Hauntings of the Heart Page 9

  “Where are you?” Barbara said into her microphone.

  Minnie’s heart climbed into her throat. Was there really a paranormal presence in her bed and breakfast?

  “I’m at the top of the third floor stairs,” Elmer’s voice scratched.

  “Our mikes aren’t picking up anything.” Barbara said. “What do you hear?”

  Minnie inched forward on her seat. Had Gordon’s presence revived a ghost? Was his father trying to communicate from the beyond? Barbara hadn’t said anything about séances. Minnie tried to push the creepy feeling on the back of her neck away. She didn’t believe in ghosts. Perhaps the house was doing her a favor and settling on its foundation.

  Gordon had cocked his ear toward the speakers. Was he hoping to hear his father’s voice again? Perhaps that was the reason he’d returned to Carterville after all these years. Had he invited Barbara and Elmer to summon his ancestors? Was this his “family business?” He seemed eager to hear their findings.

  “It’s like a waterfall,” Elmer said. “I’ve never heard anything like it on an investigation. You don’t hear this?”

  “There’s no reading on any of the sensors. Can you record from there?” Barbara switched the display on her laptop. An image of Elmer’s feet walking down the hallway appeared on the screen.

  “Sure,” he replied.

  “I don’t see anything.” Barbara frowned. “Do you?”

  Gordon stood. “I’d like to see for myself. He’s probably right outside my room.” He extended his hand to Minnie. “Do you want to come?”

  Minnie narrowed her eyes at his hand, then took it. She ignored the electricity of the contact. “We won’t mess up your investigation?” she asked Barbara.

  “No. We’ll know what was you.”

  “Let’s go.” She headed toward the door, pulling Gordon in her wake.

  “Approach slowly, so you don’t startle the manifestation,” Barbara called.

  Startle the manifestation? Minnie barely contained her snort. She was more worried about something akin to Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark—ghostly demons melting their flesh. She doubted she would scare a ghost. She climbed the stairs, wondering whether Gordon was a suitable Indiana Jones for this adventure. She decided to stay behind his broad shoulders as they topped the stairs. Just in case.

  They saw Elmer at the end of the hallway. He was clicking pictures with his digital camera. Then Minnie heard the water sound. It reminded her of the rush of water from the burst pipe when the lawyer had visited. As they walked down the hallway, the sound became louder, and it didn’t seem as paranormal as Elmer and Barbara speculated. It sounded wet.

  A cold lump formed in her stomach.

  “It’s coming from behind this wall.” Gordon tapped his finger against the painted plaster. His fingertip left a depression in the plaster and a bead of water formed in the hole. It dripped down the wall.

  “What the…?!” Elmer grabbed his camera and snapped a photograph. “I’ve never seen anything like this. It’s like one of those weeping statues or something. But those usually only occur around shrines.”

  “Or the shrines are built there afterward,” Minnie muttered. “I suspect the cause of this weeping wall is less than miraculous. Gordon, did you lock your room door?”

  When Gordon shook his head and opened the door, Minnie went straight in and took a right into the bathroom. Her stocking feet told her the problem wasn’t as mysterious as her investigators hoped. The carpet squished as water poured out of the bathroom. She peeked through the door and her fears were confirmed. Water seeped down the wall to the right of the shower, flooded out of the Jacuzzi bathtub, and soaked the fleece rug between the toilet and the sink. Gordon had hung his terrycloth bathrobe over the towel bar on the shower, and it slurped up the water. The lower third of the robe was soaked.

  “Whoa! There’s water coming out from under the baseboard,” Elmer called from the hallway.

  She grabbed the doorframe and leaned her forehead against her hand. A third leak. The worst one yet.

  “Crap,” Gordon said behind her.

  The word on the tip of her tongue was much worse.

  9

  Gordon’s feet skimmed the four flights of stairs so fast he barely felt contact with the treads. He reached the basement with his legs burning and his chest heaving. Grabbing the banister, he stopped to catch his breath.

  After pulling the cord on the bare light bulb, he scanned the typical Michigan basement, with its low ceilings and dank odor. He found the water shutoff valve near a high-tech water pressure system. Now he understood why there was such excellent water pressure in the multi-head shower on the top floor. He jabbed the emergency shutdown on the system and twisted the shutoff valve for good measure. No more water would be flowing upstairs.

  The flow meter had registered several gallons per minute, and Gordon felt sick at the thought of so much water pouring out of the pipes upstairs. Minnie had worked so hard to restore the charm of the Lilac Bower. He hated to see the damage these water leaks were causing.

  He headed back to the stairs and slowly started his climb up to the third floor.

  He grabbed the newel post on the first floor. Minnie obviously didn’t need his interference. His plans would ruin the good things she was doing for the community. He could build it up, recreate it, but it would take time. Maybe he should give up.

  No. He banished the thought as soon as it occurred. He couldn’t. His mother’s final days depended on this. He didn’t have a choice.

  After pauses to catch his breath on each landing, Gordon returned to his room to find Minnie pacing with her cell phone to her ear. With all the improvements she’d done, she could have installed an elevator as well, his quadriceps screamed. The ghost hunters had abandoned their investigation for the night and were collecting their equipment. Barbara directed Elmer to coil cords while she stacked cameras in a pile by the top of the stairs.

  He entered his room, skirting the squishy carpet in the entry, and made his way to the desk. He snatched up the papers from his attorney and stuffed them in his briefcase. Minnie didn’t need to discover his true purpose here until he was ready to reveal it. For some reason, his plans didn’t fill him with the excitement they previously had.

  He shoved the doubt aside. It wouldn’t help him with anything. After snapping the case closed and rolling the combination lock, he turned back to Minnie. She was trying to roll a metal statue out of the puddle with one hand while keeping the phone pressed to her ear with the other.

  “We got the water shut off,” she was saying. “Gordon took care of it.” She raised an eyebrow at him and he gave her a thumbs-up to confirm the task was completed. He came over to help her move the statue out of the water, and considered by its placement at the door that it might actually be a coat rack. He muscled it out into the hallway and took a second look. After his evaluation, he realized it was two figures entwined in an amorous embrace. He’d manhandled their bare buttocks to rescue them from the flood.

  He laughed to himself. Leave it to Minnie.

  Elmer waved coiled cables wrapped with duct tape. “We’ve got everything picked up here. We’ll make sure things are out of the way downstairs.”

  Gordon nodded. “Sounds good to me. I’ll let Minnie know.”

  Elmer headed for the stairs, and Gordon waited for Minnie. She stood in the doorway with one hand on her hip. Water had wicked up her velour tracksuit, leaving damp rings from her calves down. “No. I haven’t checked downstairs yet,” she said. “This is bad, Mark.”

  She snapped the phone closed and tucked it in the front pocket of her jacket. “Best check the second floor.”

  Gordon kicked himself for not thinking to check the other floors on his way up from the basement. He knew enough about plumbing to know how devastating a leak like this could be. Gallons of water had poured out of the shower. It’d be flowing down, following the path of least resistance. Unless they got all the water soaked out of the ca
rpet, and found where it had traveled through the walls, the Lilac Bower would need to close.

  He headed toward the back stairs—his sisters had always called them the servants’ stairs, especially after they’d started reading historical novels. A wall blocked his path. Another change. He supposed he should have noticed in all the times he’d gone into his room.

  Minnie was already halfway to the next floor, and Gordon had to jog to keep up. He followed closely on her heels. His quads dreaded another trip on the stairs, but he wanted to stay near Minnie. He had a feeling she’d need moral support. From his experience with water leaks, the damage downstairs could be worse than up.

  Minnie zipped down the steps with an energy he certainly envied. Her knees were older than his, as she’d reminded him the other day. All those exercise classes she took were keeping her in youthful energy. He couldn’t help but appreciate the shape she was in.

  He made the landing a few steps behind her. Her pace slowed as she made her way past the other guest rooms to the end of the hallway, each step punctuated with squelches and squerches. She stopped under a sagging portion of the ceiling. This must be directly under the door to his room. A drop of water formed and splashed on Minnie’s forehead. It trickled to the end of her nose before she brushed it away.

  “How far has the water spread?” Gordon asked as Minnie continued to stare at the ceiling. He pressed his fingertips against the wall as he moved toward her. The plaster and lathe had been replaced with drywall on this floor. The drywall disintegrated when wet more quickly. At the end of the hallway, his fingers sunk in.

  Minnie had barely blinked during his progress. He reached out to touch her, to shake her out of the trance. She couldn’t go into shock from this. She was made of sterner stuff.

  The ceiling she stared at bowed dangerously. He shoved Minnie to the side more forcefully than he’d planned, but he was concerned the ceiling would give way at any moment. She bumped the wall and sank in to her shoulder blade.

  She swore.

  Gordon tightened his lips against a smile. That was the Minnie he wanted to see. Her blank staring at the ceiling had frightened him. The Minnie he’d known had never waited for something to happen. She acted, made plans, and took care of things. She was never overwhelmed by circumstance.

  The drywall above her cracked. Water rushed through the gash. He dove toward her and shielded her body with his, shoving her farther into the wall as the ceiling burst. A deluge of gritty water sprayed down his back, soaking into his undershorts and puddling in his shoes. He shook his head like a dog, and bits of insulation flung from his hair. A piece of drywall had hit the back of his noggin, but its sogginess had robbed the blow of its force.

  He leaned into Minnie, enjoying the sensation of holding her again. Her curves were softer than he remembered, but no less enticing. Desire like he hadn’t felt since his teens flared through him. It had been a long time since he’d held a woman that aroused him like this. Her exotic perfume short-circuited his brain. This wasn’t the time or place, but the temptation…

  Minnie wiggled, attempting to dislodge herself from the wall. He eased his weight off her. Her movements ignited a part of himself he’d thought long dead. He had to kiss her. He pressed closer, but his hand crashed through the drywall. He lost his balance and smashed against her, his lips slipping across her ear.

  Although he was tempted to try it again, Minnie freed herself from the wall and skittered away from him. The drywall flexed and crumbled with her movement, leaving a gap between the studs.

  “Are you all right?” Minnie grasped Gordon’s shoulders and glared into his eyes. Her stare was as serious as if they’d been in a car accident rather than squished into a sodden wall. He jerked his arm out of the mess. A clump of pink insulation caught on his sleeve and splatted against his forehead. It slid down his nose and dropped to the floor.

  Gordon couldn’t help it. The laughter burbled out. He covered his mouth with his hand to muffle the noise as if it was a cough. Minnie surely wouldn’t consider this situation humorous.

  But she caught it. She giggled, then slapped a hand over her own mouth. Another chortle burst from Gordon. Any attempt to stifle it would have failed. Minnie gave in too, and let her laughs erupt. She leaned against the wall and it buckled. Gales of giggles poured out.

  Gordon grabbed her arm to yank her from the wall, and the force pulled them both onto the floor, where they shook until the tears rolled down their cheeks. “I suppose it isn’t that funny,” Minnie managed between gasps.

  “What a mess!” Gordon exclaimed. They lay on their backs in the middle of the hallway, wiping tears from their faces.

  “I should have told you not to flush.” Minnie giggled.

  Mark’s voice came from the top of the main stairway. “Minnie, are you okay?”

  Gordon still thought it was strange Mark didn’t call her Mom, but Minnie was the kind of woman that might have wanted her children to use her name once they became adults. Gordon rolled over on his side to see Mark set down a toolbox by the stairs and hurry down the hallway. Water bubbled out of the carpet runner with each step, pooling in the uneven spots on the floor.

  Gordon scrambled to his feet. It wasn’t graceful, but it got the job done. He held his hand out to Minnie. She took it and regained her feet much more easily than he had. If any part of Gordon’s shirt and pants had remained dry after his impromptu shower, it no longer was after lying on the soaked carpet. He swiped at the drywall bits clinging to his pants, feeling a little like a teenager caught making out.

  He slid a sidelong glance at Minnie. She smoothed her hair, grabbing a chunk of insulation and flicking it to the floor. Making out…he grinned to himself. It’d been a long time since they’d been caught doing that. It had appeal. If only...

  He laughed at himself. There were so many if only’s. If only they hadn’t been interrupted. If only they could pick up right where they left off. If only his mother wasn’t dying. If he had a dollar for every ‘if only’ he’d contemplated, he’d have another million dollars.

  But he didn’t need a million dollars. He needed Minnie.

  He shoved his hand through his hair. What was he thinking? He couldn’t moon over her. It was the perfect recipe for losing her again. Once she learned his true purpose for returning to Carterville, she’d do more than slam the door in his face. He’d be lucky if she let him leave through the door. More likely she’d send him flailing out a third-storey window. His only choice was to keep his distance, and to help his mother die in peace. Achieving that would separate him from Minnie again, just as his father’s actions had before.

  Having Minnie in his arms had only reinforced how out of reach she was. Once she agreed to sell, she’d never speak to him again.

  * * *

  “I’m fine.” Minnie swatted Mark away as he tried to brush the insulation off her shoulders. Her damp clothing clung to her body, but she didn’t notice the cold. Gordon had ignited a fever in her she’d almost forgotten. Reading about a man’s embrace was nothing like experiencing the real thing again.

  Mark seemed to accept that she was in one piece and stepped back, allowing her to unstick her sweatpants from her bum. He placed his hands on his hips as he surveyed the crushed wall and gaping ceiling.

  Minnie let her gaze slide to Gordon. He appeared to be focused on whatever Mark was studying. Had he almost kissed her? Worse, had she almost kissed him back? She’d known something like this would happen. If she let him get too close, she’d fall for him again. It was imperative to expedite his business and get him out of her house as soon as possible.

  “Were you under this when it came down?” Mark pointed to the dangling light fixture and the hole surrounding it. “Is that why you were on the floor?”

  Minnie jerked her attention to Mark. What had he said?

  Gordon raised his hand and brushed some drywall out of his hair. “I was under it, but I’m fine. The drywall was so wet it just came down in little clumps instead
of a whole sheet. I got the worst of it with a gritty shower.”

  “He kept most of it off of me,” Minnie piped up. She could have kicked herself. Why was she boosting his ego? She didn’t need to make Gordon into her knight in shining armor. He was anything but.

  She scowled when Mark wiggled his eyebrows. Who knew what ideas Leslie had been filling his head with? She knew from experience he wouldn’t have come to that conclusion by himself. Minnie zipped up her hoodie, in case her wet tee shirt revealed more than she wanted. Now that Gordon wasn’t holding her as closely, she felt the dampness sinking into her bones.

  Mark shook his head and stepped across the wet floor in giant tiptoe steps. “We should have done the pipes when we did the bathrooms. I should have insisted.”

  “That was five years ago.”

  “Yes, but I knew these were a time bomb even back then. You’re lucky it happened now instead of when you had a house full of guests.”

  Minnie cringed. It was debatable whether a houseful of guests would be preferable to Gordon. “I’ve only got Gordon and the ghost hunters. They’re on this floor. Their room should be okay.” She pointed to the door next to the stairs.

  “What about Gordon’s?” Mark picked up his toolbox.

  “You’ll have to look upstairs.” It’d be easier than explaining. She knew it was bad.

  Gordon didn’t say anything. He simply nodded. He and Mark would probably have a good ol’ boys chat up there, discussing her house like she wasn’t standing right next to them.

  “Ghost hunters?” Mark asked, heading for the stairs.

  “You really need to pay more attention.” She’d told Mark a million times about her Halloween marketing. Obviously it had all gone in one ear and out the other. “The ghost hunters are here to investigate some of the sounds I’ve been hearing,” she explained, hoping he wouldn’t suddenly remember her scheme and let the black cat out of the bag. She glanced over her shoulder at Gordon. He followed.