Chapter 16
We made it to Esplanade Avenue without incident, although I did notice Cooper gripping his door handle as I attempted to parallel park in front of the house. He winced at the sound of scraping but didn’t say anything as I felt the rear wheel hike itself up on the curb.
“That’s good enough,” he said. “Remind me to get you a set of curb feelers for your new car. And maybe for mine, too.” He said it lightly, but his voice sounded a little shaky.
I wasn’t surprised to find Thibaut’s truck parked on the street, since I knew he and Beau had gone over the preliminary plans for the renovation and that Beau was eager to get started while we waited for the roof shingles for my house.
Because the universe apparently hated me, the historically accurate shingles matching the ones we’d already installed on the rest of the roof were out of stock at the manufacturer, with a six-month wait.
Thibaut was calling every supplier he could get ahold of throughout the country and having them sent piecemeal until he had enough to complete my roof.
Cooper exited the car while I took a few moments to figure out how to put it in park. After parking, I crossed the street, barely avoiding a collision with a bicyclist. I joined him on the neutral ground for a view of the house. “What do you think?” I asked. “Still like it?”
A crooked smile lit his face. “I know there’s a ton of work to be done, but look at those bones!
And that pediment and fan window! I think my favorite features, besides that hidden dormer, are the double-hung sash windows in the front that open all the way to the ceiling.
Have you tested them yet to see if they work? ”
“Not yet, but that will be part of my job.”
He nodded. “Those old windows really are an engineering marvel, aren’t they? With their system of pulleys, cords, and weights hidden inside the jambs to help open and close them. And great for creating a cross breeze on a hot day.”
“If you don’t mind the bugs. Beau and I will be installing central air, so you won’t need windows for ventilation—just to show off at parties during cooler weather. Don’t worry—it will be factored into the selling price, so you won’t be hit with a surprise.”
I felt his eyes on me, so I turned to face him.
“So, you and Beau work pretty closely together.”
It wasn’t a question, but I felt compelled to answer him anyway.
“Yes. Beau’s being very generous, allowing me to use him as the general contractor for my cottage so I can afford the renovations.
Because of Jolene and her social media talents, we’ve received a lot of sponsors—and free stuff.
Which is pretty great since I’m basically broke right now.
I’m also now working freelance for JR Properties, for their new venture in flipping murder houses—which was Mimi’s idea, by the way. ”
He raised his eyebrows. “Murder houses? Like, houses where there have been murders? I already know about the woman who was killed here.”
“Yeah. Speaking of, there’s a little more to that story you need to hear.
” I took his arm and, after checking the street for bike and car traffic, led him to the house.
“Before you decide on anything, I’ve got something to show you.
” I’d brought the framed photo of the house in my backpack—with a promise to Beau that I’d find a way to get it back to Honey and Joan—for Cooper to see.
If this house had picked him, he needed to go into it with eyes wide open.
As we climbed the front porch, Cooper sniffed the air. “Do you smell that perfume?”
I nodded. “Youth-Dew by Estée Lauder.”
“Yeah, that’s it. Both of my grandmothers wore it.”
“I think everybody’s grandmother wore it. But perfect timing, since that’s part of what I need to tell you.”
He opened the door and held it for me. “I find the scent comforting, which is a good thing.”
I followed him inside, where the sound of sawing could be heard from upstairs.
“Probably just Thibaut cutting into a wall to find out more about the plumbing and electrical systems,” I said.
“Hopefully he’ll have good news, but be prepared: Restoring old houses always comes with equal measures of love and heartbreak.
Regardless, anything we find will be part of the full disclosure in any contract we give you. ”
“No worries,” he said as he followed me to the stairs. “I trust you and your judgment. Whatever it is, we’ll make it work. And that pretty much sums up life in general, doesn’t it? Equal measures of love and heartbreak.”
I paused to face him, thinking he’d just handed me the perfect opener to ask him about the phantom woman. Beau’s words about me being the poster child for avoiding unpleasant things still stung. “Speaking of full disclosure—”
The sound of small, quick footsteps clattering down the stairs stopped me. We turned in unison to see nothing at all, but I felt a waft of air followed by a chilly breeze as the footsteps ran past us and then faded away.
Our eyes met. “Did you…” I began.
“Hear steps and feel a cold breeze? Yeah. They took me by surprise but definitely weren’t scary. I can live with that and the perfume, if that’s what you were worried about.”
“I wish.” I slid off my backpack and pulled out the framed photograph. Handing it to Cooper, I said, “There’s at least one more spirit you need to be aware of.”
He took the frame and studied the photograph. “It looks like a recent photo of the house. I don’t…Oh, wait. I see them now. The woman and the boy in the front window.”
“Yeah, the sources of the perfume and the running steps. That’s not who I’m worried about. Look closer.”
He squinted, bringing the photograph right up to his face.
I knew the moment he’d spotted the third spirit.
His eyes widened and he gave a sudden involuntary jerk, dropping the frame.
“I’m so sorry,” he said, bending down to retrieve it.
He turned it over, revealing a small scratch in the silver at the top of the frame.
“I don’t know what happened. It was almost like someone shoved me. ”
“We don’t know who that is, but we’re fairly certain that the little boy is a great-uncle of the previous owners and died in the influenza epidemic in the early part of the last century.
The woman is most likely Sybil, who was murdered in the house.
As to the identity of the creepy guy?” I shrugged.
“I don’t have a clue, and neither does Beau. ”
Cooper was still studying the picture. “That guy is really terrifying,” he said, tapping the spot where I could sense the male specter glowering from the picture. “Does Beau have any idea why the, um, spirits are here? I’m not sure what to call them while having a normal conversation.”
“I get it. Luckily, with Melanie as my stepmother, ‘ghost’ is just a part of my daily vocabulary. But to answer your question: I’m guessing that Sybil would like to move toward the light, but either she can’t because the dark spirit is holding her here, or she’s staying to protect the boy because he can’t find the light yet.
I’ve been wondering about that myself, and I think that, since Lynda was a child when she lived here, maybe the boy considered her his companion. ”
“They do say that children have more open minds and can see what we adults can’t.”
“True. And animals, too. I’m thinking that this little boy—Patrick—is looking for Lynda. Maybe he just wants to know that she’s safe.”
Cooper nodded. “It’s hard to think about children as ghosts, but it’s especially hard to think that they’re earthbound because of unfinished business. That should be an adults-only thing.”
“Agreed. And speaking of unfinished business—”
“Do you smell that?” Cooper’s nose wrinkled as the stench of something rotting and putrid seemed to smother us in an invisible cloud.
I put my hands over my nose, desperately sniffing the soap smell lingering on my skin. “Yeah. It smells like…” I was about to say “death” but was interrupted by a deep voice above us.
“Are y’all coming up, or do I need to come down there?” Thibaut’s towering frame loomed over the upstairs railing.
The foul odor disappeared as if an invisible vacuum had sucked it out of the air.
“We’re coming right up,” I said, giving myself points for at least attempting to talk with Cooper about the woman and ignoring the sweep of relief the reprieve brought me.
It wasn’t the subject of the woman haunting him that I was anxious about.
It was the fact that he hadn’t mentioned her to me.
Not that I was avoiding anything. I’d tried. I’d attempt to ask him again. Later.
I led the way upstairs, climbing to the top of the steps, to the camelback room. The stairs were narrow and steep and had to be climbed one foot at a time. The room had last been used as a bedroom, occupied most recently by the murdered woman, Sybil.
Cooper and I found Thibaut at a wall where a large rectangular hole had been made in the plaster.
He wore clean coveralls and a white T-shirt that strained around his heavily muscled and tattooed biceps.
His full tool belt lay on the floor with a handsaw, and his bald head was hidden inside the wall, where he was apparently inspecting the mechanicals.
He removed his head from the wall and turned to greet us.
Despite his imposing size and bulging muscles, I knew he was a teddy bear at heart.
He’d gone to jail for the manslaughter of his wife, and her family wouldn’t allow him to contact his only child, a son named Gregory, whom he referred to as “Greggie.”
“Hey, boss,” he said to me. “I was hoping to see you today. Saves me a trip to ask Beau to relay a message.”
“I hope it’s good news.” Thibaut was the only person I knew who didn’t believe in owning a cell phone. Considering how many text interruptions I had in a day, I wouldn’t say I disagreed with his philosophy.