“Exactly. We didn’t know Vivienne was here until she showed herself to you. Everly knew, but hadn’t shared that information with you. Do you think Walt is here and Everly is keeping him a secret?”
“I don’t know,” Ten admitted. “I’d planned to have a talk with her before dinner about Vivienne, but now I’ll add Walt into the picture. Before I do that, I need more information on Walt and what happened to him post-hurricane. Maybe we can have a quick chat with Lainie.” As Ten spoke, his phone chirped. “Ronan’s back among the living.”
“Why don’t you guys have a chat with Everly and Lainie,” Cope said. “I’ll keep Ezra. He and Lizbet are having the time of their lives.”
“Thanks, Cope. I appreciate that.” Ten had wanted to sit down and talk to his daughter and Ronan about Lainie and Vivienne in the first place. The idea that Walt could be here and be the one operating Kurt’s strings was disturbing.
Ten had enjoyed the first two ghost-free days of the trip, but now, it was time to get to work.
7
Ronan
Ronan was semi-confident he was going to survive his bout of seasickness. After his nap, he’d hopped in the shower, which made him feel a bit more human. When he was dry and dressed, he walked into the living room, where Ten was waiting for him.
“How are you feeling?” Ten asked, wrapping his arms around Ronan and giving him a gentle squeeze.
“I’m better. Thankfully, I’m not dizzy anymore, but I don’t think I’ll be able to eat much for dinner.”
“We’ll have room service send up some toast, applesauce, and bananas if you like?” Ten asked, pressing a kiss to Ronan’s collarbone.
“I’ll give it a try. Where are the kids?” Ronan asked.
“Everly’s in the shower and Ezra’s with Cope on the beach. There’s something we all need to talk about.”
“Please tell me we didn’t win a second day of sailing onBreaking Wind?” Ronan’s stomach pitched at the thought of getting in a rubber raft at the moment, never mind the sixty foot sailboat.
“No, it’s nothing that dire.”
“Hey, Daddy!” Everly ran out of her room and into Ronan’s arms. She was dressed in a pretty blue summer dress, while her strawberry blonde hair was up in a ponytail. “Are you feeling better?”
“Much better,” Ronan agreed. “Dad says there’s something we need to talk about as a family.”
Everly’s eyes narrowed for a second before she rolled them. “Daddy, it’s not arealdate with Jerry, like teenagers have with kissing and that kind of icky stuff. We just want to go to the butterfly place. You have to let me grow up a little bit.”
Ronan snorted. While he was thrilled to know Everly thought kissing dates wasickyat the moment, he knew she wouldn’t always feel that way. “Good to know, and I’ll take it under advisement, but that wasn’t what Dad wants to talk about.”
“We still need to talk about Jerry,” Ten said. “For the moment, I met someone today that I want to talk to you both about.”
Everly’s bright blue eyes widened. “You spoke to Vivienne? Did you see her too?”
“How do you know about Vivienne?” Ten asked.
Ronan remembered Lainie talking about how the spirit might have been murdered rather than having been a victim of the strong hurricane that nearly destroyed the hotel. The last thing he wanted was Everly knowing anything about the spirit’s death, but Ronan didn’t always get what he wanted when it came to his daughter’s gift.
“Almost nothing,” Everly admitted. “I heard her name in my head. I didn’t see her or talk to her, but I did let her know that if she wanted to talk, I’d be there for her. I barely sensed her presence, but that was it.”
“How come you didn’t mention that to us?” Ronan asked. He wasn’t upset at his daughter, but there were times in the past, Everly had gotten in over her head with spirits and their problems. He’d like to prevent that from happening again if he could.
“I know how much you and Uncle Cope were enjoying having a ghost-free vacation. I figured that if Vivienne actually reached out or showed up to talk to me, then I’d let you know.”
“That sounds reasonable.” Ronan watched Ten as he spoke. “What do you think?”
Ten smiled at their daughter. “Sounds reasonable to me too, but there’s a little bit more to the story, which is why I was upset when I thought you’d been speaking with Vivienne.”
“I hate when that happens.” Everly frowned. “More to the story never means good news, right?”
“Unfortunately, yes,” Ronan said. “Last night when you were watching movies with Aurora, we all went down to the bar. Me and Jude played darts, while Dad and Cope had a glass of wine at the bar.”
