Finding the Way Back (30 page)

“It’s funny how we were all drawn to
different things isn’t it?” Connie asked.

“Well, things aren’t worth fighting over are
they?” my mom said then laughed. “Shelly, remember when we fought
over who was going to have Thanksgiving dinner that one year?”

“Yes, I do. I can’t believe I didn’t just let
you have it. You can have it every year if you want to now.”

My mother and aunt laughed then opened the
cupboard doors in the lower portion of the hutch. There was a
lovely china set with pretty pink flowers, more depression glass,
mostly bowls, silver serving trays and bowls, and other items to
make an elegant table. In between the two cupboard areas were three
stacked drawers. I opened the top drawer and found a beautiful set
of silver in a case lined with deep red velvet. The other two
drawers held candles, serving silver, a hoard of matchboxes and a
small wooden game of cribbage.

As we were looking through the items we heard
a knock at the front door. I went to answer it and was a bit
flustered to see Emmett standing on the front porch. I hadn’t yet
worked out what I was going to say or how I was going to act. The
conversation I imagined in my mind alternated between me either
acting cool and uncaring, or trying my ‘come hither’ look that
Connie said I needed to work on. Instead, I just froze.

“Hi,” was all I could say, and then I looked
at my feet.

“Hey, Laney,” Emmett answered warmly. I
looked up and he was smiling at me. “I heard about your break-in
and I wanted to check to see that you were okay and if there was
anything I could do to help.” Something about the way that he
looked at me told me it was going to be okay. He wasn’t someone who
held grudges.

“Thank you. That’s so sweet. Please come in.
I wanted to talk to you,” I said, ushering him into the living
room. Three heads turned towards us from the dining room and they
greeted Emmett warmly. I realized I couldn’t talk freely in the
present company, so I steered him to the kitchen instead.

“Laney, I wanted to apologize,” he began as
soon as we were in the kitchen alone.

“You don’t have anything to apologize to me
for. I’m the one that should apologize,” I answered, standing
awkwardly in the middle of the room.

“No, no, I was here uninvited and interrupted
you. Then I overreacted. I’m sorry about that. I didn’t realize
when I kissed you that you and Simon were getting back
together.”

“No, no, no, please, you misunderstood,” I
interrupted quickly. “Yes, Simon kissed me and I’m sure it looked
like I was kissing him too but it was so unexpected and sudden I
didn’t react quick enough to stop him. Believe me, I left him,
fully understanding our relationship is over, and that his overture
was unwanted.” The words came out so fast that I couldn’t stop once
I started until I finally had to take a breath.

Emmett just stared at me for a moment.
“Okay,” he said slowly, trying to process what I just said. “How
about if we just forget it ever happened? Deal?” He smiled and
stuck out his hand.

I smiled back and took his hand in mine. I
felt a tingling start at my fingertips and go up my arm making me
warm all over. “That would be great. Thanks.” I reluctantly let go
of his hand after a lingering moment.

“So, what’s the damage on the break in?
Anything taken?” Emmett asked, looking around.

“They kicked in the back door,” I answered,
walking toward it to show him. “My aunt called a handyman to fix it
so hopefully that will be taken care of quickly. We think it was
Saundra again but don’t have any evidence this time. I just wish we
knew what she was looking for. It doesn’t look like anything is
gone unless she took something we don’t know about.”

“How about the hauntings? Any new
occurrences?” Emmett asked while opening and shutting the door. He
felt around the jam to see how extensive the damage was.

“It’s been shockingly quiet. I did have an
experience last night but it was pretty weird so I am not sure
you’re going to believe me.”

“This house has been by far the most active
place I’ve ever investigated so try me,” he challenged me,
directing me to the folding chairs on the deck. We both settled
into the chairs.

I told him about the appearance of my
grandmother and carefully watched his eyes to see if he thought I
was nuts. He was amazed but he appeared to believe me.

“I think we should do another investigation
tonight. I would love to catch more evidence,” Emmett said, running
a hand down his face.

“I hate to take up everyone’s time. Do you
think it would be worth it? Maybe the smudging worked and we won’t
have many more negative disturbances.”

“The fact that your grandmother is still here
and appeared to you tells me it’s not over yet. And you know
what—if that handyman doesn’t come today, I’m not comfortable with
you and Connie staying in the house alone and unable to lock the
door. I can crash on your couch if that’s okay with you? I’ll just
stay after the investigation.”

I paused a moment to see if he was joking. My
first reaction was that I didn’t need a man to watch over me. But
after I thought about it I was glad to see he was serious and I
agreed to it. I was more afraid of real people breaking in than
ghosts anyway.

Emmett left and I returned to the dining
room. My mother and aunt were boxing the items they were taking
home.

“We’ll be leaving when we’re done here,” my
mother said.

“My handyman can’t make it until tomorrow
morning. Are you girls going to come home to stay for the night?”
Aunt Shelly asked.

“No, we’ll stay here. Emmett said he’d sleep
on the couch so we’ll be fine,” I answered. My mother and aunt
smirked at me. “Really, he’s just staying on the couch. We sure
can’t leave the house unlocked and unattended. Besides, the guys
are going to come over and do more investigating.”

“No, you’re right. If you need us you can
always call,” my mom finished as she and Aunt Shelly left.

Connie had gone back to work in the study,
cataloging and photographing items for eBay, so I went up to work
in the master bedroom.

I hadn’t yet finished going through my
grandmother’s closet. If a song meant so much to her that she kept
a broken record of it, there might be other keepsakes of her lost
love. She could have a diary or other notes hidden in one of the
boxes on the shelves or elsewhere. I decided to investigate a
little further. The small trunk where I had found the record was
still sitting on the floor in the closet. I sat down and opened it
up again. There were several other items inside, each carefully
wrapped in muslin. The first article was a delicate, black beaded
bag. The way it was wrapped indicated that the utmost care was
taken to preserve it. I carefully unwrapped the rest of the items
and surveyed the motley collection of things my grandmother had
saved—a small souvenir knife, two inches long and in a leather
sheath stamped Door County, a blue velvet box with a set of fake
pearls inside, a handkerchief with lace around the edges, the torn
half of a one-dollar bill, an old tube of lipstick, and an ashtray
from a Holiday Inn hotel. She had obviously saved these articles as
memory keepsakes, and I wondered if they were from her relationship
with the other man. It occurred to me that I didn’t even know his
name.

“Quentin,” I heard my grandmother say from
behind me.

Chapter
Thirty-Two

I nearly jumped out of my skin as I stood up
and turned around. This time she was wearing a simple blue cotton
dress with a full skirt, and her hair was flowing loosely, framing
her face. She had a short white sweater on and her shoes perfectly
matched the dress. Around her neck lay the pearl necklace I’d just
seen. Why couldn’t I ever be that pulled together?

“What?” I asked breathlessly, a million
thoughts and questions racing through my head.

“His name was Quentin Collins. You were
wondering, I answered.” She smiled gaily at me.

“How do you know what I was thinking? Can
ghosts read minds?”

“No, but I can hear bits of conversations
throughout the day. Not everything, but some. I know you were
talking about him. As I saw you looking at my memory box, I could
tell what you were thinking. I couldn’t have him, but I still had
our memories.”

“How could you forgive him for running out on
you like that?” I asked.

“He didn’t know I was pregnant,” she said
sadly. “I was too scared to tell him. When we started dating it was
just supposed to be for fun. In the past, I had broken my own share
of hearts. I didn’t mean to, of course. When you’re young you’re
just looking to share some good times before real life hits you. We
grew up much faster in those days. A young woman’s options were
rather limited. Everyone expected me just to get married and have
children right away. But then the fun would be over. The men would
still go out to their clubs, bowling and golfing and whatnot, but
the wives were much more chained to the house. I just wasn’t ready
for that yet, but then I made a decision that put me in exactly
that situation.”

I was speechless and just stared at her,
hanging on her every word. When she paused I looked down at her
meager pile of memories, all that she had left from a different
time, a different life.

“I suppose you think I’m callous,” she said
sadly.

“No, I don’t. You’re right. Women do have a
lot more freedom nowadays. We aren’t expected to get married young
and put away our dreams,” I said. “Why do you come to me? Is there
a reason?”

“Do you remember choosing items from the
hutch just a little while ago? Without realizing it, you chose all
my favorite things. The oval dish I got from my mother when I was
young, the coffee pot that was the first thing I bought for my
home, and the salt and pepper shakers I bought on my first trip to
see the ocean. You have a gift, Laney. You are able to feel a
connection with me in a way that no one else does. It’s like a
higher sense of perception. And it’s not just related to me. I’ll
bet if you think about it there have probably been many times when
you’ve known that something was going to happen and it actually
did. Am I right? You need to cultivate your gift, Laney, not shut
it away.” She smiled at me again.

My mind raced as I tried to think of times
when this was true, but I didn’t want to lose any time with her and
it looked as if she might be fading. “Why are you still here? Why
are you doing all these things? What do you want us to know?” I had
so many questions, but I was talking to the air. She had vanished
as quickly as she’d come. I sat down against the closet wall and
thought about what she’d told me. Did I truly have a greater sense
that connected me to her? She said to cultivate my gift. What gift?
How? I had no idea. The next time I would have to have my questions
at my fingertips. I wondered if maybe it didn’t work that way—maybe
she could only interact with me when she had something specific she
wanted to say. It sounded like she listened at least to some of our
conversations so maybe there was a way we could coax her into
coming back.

I went downstairs to tell Connie of my
visitor but she wasn’t around. I assumed she went to run a few
errands so it would have to wait. The more times I saw my
grandmother, the less scary it was. Instead it was becoming more
intriguing as it seemed like pieces of a puzzle were appearing. But
what was the big picture?

I saw the clothes basket filled with dirty
laundry and figured I could quickly throw a load in. Facing my
fears, I grabbed the basket and headed toward the basement
stairs.

I snatched a large, black flashlight off the
counter then bravely descended into the bowels of our abode. I
could use it for a weapon as well as a light source. I found
clothes in both machines so I first had to fold the load that was
in the dryer then move the load from the washer to the dryer all
before starting the load I was carrying.

As I reached for the laundry detergent I
could feel the hairs on the back of my neck start to prickle. I
quickly twisted around to look, but no one was there. I could have
sworn someone had come into the room. My heart started to race and
sweat beaded up on my forehead. The washing machine door slammed
shut behind me making me jump backwards so that I tripped over the
basket. I felt myself lose my balance and knew I wasn’t going to
keep from falling. I fell to the floor sideways, my hip hitting
first and my head smacking hard on the concrete. Stars swirled
before my eyes as the pain from my hip and skull registered. When I
tried to sit up the room seemed to darken. Lying back down, I
closed my eyes for a moment trying to get my bearings. My head
started to clear but the feeling of being watched was strong again.
I opened my eyes again and noticed the same, strange scent I had
smelled before when the lights went out. It was so bad I tried to
breathe through my mouth to avoid it. There had to be something
backed up in the plumbing, I thought. I sat up, intending to stand
so I could go upstairs and almost threw up because of the stench.
Suddenly I was so dizzy I thought I was going to pass out. By now I
was really freaked out and knew I had to get out of there. I tried
to yell for help but it made my head hurt worse, so I started
crawling towards the stairway.

I made it to the stairway and looked behind
me, seeing a dark shape coming toward me from the other side of the
room. I realized it wasn’t a solid form, so I thought it must be my
grandmother again. Thank goodness I wouldn’t be alone. But instead
of the lovely blonde image of Grandmother, it was a more masculine
shape becoming more distinct. While my grandmother was young and
beautiful, this image was awful and terrifying. I could see bones
protruding from decomposed flesh like some horrifying zombie come
to life. It looked like it was trying to talk, its ravaged lips
muttering incoherently, the sound like stone on stone.