” Danielle said before rushing out of the room.
“She could have answered the call in here,” Simon said.
Lily shrugged and grabbed another cookie. “The only calls she gets on the landline are for B and B business, that’s probably why she’s taking it in the parlor.”
“So you used to live here?” Loyd asked.
“Yes. Dani’s my best friend. I helped her open the B and B and planned to go back to California, where I lived. But I had some medical issues, and Dani took care of me. I met my husband here, and, well, the rest is history, as they say.”
“Seems like Danielle is a trusted friend for many,” Loyd said.
Lily nodded. “Yes, she is.”
“Although not everyone feels that way,” Simon noted.
Lily frowned at Simon. “Excuse me?”
Simon shrugged. “I was just thinking of that girl who works with Chris. She seems to have an issue with your friend.”
“Heather?”
“I think it’s just a little jealousy,” Loyd suggested.
“Why do you think she has a problem with Dani?” Lily asked.
“I’m sure you’re aware our nephew dated your friend for a brief time,” Loyd reminded her.
“Sure. So?”
“Let’s just put it this way, Heather is anxious to take your friend’s place in our nephew’s life, if you know what I mean,” Simon said.