When her phone rang, Honor jumped, still unsettled by her ghost musings. Josh’s voice had a welcome, calming effect.
“Cody and I are headed downstairs for breakfast. Care to join us? Afterward, I could follow you over to your mom’s house and haul some of the packed boxes to Goodwill for you.”
“Two dates for breakfast and free labor afterwards sounds great to me! I’ll meet you guys at the Terrace Restaurant in fifteen minutes.”
As she passed by the old photographs adorning the walls of the main hallway, Honor studied them from a new perspective, wondering how many former guests were haunting the hotel.
The troubling thought disappeared when she caught sight of Cody, waiting at the restaurant entrance. As soon as he saw her, he wiggled free from Josh.
“Honor, Honor! Look at this, Honor!” he called as he ran toward her.
She caught him in her arms and laughed at his excitement over his new Spiderman action figure, complete with a “realistic action spinning web accessory.”
She greeted Josh with a light kiss on his cheek. “Good morning,” she exclaimed over Cody’s chatter. “Have you already learned how to operate the ‘realistic action spinning web accessory’?”
“I most certainly have,” Josh assured her.
Cody continued to gush over the new toy until their food arrived.
“Time to put Spiderman away and eat your breakfast,” Josh instructed.
Cody pouted, refusing to eat.
Honor naively tried to persuade him, “I’m certain Spiderman always eats his breakfast.”
She saw Josh shake his head and wince, but it was too late. She had forgotten Cody was an authority on everything about the superhero.
“Spiderman doesn’t eat. Only Peter Parker eats food,” Cody informed her.
“Peter Parker is Spiderman’s alter ego, right? Well, I’m sure he always eats his breakfast.”
“Lots of times he doesn’t eat because there’s an emergency and he has to be Spiderman really fast.”
Honor was amazed by Cody’s advanced vocabulary and powers of reason. She decided Josh was right. In addition to being adorable, Cody was brilliant and creative. She switched tactics.
“Let’s make a deal. If you eat your breakfast now, I’ll let you and Spiderman swim in my mom’s heated pool this afternoon.”
Josh winked and gave her a subtle thumbs-up.
The new approach worked, and soon Cody’s plate was empty. The three of them stopped by Josh’s room to pack a few essentials for the afternoon, like Cody’s Spiderman arm band floats, and then went to Honor’s suite to collect her things.
When Josh came through the door, he blew a low whistle of appreciation for the elegance of the Presidential Suite. “Great digs! Are these rooms furnished with real antiques?”
Momentarily forgetting to censor herself, Honor replied, “Not the furniture, but it’s furnished with a few authentic ghosts.”
Josh snickered before realizing she was serious. “Really?”
Honor shrugged, not sure how much she wanted to reveal. After all, she didn’t want Josh to think she was, as her mother used to say, “a few sandwiches shy of a full picnic.”
“You’ll have to tell me more when little ears aren’t listening,” he encouraged.
“Maybe,” Honor teased. She couldn’t remember ever feeling so in sync with another human being. She held up her car keys. “Do you want to take separate vehicles, so you won’t be stuck at my mom’s house all day?”
“Why would I want to leave if you’re still there?” he grinned. “I’ll drive.”
In the parking lot, Honor climbed into the cab of Josh’s shiny black truck. It felt more like they were going on a date rather than driving a few blocks to her mother’s house.
When they arrived, Josh whistled. “I wasn’t expecting a Queen Anne. Did I tell you my construction specialty is restoring vintage properties?”
“Really? Would you mind looking it over for me, then? It belonged to my grandmother before my folks bought it, so I’m sure it needs work.”
Despite the short drive, Cody was sound asleep in the back seat. Josh smiled. “Nap time. I should be able to carry him inside and lay him down without waking him up, if there’s a bed or couch we can use.”
“I’m sorry. I thought I told you my sisters took all the furniture,” Honor apologized. “Should we go back to the hotel until after his nap?”
“No way! I treasure his nap time and I’m not giving up a minute of it.” Josh winked at Honor. “I must have forgotten to tell you I was also a boy scout.”
He unlocked the truck bed cover and pulled out a fully inflated air mattress. “Cody and I camped out a few nights on our way down here. He got a real kick out of it. If I toss this on the floor in one of the bedrooms, he should sleep for a couple of hours.”
Honor unlocked the front door and helped Josh maneuver the uncooperative mattress into a bedroom before fetching Cody. Just as Josh claimed, Cody barely opened an eye throughout the entire transfer process.
“This used to be my room,” Honor confided as she tucked a blanket over the sleeping child before quietly, closing the door.
Honor gave Josh a tour of the house. He was quite impressed with the heart of pine construction and pointed out several features of fine craftsmanship that Honor had never noticed, such as the intricate crown molding and the expertly carved Yule post on the banister leading to the turret loft.
After touring the entire house, Josh suggested they carry the boxes headed for Goodwill out to the truck. Honor agreed and led the way back to the master bedroom.
“It was hard to pack up Mom’s clothes,” she choked. Honor envisioned her mother bustling around the kitchen, whipping up snacks and fussing over Josh and Cody. “I wish you could have known her. You would have liked one another,” she paused. “But if she hadn’t died, I might not have met you.”
Without a word, Josh took her into his arms; gently cradling her head against his muscular shoulder.
Honor felt her eyes well up with tears and made no effort to stop them as they spilled over and ran down her cheeks. Until now, she hadn’t realized how much the empty house underscored her loss.
“It was just so sudden and unexpected,” she stammered. “It isn’t fair. I lost both of them in car accidents and…”
“Shhhhh, I know it’s hard. You don’t have to explain,” Josh whispered. “I understand.”
And she knew he did.
Josh tilted her face up and brushed her tears away with his fingertips. He kissed her forehead with soft, warm lips. When she looked up at him, he was gazing at her with such compassion she almost started to cry all over again. He bent to kiss her cheeks and then her nose before pulling away to search her eyes for permission to kiss her mouth.
In wordless response, she closed her eyes, parted her lips slightly and leaned toward him.