Kiss and Make Up (Bachelors of Buttermilk #3) (12 page)

“Josh, what’s wrong?” Caitlin asked.

“Nothing.” He stared at the ghostly figure who held his gaze. Her dark hair was wet like last time but now pulled back off her face. “Are you Mary?”

The ghost nodded, and Josh could feel all the blood draining from his face. “Why are you here?” he asked, mustering all of his courage.

The ghost laughed as if he’d asked the stupidest question ever. “I’m waiting for the movie to start, of course.”

Okay. That made sense. They were in a movie theater. “Which one?”

She pointed a finger at Caitlin. That act caused the hairs in the back of his neck to stand up. “The one
she
showed the other day.”

“Would you like to see it again?”

She nodded.

Caitlin tapped his back. “What does she want to see again? The blue spoon?”

The ghost stepped into the aisle and stood in front of Caitlin. Josh didn’t turn his body all the way. He didn’t want to scare Caitlin.

“May I ask,” Josh started, not looking in her direction. “Did you set off the sprinklers?”

She ignored his question. “She is going to be a beautiful bride when she unites with Adam.”

That did it. He turned to face the ghost. It was bad enough that the living were pushing Caitlin toward Adam. Now the dead had inside knowledge to? “That isn’t happening.”

Within seconds, Mary’s glowing face was inches from his, her blackened eyes blazing in rage. “She will marry Adam,” she screamed and then flew up the aisle, disappearing into the air.

“Josh.” Caitlin touch his arm. “Josh, is she gone?”

“Yes,” is all he could say.

“For good?”

He shrugged and turned to face Caitlin, attempting a smile. “She said you looked beautiful.” He’d keep to himself the fact that the spirit had been wearing a similar wedding dress. That and her being adamant that Caitlin would marry Adam.

“Are you okay? Can I get you something to drink?”

A shot of tequila maybe. Raking his hand through his hair, he took a step forward. He needed to get out of the theater and do some thinking. “No, I’m good. Listen, Adam and the firemen seem to have a handle on things. I’m going to head back to the inn. I have a lot of work to do.”

Caitlin followed him back up the aisle. “But what about lunch? Let me go change out of this dress and pay Marilyn.”

“I told you, I already took care of it. It’s yours.”

“Josh, I can’t let you do that.”

“Consider it your wedding present from me,” he said and headed for the exit.

C
aitlin glanced
around the public library, searching for Bridget. She’d called her cousin this morning way before her day had gone to total hell, asking if she could do a search of 1937 obituaries to see if there had been a drowning in Buttermilk Lake.

On the assumption that Josh’s grandmother’s imaginary friend was in fact real and now the ghost haunting the theater, she asked Bridget to see if she could find any obituaries where the deceased was named “Mary.”

Bridget had finally sent a text saying she had found something interesting on microfiche and to meet her in thirty minutes.

Before Caitlin left the theater, Adam had assured her that the situation was under control, and she should go change out of the dress. She’d pulled him aside to update him that she hadn’t broken off their fake engagement but would do it soon. He joked that he was ready to stage the breakup whenever she was.

He’d also said she was a knockout in the wedding dress and Josh was a fool to leave when he did.

Josh.
Were they ever going to get on the same page?

She thought back to his talking with the ghost, which had been incredible to witness. Sure, she knew the Stevens girls could perform spells, but to see Josh speaking to someone she couldn’t see was mind-blowing.

If only she could have heard the spirit’s side of the conversation. At one point, Josh’s face had displayed sheer terror, but then a few minutes later, he was pissed off and bolting for the door. What had the ghost said that made him so angry? And why did she try to flood the theater?

Caitlin sighed. When did her days become about trying to figure out the motivations of a dead woman?

“Hey, Caitlin.” Bridget approached with her hands full of books. “Let me just set these down in the stacks, and we can go into the archives room.”

“Sure.” Caitlin followed her cousin to the back of the library.

Growing up, Bridget had always wanted to be a librarian and had gotten her degree in library studies. Shortly after graduation, she had returned to Buttermilk Falls to work in the town’s library. Caitlin admired her cousin for knowing exactly what she wanted to do with her life even way back then.

She thought she was finally headed down the right path herself. However, with the theater in disarray, Caitlin wasn’t quite so sure.

She shook that moment of doubt off. The theater was hers, and no ghost was going to run her out of it.

As they passed the children’s books section, she couldn’t help but grin. Soon she’d be reading to the triplets before bed, something she fondly remembered her mom doing with her as a little girl. She hoped they would love
Charlotte’s Web
and
Paddington Bear
as much as she had.

Wouldn’t it be nice if Josh was with them reading to the kids as well before they turned out the lights and retired for the night?

Who was she kidding? That wouldn’t happen. Not after the angry look on his face when she came out of the boutique’s dressing room. Would he feel different if he knew that she’d been fantasizing about marrying him, and that was why she’d tried on the stupid dress in the first place?

When she returned to the boutique and changed back into her own clothes, Marilyn investigated the material. Caitlin had done an excellent job hiking up the dress. No watermarks were found. Marilyn said she’d have it dry-cleaned and it would be as good as new.

Terrific.
Caitlin was the owner of an expensive wedding gown that she’d never wear. Well, technically, Josh was the owner. Why did he buy the dress? Caitlin sighed. So many questions, and it was becoming more and more frustrating that she had no answers.

“Come sit here.” Bridget motioned to a seat in front of a black microfiche machine.

“I didn’t know these things were still used.” Caitlin sat down and set her purse on the floor.

“Yeah. We’re beginning to digitize this stuff, but anything before 1940 is still on microfiche.”

“Did you find anything?”

“Well, the name ‘Mary,’ was very popular back then. Kind of like ‘Zoe’ and ‘Emma’ are today, but I did find something that you might find interesting.” She turned the knob a couple of times to the right. “Check it out.”

Taking a deep breath, Caitlin inched closer, her eyes scanning the article’s headline. “Woman drowns in Buttermilk Lake.” She looked over at Bridget. “Josh and Jason suspected the ghost might have drowned.”

Her cousin nodded and then got up, crossed the room, and shut the door. “That’s what you said on the phone earlier. Keep going.”

Caitlin continued to read. “It says here she was a guest at the inn.” Her hand flew to her mouth. “And was to be married, but they found her body floating in the lake. How awful.”

Bridget returned to her seat and scooted closer. “It also says that they could never locate her fiancé to tell him and that some town folks believed that he’d called off the wedding and left town the day before.”

“What is this? The
Buttermilk Inquirer
?” Caitlin scoffed.

“It’s all there in black and white. It says they found her body on May 2.”

Caitlin eyes widened. The theater opened on May 1. She reached down into her purse and pulled out the photo frame she’d put in it earlier. “This picture was taken on May 1, 1937.”

“And you think this is the woman? Why are you so interested in what happened to her?” Bridget asked.

Caitlin leaned back. She might as well fill her cousin in. “A spirit has been haunting my theater since I became the owner, and we think it might be this woman,” she said, tapping on the picture frame.

“Seriously?” Bridget’s eyebrow raised. “Have you seen her?”

“No, but Josh has . . . twice now. You should have seen him the first time, he was scared out of his mind. We were watching a movie—you know, the one that Grandpa Reynolds starred in that I told you I found in Josephine’s collection. Well, apparently, the ghost was up front watching it, too.”

“A ghost that goes to the movies. Interesting,” Bridget deadpanned then asked, “How do you know she wasn’t there before you bought the theater? Maybe she likes to catch an occasional flick.”

“Josephine said she and her husband had never experienced anything out of the ordinary. Apparently the ghost wants to stir up trouble or prevent the theater from reopening. This morning my front lobby was flooded.” She pointed to the screen. “Josh said the first time he saw her she was drenched, and then we found a mysterious puddle near the seat she was sitting in. This might explain why.”

“Would you like to take him a copy of the story? I can print it out for you.”

“Yes, thank you.” She wasn’t quite sure Josh was ready to talk, but he had to see this.

Bridget hit print and while she went to retrieve the article from the copier, Caitlin put the photo back into her purse. This had to be their ghost. The question: why had she chosen Caitlin’s theater as her haunting ground?

“Caitlin, you have to see this.” Bridget came running over. “There was a second page to the article I didn’t see.”

“What does it say?” Caitlin asked. Her eyes widened at the last sentence on the second page.

Rest in peace, Mary Reed

J
osh picked
up two small rocks and took a seat at the end of the pier. Flinging one into the water and then another, he watched the tiny ripples.

This thing with Caitlin had to end.

He should listen to the living and now the dead, too. Caitlin and he weren’t meant to be. Maybe Caitlin had just got caught up in the moment last night and this morning. If she was really interested in taking things further, she would have ended her charade.

But she didn’t.

Earlier, he considered packing up and heading back to Manhattan. Magic spoons . . . ghosts wearing wedding dresses . . . he didn’t need any of this. He could easily be on the next flight out.

He knew what was stopping him. The prospect of leaving Caitlin to deal with this ghostly intruder on her own frightened him. He wouldn’t do that to her, and he sure as hell wouldn’t let his kids near the theater.

He leaned back on his elbows and let his legs dangle off the pier. He’d tried to work this afternoon, but once he returned to the inn, he couldn’t get any of the morning’s earlier events out of his mind.

He surrendered to the fact he’d get no further with his perfume today. He was still more than a little miffed with his muse.

He took a deep breath and tilted his head up to the blue sky.

None of it made sense. Was this ghost the one who had spelled out his and Caitlin’s name on the blue box? And what about the whole “Kiss and Make Up starring Caitlin Reynolds and Josh Stevens” bit on the marquee? Did she do that? If so, why did she insist Caitlin belonged with Adam?

All he knew—it was freakin’ crazy that he could commune with the dead. He’d never been jealous of Emma’s or Abby’s abilities. Curious, yes. Envious, no. Still, he had to admit it was kind of cool to do it.
Josh Stevens, perfume chemist and medium, at your service.
That made him chuckle out loud.

“Does that laugh mean you are in a better mood?”

Josh looked over his shoulder to see Caitlin, wheeling a double baby stroller toward him. “Perhaps. How did you get that down the hill?”

“Easy. Cassie wiggled her nose and poof,” she joked and pointed behind her. “There’s a paved path to the left of the inn. The girls wanted to say hi to their daddy.”

“Hi, Cassie and Lily.” He smiled widely at his daughters all snuggly in their stroller but then arched an eyebrow at their mother. “Are you blatantly using our children to diffuse the earlier tension between us?”

“Maybe,” she said coyly, adding, “Is it working?”

“Not really.”

She held up a brown paper bag. “Then how about a BBB Burger? I know it’s a few hours later, but I stopped by the Star Lite and got that lunch you promised me.” Reaching inside, she pulled out a wrapped burger and handed it to him.

Josh let Lily curl her chubby finger around his. No matter how mad he was at Caitlin, he’d take any opportunity to spend time with his girls. “Have a seat.”

Caitlin joined him, squatting down. She pulled out two bottles of water from the back of the stroller.

Unwrapping his burger, he took a bite, his eyes rolling back. “Man, this tastes as good as I remembered.” He showed it off to the girls. “Just you wait until you are both old enough to try this.”

“That is not happening any time soon.” She giggled, and he couldn’t help but like that sexy sound no matter how mad he was at her.

“Have they eaten?” he asked, touching one of Lily’s little purple sandals.

She nodded. “I wanted to get them out in the fresh air. I would have brought Jacob, too, but he was out like a light when I got home, so Penny’s with him.” Her gaze rested on him and then Cassie and Lily. “I’m so sorry about today.”

“Why? You’re going to make a beautiful bride.”

“Josh, I’m really going to fix this. I had every intention of talking to Marilyn this morning, but then one thing led to another and before I knew it, she’d put the gown in my hands . . .”

“So she forced you to try it on?”

“Well, no.” Her face fell. “You wouldn’t understand.”

He probably wouldn’t. All he knew was that today was supposed to be the beginning of—who knows—maybe something really special between them, yet he’d purchased her wedding gown for her to wear when she married his best friend. “Did Adam and the firemen take care of things?” he asked, changing the subject.

“Yes. There’s a lot of water damage to the lobby. It’s a good thing the new carpeting hadn’t been installed. Now, I don’t know what to do. I mean, I could install it, but what if our g-h-o-s-t pulls the same stunt again?”

Josh chuckled at Caitlin because their girls were way too young for her to be spelling a word she didn’t want them to understand. Nevertheless, she had a good point. Who knows if the cranky spirit would pull another destructive stunt. “I’m going to talk to my mom and Aunt Sheila tonight. This has to stop.”

“I couldn’t agree with you more. I brought something that might help, and wait until you read it.” She reached into her purse. “I called Bridget this morning after you left and asked her to comb through all the obituaries for 1937.”

Josh raised a more than curious eyebrow. “Did you find one for a ‘Mary?’”

“Not exactly, but we found an article.” She pulled it out of her purse and handed it over.

Reading the headlines, his pulse raced. “Bride-to-be Drowns in Buttermilk Lake.”

“It says here that she was staying at the inn.” She reached over and tapped the paper. “And get this. She was supposed to get married, but they found her body floating in the water on May 2—as in the day after the photograph in front of the theater was taken.”

Holy hell!
That could explain the wedding dress the ghost was wearing and her wet hair
.

“And turn the page over for the cliffhanger,” Caitlin ordered.

He did and his jaw dropped. “Rest in peace, Mary Reed.”

“I think we’ve found what happened to the woman in the photo, and possibly your grandmother’s friend.”

“Do you think she could have been a distant relative of Tom and Adam’s?”

Caitlin shrugged. “I don’t know, but Bridget is on it. She’s going to talk to Tom and call us.”

“Unbelievable.” Folding the article, he handed it back to Caitlin. He’d heard enough. “I want you to stop renovations.”

“Yeah, right.” She laughed. “There’s still so much to do if I want to open this fall.”

“I’m serious.”

Her face twisted, and he knew this was going to be a battle. “It all needs to stop immediately, Caitlin. If you need me to help you make some phone calls, I will.”

“Josh, I can’t stop now. The theater is opening in three weeks. It won’t be ready. The floors need to be stained if we don’t carpet them, and we still have two hundred chairs to reupholster in the auditorium. God, I hope Mary doesn’t set off the sprinklers in there. That would be a mess.” She paused, “The reupholsterers I hired are coming on Thursday to start on the chairs.”

“Not anymore.” His voice stern. She wasn’t getting that moving forward with the theater reopening wasn’t an option. “I don’t care if you have to take a loss.”