Raven's Rest (7 page)

“And what does that mean? Hopefully that I escape the noose.”

The feeble joke didn’t amuse her. “You’re at a crossroads. You must sever old ties, begin anew. The situation you find yourself in makes you want to pull up stakes and just run away. Here’s what my advice is: do nothing. Stay where you are. You’re here for a reason. Stick it out. There’s danger ahead, and sorrow, but you must see this through.”

Like astrology, I still found tarot cards a bit too broad in their meanings. Still, a lot of what Jesenia told me seemed to fit. Or was I making it fit? I sighed. “I’m not sure I have the option of giving up.”

Jesenia looked up from the cards. “But you’ve given thought to going back to your old life. To the young man who has abused you. You shove those feelings aside, but they’re there. You worry that you’ve made a horrible mistake and that maybe, just maybe, you should return with your tail tucked between your legs and beg forgiveness.”

Okay, that was definitely more specific. I hadn’t said anything to Jesenia about my life with Kevin. I let out my breath slowly. “How did you know about…?”

She smiled slyly. “It’s in your aura. That, and I get further insight through the cards. They help me focus my intuition. Who is this man, the one you left?”

“His name is Kevin Alexander.”

“How long were you with him?” She seemed genuinely concerned.

“Five years. He was my first love, really. And as far as abuse goes, he never laid a finger on me.”

“Abuse comes in several guises.” She leaned back, studying me. “I’d wager that he made you give up all your friends. You only hung out with his crowd. And he often belittled you. Made you question your self-worth.”

I was suddenly uncomfortable, and I may have squirmed in my chair. “I don’t really like to talk about it.”

Jesenia nodded and began to pick up the cards. “Understandable. But I do have one more thing to tell you before you return to your work. I don’t often get such vivid impressions from people, but I have a premonition about you.”

“And that is?”

She stared at me as she returned the deck to her pocket. “You’re in danger. The tarot said you should stay and see this through, but it comes with a price. Please use caution.”

“That sounds… dire.” I tried to sound light, but she was scaring the pants off me.

“It is.” She arched her eyebrows. “Someone is going to try to kill you, Mr. Cook. I urge you to be careful. Your life may depend on it.”

TREY WAS
singing me a love song.

I noted that he couldn’t look me in the eye as he played and sang in his delicate, somewhat shaky voice. He concentrated on the strings and the chord changes, but he might as well have been peering into my soul. The words were simple but, for me, powerful. Maybe it was the longing in his voice, or maybe those thin, nimble fingers moving up and down the fretboard, but I was finding it hard not to jump him right then and there and smother him with kisses.

Which would have probably shocked his mother and the few customers left in the Coffee Cafe that day.

“Haven’t known you that long

Not in this life, at least

But I trust my heart

Which has sung to me the words of this song.”

OKAY, BOB
Dylan had nothing to worry about, but it obviously was personal to Trey, a musical confession. And I had little doubt that it was about me. As he returned to the chorus, I looked around, blushing a little. We were sitting at a table near the back counter. His mother was at the register, taking a reading of the day’s take. Lonnie’s mother was one of the customers, and she was listening with a thin, knowing smile as she finished her coffee.

I bit my lip. When Trey had asked me to listen to a new song he’d written, I’d eagerly agreed. I just hadn’t realized that it would be something so intimate. But Trey was fond of public displays, as I’d come to learn over the past week. Most people would have waited to play me the song when we were alone somewhere. Not Trey. He had to have an audience. Like our first kiss. Maybe it was the performer in him. His life had to be witnessed.

If we were to become more than friends, I’d have to get used to that.

When the last note died away, Trey finally looked up from his guitar. “What do you think?”

What to say? I let out a breath of air slowly and then rested my chin on my hands, which were on the table. “I think you like embarrassing me.”

“Well, yeah, that’s a given. It’s so easy. But apart from that, what do you think of the song?”

“I loved it, of course.” How could you not love a song that was written for you?

Trey set the guitar against the wall. “The lyrics still need some tweaking. I’m not satisfied with them yet, but I think the chorus is there and the tune is good. The second verse sucks right now, but I sang it anyway.”

“Well, I want to hear it after you’ve tweaked it. Probably several times.”

His eyes lit up. “Yeah? Well, I’m never going to be Lou Reed, but it makes me happy.”

“You’ve got the black clothes thing going on. The look is half the battle nowadays.”

Trey slumped in his chair, suddenly seeming uncomfortable talking about himself. “People from Banning never make it to the big time, you know. It’s just not done.”

“You’ll be the first,” I said. He fidgeted more, restless, and I decided to shift the topic a little. “I’m surprised you know who Lou Reed is. I only know because my ex listened to him.”

“Mom listens to all that stuff. That’s where I get it from. Today’s music sucks.” Trey sat up straight and leaned across the table. “So how’s the apartment hunting going?”

“I think I’ve found a place. The Lincoln Apartments look pretty good. I put an application in.”

In truth, I hoped they accepted me, but I was in no hurry to move. I knew I couldn’t leave the Raven’s Rest until my mystery was solved. Coleman Hollis was reaching out to me. I had to know why.

Trey’s eyes were twinkling. “Won’t the ghosts miss you?”

I smiled. “I’m sure they will. One of them, at least.”

“Any more experiences?”

“Nothing big. No visions or whispered words. But I often feel like there’s someone with me in the room, and I’ve felt cold spots, especially near the fireplace. And when I woke up this morning, it felt like there was a hand on my chest. Like someone trying to comfort me.”

“Yeah? I feel a hand that ain’t there, I’m not gonna be comforted. That’s for sure.”

“It
was
a little unsettling.”

Gloria finished with her readings and glanced briefly at her son. “Trey, don’t forget to call in the supply orders before you leave.”

“Yes,
mein Kapitän
!” Trey flashed his wicked grin toward me. I had grown accustomed to the banter between him and not only his mother, but all of his family members who worked at the Coffee Cafe. He waited until Gloria groaned with disgust, and only then did he get up to finish his duties for the day. As he slid his chair in, he asked me, “So what are we doing tonight? Wanna see that movie?”

We’d been discussing the latest superhero flick earlier and the possibility of driving to Sterling to see it. There were no movie theaters in Banning. “Sure,” I said.

“It’s a date,” he said, just before disappearing back into the kitchen.

I smiled. Trey, with his black jeans and long hair, was so different from the type of guy I usually found myself attracted to. Considering my track record, though, that was probably a good thing. Kevin had been my ideal, or so I thought at the time. Handsome as hell, strong and opinionated. Quite the alpha male. A little too much so, as had become apparent. Trey was a nice contrast. He was cute and cuddly, struggling to put across the impression that he was tough.

I wondered, though, if dating right now was a good option for me. It was too soon after leaving Kevin, and my head was in an odd place. Logically, I knew I should just remain friends with Trey for now.

The heart rarely listens to logic, however. Whenever I saw that impish grin, my soul felt uplifted, reborn. Life had meaning again. And my groin agreed, and the groin was hard to argue with.

I decided, then and there, that I’d take Trey back to the Raven’s Rest after the movie. And I hoped we’d find out just how good of friends we were going to be.

And in the way that the world tried to make you feel guilty for impure (but fun!) thoughts, I looked up just then to see Gloria Ramsey staring at me. She was still behind the register, seemingly lost in thought. She had her head tilted and seemed to want to say something. After a moment she picked up her ledger and the pen she’d been using and came over to my table. She nodded at the chair Trey had just vacated. “Mind if I sit?” she asked.

“Please do.”

She settled herself and smiled gently at me. “You and Trey seem to be getting along rather well.”

“He seems to be a nice guy.”

There was a twinkle in her eye, and I knew she had concluded that Trey and I were interested in each other. “He works better when you’re here. I’ll give him that. Just don’t start picking up his bad habits.”

“I’ll try not to.”

Mrs. Ramsey sighed. “Are you enjoying working here, Michael?”

I felt she was beating around the bush, avoiding what she really wanted to ask. “Yes, I am.” Maybe if I kept my answers short and sweet she’d get to her point.

She fidgeted, making circles on the tabletop with her forefinger. “And you’re still staying at the Raven’s Rest?”

She knew I was, so I merely nodded. My apartment hunting had been discussed all morning.

“That place has a reputation, you know.”

“I’ve heard,” I said.

Mrs. Ramsey sat up straight, finally ready to speak her mind. “I’ve heard you and Trey talking. You’ve had some interaction with the spirits there.”

I noted that she didn’t say “supposed interaction” or “spirits that are supposed to be there.” As her attitude seemed friendly and welcoming rather than skeptical, I replied, “Yes. Several times now.”

“Did you know that I used to work at the Raven’s Rest?”

I shook my head, surprised. “Trey never mentioned it.”

“It was years ago, right after it became an inn. Trey’s father was still around back then. I cleaned the rooms. The owner then was a man named Nelson. He’s the guy who bought it from Darryl Hollis. Anyway, it wasn’t long before I began to hear the stories about the Raven’s Rest. Other employees would talk, and a few of the guests. I didn’t put much stock in it. Just stories. Then one evening I saw a ghost.

“I was working late. They’d had a big dinner party, a sort of murder mystery thing. Lots of people from town came. I was really just there to help serve food and to help clean up afterward. Almost everyone had gone home, and Mr. Nelson asked me to take some linens upstairs and put them in the closet at the end of the hall. I went up, as asked, but as I walked down the hall I heard some voices coming from one of the rooms. The Raven Suite. No one was supposed to be in there, and I knew I was the only person in that part of the building. I called out, but no one answered. The voices stopped as soon as I spoke. I almost dropped the linens and ran downstairs, but something stopped me. Shaking like a leaf, I went to the doorway to the suite.

“The door was open, which it shouldn’t have been. And inside, I saw….” She paused, her eyes closed as if revisiting that night. “I saw a young man. Thin, with long blond hair. He was wearing jeans and no shirt. And he looked so lost. So sad. He was standing by the fireplace, and he just stared at me. And then he said something.”

“What did he say?” I asked.

Mrs. Ramsey bit her lip. “He said, ‘I can’t find him. Help me find him.’ It wasn’t like a normal person talking, though. This was like the wind, words in the wind. It chilled me right to the bone. I let out a little cry and ran down the hall like a shot! How I got down the stairs without falling and breaking my neck I have no idea, but by the time I found Mr. Nelson I was a blubbering mess. He didn’t believe me, of course. But some of the other staff did, and later we talked about our experiences.”

“I’ve seen him too,” I said. “Coleman Hollis.”

She nodded. “Several of us tried to get the authorities to look into his disappearance. You can imagine how the police reacted when they found out we thought Coleman was dead because we’d seen his ghost. Anyway, we were told there was no evidence of foul play. So a few of us got a Ouija board and tried to contact Coleman’s spirit.”

“What happened?”

Mrs. Ramsey made a sour face. “The table we were using moved. Unfortunately, it turned out that it was just Billy Soames, shifting one of the legs with his feet. But me and a couple of others were serious about learning about Coleman and what happened to him. I looked into him and his family the two years I worked there, and tried and tried again to find out why he was haunting the Raven’s Rest. I obsessed over it, really.”

I gathered from the look on her face that the story didn’t have a happy ending. “Did you learn anything?”

Shaking her head, Mrs. Ramsey said, “I never even saw the ghost again. Oh, I heard noises every now and then, or a door would open or close, but no spirit. Trey was just little then, starting school. And I guess I was spending too much time at the inn, even when I wasn’t working. Walter, Trey’s father, got fed up and left. And in the end, I learned nothing. Maybe there isn’t anything to learn.”

Mrs. Ramsey reached out and grabbed my hand, holding it in both of hers. “What I’m trying to say is, sometimes there’s a mystery with no answer. I thought that if I could find out why Coleman’s ghost was haunting the Raven’s Rest… well, I thought I could help him. Get him to move on. Go on to heaven, if you will.” She shook her head sadly. “But I couldn’t. I don’t think anyone can. And if you’re seeing Coleman’s ghost… well, I don’t want you to make the same mistake I did.”

“I’m not planning—”

She didn’t let me finish. “I talked with Erin Hughes. She tells me you could have had a room at the Lincoln Apartments and moved in by now, but you held off putting in your application.”

“I put in my application yesterday, actually. I just haven’t figured out a date to move in.” I had loads of reasons for delaying a move, but the reality was that I didn’t want to leave the Raven’s Rest until I knew what Coleman needed from me.