The next day, Silver Town was abuzz with excitement. Dressed in Victorian attire, ladies, gents, and children were visiting the various establishments, celebrating the annual event.
Ellie couldn’t believe she’d awakened so late and no one had gotten her up to help at the inn. She hurried to dress in her corset and petticoats, but had a horrible time trying to fasten her gown. As she started to walk over to the inn, she saw Chrissy peering out the lace curtains in the attic room. Great.
Ellie entered the inn where Laurel was setting out fresh flowers for the guests’ arrivals, but she could smell that a couple of new wolves, a male and female, had been in the inn lobby.
“One couple already arrived,” Laurel said. “Check-in isn’t until noon, but since we don’t have guests to clean up after, I figure it’s fine.”
“Sounds good to me. I’m sure they’re excited to get ready for the ball. Did you say anything about you-know-what?” Ellie glanced at the silent piano.
“No.” Laurel tilted her head at the way Ellie was holding her gown up. “Here, let me help. Meghan said you were having trouble sleeping, so we let you sleep in a bit. You know, because what if someone asks you to mate? Then you’ll never get any sleep.” Laurel winked.
“Thanks, Laurel. You and Meghan are the best. But if he doesn’t ask…” Ellie sighed. “I just saw Chrissy in the attic room. At least she seems to have settled down a bit. Maybe she’s adjusting to Matilda being here.” As soon as the words were out of her mouth, Chrissy floated by.
“No, she is not,” Chrissy said in a whispery kind of way.
“Wait. Why is Matilda here? Did she say?” Ellie asked, but Chrissy had vanished in the direction of the basement door.
Ellie hurried for the stairs, but then paused and asked Laurel, “Were the guests who checked in upstairs or in the basement?”
“Basement. Blue room.”
“Great.” Ellie hurried down the stairs to the basement and wondered if they should have left the lavender room vacant. Would Chrissy like company or be upset by it? Too late to do anything about it. All the rooms were booked now.
Ellie opened the door to the lavender room, entered it, and shut the door. Chrissy didn’t appear before her, but the room was cold, as if she were there.
“Chrissy, I know you are here. Do you know why Matilda is staying here at the inn? Or why she’s so attached to the piano?”
Suddenly, Ellie’s lips felt like she’d pressed ice cubes against them. “Kiss? Love? We know it had to do with moving the piano here. But why is she here? Why are you still here, Chrissy?”
“Home,” Chrissy whispered in a ghostly way.
They had all assumed that. Just like the Scottish lass who had been murdered and buried beneath the floor. Chrissy had been born here and had never lived anywhere else. This truly was her home.
“She…” Chrissy paused.
“She what, Chrissy?”
“She wants…”
Ellie felt like she was standing on the edge of a cliff, waiting to hear what Matilda wanted. They wanted to help her find peace.
“…me to play.”
“The piano?” Ellie couldn’t believe it. Matilda wanted to teach Chrissy to play so she’d know the joy of playing too? Then Ellie realized what a disaster that could be. It would be bad enough if Matilda played the piano when the guests were sleeping.
Wringing her hands, Chrissy appeared and nodded, looking as though she was completely out of her comfort zone.
“Chrissy, if you play, will Matilda leave?”
Chrissy bit her lip, nodded, and vanished.
“If you learned to play well?” Ellie asked, assuming Chrissy was already somewhere else. She didn’t think Matilda would agree to leave if Chrissy played a few notes and that was it. Maybe Chrissy was in the attic room. Ellie normally didn’t chase a spirit from room to room. She gave them their space, figuring it was futile anyway. But she really did need answers.
Ellie dashed up the stairs to the hallway and headed for the stairs to the upper floors. She caught Laurel’s eye.
“Trouble?” Laurel asked.
“If you define trouble as a reluctant Chrissy forced to take piano lessons from Matilda so she will go away—Matilda, that is—and the two of them choose any time of the day or night to practice, I’d say that is an affirmative.”
“Oh, just great.”
“Now what?” Meghan was wearing a red gown with a low-cut bodice and a corset that was lifting her boobs even more than usual. She looked as though she was ready to snare a wolf mate.
“Tell her. I’m going to try to get more answers.” Ellie raced up the next flight of stairs, but then walked up the ones to the attic room and gently opened the door. In there, the air was chilly. “Chrissy? Just how well do you have to play before Matilda feels she’s succeeded in teaching you?”
Ellie’s phone rang, and she pulled it out of her pocket. “Yeah, Laurel?”
“Attic room guest, Rose McKinley, is on her way up. I just wanted to warn you.”
Rose’s brother, Ryan, and his mate were the pack leaders in Green Valley, and his wife, Carol, had future visions. So Ellie thought Rose might be all right with the idea that a ghost sometimes visited the attic room.
“Okay, I’m leaving.” Darn it. Ellie wanted to ask if her sister could delay Rose for a few more minutes, but then the room warmed and Ellie figured it didn’t matter anyway.
She greeted Rose on the stairs. “Here for Victorian Days?”
“Yeah, I could hardly wait. I’m glad you opened the inn early so I could get dressed and check out all the places.” Rose owned a garden shop in Green Valley, and the sisters ordered all their fresh flowers and plants from there.
“Enjoy your stay. If you have any trouble, just let any of us know.” Ellie prayed that none of the guests had problems of the ghostly kind or any others.
Laurel and Meghan were smiling at Ellie when she returned to the lobby. “What?” she asked.
“Well, are you going to pop the question to Brett at the ball?” Laurel asked.
The piano began playing a tune, and the three sisters stared at it. Then both Ellie and Laurel looked at Meghan to find out what the music was. “The Zombies, ‘Tell Her No.’ I think it says ‘no’ more than sixty times. So you have your answer from Great-Aunt Matilda.”
The ladies laughed, but Ellie thought Matilda would be happy if she and Brett mated.
“Well, maybe he’ll ask you at the ball,” Meghan said. “You know, you’ve been so cautious with him that he might be waiting for you to let him know in no uncertain terms that you want him.”
More guests arrived, and the song ended.
Ellie sighed, hoping that they wouldn’t have a mass exodus of guests during the first week they were open again. And if Brett was afraid to ask her to mate, she would be asking him, with or without Great-Aunt Matilda’s approval.
* * *
What made Victorian Days even more special this year was that the MacTire sisters were participating, and Brett was getting ready to ask Ellie to mate him.
That morning, he headed over to the inn to play a duet with Ellie on the piano for the special program they were putting on. They’d actually practiced two duets, in case anyone wanted to hear another.
Ellie greeted him in a burgundy gown with wide puffed sleeves, the skirt full and flowing. She was also wearing petticoats—he could see the top floral one because of the open-front gown—a corset, and a chemise beneath the gown. Even though most day dresses for the period were higher necked, for this event, most of the women were wearing gowns that had very low necklines and were worn off the shoulders, gowns that were supposed to be for evening affairs.
He gathered Ellie in his arms and crushed her against him, kissing her while everyone assembled there waited for them to play the duet. In fact, the inn was overflowing with pack members, some on the stairs watching, others gathered around the piano. He seriously had considered asking Ellie to mate him right here and now, but he was afraid Matilda would ruin it if she didn’t like him doing so in front of the crowd.
Even if Matilda didn’t care for the idea, the rest of the pack was all smiles.
“You’re beautiful,” he whispered in Ellie’s ear as he led her to the piano bench.
“You are too,” she said, smiling up at him before taking her seat.
She’d been so worried she’d make mistakes, but he had laughed it off, saying if anyone did, he probably would, and no one would be the wiser anyway, except for Remer and Mervin and Matilda. Brett didn’t see any sign of his great-aunt though.
He joined Ellie, and they played the first duet beautifully, no mistakes at all. When everyone wanted to hear more, they played another. Because they hadn’t practiced a whole lot of different songs, they stuck to all the simple ones they knew for beginners: “Mary Had a Little Lamb,” “Louie, Louie,” and several Christmas songs.
They made a few mistakes as they continued to play, but everyone cheered them on as if they were famous pianists, and Brett loved that he and Ellie could do this together.
Then they gave up the piano to Remer, whom they’d invited to play for a few hours today. He had his business cards on hand for any interested prospective students. Mervin played after that, while Ellie gave Meghan a break by helping to check in guests.
“So when are you going to mate Ellie?” CJ asked Brett in private in the common room while everyone else was milling around in the lobby. “Laurel wants to know.”
Brett laughed. “She doesn’t think I’m too bad a choice now for her sister?”
“Not after you began to see Matilda. I still can’t believe you started to.”
“She liked me best of all her grandnephews.”
“Ha. You were such a suck-up. Doing odd chores for her whenever we visited her.”
“As if all of you didn’t.” It was true. Without a mother, and with a father like theirs, Brett had cherished the hugs he got from their great-aunt.
“So when are you asking Ellie?”
“Soon.” Brett had waffled so many times about how he wanted to do this—at the pack’s first ball, right on the dance floor, at dinner or out, or at home over dinner. He’d even wished he could have when they were at his great-aunt’s memorial spot, but they’d been wearing their wolf coats. He’d finally decided that asking her at the dance would be the most memorable.
“It has to be a special occasion.”
Brett was amused that his brother was trying to guess when he was asking the big question.
“The ball tonight?” CJ’s eyes lit up with speculation. “That’s it, isn’t it? You’ll be dashing in your Victorian suit, and she’ll be wearing a ball gown. Yep, if I could have done so with Laurel, that would have been my choice.”
Brett had wanted to propose a mating to Ellie at the Victorian Days opening ball for that very reason. They would be all dressed up, it was the first time the ball had taken place, and he really couldn’t wait a moment longer. “Okay, yes, but I want it to be a secret.”
“Your secret is safe with me.”
“No telling Laurel.”
“I won’t, but she may already suspect what’s going to happen, like I did.”
“I don’t want any fanfare. I’ll do it with Ellie, and we’ll announce it to the pack later.”
“A big announcement in the paper?”
Brett smiled. “It’ll be in the paper, but after I propose and she accepts.”
“Is there any doubt?”
“Unless the she-wolf agrees, there’s always a chance of rejection.”