Between a Wolf and a Hard Place

  Matilda pounded out the Beatles’ song again.

  “Okay, her answer is yes. Because the boating accident wasn’t an accident?”

  The Zombies’ song played again.

  “No,” Ellie said. “It wasn’t an accident. Do you think Remer might know anything about it? About what had happened between his grandfather and Matilda?”

  “I don’t know. Do we wake Remer now and ask?” Brett asked.

  “I’d say so,” Ellie said. “For Matilda’s sake, I think we should, despite the hour. Remer may not know anything about it, and I hate upsetting him, but we need to resolve this if we can.”

  Agreeing, Brett called Remer and put him on speaker. “I’m sorry to be calling in the middle of the night, but we have a situation that needs to be rectified. Apparently, my great-aunt Matilda went boating with your grandfather and…”

  “You had to call me at this hour to tell me this?” Remer definitely wasn’t a night owl.

  “We have a bit of a situation. Matilda wants this resolved and—”

  “She’s dead.”

  “Right. Since we moved the piano to the MacTire sisters’ inn, Matilda has been playing it from time to time. We moved it to the MacTire sisters’ home in back of the inn to give the inn guests some peace tonight.”

  “A…spirit,” Remer said skeptically.

  Brett saw Ellie looking at him, her expression saying she was used to skepticism concerning her ability to witness ghostly happenings. Once Brett had seen what he had, he’d forgotten that a lot of people wouldn’t believe.

  “Okay, I know that could be hard to swallow if you don’t believe in ghosts. I wasn’t a believer either until Matilda made her presence known.”

  “I don’t understand. As far as I know, my grandfather was interested in mating your grandmother. She wouldn’t. They had a falling-out and never spoke to each other again,” Remer said, sounding tired and annoyed.

  “She—Matilda, that is—said she drowned while boating with your grandfather.” Brett didn’t tell him she had said Theodore drowned her, but if Remer knew the history, he would know that wasn’t the story anyone had shared at the time.

  “Okay, so you’re saying…?”

  “She said it wasn’t an accident.”

  “A ghost said this.”

  “Yeah. If we can prove this was the case, hopefully, she can rest in peace.” And so could they. “We wouldn’t need to tell the world, if you’d prefer. But just learn the truth.”

  “You need to have evidence that something happened, other than the word of a ghost.”

  “Yeah. After Aunt Matilda was found dead in bed, her gown on backward, her hair still damp, Grandmom couldn’t find her sister’s favorite dress to bury her in. Not only that, but both Grandmom’s towel and Matilda’s had been used that night.”

  Remer let out his breath in a disgruntled manner. “I thought you’d discovered something that could have connected my grandfather with her death. Like he’d lost a glove in her bed or something.”

  “Glove?” Brett asked, surprised. He was about to get to the part about the rowboat and what they’d found in it. Why would Remer have mentioned that particular article of clothing? Why not anything else? Like maybe a cuff link? Brett quickly described what pack members had found in the rowboat after Matilda died.

  Remer became deathly quiet.

  Brett was sure he knew something about the missing glove. Brett gave Ellie a light squeeze. She gave him a harder one back.

  “I’m not agreeing that anything you’ve said has merit. But if you want to come over at a decent hour in the morning, I’ll show you what I have. My grandfather’s steamer trunk is in the attic. I looked in it once and saw what I thought were my grandmother’s things that he’d preserved and one of his gloves. I thought it was odd he only had one glove in the chest, but I didn’t give it any thought after that. You’re welcome to look in the morning. I’d prefer that you don’t mention it in the newspaper, if you learn that there was foul play. I’ll understand if you have to share with your families, which include our pack leaders.”

  “Understand,” Brett said, glad they might finally have some resolution.

  “Night,” both Ellie and Brett said.

  Would Matilda accept those conditions?

  “Matilda, is that all right with you?” Ellie asked after they ended the call.

  Matilda didn’t respond.

  “She’s either thinking this all over, or she’s gone to bed like we need to,” Brett said, taking Ellie’s hand and leading her to the stairs.

  “Do you think she’s happy for us? That we’re mated?” Ellie asked as they climbed the stairs.

  The Beatles song began to play, and Ellie smiled. “I’d say that was a yes.”

  “But her response means she is still here.” Brett closed the door to Ellie’s bedroom. He hadn’t thought they’d be here tonight—or any night, really.

  “Do you think she’ll be bothered or will bother us if we make love?” Ellie slid her hands up Brett’s shirt.

  “We’re mated wolves, and if she’s going to hang around, she’ll have to get used to it. She seems to stay by the piano, so at least she won’t be watching us.”

  Ellie groaned. “What do we do now with the piano?”

  “We’ll ask her where she’d prefer us to take it.” Brett began kissing his mate, wanting to make love to her naked this time, only in her bedroom. “I’m all awake now. What about you?”

  “I’m ready for some more wolf loving.” She began to pull off his sweatshirt, and he did the same thing with hers, baring her beautiful breasts to him.

  He definitely preferred her wearing sweats to the gown for some quick loving. He was glad Ellie wasn’t too tired, but hoped his great-aunt wouldn’t be upset by it and try to interfere.

  This time, he trailed kisses down Ellie’s chest, licking and suckling a nipple. She let out a soft moan. Arching her back, she pressed her abdomen against his stiffening cock, making it jerk, and he wanted inside her all over again. He slid his hands down the sweatpants she was wearing and started to stroke her with one hand, the other holding on to her as she melted against the bed. As soon as her head hit the pillow, he heard a crinkling sound beneath it and Ellie’s face turned red.

  He waited for a moment for her to do something about what was under her pillow, but she just smiled.

  “Did you want to move it first?”

  She let out her breath in exasperation, then grabbed a manila envelope from under her pillow, shoved it in her bedside table drawer, and slammed it shut.

  He sat beside her and took her hand in his, gently caressing it and waiting for her to say something, anything.

  “Oh, all right.” She jerked the drawer open and shoved the envelope into his hands.

  Red Hot Rush was stamped in red letters on the envelope, which was addressed to Ellie from her aunt. When he looked inside, he saw the artwork and smiled, slipped the envelope back in the drawer, and shut it. Then he began kissing her all over again, loving her for being Ellie.

  The sex was amazing, but only because she was amazing and this was meant to be.

  He began stroking her again and kissing her eager mouth, soaking up the smell and feel of her, tangling his tongue with hers, wringing her out until she shouted, “Omigod, yes!”

  He smiled and worked on her boots, then yanked off his. She was tugging off the sweatpants while he unfastened his belt and dropped his jeans to the floor.

  Then he joined her in the bed, kissing her as she slid her hands over his back, caressing and pumping him up before he slid his cock inside her and began to thrust.

  Soft piano music began to play in the background. Brett smiled, and they began kissing again, and he continued to thrust. Nothing was stopping him from loving his mate.

  When he came with the final plunge, he breathed
out her name, “Ellie, my mate, my love.”

  “You are fantastic,” Ellie whispered against his lips. “And I love you with all my heart.”

  They collapsed in each other’s embrace, ready to sleep the rest of the night away.

  But Brett had to ask about the photos first. “I thought you said you didn’t want them. The photos, I mean.”

  “I didn’t. My aunt sent them to me anyway.”

  Brett kissed the top of Ellie’s head. “And you tucked them under your pillow. Why?”

  “Meghan saw me with the package, and I didn’t want her to see what was in it.”

  “Ahh. Then if you want me to, I can get rid of them for you.”

  “Ha! The last time you got rid of them, do you see where they ended up?”

  He laughed. “Underneath your pillow.”

  * * *

  Early the next morning, Brett and Ellie woke to soft piano music. Ellie cuddled against Brett, his hand gently stroking her back. “Nice easy music to listen to while waking up.”

  He let out his breath. “What if she doesn’t want to leave? Even if we learn the truth this morning? What if she stays with the piano wherever we put it?”

  “Well, we could take it back to your house.”

  “Our house.”

  “Right. Then it wouldn’t disturb anyone.”

  “I keep wondering why she revealed herself now and not earlier.”

  Ellie kissed Brett’s cheek and got out of bed. “You kissed me, and I was about to kiss you back. I was leaning against the piano, and we must have earned her Victorian ire. That’s all I can figure. Once she was out, she couldn’t leave.”

  “What if it doesn’t have to do with us?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “What if it has to do with the place? The inn?”

  “She’s been playing here too.”

  “Right. So she was ‘awakened’ and now is here to stay unless we can help her to move on. What if there was something about my place that made her feel at home?”

  “And she quit playing. The movers are going to think we’re crazy if we keep having the piano moved back and forth.”

  Brett smiled, then frowned. “As long as she doesn’t play while they’re trying to move it.”

  Chapter 20

  The next morning, Brett and Ellie arrived at Remer’s house. Ellie really felt bad that his grandfather might have been involved in anything to do with Matilda’s death.

  Remer greeted them at the door and motioned them in. “I should have had you come over last night. I’m sure you must have needed some kind of resolution one way or another. I had a friend come over and help me move the steamer trunk from the attic to the living room. I don’t remember my grandmother at all. She died before I was born. From what Matilda had said, my grandmother had been friends with both her and Caroline. It wasn’t until after Caroline’s husband died that Theodore started to court her.”

  Ellie took hold of Brett’s hand as they looked at the old camelback wooden steamer trunk, with its leather straps and brass fittings still in excellent condition.

  Remer opened it for them, and they looked inside. They found a lady’s parasol, a faded forest-green dress, gloves, stockings, shoes, a few other articles of women’s clothing, and one man’s glove.

  “Does that help solve the mystery?” Remer asked.

  Brett handed him the picture of his aunt and grandmother with Theodore and Benjamin. “It appears to be the same dress she was wearing and the same parasol she had six months before her death. Though you can’t tell from the photo, Bertha Hastings said the dress was forest green.”

  “I’m sorry. Dad said he’d been worried about his dad when he’d had a terrible fall around the same time that your aunt died. Granddad said he’d slipped on spilled water and hit his head. Dad thought he should move in with him, but Granddad said he was fine. Granddad didn’t go to Matilda’s funeral, and shortly afterward, he and Caroline broke up. We thought it was over her refusal to mate him. He’d told my father she’d marry him now that Matilda was gone. Dad thought he shouldn’t get his hopes up. I’m…sorry.”

  “You didn’t have anything to do with it. It still might have been that she stood and fell out of the boat. Your grandfather worried how it would look to my grandmother. So he covered up the whole affair. He did want to marry her after all,” Brett said.

  “Could be. But would Matilda come back to say she hadn’t died accidentally if it was an accident?”

  “Yes,” Ellie said. “If she wanted her family to know how she died, whether it was accidentally or not. She didn’t want her sister marrying him because he hadn’t told anyone the truth.”

  Remer nodded. “I don’t know what else to say except I’m sorry. Feel free to take her things with you. And…I hope you’re still agreeable to lessons?” Remer looked desolate about it.

  “Oh, absolutely,” Ellie quickly said.

  “Agreed. Thank you,” Brett said.

  Ellie thanked him too, and then they left. “What are you going to do with her things?”

  “What about displaying them with her memorial in the inn lobby? Make a glassed-in case and include the picture of her and her sister all dressed up.”

  “With Theodore and Benjamin? Do you think she’ll object to Theodore being in the picture?”

  “Maybe, but we could give it a shot. Or I can have the photo of her and her sister blown up and remove Theodore from the photo.”

  “Okay, sounds good.”

  With the movers scheduled to arrive at the house later that afternoon, Brett and Ellie returned there, made love, showered together, dressed, and headed downstairs for a late breakfast. She hoped this would resolve the piano-playing issue. If it didn’t, she wasn’t sure what else to try.

  “Did you want us to move the piano back to Brett’s home?” Ellie asked Matilda, hoping she’d get an answer.

  “Our home,” Brett reminded Ellie, and she loved that it was now her home too.

  Matilda didn’t respond.

  “I don’t normally eat big breakfasts, but I’m famished. What about you?” Ellie asked. “It must have been all of our workouts.”

  He chuckled. “Breakfast will help give us energy for more.”

  “Are you off from the paper today?” She made omelets filled with cheese, bell peppers, and ham while Brett made coffee and tea and set the table.

  “Yeah. No way would they make me work today.”

  “Good. I haven’t talked to my sisters about not going to work at the inn today, but I suspect they already understand I’d rather be with you for the day.” Ellie glanced at the piano. “Matilda might be feeling a bit unsure, not knowing where the piano should be now.” Ellie served the omelets.

  Brett made some toast for them. “Why would she be upset about us taking it to the inn?”

  “Maybe she just couldn’t communicate with you. Then she realized we could see Chrissy. I’m not sure. However, she liked helping to teach me to play. Maybe that made her feel alive again. This had been her calling. She failed at teaching Chrissy, but she’d failed with students before, so she knows that’s a hazard of teaching.”

  “All right. I just hope she’s happy with the piano being back at the house.”

  They had just finished breakfast when Brett got a call. “Hey, CJ? Okay, putting it on speaker.”

  “I just got a call from Stanton that he and his brothers are stranded a couple of miles out of town headed in your direction. The classic Plymouth made them get out of the car, and then it drove off into the woods on that rarely used road to Lover’s Leap.”

  “Are the brothers all right?” Ellie hurried to put away the food.

  “Stanton says he has a broken leg. I’m headed over there, but I thought you might want to meet us out there. The other brothers only have scrapes and bruises.”
r />   “We’re on our way.” Brett quickly told him what they learned about their great-aunt.

  “Hell,” CJ said.

  “Yeah, I know. Be there soon.” Brett ended the call, helped Ellie with the food, grabbed their jackets, and they headed out to the car.

  Ellie was dressed in jeans and a sweater and boots. Brett was dressed similarly. She was glad they’d both had a chance to pick up a change of clothes that wasn’t Victorian.

  “I can’t believe Stanton and his brothers were still driving that car. They should have buried it like I said,” Ellie told Brett.

  “The show must go on.”

  “It’s a good thing the car didn’t kill them.”

  No matter how much Brett tried to believe the car was possessed, he had a really hard time envisioning it. “You don’t think it’s just a publicity stunt for their show? Just to dramatize things a bit? Then they got a little out of hand and Stanton was really injured?”

  Ellie processed that for a few minutes. “Knowing Stanton, anything is possible, I suppose.”

  “You really think the only way to end this is to bury the car?”

  “If you can’t exorcise ghosts—and the brothers have already tried to do it with some of the conventional means—I’d say so. The only other way to deal with it might be if Shorty’s grandson attempted to communicate with him. There’s no guarantee that will make any difference. What if the car was buried and it still honked its horn from the grave? No telling, really.”

  “Unless Shorty is buried somewhere in a private grave, I don’t see that we can bury it with him or near him,” Brett said.

  “No. I want to see where it ended up. Maybe we can put the ghost to rest so Stanton can’t try to exploit it any further for his TV program.”

  “Okay, well, you let me know how I can help.”

  She smiled at him. “Thanks, Brett, for going along with all this.”

  “We’re mated, Ellie,” he said. “That means we’re in this together. We’re partners in everything, including this ghost-buster business.”

  “I love you.”

  “I love you right back, honey.”