Conflicting emotions washed over Catherine’s face. “I wonder if that will free me from my deep and unnatural need for Nathan.”
“So you really, truly don’t believe you’re in love with him,” Amanda said.
“I am a practical woman,” Catherine said. “I married not for love, but for a solid place in society. Obviously, emotion plays little part in how I lived my life. What I felt…what I feel…for Nathan goes beyond any fantasy I ever had about what love is. How could that possibly be real?”
Amanda’s chest tightened. Was she looking in a mirror? This woman sounded exactly like her—denying the possibility that what she felt deep in her heart was the real thing. Instead of making her feel a true kinship with Catherine, it only served to make her angry. She could tell the other night when Catherine and Nathan looked at each other that what they felt was real. Catherine’s insistence that it wasn’t was more than a little annoying.
Nathan believed it was love, but Catherine refused to accept it as anything but the result of a magic spell.
Interesting.
“Is there another reason that you’re here again?” Catherine asked. “Other than the destruction of my aunt’s clock?”
Amanda nodded slowly. “The new owner of the house is concerned about your continued presence here. She is uncomfortable owning a haunted house.”
“Unpleasant shrewish woman?” Catherine asked. “Red hair? Changed the linens in the upstairs bedrooms?”
“That’s the one.”
“You can let her know that we will strive to make our existence here as quiet as possible.”
“You gave her a firm push out of the house a couple of times. Kind of freaked her out.”
Catherine gave her a genuine smile that showed off her beauty. “Perhaps.”
Amanda wasn’t smiling. “I’m afraid that keeping a low profile isn’t an option. And since your curse traps you here, you can’t leave of your own free will.” She swallowed. “I’m going to have to exorcise you.”
She wondered if she’d have to explain what that meant to Catherine, but the ghost’s eyes widened with obvious knowledge and she began to shake her head.
“No,” Catherine said in a choked voice. “Please. You can’t.”
“I have no choice.”
“I know what will happen. We’ll be gone. We won’t be able to be together.” She let out a shaky gasp. “I can’t be away from him. It’s bad enough that I can’t touch him, but I can’t lose him completely!”
Before Amanda was able to say anything else, Catherine came at her quickly and pushed her—the anger and panic she felt at the threat of being exorcised enough to give her physical and tangible strength. Amanda fell over on her ankle and hit her head on the carved-wood armrest of the antique sofa, which knocked her out cold.
However, instead of the blackness of unconsciousness, she saw something else entirely.
14
AMANDA was upstairs in the bedroom where she and Jacob had found the clock. It was different this time. Catherine was also in the room. But instead of being mostly transparent, the girl was solid. And she looked upset.
Who was the woman with her? Darker blond hair than Catherine’s, older, but still beautiful. There was wisdom in her eyes.
It was her aunt, Amanda suddenly knew without any doubt. Rose Embry. The witch.
Was she dreaming this?
“Catherine—” Concern twisted in Rose’s voice. “You don’t have to marry him if you don’t want to.”
“I do, and I’m going to,” Catherine replied.
“You’ve been crying.”
She shook her head. “Tears of happiness.”
“Excuse me,” Amanda ventured, but the next moment Catherine walked right through her as if she wasn’t even there.
She was having a vision. It was the most vivid one she’d experienced yet.
Rose’s expression was filled with understanding. “I feel your pain, Catherine.”
“I love you, Aunt, but this isn’t any of your business. My parents are thrilled, everyone’s here and they’re ready for the ceremony to begin. I can’t very well turn back now.”
“Do you love him?” Rose asked tightly. “This man you’re committing the rest of your life to?”
Catherine sighed. “I know what this is all about. It’s about Edmund, isn’t it?”
Rose cringed. “Why would you say that?”
“Because you were lucky enough to experience a true and everlasting love with Edmund you can’t imagine anyone marrying for more practical reasons than that. Well, I know that you loved Edmund, but it doesn’t make any difference.”
Amanda could see pain enter Rose’s expression.
“I loved him and I lost him. The short time we had together was the most wonderful of my life. He was my soul mate.”
Catherine’s lips thinned. “I’m surprised you don’t try conjuring his spirit up in that silly crystal ball of yours.”
“He has moved beyond this realm or believe me I would do anything for the chance to see him again.” Rose breathed out shakily. “What about Nathan?”
Catherine froze. “What about him?”
“Don’t play coy with me, Niece. I’ve seen the way you look at him and how he looks at you. You’re in love with him.”
“With a butler?” Catherine repeated, incredulously. “That’s impossible.”
“Why? Because he doesn’t fit the mold of what you consider a proper husband? Because he doesn’t have the mountain of money your fiancé has? He is a man, a very handsome man, and when he looks at you I can see the rest of the world disappears for him.”
“I will admit that he is very attractive, but there is nothing else there.”
“Are you having an affair with him?”
Catherine gasped. “Of course not.”
“Will you in the future?”
Catherine didn’t speak for a very long time. “This conversation is extremely inappropriate on my wedding day, Aunt.”
“You’re right. But there seems to be no one else who will discuss such matters with you, Catherine. Nathan attends to you, he hangs on your every word. It is clear to me that his feelings for you run much deeper than those of an employee to the future wife of his employer.”
“I shall not discuss this any further.”
At that moment, Nathan walked past the room and glanced in. His blue eyes widened as he saw Catherine in her ivory-colored, beaded wedding gown.
His head lowered. “I apologize. I didn’t mean to stare.”
Rose’s lips curled as she noticed the immediate flush come to her niece’s face from the attention of the tall, attractive young man.
“Please, Nathan,” Rose said. “Come in here for a moment. I need your opinion on something.”
“Aunt,” Catherine snarled under her breath. “Please don’t.”
But Nathan obeyed the order and entered the room to stand at the doorway with his hands clasped behind the waistcoat of his butler’s uniform.
“Doesn’t my niece look lovely today?” Rose asked.
With a tortured expression, Nathan raised his gaze to sweep slowly and appreciatively over Catherine’s body. Their eyes met and locked and there was no mistaking the longing there for both of them.
And suddenly it was as if Amanda could read Rose’s thoughts and sense all of her emotions. Catherine’s aunt was certain these two were soul mates. It wasn’t a guess, it wasn’t wishful thinking, it was the truth.
Curious people willing to pay her fee would come to her and she would help lead them toward their soul mates, if they were lucky enough to have one in the world. She couldn’t do all the work. The subjects themselves had to come halfway, but a little push helped move them in the right direction.
Which was how she’d decided on the perfect wedding gift. She glanced over at it in the corner of the room. A beautiful ebony grandfather clock.
Only it wasn’t any normal clock.
The last thing Rose planned to do was
to try to stop the wedding. She knew it would happen. But it didn’t change anything.
And perhaps the clock would appear completely benign when in the presence of Bernard and his lovely young wife. It would keep time and chime at the hour. But it would be waiting patiently for the right opportunity to work its special magic.
If Nathan and Catherine truly were soul mates, a very subtle spell would waft over them at the stroke of midnight. A spell that would make them see that their love, while hidden, could not be ignored.
Rose felt certain it would work.
The magic brought with it some risk, but she was certain that Catherine and Nathan, once given the opportunity to be together body and soul, would embrace it completely.
If they didn’t…there might be a few complications.
The spell hinged on their mutual acceptance of what they felt for each other, but if they didn’t accept it…well…
Quite honestly, Rose didn’t know what the consequences might be.
But she did hope for the best.
15
THE LAST THING Jacob expected to see when he emerged from the bathroom was a ghost, considering the fact that he couldn’t see ghosts, and never had before in his life.
“You’re here to exorcise us, aren’t you?” the ghost said in a morose tone.
“You’re Nathan, right?” he replied.
The ghost cocked his head to the side. “You need to do it and do it quickly.”
“I’ll take that as a yes, you’re Nathan.”
“You need to release me from my misery.”
“Right.” Jacob cleared his throat. “Guess there’s not much chance to let off some steam at the local pub when you’re trapped in a house like this for all eternity, is there?”
Nathan’s expression darkened. “I don’t particularly care for your flippant tone, sir.”
“Sorry, it’s just that I’m not used to having face-to-face time with spirits. Especially ones who seem to know what’s going to happen to them.”
“It’s possible for me to show myself to those who do not have the gift of sight.”
“Amanda can see you,” Jacob said.
“She can. But she can’t help me. In fact, I fear that she may change her mind about exorcising us. And you must make her go through with it.”
“She’s not going to change her mind. If there’s one thing I can guarantee you about Amanda it’s that she does her job to the letter.”
“You’re in love with her.” It wasn’t a question.
“Is it really that obvious?” Jacob studied the translucent man in front of him for a moment. “I have definitely lost my edge. It’s embarrassing, really.”
“The clock worked its magic on you both, didn’t it?”
“It did.” Jacob grinned, remembering. “Thanks for the warning, by the way.”
The barest glimpse of a smile appeared on Nathan’s lips. “Had you not been the one for her there would have been nothing to fear.”
“Which means what, exactly?”
“The enchantment only works to bring those together who were already destined for love. All others it passes by.”
“That’s definitely debatable.”
“You’ve told her of your feelings?”
“At the moment she can read my mind so it’s a little hard to hide something like that, even though I might like to.”
“So she is the one who denies it.” Nathan’s lips thinned. “No wonder you’re still feeling the negative effects of the spell.”
Jacob frowned. “You’re saying we’re feeling the negative effects because she refuses to believe what we have is real?”
“My Catherine denies her heart and the result is our imprisonment in this house.” He drew in a long breath he definitely didn’t need, being dead. “I can’t continue like this. Unable to touch her, only able to see her for such a short time. It’s torture. There is only one answer and that is for us to be exorcised from this house. I know your Amanda can grant us that. It may not give us heaven together but it will finally give us peace.”
“Damn,” Jacob said. “And I thought I was acting way emo this week. You’re definitely the winner.”
“Emo?” Nathan frowned. “What is emo?”
“Emotional. Angsty. Woe-is-me, etcetera.”
Nathan’s gaze sparked. “I apologize if I fail to see the humor in this situation.”
“Obviously.” Jacob shook his head and tried not to smile. Really, it wasn’t all that funny. Well, it kind of was.
Nathan was him, after all. A darker, bitterer version anyhow. In love with a woman who refused to accept her own feelings at face value. Who would push away a chance at happiness in order to stay true to her rigid beliefs.
They were obviously both screwed.
“Please,” Nathan said. “You must make sure that your Amanda follows through with the exorcism. I can’t bear to see Catherine again, for seeing her only reminds me that we can never truly be together.”
“You really don’t think there’s any other solution here?”
“The spell that binds us is strong.”
“We’re planning to destroy the clock hoping that will break the spell.”
“You can try,” Nathan shook his head. “But the magic is already inside of us. It may do nothing at all but take us deeper into despair.”
“Total emo,” Jacob said under his breath.
There was a crashing sound and a short scream that he recognized as Amanda’s. With a last look at the spirit, he turned away and ran down the hall to the drawing room.
Amanda lay on the ground unconscious. His stomach lurched and he ran to her side, falling to his knees next to her. He stroked the dark hair off her forehead. He could see where she’d hit her head, a trickle of blood at her hairline.
But she was breathing and her heart beat regularly which eased his mind a little. He considered carrying her to his car and taking her to a hospital, but just as he began to gather her into his arms her eyelids fluttered before opening up completely.
Her gaze went directly to his but she didn’t say anything right away.
“You hit your head,” he stated the obvious.
“Ow,” she replied.
He brushed his lips over her forehead. “Honestly, I leave you for a few minutes and you go tripping over the furniture.”
“I…I’m clumsy like that.”
“Obviously.”
“Also…” she hesitated. “Catherine pushed me when she found out why we were here.”
A surge of anger moved through him. “I’ll kill her.”
She smiled. “Funny.”
“Where is she now?”
“I’m sure she’s around. Help me up.”
He got to his feet and pulled Amanda up to a standing position.
“You’re sure you’re okay?” he asked.
“I think so.” Amanda swallowed. “I…I had a vision. A major one.”
“While you were knocked out or before?”
“During. I thought it was a dream, but it was too vivid. I saw Catherine’s wedding day. And the aunt who enchanted the clock in the first place—I saw her, too. I actually got into her head.”
He looked amazed by this, but there was no doubt in his expression of what she was telling him. “And?”
“And it wasn’t to be cruel. It was to try to help her niece, whom she felt was making the wrong choice by marrying her husband.”
“The one who killed her?”
“Yes.”
“I’d say she made the wrong choice.”
“Yeah.” She sucked in a deep breath. “And Nathan was there, too. He was her butler. They wanted each other desperately but they wouldn’t give in to their feelings. That’s why Rose gave them a little…push.” Something else came into her mind then, a stray thought from Jacob. “You saw him? Nathan?”
He raised an eyebrow. “I can’t say that I’ll miss you being able to poke around in my head at your leisure.”
“I can?
??t help it when you’re this close to me.” So close she could feel the heat from his body. It was very distracting.
“Yeah, I see dead people.” He grinned. “I’ve always wanted to say that. Anyhow, he let me see him because he wanted to talk to me. He and I have a lot in common, actually.”
“Really? Like what?”
“Like the fact we’re both crazy about crazy women.”
She chewed her bottom lip. “Definitely sounds like a curse, doesn’t it?”
His grin faded at the edges. “Right. Well, he’s giving two thumbs up to the exorcism. He’s ready for it to be over.”
“That makes one of them.”
“Catherine isn’t keen on getting obliterated?” he asked, wryly. “How odd.”
“She kind of freaked, actually. Thus the pushing.”
“So she’s giving you a hard time. Doesn’t mean we hold off. We go through with the exorcism as planned, right?”
She pressed her lips together.
He studied her. “You’re not having second thoughts, are you?”
“No, of course not. It’s just…they’re kind of like us in a way, aren’t they?”
“You see that, too?”
She nodded. “Both trapped by magic.”
“Trapped,” he repeated, and his voice had turned cold again. “Right. Well, I think I’ve personally had just about enough of that magic. I’m not going to wait until the exorcism is over. I’m going to take care of the clock now.”
She was surprised. “Now?”
“What, you wanted to wait? For what? It’s not going to change anything.”
“No, but—”
He shook his head, his expression sad. “I’m in love with you, Amanda.”
He’d said it out loud. It was one thing to hear it in his thoughts…and even then it had been slightly uncertain. This? This was decisive. He loved her.
“Jacob—” she began, not knowing exactly how to respond to that.
“I don’t think getting rid of that clock is going to make any damn difference to anyone but you. So that’s what I’m going to do.”
He turned away and stormed out of the room.
She could hear his thoughts echoing in her mind, a little harsher than what he’d said out loud.