Haunting Danielle 28 The Ghost and the Birthday Boy Read online

  The Ghost and the Birthday Boy

  (Haunting Danielle, Book 28)

  A Novel

  By Bobbi Holmes

  Cover Design: Elizabeth Mackey

  Copyright © 2021 Bobbi Holmes

  Robeth Publishing, LLC

  All Rights Reserved.

  This novel is a work of fiction.

  Any resemblance to places or actual persons,

  living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  https://robeth.net

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  The Ghost and the Church Lady

  Haunting Danielle Newsletter

  Haunting Danielle Series

  Bobbi Holmes

  Unlocked Hearts Series

  The Coulson Series

  Havasu Palms

  To my narrator Romy Nordlinger. Thank you for bringing my characters to life.

  One

  Blood stained Molly’s nurse’s uniform. She stood alone at the battered chain-link fence, looking out at the street and the car that had just pulled up and parked. Overhead, tree limbs swayed with the afternoon breeze, and she could hear the surf in the distance.

  Molly watched as two people got out of the vehicle, the driver, a woman—and her passenger, a man. After slamming the car door close, the woman walked toward Molly, but stopped when she reached the front of her car, some twelve feet away. She looked to be in her forties, with short, curly brown hair, wearing a fitted A-line, pale blue dress on her slim frame. The woman folded her arms across her chest, frowned, and stared Molly’s way.

  Molly glanced to the male passenger, who had walked to the back of the vehicle. He wore a gray suit, but no hat on his shortly cropped dark hair. He opened the trunk and pulled something out. It looked like a sign, approximately eighteen by twenty-two inches, attached to a metal stake.

  Awkwardly, the man rested the cumbersome sign on one knee as he slammed the trunk hood shut.

  “Who are they?” a male voice asked.

  Molly turned her head slightly and saw Waylon now standing at her side, a concerned frown furrowing his brow. “It’s the same ones who were here the other day.” Molly looked back at the couple, who now walked their way, the man still carrying the large sign. She noticed one of his hands holding the edge of the sign also held what looked like a hammer.

  “Jenna, would you take this,” Ray grumbled as the hammer fell from his hand. It landed in the dirt, barely missing the toe of his right shoe.

  Jenna paused a moment and looked back at Ray, who continued to fumble with the sign. She walked to him, leaned down, and picked up the hammer. He scowled when she offered it back to him. With a sigh, she held onto the hammer and turned to look at the property. An aged chain-link fence encircled its perimeter.

  “This place gives me the creeps,” Jenna said, now absently fidgeting with the hammer, passing it from one hand to the other and back again.

  Ray set the tip of the stake against the ground, while resting his palms along the sign’s top edge to keep it standing. With Jenna by his side, he inspected the property at a distance.

  “It’s a splendid piece of real estate. I can’t believe the city decided to list it. And they gave me the listing!” Ray beamed.

  “That’s because no sane Realtor wanted it,” Jenna snarked.

  “Don’t be ridiculous. Certainly, you don’t believe in ghosts.”

  Not smiling, Jenna stopped fidgeting with the hammer and looked at Ray. She had lived in Frederickport her entire life and had been a real estate agent for just six months. After her divorce, she needed a job, and she didn’t want to leave town. There was no reason to. Her ex had already left Frederickport with his new girlfriend. Jenna had never had a real job before, but she knew all about Frederickport, was good at math, and enjoyed looking at open houses. It seemed like the perfect job. Perfect, until she agreed to be Ray’s assistant, and he took this listing.

  “How long have you lived in Frederickport?” Jenna asked.

  “A year. You know that. Why?”

  “It’s not about ghosts, Ray. Anyone who’s lived here for as long as I have has heard all the stories about this property. And I’m not saying it has anything to do with ghosts. But there is seriously some bad energy here. Can’t you feel it?” Jenna looked back at the property and shivered. “It’s like the place is cursed.”

  “What I feel is a big fat commission in my future. I’ve been in this business for over twenty years. There’s no such thing as cursed property, just crappy real estate agents.”

  “It’ll be a cursed listing if you can’t sell it,” Jenna argued.

  “I will.”

  “Who’s going to buy it? Why do you think the city hasn’t sold it yet? They’ve tried listing it before. No one in Frederickport will touch this place.”

  “I don’t imagine the buyer will be a Frederickport native. Lots of Californians with more money than brains looking for beach property. It’s not right on the beach, but it still has a splendid view, and it’s within walking distance to the ocean. That’s why I need to take lots of pictures. I plan to have this listing online before nightfall. Did you remember the camera?”

  Jenna let out a sigh. “Yes. It’s in the car. You plan on selling this to some unsuspecting person from out of state?”

  “Oh, stop. There’s nothing wrong with this property.”

  “What does it say?” Waylon asked Molly. Not that he couldn’t see the bold words printed on the sign, but Waylon had never learned to read.

  “The same thing that was on the other signs. Remember them?” Molly asked patiently. “Look at the words. See if you can figure it out. You’re not stupid, Waylon. I don’t care what those other people said about you. You don’t give yourself enough credit.”

  Waylon studied the sign. The letters meant nothing to him. But he considered her words, and he remembered the other signs. Angrily he turned to Molly and asked, “Is that another one of those For Sale signs?”

  “Yes. But the way those two are just standing there talking, I wonder if they’re changing their minds.”

  Waylon studied the man and woman through narrowed eyes. The corners of his mouth curled into a smile. I can make them change their minds, Waylon told himself.

  “Enough of this curse talk.” Ray lifted the sign. “I want to get this up and take those pictures.”

  Before Ray could take a step, the For Sale sign slammed against his chest, knocking him off his feet, sending him tumbling backwards. He fell to the ground, landing on his backside in the dirt. The runaway sign kept on moving
for a few moments until it landed unceremoniously in the middle of the road.

  “Ray!” Jenna gasped. She dropped the hammer, leaned over, and offered both hands to help him stand back up.

  Taking hold of one of her hands, Ray stumbled back to his feet. Once standing again, he let go of her hand and looked to the sign some six feet away. With the palms of his hands, he brushed dirt from his slacks. “Where did that wind come from?” Ray muttered.

  “There was no wind,” Jenna insisted.

  Ray turned another scowl to Jenna before reaching down to the ground and picking up the hammer she had dropped. He handed it to her. “Then what knocked that sign out of my hands, a ghost?” he asked with a snort before turning from Jenna and lumbering to the street to retrieve the For Sale sign.

  Jenna did not reply but looked uneasily from the sign back to the property in question.

  “And get that camera!” Ray called to Jenna.

  En route to their lunch destination, Melony Carmichael drove the car. Adam sat in the passenger seat and blurted, “What do you think of the Winterborne engagement ring?”

  Taken aback by the unexpected question, considering they had been debating lunch destinations, Melony glanced briefly at Adam before looking down the road.

  “Where did that come from?” she asked.

  Adam shrugged. “I just wanted to know if you like it. You told me before you thought it was gorgeous, but would it be something you’d wear?”

  Arching her brows briefly, Melony again looked at Adam and then back down the road. “Ahh, you’re finally getting ready to sell it. I was wondering why you held on to it for so long. But it’s a little out of my price range. I think you’re going to need to look somewhere else for a buyer.” She snickered.

  The Winterborne engagement ring was a priceless piece of jewelry its previous owner had hidden in a novelty frame in hopes someone would someday find the treasure. Technically, Danielle had found the treasure, yet since the frame held a vintage photograph of Adam’s great-grandfather, Danielle had given it to Adam the previous Christmas. Danielle knew she was giving away the valuable ring along with the frame and photograph. Since she had no use or desire for another treasure to store in her bank safe deposit box, she rather liked the idea of giving it to Adam. Seeing his expression when the ring fairly flew from the frame’s hidden compartment when liberated by Adam was worth more than the ring’s value to Danielle. She also imagined it was the reaction Eloise Winterborne had envisioned from the ring’s new owner when she had hidden it in the frame.

  Adam scowled. “I wasn’t asking so you could buy it.”

  “Yeah, right,” Melony scoffed under her breath before making an unexpected right turn.

  “Hey, where are you going?” Adam sat up straighter in his seat.

  “Hold on, Adam, you are perfectly safe in the car. See, I’ll lock the doors.” The next moment, Melony hit the door lock. It made a clicking sound.

  “This is not the way to Pearl Cove,” Adam argued.

  “I just want to see something.”

  Adam grumbled under his breath.

  “Oh, come on. I know you hated riding your bike on this street when we were kids. Surely you aren’t still afraid of the Marymoor ghosts?” Melony teased.

  “I just don’t like going down this way,” Adam muttered.

  “I wanted to see if it’s true.”

  “What, you didn’t believe me?” Adam snapped.

  A few moments later, Melony pulled up along the opposite side of the street from the Marymoor property. At one time it had been the site of the infamous Marymoor Sanatorium, which had been more insane asylum than sanatorium. The building had burned down years earlier, leaving behind a large piece of property, now owned by the city, separated from the rest of the residential neighborhood by chain-link fence. Today a newly erected For Sale sign stood in front of the property, and a man walked around the grounds, taking photographs. Nearby, a woman sat alone in the driver’s seat of a parked car.

  “That’s Ray Collins,” Adam said with a snort. “Thinks he’s God’s gift to real estate.”

  “Wow, they really are trying to sell it again.” Melony’s hands rested on the steering wheel as she studied the property. “Maybe you can find a buyer.”

  “You know, Mel, sometimes I ask myself why I want to marry you.”

  Adam’s unexpected words startled Melony. She froze a moment and then turned to stare at Adam. “What did you just say?”

  “I wasn’t trying to sell you the damn ring. I just wondered if you’d like the Winterborne engagement ring or would rather pick something else out.”

  “Are you asking me to marry you?” Melony fairly choked out.

  Adam shrugged and glanced from Melony to the Marymoor site and then back to Melony. He grinned and said, “Yeah, well, considering our history, I guess it’s only appropriate I propose in front of what used to be an insane asylum. So, what do you think, Mel? Wanna get married?”

  Two

  “Does this mean you’re pregnant?” Lily asked in a conspiratorial whisper. She sat in the side yard of Marlow House, sipping lemonade and visiting with Danielle. Across the street her son, Connor, napped in his crib, while her husband, Ian, worked in his home office next to the nursery. Sadie, Ian and Lily’s golden retriever, had come over to Marlow House with Lily but had immediately raced inside to visit with Walt, where she stayed.

  “Not sure,” Danielle said with a shrug. “I should start any day now, but I don’t feel like I normally do right before I start my period.”

  “It blows my mind your mother-in-law was the one to tell you, you might be pregnant!” Lily laughed.

  “Yeah, considering she’s been dead for over a century.” Danielle shrugged before taking another sip of lemonade.

  Walt’s mother hadn’t told Danielle she might be pregnant, but her spirit had suggested it to Walt during a dream hop days earlier. After Walt had shared his dream with his wife, she hadn’t mentioned it to anyone until now.

  “So is this the reason for the switch from iced tea to lemonade?” Lily asked.

  Danielle glanced briefly at the half-filled glass of lemonade she held and back to Lily. The two sat on patio chairs on the side porch, each dressed casually, enjoying the late summer weather. The outside temperature hovered just under seventy, without a cloud in the sky.

  “Yeah, I suppose. I haven’t had coffee or tea since Walt told me. Although, I wonder how bad the sugar in lemonade is for a baby, compared to caffeine.”

  “Oh, a baby!” Lily squealed. “I hope your mother-in-law knows what she’s talking about. A little less than two years age difference between Connor and yours won’t be that much. They will be playmates! Will it be a boy or girl?”

  Danielle laughed. “We don’t even know if I’m pregnant yet. And it is entirely possible Walt’s mother was talking about a child in our distant future.”

  “No way. Didn’t she mention your craving for chocolate?” Lily reminded her.

  Danielle laughed again. “I’m always craving chocolate.”

  Lily let out a sigh and set her glass on the side table. “I suppose. When are you taking a pregnancy test? I assume you haven’t taken one yet. Why not?”

  “I’m going to wait. If I don’t start in the next week, I’ll take one. Perhaps I’ll wait until after your family leaves.”

  “Why would you do that?” Lily frowned.

  “If I know for sure, it would be hard to keep it to myself. And I don’t want to tell people so early in my pregnancy. Do you understand?”

  Lily nodded. “Yeah. I waited a while before I told anyone but you about Connor. What about Eva and Marie? Are you telling them?”

  “No.” Danielle shook her head. “Marie will cluck around me like a protective mother hen once she knows. Let’s delay that, shall we? Anyway, we all have enough going on right now. What with Connor’s big birthday bash, and don’t you have a wedding anniversary coming up?”

  Lily groaned.

 
Danielle arched her brows. “You don’t want to celebrate your wedding anniversary?”

  “I’d love to do something special. But everyone will be here. Feels weird for Ian and me to go off and do something by ourselves. Ian and I talked about it, and we both agreed we would celebrate our anniversary later.”

  “I don’t see why you guys can’t go do something, just the two of you. Heck, you’ll have tons of babysitter options. Both sets of grandparents…”

  Lily groaned again and slumped down in her chair, folding her arms across her chest.

  Danielle arched a brow. “You don’t seem too excited about your family coming for a visit.”

  “This was my idea. But now that it’s almost here, well, I’m starting to wonder if it was such a terrific idea, having Ian’s parents and mine at the same time. I like Ian’s parents and everything, but…”

  “But what?” Danielle asked.

  “Ian’s mom is just like Kelly,” Lily said.

  “How so?” Danielle asked.

  Lily sat up straighter in the chair and considered the question a moment before answering. “I’m not saying they don’t like animals; they do. But they feel dogs belong in their place. Remember when we got married, how Ian’s mom about had a fit when she found out Sadie was going to be in the wedding?”