“You have to come help me do something. Anything. The piano is going crazy. Can Brett and his brothers get ahold of the movers or something and move it?” Meghan said frantically to Ellie over the phone. “Not only that, but then the howling began. You were right. One of the ghosts is howling. And running around the hotel as a wolf. I had three calls from human guests asking me to get ahold of the police or animal control.”
“I’m getting dressed. I’ll tell Brett. We’ll be right over.” Ellie pulled her chemise over her head. “Are you at the inn right now?”
“Yes. We passed out earplugs and told the human guests that animal control would take care of the wolf right away, but earplugs aren’t working for the wolves. Nor are the questions about why a baby grand piano is playing like it’s a player piano when that’s not possible. Or why a wolf is running around the lobby. I’ve tried to get ahold of Laurel, but she and CJ must have turned off their cell phones.”
“So who is howling?”
“Matilda. Can’t be Chrissy because the one playing the piano is doing a horrible job of it.”
“We’ll be right over.” Ellie looked at the corset. No way was she going to get laced up in that and put on all the petticoats.
Brett was already dressed in jeans and socks and calling his brothers. He paused to dig in a drawer, pulled out a pair of light-gray sweats, and handed them to Ellie. She smiled at him and yanked off her chemise, then slipped on the pants and pulled the sweatshirt over her head.
“Okay. Hurry before we lose our guests,” Meghan said.
“Will do. I’m staying on the line. Just hold on.” Ellie kept her sister on the phone to give her moral support but asked Brett, “Where do we move the piano to?” She started lacing up one of her boots. She’d have to move her clothes to Brett’s or at least grab an overnight bag for a few days.
Brett had finished dressing and laced up her other boot, then they headed for the garage.
“Your house. We can move it through the french patio doors. Otherwise, we need to get the professional movers to take it anywhere else. I can call them, but they’re not wolves and I doubt they move pianos in the middle of the night. Not to mention it could spook them if she started playing while they’re moving it. I could see them dropping it and running if Matilda decided she didn’t like that we’re moving it from the inn.”
“Agreed.”
Brett called his brother Sarandon and cousins Tom, Jake, and Darien. They all lived in the area. Eric lived four hours away, so Brett didn’t call him.
“We’re on our way,” Darien said. “Congratulations to you and Ellie again. See you over there.”
“Thanks, Darien.” Turning to Ellie, Brett said, “I’ll take my car and drop by CJ and Laurel’s house. I know she’ll want to be there to help calm the guests, if she needs to.”
“Okay,” Ellie said to Brett, then she told Meghan on the phone, “I’m on my way. Be over in a few minutes. Brett’s running by CJ and Laurel’s place to alert them about what’s going on.”
“All right. But hurry.” Meghan sounded completely frazzled.
“We’ll take care of it. We should have already moved the piano.” Ellie gave Brett a kiss, then got into her car and drove off. He was right behind her.
“Yeah, we should have.” Meghan paused. “Omigod. The Wernicke brothers just arrived.”
“What?” Ellie was careful on the snowy roads, but she sped up a bit.
“Who told them?” Meghan asked, irritated.
Brett better not have, or he was in hot water.
“Got to deal with this. Bye.” Meghan ended the call before Ellie had a chance to respond.
As soon as Ellie arrived at the inn, she saw Chrissy peering out the attic window. Great. Ellie hoped she wasn’t bothering Rose, who was staying in that room. Then Ellie wondered if Matilda had been giving Chrissy lessons. When Meghan had said the piano was going crazy, Ellie thought that Matilda was trying to teach Chrissy how to play, and she was either having a difficult time mastering the right keys or she was angry and doing whatever she could to annoy Matilda.
No music was playing. And no wolves were howling. Ellie didn’t trust that it wouldn’t start back up if they left the piano where it was. Or that Matilda wouldn’t start running around as a wolf again.
“Who was playing?” Ellie asked as Meghan rushed outside to greet her. “I saw Chrissy in the attic window.”
“Both of them at first. At least I think so. One was playing perfect notes, and the other was making lots of mistakes. So I figured Matilda was trying to teach Chrissy, and it wasn’t working out very well. Then the howling began. Maybe because Chrissy kept playing to annoy Matilda. Maybe because it was hurting her ears. And of course, our guests had to see if a real wolf was in the lobby. And of course, they saw it. Or at least a couple of people did. Not everyone. You know how it goes.”
“And the Wernickes?”
“Yeah, they’re in there. Offering to help fix things.”
Brett got out of his vehicle. “CJ and Laurel are getting dressed and will be over in a minute.”
Sarandon parked, and Jake soon joined them. Ellie saw Darien’s car approaching.
When he joined them, Darien asked, “Where are we moving the piano?”
“To the house,” Ellie said. “Sorry, Meghan, but if you want to stay with us tonight, you can.”
“I’ll be fine. I don’t think Chrissy will leave the inn. I can sleep through Matilda’s beautiful piano music.”
Laurel and CJ arrived after that.
All the Silver men went inside to move the piano, while Meghan stayed outside with Laurel to explain what had happened, including that the Wernicke brothers were there.
When the Silver men began to move the piano, Ellie grabbed Stanton’s arm and hauled him aside. Speaking for his ears only as his brothers assisted with doors and the piano, she asked, “What are you doing here?”
“I heard Brett and you agreed to become mated wolves. I wanted to congratulate you and pay Brett for the damages to the car. I thought you both would be over here.”
“Right. In the middle of the night? I can’t believe you can’t come up with a better story than that.”
“The inn’s open now. I figured someone would be over here.”
“You wouldn’t be here just to check out Chrissy, would you?”
“That wasn’t Chrissy playing,” Stanton said.
“How would you know?”
“She worked as a maid for years. Most likely she wouldn’t have had the money to pay for lessons or the time to indulge in practicing.” Stanton motioned to the framed memorial on the wall. “If I had to guess, I’d say Matilda was playing the piano. Yolan said he’d help you with the ghost for free. We all will.”
Ellie wondered if Darien had read Stanton the riot act at the jailhouse over the hit-and-run incident, ghost or no ghost, and then decided to allow Stanton to help. Pack members’ safety was Darien and Lelandi’s main concern. Darien could have banned Stanton and his brothers from the Silver pack’s territory since none of them had reported the accident.
“At the house then.” Ellie knew she should ask Laurel’s permission, but if the Wernicke brothers could help resolve this, then at this point, they had to try.
“Okay. Good. Tonight?”
“Be my guest. If you can do it, maybe Matilda will find some peace and Chrissy will be relieved she’s gone. But no TV show production.”
“Right.”
She and Stanton hurried after the men. Stanton actually helped to carry the piano, and Peter dropped by and helped Meghan move the piano bench to the house.
“What was she playing?” Ellie asked Meghan.
“Bach’s ‘Love Song.’ Beautiful piece. Do you think she’s trying to tell us something?” Meghan smiled at Ellie.
Ellie sure hoped Matilda would be all right with the mating. Not that the ghost could do a whole lot about it. She wondered if Matilda knew Ellie and Brett were mated now. She frowned. Would Matilda stay with the piano or with Chrissy at the inn? What a mess. She turned to Laurel, who was directing where the piano would go. “Stanton offered to help us exorcise the ghost. I said he could. It’s free of charge.”
“I thought Yolan was the only one who could do that,” Laurel said privately to Ellie.
“Not sure now. I’m just worried that this is going to backfire. Chrissy says she didn’t want Matilda there, but what if she misses her?” Ellie ran her hand over the top of the piano, wondering if moving it here would help or cause more trouble. And what about Chrissy? Ellie hadn’t wanted to upset her.
“I hadn’t thought of that,” Laurel said.
After moving the piano to the MacTire sisters’ home, Yolan tried to communicate with Brett’s great-aunt. “Matilda, do you want to return to Brett’s home?”
Everyone gathered around and watched the piano for any indication Matilda was there and intended to respond. Nothing happened.
Brett didn’t believe Yolan would have any success at it. He truly believed that if anyone could, he would be the one to convince her. Besides his grandmother, whom he was really close to, Brett had been the closest to his great-aunt, though he’d been a kid when she died.
“Is there someone else in the room that you’d like to speak through?” Yolan asked.
That would be creepy, and Brett hoped Matilda wouldn’t decide to jump into his body and start talking. He’d seen a few stories on TV where that had happened, either with or without a séance. He glanced at Ellie who was watching him. Had that ever happened to her?
“Anyone at all? Brett, maybe?” Yolan glanced in Brett’s direction.
Brett stiffened. He couldn’t help it. The idea just didn’t appeal. It was two in the morning, and he wanted to return to bed with his new mate. Though he also wanted to help the sisters resolve the ghost issue, help his great-aunt find her way to her new home, and give Chrissy some peace. He hoped Meghan’s sleep wouldn’t be disturbed all night either.
Everyone looked so serious, waiting for any indication that Matilda was present. What if she had stayed back at the inn with Chrissy?
“Aunt Matilda,” Brett said, not wanting to prolong this any further, “I wanted to tell you that Ellie and I are mated wolves, if you didn’t know already. We’ll talk in the morning.”
“Thank you for helping me with my piano lessons, Matilda.” Ellie slipped her arm around Brett’s waist. “I have to say this is the first time I’ve ever stuck with anything, and I’m thoroughly enjoying playing the piano with Brett.”
“Hey, let’s clear out,” Darien said in the pack-leader voice that said he was in charge.
Yolan looked disappointed that he hadn’t had any success. Everyone began to leave, all except for Darien, who motioned that he needed to speak with Brett and Ellie.
Meghan was waiting for everyone to leave so she could return to bed, but Darien said to her, “I want you to come and stay with Lelandi and me for the night.”
Even though Ellie had made the offer for Meghan to stay with her and Brett, and Laurel would have offered if she’d had the chance, Darien’s was not an offer. His was a pack-leader order. Brett knew Darien well enough to suspect what was coming next.
“Just pack a bag and you can ride with me, unless you want to take your own car,” Darien said.
“I’ll drive my own car so I can return tomorrow without inconveniencing you.” Meghan went up the stairs to her bedroom.
“Okay, I want you and Ellie to stay here tonight. Alone,” Darien said.
Brett had suspected as much. How were they going to get in some good loving if Matilda was staying where they were? But Darien knew how close Brett had been to Great-Aunt Matilda.
“You’re the only one of us who plays the piano now. You’ve mated Ellie, and Matilda was working with her at the piano. So I think if anyone has a chance of reaching her, it’s going to be the two of you. Good luck.”
Darien shook Brett’s hand and gave Ellie a hug. Then he and Meghan left, and Ellie and Brett were alone.
“Well, what do you want to do?” Ellie asked.
Go to bed with his mate and make love to her—naked this time. “Okay, she talked to us with the song sheets the one time.”
“She played music to answer one of our questions, but Meghan’s the one who’s so good at knowing what the songs are. I might not know them.”
“Let’s bring out the song sheets.” Brett started to set up one at a time. “Okay, why are you here, Matilda? Do you feel you have unfinished business?” He kept placing one sheet of music up after another, and each time, a puff of air sent the sheets flying just like before.
When he put “I Will Survive” by Gloria Gaynor on the stand, it stayed put, as if Matilda was trying to tell them that was the clue.
“I will survive,” Ellie said. “So is she saying she won’t leave? That whatever made her die won’t stop her from staying with her beloved piano?”
“Aunt Matilda, you went out in the rowboat with Theodore. Correct?” Brett thought they might finally get somewhere with this.
The piano started to play “She Loves You” by the Beatles.
“‘She Loves You,’” Ellie said, “and it says yeah, yeah, yeah a number of times.”
Brett felt chills race up his spine. “Did you fall overboard?”
The Beatles’ song played again.
“Yes,” Ellie whispered the word. She swallowed hard and reached over and squeezed Brett’s hand.
He wrapped his arm around her waist and held her close, hating that Matilda had drowned and no one had known it. He suspected foul play, or why wouldn’t Theodore have told everyone what had happened?
“Did you and Theodore have a fight?” Brett rubbed Ellie’s back.
The Beatles song played.
“Over Grandmom not marrying him?”
She played the Zombies’ “Tell Her No.”
“I don’t understand,” Brett said. “Do you mean Caroline wasn’t there? She should have been there? With Theodore instead of with you, Aunt Matilda?”
The Beatles’ song played again. “Yes!” Ellie said. “Why would he have asked her out on the boat when he was seeing your grandmother?”
“To make up to Matilda? Maybe he hadn’t been very nice to her because he wanted to marry Caroline, and he didn’t like that she was staying with Matilda instead. So he asked her out to make peace with her.”
Yeah, yeah, yeah…
“Okay, the part about the Zombies’ song “Tell Her No”… Did that mean Matilda thought Caroline shouldn’t marry him?” Brett asked.
Matilda pounded out the Beatles’ song again.
“Okay, her answer is yes. Because the boating accident wasn’t an accident?”
The Zombies’ song played again.
“No,” Ellie said. “It wasn’t an accident. Do you think Remer might know anything about it? About what had happened between his grandfather and Matilda?”
“I don’t know. Do we wake Remer now and ask?” Brett asked.
“I’d say so,” Ellie said. “For Matilda’s sake, I think we should, despite the hour. Remer may not know anything about it, and I hate upsetting him, but we need to resolve this if we can.”
Agreeing, Brett called Remer and put him on speaker. “I’m sorry to be calling in the middle of the night, but we have a situation that needs to be rectified. Apparently, my great-aunt Matilda went boating with your grandfather and…”
“You had to call me at this hour to tell me this?” Remer definitely wasn’t a night owl.
“We have a bit of a situation. Matilda wants this resolved and—”
“She’s dead.”
“Right. Since we moved the piano to the MacTire sisters’ inn, Matilda has been playing it from time to time. We moved it to the MacTire sisters’ home in back of the inn to give the inn guests some peace tonight.”
“A…spirit,” Remer said skeptically.
Brett saw Ellie looking at him, her expression saying she was used to skepticism concerning her ability to witness ghostly happenings. Once Brett had seen what he had, he’d forgotten that a lot of people wouldn’t believe.
“Okay, I know that could be hard to swallow if you don’t believe in ghosts. I wasn’t a believer either until Matilda made her presence known.”
“I don’t understand. As far as I know, my grandfather was interested in mating your grandmother. She wouldn’t. They had a falling-out and never spoke to each other again,” Remer said, sounding tired and annoyed.
“She—Matilda, that is—said she drowned while boating with your grandfather.” Brett didn’t tell him she had said Theodore drowned her, but if Remer knew the history, he would know that wasn’t the story anyone had shared at the time.
“Okay, so you’re saying…?”
“She said it wasn’t an accident.”
“A ghost said this.”
“Yeah. If we can prove this was the case, hopefully, she can rest in peace.” And so could they. “We wouldn’t need to tell the world, if you’d prefer. But just learn the truth.”
“You need to have evidence that something happened, other than the word of a ghost.”
“Yeah. After Aunt Matilda was found dead in bed, her gown on backward, her hair still damp, Grandmom couldn’t find her sister’s favorite dress to bury her in. Not only that, but both Grandmom’s towel and Matilda’s had been used that night.”
Remer let out his breath in a disgruntled manner. “I thought you’d discovered something that could have connected my grandfather with her death. Like he’d lost a glove in her bed or something.”
“Glove?” Brett asked, surprised. He was about to get to the part about the rowboat and what they’d found in it. Why would Remer have mentioned that particular article of clothing? Why not anything else? Like maybe a cuff link? Brett quickly described what pack members had found in the rowboat after Matilda died.
Remer became deathly quiet.
Brett was sure he knew something about the missing glove. Brett gave Ellie a light squeeze. She gave him a harder one back.
“I’m not agreeing that anything you’ve said has merit. But if you want to come over at a decent hour in the morning, I’ll show you what I have. My grandfather’s steamer trunk is in the attic. I looked in it once and saw what I thought were my grandmother’s things that he’d preserved and one of his gloves. I thought it was odd he only had one glove in the chest, but I didn’t give it any thought after that. You’re welcome to look in the morning. I’d prefer that you don’t mention it in the newspaper, if you learn that there was foul play. I’ll understand if you have to share with your families, which include our pack leaders.”
“Understand,” Brett said, glad they might finally have some resolution.
“Night,” both Ellie and Brett said.
Would Matilda accept those conditions?
“Matilda, is that all right with you?” Ellie asked after they ended the call.
Matilda didn’t respond.
“She’s either thinking this all over, or she’s gone to bed like we need to,” Brett said, taking Ellie’s hand and leading her to the stairs.
“Do you think she’s happy for us? That we’re mated?” Ellie asked as they climbed the stairs.
The Beatles song began to play, and Ellie smiled. “I’d say that was a yes.”
“But her response means she is still here.” Brett closed the door to Ellie’s bedroom. He hadn’t thought they’d be here tonight—or any night, really.
“Do you think she’ll be bothered or will bother us if we make love?” Ellie slid her hands up Brett’s shirt.
“We’re mated wolves, and if she’s going to hang around, she’ll have to get used to it. She seems to stay by the piano, so at least she won’t be watching us.”
Ellie groaned. “What do we do now with the piano?”
“We’ll ask her where she’d prefer us to take it.” Brett began kissing his mate, wanting to make love to her naked this time, only in her bedroom. “I’m all awake now. What about you?”
“I’m ready for some more wolf loving.” She began to pull off his sweatshirt, and he did the same thing with hers, baring her beautiful breasts to him.
He definitely preferred her wearing sweats to the gown for some quick loving. He was glad Ellie wasn’t too tired, but hoped his great-aunt wouldn’t be upset by it and try to interfere.
This time, he trailed kisses down Ellie’s chest, licking and suckling a nipple. She let out a soft moan. Arching her back, she pressed her abdomen against his stiffening cock, making it jerk, and he wanted inside her all over again. He slid his hands down the sweatpants she was wearing and started to stroke her with one hand, the other holding on to her as she melted against the bed. As soon as her head hit the pillow, he heard a crinkling sound beneath it and Ellie’s face turned red.
He waited for a moment for her to do something about what was under her pillow, but she just smiled.
“Did you want to move it first?”
She let out her breath in exasperation, then grabbed a manila envelope from under her pillow, shoved it in her bedside table drawer, and slammed it shut.
He sat beside her and took her hand in his, gently caressing it and waiting for her to say something, anything.
“Oh, all right.” She jerked the drawer open and shoved the envelope into his hands.
Red Hot Rush was stamped in red letters on the envelope, which was addressed to Ellie from her aunt. When he looked inside, he saw the artwork and smiled, slipped the envelope back in the drawer, and shut it. Then he began kissing her all over again, loving her for being Ellie.
The sex was amazing, but only because she was amazing and this was meant to be.
He began stroking her again and kissing her eager mouth, soaking up the smell and feel of her, tangling his tongue with hers, wringing her out until she shouted, “Omigod, yes!”
He smiled and worked on her boots, then yanked off his. She was tugging off the sweatpants while he unfastened his belt and dropped his jeans to the floor.
Then he joined her in the bed, kissing her as she slid her hands over his back, caressing and pumping him up before he slid his cock inside her and began to thrust.
Soft piano music began to play in the background. Brett smiled, and they began kissing again, and he continued to thrust. Nothing was stopping him from loving his mate.
When he came with the final plunge, he breathed out her name, “Ellie, my mate, my love.”
“You are fantastic,” Ellie whispered against his lips. “And I love you with all my heart.”
They collapsed in each other’s embrace, ready to sleep the rest of the night away.
But Brett had to ask about the photos first. “I thought you said you didn’t want them. The photos, I mean.”
“I didn’t. My aunt sent them to me anyway.”
Brett kissed the top of Ellie’s head. “And you tucked them under your pillow. Why?”
“Meghan saw me with the package, and I didn’t want her to see what was in it.”
“Ahh. Then if you want me to, I can get rid of them for you.”
“Ha! The last time you got rid of them, do you see where they ended up?”
He laughed. “Underneath your pillow.”
* * *
Early the next morning, Brett and Ellie woke to soft piano music. Ellie cuddled against Brett, his hand gently stroking her back. “Nice easy music to listen to while waking up.”
He let out his breath. “What if she doesn’t want to leave? Even if we learn the truth this morning? What if she stays with the piano wherever we put it?”
“Well, we could take it back to your house.”
“Our house.”
“Right. Then it wouldn’t disturb anyone.”
“I keep wondering why she revealed herself now and not earlier.”
Ellie kissed Brett’s cheek and got out of bed. “You kissed me, and I was about to kiss you back. I was leaning against the piano, and we must have earned her Victorian ire. That’s all I can figure. Once she was out, she couldn’t leave.”
“What if it doesn’t have to do with us?”
“What do you mean?”
“What if it has to do with the place? The inn?”
“She’s been playing here too.”
“Right. So she was ‘awakened’ and now is here to stay unless we can help her to move on. What if there was something about my place that made her feel at home?”
“And she quit playing. The movers are going to think we’re crazy if we keep having the piano moved back and forth.”
Brett smiled, then frowned. “As long as she doesn’t play while they’re trying to move it.”