Between a Wolf and a Hard Place Read online

  When they reached the shell of his family’s old home, Ellie thought how beautiful it must have been there in the woods, with the view of the river nearby and the stone fireplaces giving the home warmth in its glory days. Stone pillars still welcomed guests onto the cement slab. Someone had cleaned all the debris away, and the stonework was covered in pale-green moss. Ellie thought a couple of picnic tables set there—maybe a little pavilion, and a memorial to the family—would be nice. A perfect spot to sit awhile and enjoy the view. Then she saw a wrought iron trellis, and nearby, a gazebo, its small, octagon-shaped cement slab and stone pillars still standing. Around the base of the slab, she saw rose canes and red climbing roses. Oh, wouldn’t it be beautiful to rebuild the gazebo and train the roses around it like Matilda most likely had done?

  After exploring for a time, smelling the animals that had been through the area, most of whom she recognized, she and Brett ran back toward the falls. She was happily exhausted. Ellie felt the freshwater spray on her face, the breeze carrying a light mist toward them. It would be so nice to come here with him in the summer, to splash around in the water with him and cool off. Now, she was ready to do anything and everything.

  They trotted back to where Brett had parked his vehicle. He looked happy to have run with her, to have shown her his special place to visit when he was a kid. She’d lived all over, but if she’d been here growing up, this would have been her special spot too.

  Once they had shifted, dressed, and were on their way back to her place, she said, “I loved your special place. It really was beautiful. I was thinking that a couple of picnic tables would be really nice there. Maybe a pavilion for inclement weather and a memorial to show who owned the home.”

  “I love the idea. I’ll tell my brothers and see what they think. I bet they’ll love it too.”

  Ellie was glad she had suggested it.

  Now she had to get back to the business at hand of telling Laurel they had a new ghost to deal with. Could she convince Laurel not to tell her mate? Knowing Laurel, she wouldn’t want to keep that from CJ. But if he didn’t really believe in ghosts, what would it hurt to keep the secret from him?

  * * *

  Brett couldn’t have been happier to have finally kissed Ellie and know she felt similarly about him. He’d really been shocked when she’d pushed him away by the piano, thinking he’d misread all the wolf cues she was giving off.

  He wasn’t sure what to think about the ghost issue, but he was willing to keep an open mind. He’d seen the lights on in the attic. If a ghost had anything to do with turning them on and off, he’d witnessed it too.

  More than anything, Brett was so glad he’d been able to kiss Ellie, to show her he was ready to take this further, to reveal how she made him feel. The issue with ghosts—that she believed in them when he might not—must have been what was holding her back before. It was understandable. He thought he was a progressive kind of guy, willing to see things in a new way. That’s why he loved being a reporter so much. Sometimes a news story would really open his eyes.

  They talked about the inn and how excited Ellie was that they’d renovated the basement and that the hotel would be full for the winter season and beyond. He was glad the women had decided to stay and were doing so well.

  When he reached her house, Brett parked and saw the living room lights were on. He suspected Meghan was still up, waiting for Ellie to return. Laurel’s car was gone, so she probably had returned home to CJ. Brett escorted Ellie to her front door. The snowflakes collected in their hair as he moved her under the cover of the front porch. She seemed to have loved the wolf run as much as he had. And he really appreciated that she had thought enough of his family’s old homestead to suggest a way to make it an even more special place for visitors.

  “I had a lovely time with you, Ellie.”

  “I did too. I’d invite you in for a drink, but Meghan’s still up.”

  “No problem. I’m working on a couple of short deadlines, but if I get through early, do you want to have dinner with me again tomorrow night?”

  “Yeah, sure.” She pulled him in closer for a kiss, melting against him, all softness and warmth.

  She felt damn good in his arms. He had to smile at the way she had been checking him out when he’d dropped his pants to shift. He couldn’t get his raging erection under control no matter how much he’d tried to think of something other than her. She was a contradiction in terms. He’d always thought of her as so sweet and innocent. But not when he’d caught her wicked little smile.

  As soon as he began to kiss her, she stiffened, her eyes widening as she looked up at the inn. Brett glanced in that direction to see what she was staring at. The light was on in the attic room. “Is Chrissy up there?” He couldn’t see anyone, and he still wondered if it was a faulty wire. Once he’d had a car with that problem, but when he took it to the mechanic, the man couldn’t find anything wrong with it.

  “I don’t see her. Just the light going on.”

  They watched for a moment, and then the light turned off.

  Brett rubbed Ellie’s arms and kissed her nose. “I take it seeing ghosts is something you don’t share with the world.”

  “You’re right.”

  “Does CJ know?”

  “We told him Chrissy haunts the attic room mostly, but I’m not sure he believed us.”

  “Okay. Well, your secret is safe with me.”

  “Thanks. Some don’t like the idea that I am sensitive to things like that. We can’t help it. We’re just born like that.”

  He looked around the lighted area. “Are there any more hanging around?”

  She smiled. “No, you’re safe.”

  He laughed. “Dinner tomorrow night?”

  “My place. Meghan is supposed to be eating out with someone.”

  “Good call. Tomorrow night then. And I’ll bring you the photo of my great-aunt.” He wanted to make this a regular occurrence. He thought Ellie looked like she did too. He had to find a ghost-free zone so she wouldn’t be so distracted again.

  * * *

  As soon as Ellie closed the front door and locked it, she saw a smiling Meghan curled up on the couch, turning off the TV. “Well, how did it go? Did he finally kiss you?”

  “Yes, but we have a problem.”

  “With Brett? Nooo. He’s perfect for you. Well, as long as he believes in your ability to deal with ghosts.”

  “No, not with him. With the ghost—”

  “Chrissy? I know. We have to work harder at sending her on her way, despite what Laurel said. We can’t just wait for it to happen.”

  “No, not Chrissy. Though I agree she needs help to move on.” Ellie went into the kitchen to get a glass of water.

  Meghan’s eyes widened. “Another ghost? Who?”

  “It might be Great-Aunt Matilda.” She sipped from the water.

  “Who? The Silver brothers’ deceased great-aunt? The one who owned the piano? No. Really?”

  “Well, maybe. Brett is going to bring over a picture of her tomorrow so I can see if she’s the one I saw.”

  “You told Brett that?”

  “Of course not. I just said I thought it would be nice to make a memorial plaque for her on the wall behind the piano.”

  “Oh, good save. Did you tell Laurel?”

  “I didn’t have time this evening. And I’m sure CJ’s home by now. But whoever the ghost is, she wasn’t happy that I was kissing Brett or that he was kissing me.”

  Meghan’s jaw dropped. Then she said, “No.”

  “Yes. She tsked at me in a disagreeable way.”

  Meghan smiled.

  “It’s not funny. The last thing we need is a Victorian chaperone haunting the place. See how you feel if you’re kissing some guy and you have a disapproving ghost looking on and making annoyed sounds of disapproval. See if you can concentrate a
ny better than I could. I wonder if she would disapprove of CJ and Laurel kissing, since they’re mated wolves.”

  “Seriously, that calls for an intervention,” Meghan said.

  “Right.”

  “We have to tell Laurel.”

  “We will when she comes over here in the morning. I don’t think it’s a good idea for CJ to learn about it.”

  Meghan’s lips parted, and then she frowned. “You don’t think the woman died due to something other than natural circumstances, do you?”

  “Probably not. She loved that piano. So she stayed with it.”

  “But what if…?”

  “It’s possible, of course. Brett said she died of pneumonia. So that’s probably all there is to it. I don’t think it would benefit the brothers to tell them of her presence, even if she died like they thought she had. Brett said neither Eric nor Sarandon believe in ghosts, and Brett’s never witnessed ghostly happenings, except the light turning on and off in the attic. So I think it’s better if we just quietly take care of the matter and never mention it to them.”

  “Agreed. Though I suspect Laurel won’t go along with that.” Meghan got up from the couch and walked over to the front window and looked out at the inn.

  “It’s late. Ready to go to bed?”

  “I want to see her. Besides, we could put up some”—Meghan let out her breath as if it really killed her to mention it—“put up some spiderwebs. We need to finish decorating before Halloween’s here.”

  Ellie was exhausted and really wanted to go to bed. She wasn’t that interested in seeing the ghost again, but she knew if Meghan had seen it first, she would have felt the same way about getting to see it too. If Meghan was offering to hang spiderwebs, she was all for it. She grabbed her jacket. “All right. Hurry up. I’m tired and want to hit the sack as soon as we finish decorating a little more.”

  Meghan threw on her jacket and opened the door. Then she was out of it and headed down the path to the inn. “Maybe we can talk her into leaving tonight.”

  Like that would happen. When ghosts were really attached to something, they often had a hard time letting go.

  “I wonder if she’ll become angry if anyone comes to play her piano. Maybe we should rope it off until we know more about this. We could just say it’s an antique and can’t be played,” Meghan said.

  “We’ve already told everyone they can play it if they know how to.”

  Meghan sighed. “Yeah, but if she gets violent, we’ll have to say something.”

  “‘It’s not working,’ I guess. But I’m afraid that if Brett or any of his brothers hear of it, they’ll send a repairman over to fix it right away.”

  As soon as they reached the back door to the inn, they heard music playing in the lobby.

  Meghan looked at Ellie and whispered, “Beethoven’s Piano Sonata no. 14, Moonlight.” Meghan loved classical music, as did Ellie, but Ellie rarely knew which song she was listening to. “And now that’s The Marriage of Figaro, by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.”

  Ellie took a deep breath and let it out. This was so not good.

  Chapter 3

  As soon as Ellie and Meghan opened the back door to the inn, the music stopped. Neither of them were surprised by that. Ghosts could be unpredictable. Ellie was afraid the woman wouldn’t show herself to Meghan now. Would Ellie have to kiss Brett near the piano again to force the woman to appear so her sister could see her?

  They would really have trouble if the ghost decided to play the piano in the middle of the night when guests were staying at the inn. Ellie could envision dissatisfied guests leaving early or writing bad reviews on the inn’s website, complaining about the bizarre happenings there. And what could Ellie and her sisters do? They could move the piano out of the inn, but that meant upsetting the Silver brothers, who would want to know why. Everyone in town knew the piano was on display in the lobby, and it was going to be a big part of the show-and-tell for the town’s Victorian Days celebration. Each of the older establishments were showcasing something special from that time.

  When they reached the lobby, Ellie saw no sign of the ghostly woman. She glanced at Meghan, but her sister shook her head, indicating she didn’t see the ghost either.

  “Okay, we want to show off your treasured piano, to dedicate it to you,” Ellie said for the new ghost’s benefit. “In fact, Brett’s bringing a photo of you tomorrow, and we’ll add a memorial on the wall behind the piano.” Ellie acted as though she knew just who the ghost woman was and that she was standing there right before them. Even if it wasn’t Brett’s great-aunt, the woman had to have played the piano. The music they’d heard was beautiful, as if she’d played with one of the prestigious orchestras. “If it bothers you that we have it on display here and you’d rather it remain with Brett in the quiet of his home, we can move it back there. We really want to do what you wish us to.”

  Both Meghan and Ellie waited for a response, but no one appeared or uttered a sound.

  Meghan folded her arms and looked cross. “Listen, if you want some changes, you’ll have to let us know. You undoubtedly are able to communicate with us, and we’re happy to make it right, however you want to do this. But we can’t read minds.”

  Ellie knew she only half meant it. Yes, they wanted to accommodate the ghost. If she wanted her piano returned to Brett’s home because he was family and it was more private, then they’d have to honor that request and deal with the repercussions. If she wanted to keep her piano here and play it when she wanted to, that was another story.

  “Come on, Meghan. Let’s at least hang up the spiderwebs. It’s late. I’m tired. We’ll deal with this tomorrow. We’ll see what Laurel has to say too.”

  “I was hoping we could avoid having to tell her.” Meghan grimaced as she pulled out a handful of fake spiderwebs.

  They spent an hour hanging the webs all over the furniture and the check-in counter. Then they hung them around the mirrors. After that, they met in the lobby and looked at the piano. Ellie draped some spiderwebs off the piano, hoping Matilda—if that’s who the ghost was—would be all right with that.

  Finished with the webs, they headed outside and locked the inn door.

  “I can’t believe we’ve got a second ghost haunting the inn now,” Ellie said, exasperated.

  “I know, right? What if the two women don’t get along?”

  “Or they might become best buds and team up to cause more trouble for our guests.”

  Meghan eyed the inn. “Laurel’s not going to like hearing about this. She won’t want to keep secrets from CJ. And if he learns his great-aunt is the one haunting the piano, he’ll want to tell his brothers about it. Who would have thought such a sweet gesture on the Silver brothers’ part would create all kinds of angst?”

  Ellie unlocked the house, and after they went inside, Meghan locked the door behind her.

  “I know.” Ellie really wanted to tell Laurel tonight. They always told each other about things right away. Especially something like this that could affect their livelihood.

  “I know you, and you’re dying to tell Laurel. Don’t. She can’t do anything about it tonight, and neither can we. We’ll see her tomorrow after CJ goes to work and let her know then.” Meghan headed up the stairs.

  Ellie let out a breath and followed her sister. “She’s not going to like that we didn’t tell her right away. This could be a real disaster.” She’d thought she would be dreaming about Brett again tonight, when instead she could be dreaming up ways to talk a ghost—or two—into leaving.

  * * *

  Laurel climbed into bed with CJ, but while there was time for conversation before they began cuddling, she said, “Tell me about Darien’s and Jake’s dream-mating experiences. I’ve only heard a little about them.” She was hoping she could learn more about the subject without tipping CJ off.

  CJ smiled a little and pulled her o
n top of him. She rested her chin on her hand and said, “Well?”

  “Brett and I were talking about this earlier today, but is there any reason this is coming up right now?”

  Laurel couldn’t help being surprised any more than she could fib her way out of this.

  “You were?”

  “Yeah.” He rubbed her back. “According to our cousins who were dream mated, they were obsessed with locating the she-wolf that was to be their mate. There was a mix-up in Darien’s situation, and Jake’s was rather unusual, which goes to prove every case can be different.”

  “Right. I thought it was something like that.”

  “Why do you ask?”

  She shrugged.

  He smiled. “Is Ellie dreaming about Brett?”

  Laurel smiled and then sighed. “I’m not supposed to say. I swore I’d keep it secret.”

  “I know you too well. I won’t say anything to anyone about it.”

  “Is Brett dreaming about Ellie?”

  “I’m certain of it—when he’s asleep and when he’s not.”

  Laurel chuckled. “Okay, I’ll tell her that to be dream mated, she has to be completely obsessed with him, and no other wolf would do.”

  “At least in Jake and Darien’s cases. Who knows how it will happen for someone else?”

  “It could be just dreams then. Fantasies about the other person.”

  “Did you fantasize about me?” CJ asked, kissing her on the cheek, the forehead, and the other cheek.

  Laurel just smiled and leaned down to kiss his most kissable mouth—and that was the end of the conversation.

  * * *

  Ellie closed her eyes, hoping to dream about Brett, but she couldn’t. She tossed and turned in bed, trying to put her mind at rest. Unable to sleep, she kept thinking of how they were going to have to deal with two ghosts in the inn now. Did she and her sisters have enough sage for cleansing? Incense? If they had to try a séance, they would have to perform it before the guests arrived.