Ellie nodded. “I always wanted to try things out, so when I saw the Nutcracker ballet, I aspired to be a ballerina.”
Brett reached over and squeezed her hand. “Now that I’d love to see.”
She smiled at him. “I took a few lessons and discovered it was grueling work. The teacher kept making us do things over and over again, but I just wanted to wear the pretty costume and dance around onstage to the beautiful music. Mom had paid for lessons for the year, and it was the worst time of my life.”
“Yeah, but you got to dance in the Nutcracker, and Meghan and I were so envious,” Laurel said. “You were beautiful.”
“You were jealous? I thought you were mad because Mom had to spend so much time taking me to lessons and rehearsals and such.”
“We were,” Meghan said. “Then you got flowers from a secret admirer at the theater, and we were so jealous.”
Brett smiled at Ellie. “A secret admirer, eh?”
“I think it was Dad. But today, I got flowers from a masked man—even more intriguing.”
Laurel suddenly took an interest in the flowers on the table. “Lovely bouquet of flowers.” She cast a glance CJ’s way as if he should have thought to bring her a bouquet. It was never too late to keep up the courtship rituals of a wolf, even if they were already mated.
Meghan then looked at Peter, who appeared just as sheepish.
“He brought candles too.” Ellie was proud of him for making this Halloween so special.
“I smelled the citrus and sage when we came in the back door,” Laurel said, giving her a look that said she thought more was going on than met the eye.
Ellie agreed. She thought Brett must have read that sage would chase spirits away. She couldn’t fault him for trying to help, though she wished he’d talked to her about it. She had already tried sage, and it hadn’t worked.
Then they heard knocks at the front door and kids calling out, “Trick or treat!”
Laurel jumped out of her seat. “I’ve got this one.”
“I’m going too,” Meghan said.
CJ, a.k.a. Robin Hood, hurried after them, a quiver of arrows slung across his back, bow in hand, and green velvet hat on his head. In his tights and belted velvet tunic, he looked pretty dapper.
“Do you know how to use that thing?” Laurel asked him as they hurried toward the front door.
“The greatest shot there is.”
Meghan laughed.
Peter finished his stew and saluted them as if he were Han Solo. “See you around.” And he headed out into the lobby.
Ellie heard them greeting someone and saying, “Come on in for some of Brett’s stew.”
After that, Ellie and Brett were busy serving stew and cleaning dishes. She overheard CJ ordering a couple dozen roses for Laurel, to be delivered to the inn pronto.
More of their friends dropped by from town, and Ellie went back to serving stew.
* * *
Everything was perfect, Brett thought as he helped to serve more stew to their visitors. “Maybe I need to get more of the stew for hungry visitors.”
“You have more?”
“I made two batches—the big pot and a smaller one—but I wasn’t sure you’d like it.”
“Love it, but you don’t have to get it. We have chips and dip. We hadn’t planned on having anything else for guests,” Ellie said.
“Omigod, CJ, you shouldn’t have,” Laurel said near the front door, but clearly she was thrilled.
“Two dozen roses,” Ellie said to Brett, “to make up for not bringing her flowers like you brought me.”
Brett smiled and began washing more of the dishes.
The piano began playing “Ride of the Valkyries.” Brett hesitated, a scrubber in one hand, a bowl in another, his skin chilling as he glanced in the direction of the lobby.
“You hear the music playing?” Ellie asked, her voice nearly a whisper as if she were afraid the ghost would hear her and vanish.
She also sounded so hopeful that he was hearing what she was hearing that she grabbed his wrist before he could respond. He quickly put the scrubber and bowl down, and she led him into the lobby.
Mervin, the barber, was playing the song with exuberance. “Playing for my meal,” he said smiling.
He often played various instruments for wolf gatherings, and Brett could understand how he might want to play the old baby grand. Brett was relieved that the music didn’t mean the sage hadn’t worked. He wished he could have heard Matilda play just once so he could say he’d had a ghostly experience too. Maybe then Ellie would believe him when he said he believed in her abilities.
Ellie smiled at Mervin. “You play Wagner’s song beautifully. That’s who wrote it, right?”
“Yeah,” Meghan said. “Just beautiful. You have real talent, Mervin.”
They took Mervin back to the breakfast nook to feed him, glad they still had some stew left.
“I haven’t played that piece in years. I swear Matilda was moving my fingers on the keyboard, keeping me from making any mistakes.”
Brett looked at Ellie, but she shook her head, most likely indicating she hadn’t seen any sign of his great-aunt. That was good.
Then the trouble began. Four of the guys who served on ski patrol at the ski resort—Kemp, Radcliff, Robert, and Cantrell—all showed up. None of them wore costumes, but all bore gifts. For Ellie.
CJ and Laurel had followed them back to watch the proceedings, possibly worried there’d be a fight. Peter soon joined them, while Meghan was handing out candy and shouting, “Don’t do anything until I’m done here.”
Brett knew that for Ellie’s and his sake, he should just stand by and watch, acting as though the attention from other wolves wasn’t any big deal. But he couldn’t. He slipped his arm around Ellie’s shoulders and held her loosely at his side, saying in a wolf way mine.
She might be going out with other guys, but he wanted the bachelor males to know this could get serious if they thought they had any chance with her. He wasn’t confining her, so if she really wanted to leave his side, it was her choice. He wasn’t going to play the big, bad wolf like Laurel had suggested unless any of the wolf pack members got out of hand with Ellie. He just wanted to tell them in a subtle way that she wasn’t really available.
They were all good-natured guys, all with a fun sense of humor, and they didn’t seem to mind. He almost took them showing up with boxes of candy and vases of flowers for Ellie as a way to rib him because of her letter in the Lonely Hearts column.
He wasn’t going to interfere, even though Laurel had already emailed him Ellie’s calendar of dates. He was surprised they were all going to be at the Silver Town Tavern, maybe so Sam would be a witness and her pseudo-suitors wouldn’t get into trouble with Darien. Or Brett. Or his brothers or cousins. That was a lot of male muscle.
Brett and his brothers and cousins often had lunch there—all except Eric, because it was too far for him to drive when he was working at the park. But Brett would try to avoid the place for the next couple of days while Ellie dated in peace.
“Well,” Cantrell said, “since Zorro’s looking perfectly lethal, I guess we’ll see you later. Night, Ellie.” He winked at her.
All the others did the same, Robert patting Brett good-naturedly on the shoulder, and then they left.
When the men were gone, Meghan joined them. “Darn, what did I miss?”
“Nothing,” Ellie said.
“Ha! As crimson as your cheeks are, I know that’s not true.” Meghan eyed all the boxes of candy and vases of flowers, giving Peter a look that asked where her candy and flowers were. “Hmm, maybe I ought to put a letter in the Lonely Hearts column.”
Peter scowled at Brett. Brett hoped Peter wouldn’t drum up a traffic ticket for him on principle the next time he was out driving around.
Meghan starte
d hauling some of the loot out to the house, and Laurel and Ellie joined her.
The guys hung back.
“What are you going to do about this?” CJ asked Brett.
“Nothing. It’s her choice. She’ll realize I’m the one for her, and that will be the end of it.”
Peter shook his head. “This was the dumbest idea you’ve ever had. If Meghan places a letter in the column…” He shook his head again and stalked off.
“He’s the sheriff,” CJ reminded Brett. “And you’ve never really seen him riled.” He motioned with his head for Brett to join him. “I saw the not-so-subtle way you were holding on to Ellie when the guys showed up.”
“I thought I was being subtle.”
CJ smiled darkly at him. “And the brooding look on your face—like a wolf who was ready to put a pack of wolves in their place. Not just one, but the whole lot of them at once.”
“Do you think it worked?”
CJ laughed.
Mervin agreed to hand out candy for them a little while longer, and CJ and Brett walked to the house where they all shared the box of chocolates he had given Ellie and drank cocoa and watched Sleepy Hollow, the TV series about the headless horseman.
Halfway through the second episode, they heard the piano playing “The Ride of the Valkyries” again at the inn and then several other tunes.
“Mervin plays beautifully.” Ellie cuddled against Brett, and he loved that she didn’t seem to mind his behavior with her suitors. It was almost as though she was glad she had him in her life, and all this other was just for fun.
He also noticed everyone else watching them when they took their seats together, seeing if their relationship was truly in trouble.
“Mervin does.” Brett had his arm wrapped around Ellie, enjoying this too much to check out the inn to ensure Mervin was really playing the piano. It had to be him. But what if it wasn’t?
What bothered Brett most was that he couldn’t stop thinking about all the dates Ellie would be going on this week. Lunches and dinners? She wouldn’t have any time for him at all.
When he went to sleep at night, all he would think of was Ellie.
* * *
Later that night, alone in her bedroom, Ellie pulled the pictures of Brett from underneath her pillow, set the envelope aside, and began going through them. She sighed, enjoying the way the ladies had captured him in paint. At least he wasn’t aroused in the pictures, like he’d been when he was with her. He was a perfect, wolfish kind of Rodin’s Thinker as he sat with his chin resting on his hand, his elbow on his knee, pondering life in one of the pictures. In another, he was a Greek god lying on his side, a piece of cloth draped over his private parts. So the pictures weren’t all explicit. He was gorgeous, but she was glad he wasn’t showing off his beautiful wares to anyone else anymore.
She knew what she would be dreaming of tonight: joining him on the couch, removing the sandal he was tying on, or giving him something to really ponder—like making red-hot love to her.
Chapter 11
Bright and early the next morning, with the snow melting off everything, Brett arrived at work feeling good about the ghost situation. He was certain he’d taken care of his great-aunt and Chrissy and that they’d found peace. He wasn’t happy about Ellie dating other wolves though. From what Laurel told him, Ellie was having lunch with Cantrell and dinner with Robert. And tomorrow, she was having lunch with Kemp and dinner with Radcliff. She didn’t eat big breakfasts and Brett had to be at the paper so early, so he really couldn’t have breakfast with her.
He reminded himself he should be glad about the ghost situation. The MacTire sisters wouldn’t have to worry about their inn guests, whose arrival was fast approaching. He just hoped he could square things between Ellie and him.
As soon as he began to type up his next story, CJ called.
“Hey, Brett, you’re busted.”
“What?” Brett didn’t have a clue what his brother was talking about, but CJ didn’t sound like he was in real trouble.
“Just so you know, Laurel said she suspected you had brought all that stuff packed with sage into the inn in an attempt to get rid of their ghosts.”
Brett barely breathed. What could he say? It was all true.
“They were amused,” CJ said. “I think.”
Brett was relieved. “Did it work?”
“Since we all heard Matilda playing the piano while we were watching Sleepy Hollow, I’d say no.”
“What? I thought Mervin was playing.” Brett couldn’t have been more surprised.
“Apparently not. Laurel was curious whether your sage gifts worked, because neither she nor her sisters had seen Matilda or Chrissy during the Halloween festivities. She called Mervin and asked him about the music, but he said he hadn’t played the piano any more after we left. He’d only handed out candy to a couple more families. The street was empty, and he wanted to go home and watch some TV, so he locked up the front door and left through the back.”
“You’re sure the sisters were amused?”
“I think so. Amused that you’d do it on the sly, with the hope you could help them and Matilda at the same time. I think Laurel was a little disappointed it didn’t work.”
“So, it does work sometimes?”
“She says yes. Every entity is different, just like in life. Apparently, the sage or Halloween or something moved Matilda to play after everyone left.”
“If Matilda plays only when everyone is gone, I guess that won’t cause trouble for anyone.” Though Brett reminded himself that Matilda had appeared when he was kissing Ellie, so she didn’t always stay away when people were around.
“Unless she’s annoyed that people are there when she wants to play,” CJ said.
While listening to CJ, Brett hurried to look up other ways to expel ghosts from a place, glad that what he had done helped sometimes, even if not this time. Though he might have helped to send Chrissy away. But then he considered that the only way this might work was if he and Ellie could learn what had really happened to Matilda.
“How much did it cost you for everything?” CJ asked.
“Under a hundred.”
“You sure impressed the ladies.”
Brett chuckled. “It sounded like Laurel loved her roses.”
“Yeah, about that… If you’re going to do something like that for Ellie when Laurel and I will be there, let me know beforehand, will you?”
Brett laughed. “Peter didn’t seem to be bothered that he hadn’t gotten anything for Meghan.”
“Laurel said Peter sent her three dozen roses this morning. Must have cost him a fortune.”
Amused, Brett shook his head.
“Anyway, I just wanted to tell you that your scheme didn’t work, the ladies are onto you, and they’ll take care of the ghost issue themselves.”
“I didn’t think they could. Why else would the ghosts be hanging around?”
“True. They haven’t had any luck so far.”
“What about Stanton?”
“No. Not only is the price he’s asking ludicrous, but the sisters wouldn’t have any part of it.”
Brett began reading how mirrors in every room could help get rid of ghosts. But the sisters had mirrors in all the inn’s rooms, including in the attic. Yet, he didn’t think they had one in the lobby. Still, he couldn’t just hang a mirror there without first asking if the ladies wanted one.
Priest-blessed water was another option. But the one he liked the best was talking to the ghost.
“Can you help the ladies take down the Halloween lights and put up the crystal lights for the holidays? They’ll be good through New Year’s after that,” CJ said.
“Sure thing.”
“Thanks. That’s a sure way to ingratiate yourself with the ladies, if you hadn’t already. I’ll be by a little later to help.”
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Brett had helped CJ set up Christmas lights all over the inn last year, so it seemed natural to do it again this holiday season. He was happy to help.
“And by the way, the first of our ski patrollers is having lunch with Ellie at Silver Town Tavern at noon. Just in case you forgot.”
As if Brett would forget. He had every date listed on his calendar. He was trying hard to convince himself not to drop over there.
“Do you want to have lunch with me there? I can cancel on Laurel. She’ll understand. Probably welcome it.”
“No, that’s okay. I’ve got work to do.”
“All right. See you later.”
How would it look if Brett did drop by to eat lunch at the tavern? Like he was checking up on Ellie. That’s how.
* * *
Ellie really liked all the wolves she had scheduled dates with, but she wasn’t interested in dating any of them. She figured she’d just have a meal and some conversation with them, and then she’d go out with the next guy. She was wearing jeans and a nice shirt, boots and a ski jacket like she usually would when she went out to eat.
What she hadn’t expected was to see Darien and Jake Silver sitting at a table near the one where Sam had seated her.
“Hey, Ellie,” the brothers both said in greeting. They were smiling and didn’t appear to be upset with her for dating wolves other than their cousin. She knew that the Silver brothers often ate here, so she should have remembered that when she had agreed to the dates. Maybe she should have chosen to go to Silva’s for lunch instead.
Then Brett’s brothers sauntered in, Eric and Sarandon, who both nodded in greeting, then joined Darien and Jake. Tom and CJ showed up and sat at a table on the other side of hers. Talk about feeling like she was on view at the zoo! She’d gotten here early to get a good table and realized Darien usually sat at a different table back in the corner from which he watched all the comings and goings as the pack leader. He wasn’t usually this close to the front door and big windows.