The Bride's Curse (5 page)

Seeing she was speechless, which he guessed was rare for her, he grinned. He could have sworn sparks flew from that fiery red hair. “I’m Brett Atwell. Here’s my card. Maybe we can discuss this further over a drink … ?” He placed a small business card on the walnut cupboard by the cash register and picked up one of her cards from the small silver box there.
Kelly Andrews, Wedding Planner.

“Out!”

“Maybe dinner? Call me. I’m not a man to back down from a challenge.” He grinned. “See you later, Red,” he said and chuckled at her snort of irritation as he left the store.

• • •

When Noelia arrived to start work after lunch she found Kelly scrubbing out the storeroom. Boxes and other stored items were spread out all over the backroom/kitchen area.

“What on earth are you doing?”

“Cleaning out all this junk and rubbish—what does it look like I’m doing?”

“Hallelujah, Hell has finally frozen over.”

“You think you’re so very funny, don’t you?” Kelly, scowling, finally emerged from the small room. Her appearance brought another smile to Noelia’s lips. Kelly’s clothes and face were streaked with dust and a long cobweb draped her curly ponytail.

“Whatever prompted this?” Noelia reached over and swatted the web.

“Good lord, I hope its resident wasn’t at home.” Kelly started running her hands through her hair in search of a recently evicted spider.

“So I take it something happened to upset you.” Noelia moved over toward the coffeepot and had poured them both a strong brew before Kelly finally answered. How could she explain the idiot who’d been in her store, claiming to look for a stolen wedding dress and accusing her of being a criminal? A gorgeous, dazzling idiot who had called her Red and sent her pulse into overdrive with one raised eyebrow? Oh, and that kiss. Who could forget that kiss? Kelly brushed her fingers across her lips, still feeling the tingle that Brett’s mouth had left there.

Noelia instantly noticed the pink flush that trailed across Kelly’s cheeks. “Come on, spill the beans, Missy.” The older woman handed her a mug. “You’re blushing. And you only do cleaning and sorting like that when you’re really peed off with someone or something. Otherwise, you just throw more stuff in on top of the stuff that’s already there and slam the door shut.”

“Very funny. There was a guy in here … ”

“A guy, hmm? And in a wedding shop, too. Fancy that. Was he a groom?”

“Are you going to let me tell this story or what? I was out there trying to persuade that old guy who sits on the bench and stares in our window to get lost, when I saw this tall hunky kind of guy come into the shop. So I came in after him and found him staring at the honeymoon undies like he’d never seen panties before in his life.” Although she was willing to bet that man had seen his fair share of panties—or if not, it wasn’t for want of ladies offering. She reached over and picked up the card he’d left. Brett Atwell. Just a name and a cell phone number. Obviously a guy who didn’t give much away.
And one who liked a challenge …

“Looking at the lingerie? The nasty beast! I hope you gave him what-for!” Noelia stifled a giggle.

“I did indeed. I asked him what he wanted and he said, ‘A wedding dress.’ I pointed out that he was a hard size to fit.”

“You didn’t!” Noelia chose a chocolate covered biscuit and began to nibble.

“He went all red and stammered a bit. Then he said he really was looking for a wedding gown that had been purchased illegally. He was calling me a thief!”

Noelia’s coffee mug stopped halfway to her mouth and she looked open-jawed at Kelly. “He didn’t!”

“He did. And he called me Red.”

“Holy smokes, honey—do you want help burying the body?”

“I wish! I just threw him out. Oh no—is that the time? I’m supposed to meet Daria Welcome in forty-five minutes and look at the mess I’m in!”

• • •

Forty-two minutes later Kelly parked her car on the gravel apron at the front of the Captain’s House Bed and Breakfast. She got out with her arms full of catalogues and samples and a cardboard dress box slung over one shoulder, and paused for a moment to stare up at the mansion’s cold, gray stone façade. It was a magnificent building that a wealthy and powerful man, a sea captain involved in slavery, had once built for his bride. History had always interested Kelly. Since moving to the town, she had attended several Marina Grove Historical Society meetings and enjoyed reading books about the small town’s past life.

So much of that history revolved around the men who had grown rich and influential on the natural resources of the area. She knew a lot about the Captain’s House and about the tragic deaths barely a year ago as Federal agents closed in on the family’s illegal activities. But stories about the Petersons went back to the very beginning of Marina Grove. The very first Peterson, a legend in the town because of the great wealth he had accrued from local resources, was said to have been so angry with his first wife that he threw her to her death from one of the tall upper windows. If ever a place had restless spirits looking for a living soul to aid them, it would be this house. She shivered just thinking about it and wondered if there was any way for her and her gift—or curse—to go unnoticed there.

“You look absolutely beautiful!”

Kelly smiled as she watched Daria Welcome swirl elegantly in front of the cheval glass. It was true—the vintage gown fit Daria as though it had been made for her. The oyster silk brought out the woman’s creamy dark coloring and the style highlighted the curves of her slender figure. “Your fiancé won’t be able to say ‘I do’ and get that ring on your finger quick enough when he sees you in this. That is, if he doesn’t trip over his tongue.”

Daria laughed. “I had a funny feeling that this was the gown I wanted before I even saw it, just from hearing everyone say how beautiful it was.” She turned this way and that, admiring the effect in the cheval glass.

“Even though they also said it was cursed?” Kelly knelt to straighten the short train that flowed from the back of the dress.

“Ah! Like I said, I don’t believe in that stuff. I do believe that strong emotions can leave an imprint in places and on objects, but they’re only echoes of the past.”

“Doesn’t it worry you that three other brides who had wanted to wear that gown didn’t make it to the altar?”

Daria snorted. “If a little thing like a bad vibe from a dress split them up, then perhaps it was better it happened before they were married. Sounds like the relationships weren’t strong enough anyway to go the distance.”

Kelly wanted to hug the woman for her sheer common sense approach. “Well, thank you for that. You don’t know how much you’ve lifted my spirits. All this talk about curses and dark forces at work in a gown I bought because I loved, well, it’s been getting me down a bit.

“Speaking of spirits, you obviously are sensitive to atmosphere. So how on earth do you cope with staying in this place?” Kelly waved her hand to indicate the Captain’s House.

Daria reluctantly slipped out of the dress and pulled on her dress pants and an expensive silk blouse. “Funnily enough, most of this house has a wonderful atmosphere. I think that’s due to the lovely couple who run it. Have you met Cheryl and Bo? They got married late in life and they are so obviously in love, their happiness has transformed this house. Except … ”

“Except?” Kelly paused in the process of carefully putting the dress on its hanger and waited for her to go on. “I mean, have you felt anything weird around the house? Maybe in the front foyer?”

Daria gave her a long, considering look. “You mean around the entrance to the room that was once the study? Did you know that’s where, well, where it all happened. They’ve changed it into a library and sitting room for guests, but no one ever seems to go there.” She gave a delicate little shudder. “Myself, I avoid it like the plague.”

Kelly was pretty sure she would avoid that spot, too. She’d felt a sense of cruel cold as she’d walked into the house, and wanted to ask Daria more, but they were interrupted by a sharp knock at the door.

“That must be Cheryl or Bo. I hope you don’t mind. I asked if we could have a light late lunch in my room so that we could finish discussing whatever else might be needed.”

“Wow—that’s nice of you.” Kelly realized she was famished. It was after three o’clock and her stomach was announcing loudly and embarrassingly that it had been a long time since breakfast.

Daria opened the door and a tall woman with gray-streaked dark hair entered pushing a tea trolley. Her face lit up with a friendly smile that transformed her from ordinary to beautiful as she spoke to her guests. She placed a selection of tiny sandwiches, fruit, and some cupcakes on a small table under the window, along with some crockery and silverware, linen napkins, and a flask of hot coffee.

She stood back to study the table, then turned to Daria. “I hope this is enough for you. If there’s anything else, just give me a call,” she said as she left the room with a friendly invitation to “Enjoy!”

“Isn’t she wonderful? I understand she used to be the housekeeper here before everything blew up. If I thought I had a ghost of a chance, I’d try and lure her away to be the housekeeper in the home Drake and I are having built.” Daria seemed to notice Kelly’s wince at her phrase “a ghost of a chance” and frowned. “Just a figure of speech. I guess a lot of people are sensitive to what happened here.”

“A bit of a silly reaction, I know. It’s just that what happened was, well, not something that goes on much in a small town like this. I think it shocked everyone to the core. Anyway, good luck with trying to lure her away. She seems happy enough here.”

Half an hour later the table was littered with empty cups, plates, and cupcake wrappers, and Kelly had a notebook full of ideas to explore for Daria’s wedding and lists of items such as flowers and bridesmaids’ gifts.

“I’m still amazed that the dress needs no alterations at all. All three brides who tried it on have fit into it well enough without having to change anything, but I say again, it could have been made for you. It’s by a famous Parisian designer—I should have brought the note that was in the box with it when I bought it because I can’t remember the name offhand.”

“I’d be interested in seeing that. Drake and I are meeting up this weekend to finalize our plans for the wedding date and location. I can’t believe how many small details are involved in such a simple ceremony.” Daria walked to the door with Kelly.

“That’s what wedding planners are for, to take as much of the burden as possible off your shoulders so you’re still able to smile as you walk down the aisle.”

• • •

Kelly managed to scurry from the Captain’s House without encountering any of the shades that might be lurking there. Perhaps Daria was right and such things were only echoes of the past. Her own experience with restless spirits didn’t support that theory, though.

She was relieved to be back in the safety of Wedding Bliss knowing that her next appointment with the realtor Daria would be at the store where there was no danger of running into any of the insubstantial figures she glimpsed from time to time. She had the awful feeling that one day one of these visions would have the strength to actually make contact and demand something of her. The very thought made fear scamper up and down her spine. She comforted herself with the thought that she had not seen any apparitions in the two years since she’d moved to Marina. “Maybe the doctors were right, maybe these really were some sort of weird hallucinations,” she muttered to herself. But she didn’t believe a word of it.

She busied herself filling out her notes and checking her calendar so as not to miss any deadlines. Despite the problems with that dratted gown and the fall off in people wanting to arrange spring weddings, Wedding Bliss was busy with weddings already arranged. Winter weddings seemed popular these days, and several brides were planning to tie the knot by Christmas. They also had two Christmastime nuptials, and Kelly loved Christmas weddings when the events were made even more special because of the season. Even the possibility of snow and the unpredictable weather didn’t detract from the romance of those Yuletide days.

A young woman and an older lady who looked like mother and daughter had paused to look in the window. They appeared to be discussing the 1930s gown that was displayed there and which would look fabulous on the girl, Kelly thought.

Then the two of them seemed to shiver as if a cold breeze hit them. They turned and walked quickly away.

The same cold breeze blew over Kelly and a strange feeling of not being alone prickled at the back of her neck. “Darn it!” she exclaimed, looking out to see the old man was once more sitting on the bench, gazing in at Wedding Bliss.

“That’s it! He’s wrecking our business,” she snarled. She made for the door as Noelia looked up from the orders she was writing. “Who are you talking about? Not that young man who calls you Red?”

“No, not him.” Kelly surprised herself by thinking it would be nice to see him. He gave her shivers of a different kind. “It’s that old guy out there on the bench—the one I told you about who sits looking in our window.”

Noelia joined her at the window, standing on tiptoe and craning her neck to look out over the window display. “I can’t see anyone.”

“He’s right there on the bench. You’d think he had a mortgage on it, the time he spends there.”

Noelia looked again, and then back at Kelly, her expression puzzled. “Honey, there’s no-one there. The bench is empty.”

“I guess he must have sneaked off while we were … no, he’s there. Can’t you see him? Push the dress aside a little so that … ”

“Really, there’s no one there. Maybe the sun is in your eyes and casting shadows?”

Kelly stared, first at Noelia and then at the bench. She could see the old guy as clearly as day. Noelia couldn’t see anyone on the bench at all.

That could only mean one of two things. Either she was going crazy or the old guy was a ghost. The first she’d seen since moving to Marina Grove.

Kelly shivered and fought back tears. The very idea of these visions starting over again depressed the heck out of her. There was only one way to find out if he was flesh and blood or not. Grabbing her bag, she fled from the store and walked briskly over to the bench.