It was fairly busy at Pier Café when Danielle and her group stepped into the diner late Saturday afternoon for an early dinner. They didn’t have to wait long for a booth, as one busser was clearing a table. After he finished and walked away from the booth, Danielle’s group claimed it. She sat next to Walt, while Heather and Chris sat on the opposite side of the table, facing them.
They had just picked up their menus when Carla showed up with a pitcher of water and questions. Carla looked at Heather and asked, “Are we waiting for Brian before you order?”
Heather smiled over her menu at Carla. “No, he’s working.”
“When I saw you guys walking in, I was hoping the twins were with you. I still haven’t seen them.”
“They’re two months now, so you’ll probably see them in here next week,” Danielle said.
“I hope so!” Carla began filling the empty water glasses on the table. “Wish you would have brought them with you today.”
“They’re home with Joanne because we just came back from the hospital. Lily had her baby last night,” Danielle announced.
Carla stopped pouring the water and slammed the pitcher on the table. “No! I thought she wasn’t due for another three weeks.”
“One thing I’ve learned, babies come when they want,” Heather said with a snort.
“Is everything okay? She was having a girl. Right?” Carla asked.
“Emily Ann,” Chris answered. “Mother and baby are doing well.”
Carla glanced around the table. “Did you guys take any pictures?”
They all pulled out their cellphones and took turns showing Carla the pictures they had taken at the hospital. After Carla finished commenting on the photos, she handed back the last phone and asked, “Aren’t they still staying at Marlow House?”
“Yes. The plan was to move back before the baby was born. They hoped their addition would be finished and the new nursery set up before then, but what do they say about the best-laid plans?” Walt chuckled.
“But we’re going to be okay,” Danielle said. “Fortunately, we have a lot of help.”
“You do have Joanne. I wish I had a Joanne.” Carla finished filling the water glasses and then took their drink orders and left their table.
“You also have a Marie.” Heather snickered after Carla was out of earshot. “And an Eva, but she’s useless when it comes to changing diapers.” Heather glanced at Chris and added, “Sort of like Chris.”
“Hey, I’ve changed a few diapers,” Chris argued. He then turned to Danielle and Walt and asked, “I wonder if Eva and Marie are going to come back early now that Lily had her baby.”
“They don’t know,” Heather said.
Chris shrugged. “Sometimes Eva knows things.”
“True,” Danielle agreed. “But if they don’t come back right away, we may need to deal with this Wesley if he returns. I have no idea what he wants.”
“And I have to deal with Clay,” Heather groaned.
“Hey, I’ll be with you,” Chris promised.
“I wish we knew a little more about Wesley. When someone says they need something from us, I’d rather find out as much about them as possible,” Danielle said.
“You might want to ask Carla if she knows the guy,” Chris suggested.
“Not a bad idea,” Walt agreed. “She seems to have met everyone in town, and she has a knack for remembering names.”
When Carla returned to the table with the drinks and to take their order, Danielle asked, “Carla, did you ever know an insurance agent named Wesley Sadler?”
Carla, who had just set the last drink on the table and was about to get out her order pad and pen, paused a moment and looked at Danielle. “Wesley Sadler? Yeah, he died not long after Christmas. Heart attack. Can’t say I was surprised considering how that guy liked his junk food, and from what I heard, his idea of exercise was sitting in front of the television and watching football.”
Heather elbowed Chris. He looked at her with a frown while she whispered, “See, I was right.”
“Why do you ask?” Carla asked.
“One of my friends from California called me recently to congratulate me on the twins. When we were talking, she mentioned someone who lived in Frederickport and wanted to know if I knew him. She said he sold insurance.”
“You’re going to have to tell your friend her friend died,” Carla said.
“Not sure they were friends exactly. She’s also in the insurance business.” Danielle smiled sweetly.
“So what happened to this guy?” Heather asked.
“I was told he went on a business trip to California and had a heart attack.”
“Poor wife. My friend mentioned he was married,” Danielle said.
“Yeah, he was. Wesley was a frequent customer. Once in a while, he would bring his wife, but not often. Usually because he would come during the week, for breakfast or lunch when he was working. His wife never came alone or with friends, not until after he died.”
“She comes in now?” Heather asked.
“Not as much as she did right after he died. Now she comes in once in a while, but back then she was coming in at least once a day. She’d talk about her husband and how much she missed him and how her home was so lonely. She regretted never having kids, saying if she had kids, then she wouldn’t be alone now.”
“That’s sad,” Heather said.
Carla shrugged. “I guess. But I confess, I wanted to tell her she was wasting her tears. He wasn’t worth it.”
“Why do you say that?” Walt asked.
“Because when Wesley used to come in here alone, he was always hitting on me, trying to get me to go out with him. Not that I would, even if he weren’t married. The guy didn’t exactly have sex appeal. But apparently his wife thought he did. His death turned her into a basket case, but she was also annoying.”
“What do you mean, annoying?” Walt asked.
“It’s not that I didn’t feel sorry for her, but sheesh, enough is enough. And when she wasn’t telling me about her beloved dead husband—like every freaking time I waited on her—she was annoying other customers who sat down at the table next to her.”
“I wonder if we ever saw her in here,” Danielle said.
“I wouldn’t doubt it. You just didn’t have the misfortune to sit next to her. You probably saw Wesley in here, too, but he was sort of a forgettable-looking guy, someone you don’t really notice. Although, the same can be said for the widow,” Carla said.
“But she’s not a regular anymore?” Chris asked.
“No. She comes in once in a while. Ever since she started dating her brother-in-law about three months ago, she’s perked back up.” Carla chuckled.
“Wow, for being so heartbroken, she didn’t wait long to start dating,” Heather said.
“When you say brother-in-law, are you talking about Wesley’s brother?” Chris asked.
“Yep. Apparently, he was looking after his brother’s grieving widow, and while she was busy crying on his shoulder, I guess they hooked up. Supposedly, they’re getting married. Not sure when.”
“After dating only three months? Wow. Do the brothers look alike?” Heather asked. “Did the grieving widow fall for the brother-in-law because he reminds her of her husband?”
Carla laughed. “Hardly. They look nothing alike, and that’s because they’re not blood brothers. One of my friends used to date the brother, and when I mentioned how he looked nothing like Wesley, she said that’s because they were both adopted. She also said he was a dog, but he’s not bad to look at. I have to admit, not sure what he sees in the once grieving widow. She and Wesley were sort of a matching pair.”
After Carla took their order, she left their table.
“I told you,” Chris said after Carla was out of earshot.
“Told us what?” Heather asked.
Chris flashed Heather a grin. “Carla has dirt on everyone.” He looked at Danielle and added, “And you never disappoint.”
Danielle looked at Chris with a frown. “What is that supposed to mean?”
Walt chuckled. “I think Chris is referring to how quickly you conjured up an imaginary friend who mentioned Wesley.”
Chris nodded and turned to Walt. “Does it ever bother you how quickly and convincingly your wife can lie?”
Walt shrugged. “It can be unsettling at times.”
Later, after Carla brought their food order and left their table, Walt asked, “At the hospital, you told June you were working tonight. Is Clay the work?”
“Yes. I’ll try to be with her when Clay comes back. Two mediums are better than one when dealing with an unwanted ghost. But there is no guarantee that will be possible.” Chris picked up his burger and took a bite.
Heather groaned. “I hope when he sees my car in my driveway, he’ll come back and tell me what he wants, and then he can move on. While I understand he can’t hurt me, it is nerve-racking having a spirit like that just popping into my space whenever he wants. Hopefully, seeing Chris there won’t scare him off.” Heather stabbed her salad with her fork.
“Are you leaving Bella and Hunny over at Chris’s house?” Danielle asked.
About to take a bite of her salad, Heather paused and looked at Danielle. “Yeah. We don’t need Hunny seeing Clay again, considering what that jerk put her through.”
“One good thing came out of Clay attacking Hunny,” Chris said.
They all looked at Chris. “What possible good came out of that?” Heather demanded.
“There was a time I wouldn’t leave your cat alone in my house with Hunny. But now, instead of tormenting Hunny, Bella insists on grooming her. It’s like your cat has adopted my pit bull.”
After dinner, Walt and Danielle dropped Heather and Chris back at his house so Heather could pick up her car, which Heather and Chris planned to drive back down the street to Heather’s house.
“Good luck. I hope Clay shows up and you two can convince him to move on,” Danielle told Heather and Chris as they stood on the sidewalk next to the Ford Flex, its windows down and Walt and Danielle inside the vehicle.
“I doubt Clay is going to be eager to move on,” Chris said. “But we’ll have to see.”
They said their goodbyes, with Heather and Chris waving goodbye to the Flex as it drove away.
“Let’s go check on Hunny and Bella first,” Chris suggested.
Ten minutes later, Heather and Chris were in Heather’s car after checking on their dog and cat, heading the short distance to her house.
“Thanks for helping me, Chris.”
“No problem. I’m actually curious to find out what Clay wants. You said he didn’t have the same chip-on-the-shoulder attitude as the last time we saw him?”
“No. Not at all.”
Chris shrugged. “Some people improve with death.”
Instead of driving down the street and parking in front of Heather’s house, they drove in the same direction Walt had gone minutes earlier, driving up the street before turning right and then making another right into the alleyway that ran behind Marlow House and Heather’s house.
Minutes later, they pulled into Heather’s driveway behind her house, where she parked her car and turned off the ignition. She didn’t get out of the car immediately, but took a deep breath, gathering her courage.
Chris, still sitting in the passenger seat, unlatched his seatbelt and reached over and patted Heather’s shoulder while humming a familiar tune from one of his favorite movies. “Come on, Heather, sing it with me.”
Heather laughed, and then she and Chris sang the chorus from the Ghostbusters theme song.