Iwas finishing upreplacing the light bulb in one of the rooms off the manor’s kitchen when my phone rang. “Hey, Al,” I answered, reading her name on my caller ID.
“Hi, yourself. Is Evan with you?” she asked.
“No, I’m at the manor, he’s still over at my place, putting his room together.”
“Oh, cool. I know this might be bad timing, but why don’t you bring Evan to our house in an hour or so? Christie is cooking up one of her world-famous dinners, supposedly for our guests. Really, I think she wants to impress him.”
“Okay,” I said, eyebrow cocked. “And she wants to do that because?”
“Because, you numbskull, she wants to be his partner in reopening the Cordelia Manor restaurant. I had no idea how much she wants her own restaurant. I mean, she… well, anyway,” Al said, and I knew she was talking mostly to herself.
“Okay, yeah. I’ll ask him. But let Christie know he might not be up for it tonight. We’ve been working on his room all day, and you know how exhausting that can be.”
I heard her chuckle. Al had renovated the midcentury house herself before she’d convinced Christie to marry her. I had only just met Al when all that was happening, but I’d seen the house while it was being redone. If anyone understood the ins and outs of home repair, it was her.
“Christie has her heart set on it, so try to convince him. Just between us, I really think this is meant to be. Christie is an amazing restaurateur, as you know, and if Evan is going to make it here, he’s got to generate money. If it makes Christie happy, I’ll even volunteer to come over and help get things moving again.”
Smiling, I said, “I’ve just finished up here, so give me about fifteen minutes, okay? I’ll text you either way.”
“Sure, no problem, but try to convince him.”
“Aye aye, captain,” I replied, but didn’t get a response. I tended to say that when Al got bossy, which was often. That being said, she was the coven leader, and being bossy was part of her job description.
I tidied up the closet and put my tools away. Since keeping myself organized, both at home and at work, my spells had been more predictable and successful. It didn’t matter whether people used this space any longer or not. What mattered was keeping a clean mind, and a clean environment was an excellent tool for that. “Thanks, Mom,” I said to the ether. I could almost guarantee she heard me, even if she was on the other side of the country.
I was just about to leave when I caught sight of movement coming from the main staircase.Damn, please don’t be the evil entity, I thought and began casting a protection spell around me as I went in pursuit.
When I reached the reception desk, I saw nothing, but could feel a presence. This was a feminine spirit and a benign one at that. I closed my eyes and focused with my third eye, as my grandmother had taught me when I was young. “Seek out theentity, and if you’re lucky, they’ll let you see and speak with them,” she’d whispered in my ear.
I immediately found the woman.
“Inez?” I asked, using my mind to speak to her.
She smiled and nodded. “He needs to be here. Even if he stays with you, he needs to be here as well. This can’t end until he has made it right and restored what always should have been.”
I shook my head, not understanding, but as with most spirits, they had their say and then moved on. Inez disappeared even from my third-eye imaginings.
I rushed out of the manor and jumped into the golf cart, headed for my cottage. Things were happening now, and not just with Inez and the ghosts. It was almost as if the world had tilted on its axis, righting itself again.
29
Evan
Iknew before weleft for the bed-and-breakfast what this was about. Al had been vague this morning, but after tasting Christie’s dessert and her mentioning her experience as a chef, I’d been able to put the puzzle pieces together.
I was a yes. Of course, I was. After Christie’s little incubus trick, though, I’d be damned if I was going to make it too easy on her. I took a shower, only not in the third-floor bathroom because Cary’s comment about it being a mess was an understatement. It would take much more time to fix up than the bedroom. At least I could use the toilet and continue showering downstairs in the meantime.
Cary seemed quiet and contemplative on our drive to town. I wanted to ask him what was on his mind, but figured if he wanted to talk about it, he would. He’d been at the manor while I’d sorted through Inez’s trunk, and I hoped he hadn’t run into any spirits up there. If he had, he either didn’t want to scare me by discussing it, or driving to dinner with friends wasn’t ideal timing for such topics.
With him not being up for conversation on the drive, I replayed in my mind how I wanted dinner tonight to go. I planned my vengeance by thinking of all the ways I’d act like I was being cautious. “You know I might want to do it myself,” I’d practiced saying in the shower.
I was confident I could do the playing hard to get routine, and then in a day or two, I’d tell Christie I had considered all my options and offer her the opportunity to work with me.
The moment we walked into the house, though, my senses were accosted with pure bliss. Their guests were seated in the formal dining room, and I could tell from their faces, the food was excellent. Al escorted us into their private quarters, and Christie came in and shook my hand, waving at Cary before dashing back into the kitchen.
“Thanks for coming, Evan. I know you’re tired from the day’s work, but Christie was excited about you possibly reopening the Cordelia Manor restaurant.”
“And you weren’t supposed to be spilling the beans about that,” Christie said as she came out sporting two bowls of soup. I could’ve wept at the heavenly smell that reached my nose. I was about to dig in when Christie disappeared into the kitchen but reemerged moments later with salads. Okay, soup and salad, I liked where this was going.
