The Trouble With Snowmen (12 page)

Chapter 24

After swinging the sword for half an hour, it felt like lead. Lexi gathered all of her strength because she knew this was her now-or-never shot. Tears welled in her eyes and a cry of desperation and determination came from deep within as she drew the sword and swung. The silver blade sliced off the creature’s head, greenish-brown muck splattering and covering Lexi’s face. She instinctively held her breath, which cost her precious time to react to the monster’s second head. It whipped around, its teeth latching into her leg.

It had been a few days since the incident with Haley, and Larry had needed to kill something. Tough Lexi Dylan had survived the attack in his first chapter and had gone on to train so she could get revenge on the swamp monsters that had mutilated all of her friends in the Louisiana brothel. Lexi Dylan, monster hunter, was kicking ass.

Nothing would stop him from finishing his manuscript today. Larry was in the zone, typing fast and feverishly, paragraphs ahead of his fingers. But then he felt something weird. Still typing, he eased his gaze from the monitor to beside the desk. The ghost-woman stood right there, watching him. Larry jerked and stumbled over and out of his chair.

Surprisingly, the ghost hadn’t vanished after his loud discovery of her. She stared at Larry with haunting black eyes that didn’t blink as Larry found his balance and stood up.

Larry’s heart thumped in his chest. The ghost didn’t look intimidating or scary. She looked lovely even and definitely like the spirit of someone, not solid flesh and bone. Although, he could see how she might have scared the pants off of the last occupants of the apartment.

“Where?” she asked, her voice clear in the quiet room.

“I wish I could help you, but I don’t know what you want.”

“Where is he? Where is he? Where is he?” she said, almost like they were all one word.

“Where is he? Who? Who are you looking for?” And for a second Larry forgot he was talking to a dead person. His heart had even stopped pounding its warning.

Then, like she’d done before, she disappeared.

He picked up his chair and sat back down to type, but his inspiration was gone. The ghost was the only thing on his mind. He wasn’t upset about it, just curious. Larry figured the person who would know the most about the house was Regina.

Larry crossed the hall to her apartment, but she wasn’t home. So he went down the hall to Maximilian’s place.

Larry walked in and heard Maximilian say, “Don’t you knock?” He sat at one of his long tables eating out of a bowl.

“What?” Larry said, confused, and thought maybe the ghost had upset him more than he had thought. “I’m sorry, but you told me I didn’t have to knock. I thought that’s what you said.”

“That was before I realized you were a lying snake. And lying snakes must knock.”

Larry scratched his head. “I’m kind of out of it right now. Would you mind letting me know what I lied about?”

Maximilian dropped his spoon and it clanked against the bowl. “Like you don’t know.”

Larry shook his head. “I really don’t. I have quick question, and then I’ll leave.”

Maximilian cocked his head to the side. “Lying snakes must knock, and I don’t answer their questions.”

Larry shrugged. “Can you at least tell me what I did to make you so pissed at me?”

“You didn’t tell me you had a girlfriend.”

“Girlfriend?”

“Haley told me. I can’t believe it. I trusted you and you lied to me.”

“Okay, hold it right there.
You
didn’t tell
me
the truth. You kind of left out all the important stuff, like how Haley used me like a therapy group to get that muscled cowboy back.”

“This isn’t about me. This is about how you used me to hurt Haley. What’s your game?”

“I don’t have a game. You and Haley, y’all are the ones with a game. I didn’t hurt her, she hurt me.” Yikes, he hadn’t meant to say that to Maximilian. Larry huffed. He was getting all riled up again. This was not what he’d come here for.

Maximilian stood up and put his hand on his hip. “So you
are
mad.”

“Wouldn’t you be? I thought the reason she left that day was because she was afraid of getting hurt again. I actually thought we had something. But no, the whole time I was being made a fool.”

“She does like you,” Maximilian said matter-of-factly. “You’re the one with the girlfriend. Her boss!”

“Brenda’s not my girlfriend.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

“Then why would Haley think that?”

Larry scratched his head. “I guess that’s what Brenda had said, but we’re just close friends. Not a couple.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

“Well then, I’m sorry I called you a snake. Maybe you’re just a cute little worm.”

Larry shook his head. “Wait, what do you mean Haley likes me? No, she doesn’t. All she cares about is that muscle-head.”

“She finally dumped that muscle-head.”

Larry stood there for a second, bewildered. “That doesn’t even make any sense. She said she did this whole snowman scheme to get him back.”

Maximilian shrugged. “We all say things sometimes to make ourselves feel less humiliated, especially when we think someone is unavailable.”

Larry rubbed his chin, trying to put all the pieces together. Haley had thought Brenda was his girlfriend. “So are you saying since she thought Brenda was my girlfriend, she lied about Travis?”

“Her entire confession was laced with untruths to make her feel better about you being with Brenda.”

“Like what?”

“Y’all are driving me crazy. What? Are y’all in the seventh grade? Y’all need to sit down and talk about it, like adults. I am officially out of it.” He waved his hand.

“But—”

“Nope.”

“Okay, I understand. I think.” He smiled and shook his head, trying to rearrange his feelings. “I need to think this all through.”

“You do that.”

Larry was about to leave but then remembered what he had come over there for in the first place. “Hey, do you know if anyone else, besides the old man, died in my apartment?”

“What? Someone else? I don’t know. Wait, did you see a ghost?!”

“Yeah, and it’s a woman, not a man like y’all said.”

Maximilian screeched, “No way! No way! There’s really a freaking ghost next door? No way! Shut up.”

“So do you know if a woman lived there, maybe a Mrs. Chase?”

Maximilian hugged himself. “I don’t know. There was only Mr. Chase when I moved in, and he didn’t really come out of that apartment. Not the social type and, believe me, I tried. You’ll have to ask Regina.”

“She’s not home.”

“Call her.” Maximilian gave him Regina’s number and then Haley’s number. “Use them both.”

“Thanks.”

Larry turned to leave.

Maximilian said, “Haley is a good person. She’s sweet and innocent. Don’t make me regret telling you any of this stuff. If you hurt her, I’ll kick you in the nuts.”

Chapter 25

Larry found the switch easy enough and snapped on a light in the attic, but the light bulb was way in the corner and it flickered like it was about to go out.

Larry had called Regina, and she told him that the attic used to be an extra room. When she renovated the house into rental apartments, she had decided to use the area as storage.

Storage indeed. The room had been stacked ceiling-high with boxes and old junk. He thought of the stories he could write using inspiration from just this one area of the house. If someone looked into the antiqued mirror, they would become older, or if they lay on that old, dirty mattress, their nightmares would come true.

“Where the hell do I start?” he said under his breath, and then he heard a noise. He turned his head, wondering if there were ghosts up here too, or worse, rats.

His attention went to the corner where a red light shone from underneath a small door. When the door knob began to turn, he froze, waiting on whatever creature that was about to emerge. Now that he knew ghosts were real, he could only imagine what else was real.

The door opened slowly and Haley emerged, the red light glowing behind her making her look more like a vision than a monster. When she screamed, Larry’s nerves were already shaken and he screamed as well.

“Larry!” Haley held her chest. “You scared me half to death.”

“You scared me!”

They laughed.

“What are you doing up here?” she asked after a second.

“I was searching for something.” He pointed at all the stuff. “What were you doing in there?” He wanted to add “Looking so radiant.” She wore a white dress made of thin, light material, sheer enough that he could make out the shape of her body underneath. That little bit of a hint made him go crazy inside.

“Regina said I could use this as a darkroom. Oh but that’s right, you and Brenda own the house now, so I’ll get my stuff out of there.”

“No, it’s fine.” Keep using it for as long as you’d like.

She nodded and looked toward the attic entrance and began to walk toward it. Larry couldn’t let her leave. Not after what Maximilian had told him. After he’d found out that she might actually care about him, everything changed. It had only been a matter of a few minutes that the agony had lifted from his heart, and all he wanted was Haley. He’d actually never stopped wanting her, he’d just thought he’d never have her. “I met the ghost,” he blurted.

Haley stopped with her foot on the top step. “What?” She turned toward him.

He nodded. “She appeared like three times already.”

“She?” Haley said, excitement in her voice, as she took a step toward him.

Larry noticed a little smudge on her face, probably something from developing her photos.

“Don’t you mean he? Mr. So-and-so?”

He shook his head. “Definitely a Misses So-and-so. She spoke to me. She said ‘where is he?’”

Haley’s eyes were wide. “You’re kidding. That’s so creepy but cool. So what are you doing up here?”

“I talked to Regina, and she said that Mr. Chase’s stuff is stored up here until someone claims it. I thought maybe I could search through it for clues. Regina said Mr. Chase lived here for a long time and maybe even he lived here with a wife at first. Apparently, Regina’s husband was the one who took care of the house before their divorce, and then afterward Regina moved here. But you probably already knew all that.” He couldn’t believe he was talking so much. “Wow,” he said and scratched his head.

Haley bit her lower lip. She didn’t look at him the way she had before she’d ran off the dance floor, and she didn’t look away like she had the entire time she’d told him about how she snowmanned him. Her face lit up like she wanted to be there with him, that smile he remembered from the park . . . from the bedroom.

“Are you sure you didn’t let your imagination get away with you?” she asked. “You are a horror writer, and we are talking ghosts.”

He shrugged. “That is a possibility, I mean, I have been . . .” He was going to say, under a lot a stress, but thought better of it. “I’ve been busy. Anyway, I thought I would look through his things for some kind of clue as to if he had a wife.”

“Okay, well—”

“Do you want to help?”

She stared at him for a second, the dim light in the attic catching the highlights in her hair. She licked her lips. “Sure,” she whispered and quickly directed her attention away from him and to the mounds of boxes. “Where do we start?”

Chapter 26

A rumble of thunder added to the already-strange atmosphere of the attic and talk of ghosts. But Haley wouldn’t have wanted to be any other place then sifting through a dead person’s personal effects with Larry. He didn’t seem upset with her, and she shoved the thought that he was indifferent to the back of her mind.

It had been two days of misery for her, wanting to go across the hall and knock on his door, or hoping to at least see him in the hallway. She knew he’d stayed locked up in his apartment because his car never left.

Besides helping Maximilian get ready for the show and packing—Maximilian had been so happy after she told him yes, she’d be his model—she had spent those two days in a constant mind battle. What if she wouldn’t have walked off the dance floor? And what if she had let Larry talk the other day instead of confessing everything? The biggest regret, maybe she’d been wrong about him not wanting a relationship with her. She hadn’t really given him a chance.

Picking up a dusty spider web covered box, Haley tried not to be too girly about it and kept her squeals to herself. It had been sealed with wide yellow masking tape, which was at least easy to take off. She opened the box. “This is interesting.” Haley brought out an old, bent-out-of-shape, woman’s shoe.

“So there was a wife,” Larry said.

Haley’s eyes had adjusted a little better in the dimness of the room, and she took in the sight of Larry White. It seemed like every time she looked at him, he got a little more handsome. Today he was his sexy, manly Larry self, with at least a day’s stubble and untidy hair. He wore a T-shirt and shorts, his legs strong and tan. She figured that was what he probably lounged around in on Sunday afternoons. Funny, the media portrayed him as a jet-setting celebrity. But to her, Larry seemed more like a homebody, even though she was sure he had ample opportunities to go out and invitations galore to spectacular events. She admired that about him, being able to stay true to himself. And for a second she imagined herself snuggled up to him, lounging around on a Sunday afternoon.

“Or maybe Mr. Chase was a cross-dresser.”

“What?” Crap! How long had she been staring?

He looked amused. “The shoe.”

“No.” She tried to act nonchalant. “It’s too small for a man’s foot. Smaller than my shoes even. But that’s not saying much. Was your woman ghost small?”

“I guess. I mean, she was woman-size.” Larry cleared his throat and put his attention back on the box he’d been going through. “Speaking of, how is Travis?”

Haley smiled at his sense of timing. And at the opportunity he’d just given her. Before she could chicken-out she said, “We broke up,” and watched for his reaction.

His head jerked. “Really.”

Haley could have sworn that a smile broke free on the side of his mouth. She felt a rush of happiness. Too soon though, because she had a question of her own. “What about you and Brenda? How are y’all doing?”

He looked straight at her. “We’re just friends.”

“Brenda called you her boyfriend that day when y’all came to my apartment.” Haley hadn’t meant to blurt that out like that.

“We’ve been friends for a long time, since college. So it is kind of like when women call their friends ‘girlfriends.’”

It didn’t seem to Haley like that was how she’d meant it, but maybe Brenda was an overly protective and possessive friend. It’s not like Haley had any experience with Brenda in the friend department. “Okay.” Haley used all of her willpower not make a facial expression, especially the smile that ached to escape along with a jump for joy. She opened another box and pulled out a picture album. “I think I have something here.” She walked over to Larry, stopping a couple of steps in front of him.

“Open it up,” he said.

She held it out to him. “Go ahead.”

He accepted it but didn’t open it until he moved to her side, their shoulders touching, so she could see too.

The outer edge of the photos, once white, had yellowed and the people in the pictures were from a different era. A young man and young woman sat on a couch holding hands. The rest of the book went the same way. They lounged at the beach, they sat in a car making goofy faces, and opened presents by a silver-tinseled Christmas tree.

“Is that her?”

“I don’t know. It could be, I guess. This could be her when she was younger. I don’t know for sure.”

“We’ll keep looking,” Haley said.

They went back to silently searching boxes. As Haley rummaged through someone else’s memories—paperwork, dishes, and clothes—all Haley could think about was the day she and Larry had spent together at the park. Even though she’d had an agenda, she couldn’t deny the effortless bond they’d had. And now that there was no Brenda, actually never was, she really felt confused. Maybe that moment by the dance floor had been real. Maybe she should say something to him right now.

“Wait,” Larry said. “Here she is.” He held a picture frame.

“You sure?”

He nodded. “Yeah, I’m sure.” Larry brought the picture over to her.

“Well, it looks like the woman in those pictures, only older. It’s gotta be his wife.”

“I’m wondering why she, her ghost, is still here in the apartment.”

“You don’t suppose she’s been here with him the whole time, do you? You know, maybe after she died she didn’t want to leave him.”

Larry seemed to be lost in thought for a moment as his expression turned serious. “I don’t think she knows her husband died. She keeps asking ‘where is he?’”

“That’s so sad,” Haley whispered. “We’ve got to get them back together.”

Larry shot her a look. “That’s a strange thing to say.”

“Says the supernatural writer.”

He smiled. “Fiction. I don’t know what to do with real ghosts.”

“We could have another séance.”

“Because the first one went to so well.”

“What else can we do? We need to let her know that Mr. Chase has moved on, and she should go too. He’s been living here with her ghost all this time. She waited for him. Now he’s gone, and she’s left here. They need to be back together. It is horrible for two people who love each other to be apart.” Her face heated as she realized what she’d said. She dropped her head and pretended to study the picture again.

“If it means that much to you, okay.”

When she looked back up, Larry stared at her with that intense, wistful expression that made her dizzy. Her heart pounded.

“I have a confession to make,” he whispered.

“Okay.”

“I already knew you broke up with Travis. And I also know you lied to me.”

She wasn’t sure which time he was referring to. She didn’t realize she’d lied to him so much until that moment. “I’m sorry.” She turned and put the picture back in the box and started to clean up her mess. The sudden feel of Larry’s cool hands on her arms sent tingles up her neck.

He gently turned her around. He was right there, their faces so very close.

“Just so there is no misunderstanding this time,” he said, “I want you to know that I’m not with, nor do I want to be with, anyone else but you.”

“I don’t either.” Haley leaned her entire body closer, that one inch, that one second, and Larry didn’t miss it or waste it.

He pressed his lips to hers, his chest to hers, backing her up against the boxes. She trembled with excitement, sparks of desire running through her body to places that remembered his touch.

Suddenly, Larry stopped kissing her, his breathing unsteady and his mouth still grazed her lips. “I don’t want to mess this up,” he whispered. “I want you right now, but I don’t want to do anything that will make you run away. I won’t be able to take it if you run away again. It’s too painful.”

In that instant, she knew she loved him, knew she had never loved before him. “I’m not going anywhere.”

Larry stared at her, his eye movement rapid with excitement. “Do you want to go downstairs?”

“I can’t think of anything I’ve ever wanted more.” She laced her fingers in his, and he led her down the stairs to his apartment, to his bedroom. He shut the door behind him and locked it.

Haley knew she looked hungry, couldn’t control it, and no longer cared. Larry touched her face, those dark eyes of his holding nothing back. He wanted her as much as she wanted him.

Steady rain and distant thunder echoed through the window.

Larry touched his lips to Haley’s, parting them with his tongue. He kissed her, slowly, deeply, taking his time, making her want him even more.

Her body responded immediately, craving the heat of his body against hers, craving the way he made her feel so beautiful. She let herself become lost in him without any thoughts of the future. The only thing that mattered was that moment. And at that moment, she was his.

Larry woke with a start. He glanced at his watch, 2 a.m., and then looked beside him at Haley. She was still there.

Earlier he’d been so impulsive, but the risk had been worth it. He’d seen it in her eyes, and he had to take the chance that he hadn’t read her wrong. Now here he was, with her. It had been such an exhilarating experience again.

His emotions had never been so all over the place in such a short time. At the beginning of the day, he’d been thinking about going ahead and going home. He’d almost finished his book, and he had nothing left for him there. And now, it had all changed.

Haley stirred. Her red hair sprawled upon the pillow. The lights were on, they hadn’t bothered to turn them off, and he felt grateful that he got to see her long, curvy, beautiful body again.

They’d told each other that they didn’t want to be with anyone else.

But what did that mean? He needed to figure out if he was ready for more than a causal relationship. He’d almost married Brenda, once upon a time, but he’d quickly realized that he wasn’t ready, and then later he realized he had never really been
in
love with her. He was pretty sure he’d actually never been in love. All he knew, at that moment, was he didn’t want Haley to be with anyone else. The last couple of days had been difficult to get through because he’d thought she was still with Travis.

But she wasn’t.

She was here with him.

He crawled back under the covers next to her warm, naked body and snuggled close. Her eyes opened, and she smiled at him, melting into his arms.