Treasured Legacies (A Mary O'Reilly Paranormal Mystery) (6 page)

Mary pulled the Roadster into a parking spot at the clinic
on Kiwanis Avenue.
 
She smiled when she
saw the Police Cruiser parked a little further away. He made it and early!
 

A few minutes later they were sitting in an exam room with
her doctor, Kristine Kelnick, an OB/GYN who was about Mary’s age. She was also
a marathon runner and it wasn’t unusual to have her running shoes peeking out
beneath her surgical scrubs at the hospital.
 
Mary liked her open and forthright manner, and the fact that while she
was in medical school working the graveyard shift she had had her own personal
encounter with a ghost.
 
It made life so
much easier when your doctor didn’t think you were nuts.

Dr. Kelnick pressed the screen on her tablet and accessed
Mary’s files. “You were in the hospital again?” she asked, her left eyebrow
lifting slightly as she looked over the file. “Abrasions, slight concussion,
bruising and…well this is interesting.”

She looked at Mary over the tablet screen. “Did the hospital
call you about any test results?” she asked.

Mary nodded and smiled. “Yes, the nurse called to tell me I
was pregnant.”

“Well, congratulations,” Dr. Kelnick said. “And I’m assuming
that’s why you brought your own personal body-guard with you today.”

“Exactly,” Mary said.

Dr. Kelnick put the tablet on the countertop and pulled up a
chair next to the examination table. “Okay, well we can run another pregnancy
test,” she said. “But I don’t really think that’s necessary at this point.
 
It’s too early into the pregnancy to hear a
heartbeat or even detect the baby with an ultrasound; we’ve got to wait at
least another month for that. If something happened to the baby on Saturday,
you would see signs, spotting or bleeding.
Anything like that
happening?”

“No, nothing like that,” Mary replied.

“Well, good,” the doctor said with a smile. “Then you’re
still pregnant and there’s no reason to assume that there’s anything wrong.”

“You mean everything’s perfect with the baby?” Bradley
asked.

“What I mean is, until this baby is a little older, we can’t
get any reliable data,” she said. “So, instead of worrying and assuming the
worst, you both need to be optimistic and enjoy this pregnancy.
 
Fretting never helped anyone.”

“So, what should I be doing?” Mary asked.

Dr. Kelnick met Mary’s eyes and her eyebrow rose again. “You
really need to stop getting into fights with serial killers,” she said. “Do you
think you can manage that for nine months or so?”

Mary nodded. “I’ll leave all the serial killer fights to
Bradley.”

“You need to eat a sensible diet,” she continued.

Mary sighed.

“What?” Dr. Kelnick asked.

“I had a call from Jodi at Union Dairy,” Mary confessed. “I
was going to go over there after this appointment. I mean, it was a work call,
but I thought since I was there…”

“I said sensible, not restricted,” the doctor said. “Ice
cream, in moderation, is sensible.”

Mary grinned.
 
“I can
be sensible.”

“Exercise is important,” she added. “But don’t overdo it.
Don’t decide you need a new exercise regime now.
 
Take it easy and listen to your body.”

“I’m going to write you a prescription for prenatal
vitamins,” she continued. “Are you already feeling nauseous in the morning?”

Nodding, Mary placed her hand over her stomach. “Yes, all
through the morning and sometimes in the afternoon.”

“Well, these pills aren’t going to help,” she said with a
smile.
“If you can keep them down, great.
 
But, don’t torture yourself. If all you can
do for now is eat a balanced diet and perhaps take some of those gummy
vitamins, that’s fine. At least those will stay in your body. But once the
morning sickness ends, you need to take a prenatal vitamin every day.”

“Okay, I can do that,” Mary agreed.
“Anything
else?”

“Watch your carb intake,” she said. “I don’t mean you have
to give up sugar, but gestational diabetes is not something we want to have to
deal with. Once again, moderation is the key.”

She picked up her tablet and jotted down a few notes. Then
she looked up at them. “I want to see you back here in four weeks,” she said.
“In the meantime, just continue in your regular activities.” She glanced at
Bradley.
“Including all normal marital relations.”

Bradley nodded, but his cheeks were tinged with red.

“Call if you are concerned about anything,” she said to Mary
and then she left the room.

“That was slightly awkward,” Bradley said once she was gone.

Laughing, Mary slid down from the table. “I don’t know if
I’ve seen you blush before.”

“I didn’t blush,” he replied, standing up and putting his
arms around her. “And I’m glad we can continue all our normal activities.”

Wrapping her arms around his neck, she reached up and kissed
him. “Me too,” she murmured.

“So, shall we head home?” he asked, his arms loosely looped
around her waist.

She paused for just a moment. “Well, I did want to stop by
and see Jodi,” she said.

“Because of the case or because of the ice cream?” he asked.

Mary bit her lower lip and bent her head. “A little of
both,” she admitted, and then she looked up at him. “Butter pecan sounds really
good right now.”

Laughing, he gave her a quick kiss. “I’ll go pick Clarissa
up at the Brennans and then start dinner,” he said. “Take your time at Jodi’s,
but remember dinner will be ready when you get home, so…”

She nodded. “I know. Be sensible.”

“Um, no, I was going to say ‘bring some home,’” he said with
a chuckle.

The sky was beginning to darken when Mary parked her car in
front of the ice cream parlor.
 
The green
neon lights that outlined the name of the store glowed in the early evening
dusk.
 
Even though it was early in the
season, there were quite a few customers enjoying the fountain creations as
Mary pushed open the glass door.

Glancing around, she saw Jodi behind the ice cream counter,
scooping out a double scoop waffle cone.
 
She headed over to the ice cream display to meet with Jodi and, if she
was being honest with herself, to check out the newest flavors in the bins
behind the glass window.
 

As soon as she walked over there, Jodi looked up from her
scooping and nodded. “Hi Mary, thanks so much for coming by,” she said. “I’ll be
with you in just a moment.”

“Take your time,” Mary insisted. “I’ll just decide on what I
want to bring home while you wait on your other customers.”

She stepped closer to the display case to take a closer look
at the choices and gasped in surprise when she got jostled in the side.
 
She looked down to see a little boy standing
next to her. “Sorry,” he whispered. “I didn’t mean to bump you.”

His little freckled face was pressed up against the glass
and his hands were plastered on either side of his face, so he could get an
even better view. Mary was startled when the customer beside her walked through
the little boy to hand a cluster of bills to Jodi to pay for her ice
cream.
 
The boy grinned up at Mary and
shook his head. “That didn’t hurt a bit,” he said with a wide smile.

She looked around, there were far too many people close by
for her to carry on a conversation with him. She met his eyes and returned his
wink. “How come you can see me?” he asked.

She shrugged and smiled; frustrated that she couldn’t talk
to him without drawing attention to
herself
. Suddenly,
a solution presented itself to her and she nearly slapped her forehead for not
thinking of it sooner.
 
She reached into
her purse and pulled out her cell phone.
 
Not dialing, she just held it to her ear and smiled down at the little
boy. “Hi, I’m Mary O’Reilly,” she said. “What’s your name?”

“I’m Brandon,” he replied. “Do you like ice cream?”

“I love it,” she answered. “What’s your favorite?”

He looked back at the dozens of choices and shook his head.
“All of them,” he finally said.

“Good answer,” she said. “Do you come here often?”

“All the time,” he said, and then he glanced quickly around.
“Well, most afternoons when I’m not at the park or the library.”

“Are you looking for someone?” she asked.

“My mom,” he said with a soft sigh. “I’ve been looking for
her for a long time and I just can’t find her.”

“Is that why you come here?” Mary asked. “To see if you can
see her?”

Nodding, he looked around again. “We always came here
together,” he said. “But I haven’t seen her for a long time.”

“Can I help you find her?” Mary asked.

He shifted his gaze away from her. “Well, I’m not really
supposed to talk with strangers,” he said.

“You are exactly right,” she said. “Strangers can be very
dangerous. But I do want to help you find her.
 
Perhaps I can look and bring her back here, so you wouldn’t have to go
anywhere with me.”

Smiling, he met her eyes. “I bet that would work just fine,”
he said.

“Okay Brandon, I’ll find her for you,” she said. “In the
meantime, now that we’ve met we aren’t really strangers. So, if you need me,
all you have to do is think about me and I’ll be close by.”

A woman standing close by turned to look at her and sent her
an alarmed look.

Oops! Mary thought.

“Yes,” she said aloud into the phone. “That’s exactly how
the story went.
Crazy right?”

Brandon giggled. But Mary could see it did the trick and the
woman was relieved.

“You’re funny,” he said. “Do you help people a lot?”

Mary shrugged. “Well, if I can,” she said, lowering her
voice. “And I especially like helping nice people who like ice cream.
 
So, don’t worry. I’ll find your mom, okay?”

“Okay,” he said, nodding enthusiastically. “Thanks for
helping me.”

“It’s my pleasure,” she said.

“Mary? Are you ready?” Jodi asked.

Mary glanced up at Jodi and took her phone away from her
ear. “Sure, I just…” she turned and looked back, but Brandon was gone, so she
quickly turned back. “I mean, sure, where do you want to meet?”

Mary followed Jodi back behind the counter and into a small
office away from the restaurant. “Have a seat,” Jodi invited, gesturing to a
metal folding chair. “Sorry it’s not fancy.”

Smiling, Mary shook her head.
 
“No problem,” she said, settling into the
chair. “So, what’s up?”

Seated on the other side of the desk, Jodi sat back in her
chair and took a deep breath. “You know, if it was anyone but you, there would
be no way I would say what I’m going to say,” she said. “But, I figured you’d
understand and even be able to help me.” She paused for a moment. “And, of
course, I want to pay you for your services.”

“Why don’t we worry about that later,” Mary suggested. “Tell
me why you called me.”

“Well, I was working late in the office and I heard a noise
out in the restaurant,” Jodi said. “I figured it was one of my employees that
had left something and so I went to see.
 
I didn’t bother turning on the light, because we have the streetlights
and I didn’t want anyone to think we were still open. I stepped right outside
the office door.”

Mary smiled inwardly, she was sure Jodi was going to tell
her about Brandon and she would be able to tell her that she was already
working on the case.
 
She folded her arms
happily across her chest. Finally, a mystery she had a jump on.

“…the woman,” Jodi said.

Shaking her head and regretting her moment of woolgathering,
she lifted her hand to stop Jodi. “I’m sorry, what did you say?”

“I said, that’s when I saw the woman,” Jodi repeated. “She
was walking near the front counter and then she sat down on one of the stools. At
first I was a little angry, you know, what the hell was someone doing in the
restaurant at this hour?
 
Which employee
didn’t lock the door behind them?
 
But
then…”

Jodi paused for a moment, stared at the office door and took
a deep breath. “So, I stepped forward and immediately I felt the hairs standing
up on the back of my neck. Like I knew intuitively something was wrong.
 
I froze and looked at the woman again and I
realized I could see through her, to the window behind her.
 
Even before I could react, she looked at me,
slowly shook her head and disappeared.”

 
Turning to Mary, she
shook her head once again. “I can tell you, it really freaked me out,” she
said. “But even more than being frightened, was the sense of sadness from
her.
 
When she looked at me, she seemed
incredibly unhappy. I’ve heard… you know, small town, people talk…that you can
somehow talk to ghosts.”

Mary nodded. “Yes, I can do that,” she replied.

“Could you…would you…talk to her and figure out what’s
wrong?”

“Yes, I’ll be happy to do that,” Mary said. “Do you want to
be here when I talk to her?”

Shaking her head quickly, Jodi opened a desk drawer and
pulled out a set of keys. “No, I really don’t want to be here,” she admitted.
“Sorry, but once was enough for me.”

Chuckling, Mary nodded. “I totally understand,” she said.
“Most people feel that way.”

“So, what do I owe you for your services?” Jodi asked,
pulling out a checkbook from the same drawer.

“How about a pint of butter pecan and a
pint of Rocky Road?”
Mary answered.

“Really?
 
That’s all?” Jodi asked.

“Well, if it takes a lot of time, I might need some dark
chocolate brownie chunk,” Mary added. “But we can discuss that later.”

Jodi stood up and gave Mary a quick hug. “Thank you,” she
said. “I feel better already.”