Chapter 73

 

Kate came with a thermos of coffee and a bag full of donuts.

Thea met her at the top of the stairs. “Bless you, Mom.”

“You can’t think on an empty stomach.” Kate stopped when she walked to the worktable and looked up to see Aggie and Gabe. She blinked back tears, but recovered quickly. “Well, look at the two of you. You look great.”

“Thanks.”

Aggie went to wrap her mother in a warm mist. “Great to see you, Mom.”

“What’s the deal?” Kate’s voice was husky. “This is more dramatic than the séance.”

Lacey moved forward. “They’re all here to help me.”

“Oh, you poor little thing. You must be our little, lost ghost. Good. We can finally get somewhere. What have you got in mind?”

Thea smiled, listening to her mother--ever practical. That must be where Hannah got her disposition. Could an abundance of common sense be a genetic trait? “Actually, that’s why I called you,” Thea said. “We’ve had a rough night. We’re tired. We need your input.”

“Start at the beginning,” Kate said. Thea couldn’t remember how many times she’d heard that, but it always worked.

Hannah started to explain, and people added little details here and there. When she finished, everyone looked at Kate.

“I say if we find her body, Lacey will remember what happened to her. She’ll be free.”

“How do we do that?” Lindsay asked.

Kate turned to Aggie. “If we can get her close enough, will her body pull her to it?”

Gabe and Aggie both nodded. “My body had a strong pull when I first died,” Gabe said.

“But her body could be anywhere!” Lindsay said. “There’s a lake and a national forest on our back doorstep. How do we get her close to her body when we don’t know where it is?”

“Gordon’s helicopter rides!” Thea said.

Kate stared. “That’s brilliant.”

Gordon Neilson offered helicopter rides over the forest and lake, even over Emerald Hills if tourists wanted that. “Would it work?” Thea asked. “If Lacey flew over her body, would that be close enough?”

“I think so,” Aggie said.

Hannah didn’t look convinced. “Not too many people want to give ghosts a ride in an airplane.”

“That’s why you and I will pay for a ride,” Thea said, “and we’ll take Lacey with us as our invisible guest.”

Hannah blinked. “You’d trick Gordon?”

“Do you think he’d rather we were honest with him and explained our problem?”

Kate smiled. “You have a bang-up plan, kiddo. I say go for it.”

Thea reached for her cell phone and called Gordon. When she hung up, she said, “He’s booked solid today. So no luck. But he can take us early tomorrow.”

“What do I do now?” Lindsay asked.

“You call Melissa and tell her that you can’t make it to work today, and you stay here,” Aggie said.

“But. . . “

Aggie cut her off. “The winery will survive one day without you, but you might not survive if you go home.”

That settled it. Kate waved a hand. “Make yourselves at home. I’ll be back tomorrow morning with more donuts, and Thea and Hannah can fix you supper tonight and bring it up here. You two,” she motioned toward Lacey and Lindsay, “should have a lot of catching up to do. This is a good time to get started.”

Thea looked at her attic full of spooks. Hannah was cheerfully sandwiched between Aggie and Gabe. “I’m getting claustrophobic,” she said. “I need to get back to the house.”

Gabe grinned. “I didn’t think you could spend a whole day doing nothing. See you at supper time.”

Thea followed Kate down the stairs to the bottom level of the barn. Josh and Elyssa had the double doors thrown wide so that Rachel and Isak could help them carry a bed to the far side of the huge work space.

“Don’t tell me that your mother won’t let you stay in the house,” Kate said.

Josh shook his head. “We want our own space, and Mom’s been nice enough to loan us her queen-sized bed.”

“That’s more like it.” Kate gave a final wave. “Gotta go. Nice to have you two around.”

“Do you need any help?” Thea asked Josh.

“That would be nice. Ask the pit boss what needs to be done.”

Elyssa blushed and motioned to the back of Josh’s pickup. A tarp covered a few pieces of furniture. “These belonged to my parents, so they’re special to me.”

“Are your parents gone?” Thea asked.

“They died when I was young, maybe Hannah’s age. I grew up in an orphanage.”

Maybe that’s why Elyssa had such an introverted, otherworldly quality about her, Thea thought. “I’m sorry.”

“We all worked together and considered each other brothers and sisters. From what I’ve heard, it’s better than being passed from one foster parent to another.”

“When did you find your gift?”

“It was always there. I learned about clay at the orphanage, though.”

Thea looked at the glazed pots scattered on Josh’s workbench. “You do lovely work.”

“Thank you.” Elyssa glanced away, embarrassed by the compliment.

“Come on. Let’s get these off the truck.” Thea helped her move a small desk, a straight-back chair, and a baby’s high chair into the barn. None of them were in very good shape, but it didn’t matter. She could tell that they meant the world to her new daughter-in-law. When they were finished, Thea gave Elyssa a quick hug. She was a nice girl. She liked her. “You’re busy. I’ll let you two get at it.” And she walked to the house.

Once inside, she went to the kitchen. She put two huge skillets on the burners and sautéed chicken breasts until they were tender. While they cooked, she diced onions, apples, and halved red grapes. She’d make a big monstrous amount of curried chicken salad for supper that night.