It was 11:45 a.m. when Danielle returned to Marlow House on Tuesday. During her morning outing, she noticed all the Fourth of July decorations displayed around town. She had almost forgotten Independence Day was on Thursday. With all that had been going on the last couple of months and the fact they had temporarily closed the bed-and-breakfast, she had given little thought to how they might celebrate the holiday. Fact was, the B and B’s July Fourth celebrations, which also marked the grand opening of the bed-and-breakfast five years ago, didn’t have a good track record for happy endings, so perhaps the Universe was trying to tell her something, she thought.
Sadie greeted Danielle as she walked from the garage through the yard to the kitchen door. The golden retriever followed Danielle into the house, where Danielle was greeted by Max, who wove in and out of her feet, purring.
Almost stumbling over the cat, Danielle made it to the kitchen table without dropping the bags she carried. After setting her packages on the table, she picked up Max, sat on a chair, and placed the cat on her lap. She stroked Max’s fur while Sadie rested her head on Danielle’s knee. The dog looked up into her eyes, her tail wagging.
“Well, this is quite a greeting,” Danielle said with a chuckle.
“You’re here,” Marie said as she appeared in the kitchen.
Danielle looked up at the ghost and smiled. “Yes, I got quite the greeting from these two.”
“They were a little miffed because I wouldn’t let them come into the nursery with me. The babies are sleeping, and I was afraid they’d wake them.”
“Where’s Walt?”
“He’s up in his office, doing some work. How was your morning?”
“Productive, I guess. Umm, has Walt had lunch yet?”
“No, he was talking about waiting for you to get back.”
“Good, I picked up some lunch. I was going to pick up something for Lily and Ian too, but she texted me they had already eaten.”
By the time Lily and Ian arrived at Marlow House with Emily Ann, Walt and Danielle had already finished lunch; the twins had been fed and placed together in the living room playpen. Earlier, Ian had brought Lily’s rocking chair over and set it in Marlow House’s living room.
Despite that, the arrival proved chaotic. As Ian pulled up in front of Marlow House and parked, Chris pulled in behind him with Heather, Hunny, and Bella. Danielle and Marie came outside to greet the new arrivals, leaving the front door wide open, while Walt stayed inside with the twins, looking out the front window.
They all exchanged greetings and hugs while Lily held on to her new daughter, Ian by her side, not wanting her to trip. Chris and Heather had come bearing gifts, and they carried those in with them as they all entered the house and headed to the living room.
But soon they were all settled down comfortably, with Hunny guarding the twins, and Sadie by Lily’s side as she sat in the rocker with Emily Ann. After catching up on all the baby news and then opening gifts, Lily asked, “So what’s going on with these two ghosts? Are they still hanging around? Are they here now?”
“Only Marie,” Danielle said.
“Tell Lily her baby is beautiful,” Marie said.
Danielle conveyed the message, and then Walt asked Lily, “Has Ian told you about the Bowman twins?”
“You mean about them getting arrested?”
Walt nodded. “And how their father wants us to help him convince his sons not to follow his path.”
“Yeah. Ian said something about having Clay do a dream hop.”
“According to Marie, the dream hop didn’t work,” Danielle said.
“The dream hop worked. But Clay’s sons didn’t believe he was really there,” Marie grumbled.
“I woke up last night to use the bathroom, and when I was going back to bed, there was Clay, standing in the hallway.” Heather gave an unladylike snort.
“Oh, my god!” Lily gasped. “That must have been terrifying.”
“Fortunately, more annoying than terrifying,” Heather said. “Now, if he had been alive, that would have been scary.” Heather told them about Clay’s dream hop and why it hadn’t worked out.
“Now we have to figure out some way to convince those boys it wasn’t a regular dream,” Danielle said. “If we do that, they might listen to their father’s advice.”
“I’m not sure the Bowman boys will pay attention to what their father says, even if they understand it’s him,” Heather said. “Not from what I’ve heard about them. But if they at least listen to him, and Clay thinks he’s done all he can, he might move on, and I won’t have to worry about running into him in my hallway in the middle of the night.”
“There has to be a way we can convince those boys it’s really their father,” Chris said.
They all sat in silence for a few moments, each one thinking of a way to convince the Bowman kids their father had visited them.
“Obviously, having them both in the dream didn’t work,” Ian said. “But how about getting someone else involved who isn’t in the dream? Someone who can verify it was more than a dream.”
Danielle looked at Ian. “What do you suggest?”
“Perhaps take a page out of Dickens’s A Christmas Carol,” Ian said with a chuckle.
“In what way?” Danielle asked.
Ian sat back in his chair, stretching his legs out while crossing his arms over his chest. He smiled a moment before answering, “Maybe a series of dreams. Tell them he is going to prove it’s not just a regular dream and that the next morning they will be visited by…I don’t know…”
“What? The ghost of Christmas past and future?” Heather asked with a giggle. She then added, “But actually, that’s kind of an interesting idea.”
“I agree,” Walt said. “It might take just one night. He can visit the boys again, tell them someone will be visiting them the following day to deliver a specific message. If they still believe it’s just a dream, he could visit them again the next night, same thing.”
“Maybe Eva could keep an eye on the boys for a few days, learn their schedule,” Danielle suggested. “If we know where they’re going to be the next day, it’ll be easier for someone to run into them and pass on whatever message Clay tells them to expect.”
“But who is going to visit them, and what should they tell the boys?” Lily asked.
As they continued to discuss the topic, Marie wandered over to the playpen. She stood over it and watched the twins. Each baby wore a sleeper—Addison’s pink and Jack’s blue. They waved their hands and kicked their feet. Occasionally, the mediums would glance over at Marie and smile at her and the babies and then resume their conversation.
Something from the front yard caught Marie’s eye. Moving closer to the window, she looked outside and saw Ian’s sister and mother coming up the front walk with Connor. Marie turned from the window.
“It looks like Connor is home,” Marie announced. “I’m going to take off. We don’t need Connor asking me to play with him while his grandmother and aunt are here.”
“Thanks, Marie.” Danielle glanced at Ian. “Kelly and your mom are here with Connor. Marie is leaving.”
“Goodbye, Marie,” Lily called out before muttering, “I didn’t know June was coming over with Kelly.”
Chris offered to answer the front door because he was the closest one to the entry hall. A few minutes later, Kelly and June walked into the living room with the toddler while Chris trailed behind them. Connor immediately ran to his parents and new sister, with his grandmother following him. Kelly stood just inside the entrance, hands on hips, surveying the room.
“Wow, this place looks like a nursery. Cribs everywhere,” Kelly said.
“Marlow House Bed and Breakfast now specializes in infants and toddlers,” Danielle joked before the rest of the room exchanged greetings with Kelly and June.
June, now standing behind the rocker where Lily sat with the baby, glanced across the room at the playpen with the twins. She spied Hunny sleeping nearby and then looked over to Sadie.
“Is it such a good idea to have the dogs in here with the babies?” June asked.
“They’re fine, Mom,” Ian said.
“I know you said to come back tomorrow,” Wesley said when he appeared in the middle of the room. “But I couldn’t wait. Did you find out anything?”
“Clown!” Connor toddled toward the ghost.
“There he goes with that clown thing again,” June said. Lily and Ian silently exchanged glances.
Connor reached Wesley and then plopped down on his bottom and looked up at the ghost. “Trick, pez?”
The mediums stared at the ghost but said nothing.
Wesley smiled down at Connor. “Hey, little buddy.” The next moment Wesley grabbed hold of his own right hand, pulled it off, and tossed it in the air. The hand disappeared in midair and a moment later reappeared where Wesley had snatched it.
Connor started clapping and laughing. “Mo! Mo!”
Wesley grinned at Danielle. “I’ve learned some new tricks. Pamela’s been helping me. I think you know her. She told me you met.”
“What is he doing?” June asked.
Kelly shook her head. “He never does this stuff when he’s with us.”
Ian walked over to his son and picked him up, intentionally walking through the area where he believed the ghost was most likely standing.
Wesley immediately backed up and started complaining while cringing repeatedly.
“Connor is just acting out a little, aren’t you, buddy?” Ian said before giving his son a hug and kiss. He turned to his mother. “He had to move out of his room, and then his mom was gone for a few days, and we come back with a new sister for him. A lot for him to process. He’s just trying to get some attention.”
“I suppose you’re right,” June muttered.
The mediums sat quietly, saying nothing, silently observing while also keeping an eye on Wesley, who was now flapping his arms while circling the living room as if trying to get rid of whatever icky sensation Ian gave him when he stepped through his energy. Finally, Wesley said, “I’m going. I’ll come back tomorrow, and when I do, I’d rather not be around anyone who can’t see me. Clumsy clods!” He vanished.
Still in his father’s arms, Connor reached out and said, “Clown go.”
“Yes, Connor. The clown had to go,” Heather told him.
June flashed Heather a quizzical expression and then turned to Ian and Lily. “We need to go too.”
“Mom, we just got here,” Kelly reminded her.
June looked at the sleeping baby in Lily’s arms. “The baby’s sleeping, and Connor seems to need a nap. Maybe tomorrow I can come back and hold that little angel?”
“Why don’t you call first, Mom,” Ian suggested. “Lily just got home from the hospital, and I imagine she’ll need to rest tomorrow.”
June glanced around the room at all of their friends sitting around but reserved comment.
“Why does that clown ghost keep haunting Connor?” Lily asked after Kelly and June left.
“He’s not really a clown,” Heather said.
“To be honest, I doubt he was here to see Connor. He wanted to talk to me.” Danielle then explained the encounter in the car and her visit with Adam.
“Wait a minute, that’s the same Rylee who was my nurse?” Lily asked.
Danielle shrugged. “Apparently. According to Marie, he was talking to her in the hospital. Of course, just like you, she couldn’t hear him.”
“I can’t believe it’s the same nurse. She was too nice. I don’t see her abusing her aunt.”
“That’s a totally different situation,” Ian reminded her. “Caring for a family member can be a different dynamic.”
“I’d think you’d be less likely to abuse a family member,” Lily argued.
Ian shrugged. “I’m just saying family relationships are complicated.”
“The thing I don’t understand, if I was a nurse who was accused of elder abuse, and the accuser was willing to keep quiet for whatever reason, I certainly wouldn’t take a job in the same town as that person. I’d want to stay far away from whoever had accused me,” Heather said.