Page 72 of The Christmas Spirits on Tradd Street
Her head jerked back and for a moment I didn’t recognize the mottled face that glared at me now, with bulging eyes and bloody skin. The voice that erupted from my mother’s small body made Sophie and me step back as if we’d been struck, but neither of us could look away.
Traitors deserve to die and rot in hell!
The putrid stench of rotting flesh leached in through the floor and plaster walls, and my stomach roiled, but I couldn’t leave, no matter how much I wanted to. “Mother!” I screamed, reaching for her hand and peeling her bare fingers off the bedpost, feeling what seemed like an electric current pulse against her skin.
Her eyes widened as she looked into my face, her expression of confusion softening slightly as she seemed to recognize me. “It’s me, Mother. It’s Mellie.”
She nodded, letting me know she heard me. I held on tightly to her arms as her body relaxed and I led her to the bed. Just before we reached the edge, her eyes jerked wide, and, as clear as air, my grandmother’s voice shouted from my mother’s mouth.Jack.
CHAPTER 25
The following morning, I stepped around the small frosted Christmas tree in the middle of the lobby at Henderson House Realty and stopped at the tinsel-bedecked receptionist’s desk, surprised to find it empty. “Jolly? Jolly Thompson? Are you here?”
“Right here,” called a voice from beneath the desk. “I’ll be right with you.”
I moved around to the back of the desk and spotted our receptionist wearing yoga pants and a bright blue tunic, sitting cross-legged in the knee well. Her eyes were closed, allowing me to admire her turquoise eye shadow and sparkly mascara. “What are you doing?”
Her eyes snapped open. “Hang on.” She rolled over onto her hands and knees and crawled out from under her desk. She reached out her hands and I helped her to stand. She shook her head as if to clear it. “Sorry—just trying to do more homework for my online psychic class. It’s about channeling, so I was giving it a try.”
“Any luck?” I asked.
“Not yet. I’m not really surprised, though. I think my strength is intuition. And touch.” She rubbed her hands together. “Like right now, I felt nothing when you pulled me up. There was no tingle or anything,which just confirms my suspicions that you have no psychic powers whatsoever.”
“Really?” I said. “How interesting.” Her psychic statements were more miss than hit, so I tried not to encourage her, despite the fact that a few times she’d come eerily close to hitting the nail on the proverbial head. I peered at the top of her desk. “Any messages? Cancellations?”
I was hoping that Veronica would call and cancel our morning appointment. I’d told her I would help her buy time, but I knew that sooner or later I’d need to confront the ghost of her sister and find out what was keeping her here. I just couldn’t manage adding one more thing to my overflowing plate without my head exploding.
Jolly leaned over her desk, her dragonfly earrings temporarily replaced for the season with light-up Christmas bulbs. “You have two new appointments for showings—both with out-of-towners—and Veronica Farrell called to confirm an appointment at nine o’clock regarding a new listing. And...” She drew out the word slowly for dramatic effect. “That Suzy Dorf stopped by yesterday while you were at a house showing and then called twice after you left for the day. I don’t know how much longer I can hold her off. She has a hard time taking no for an answer.”
I recalled what Sophie had said, how I needed to speak to Suzy and find out exactly what she knew. I blew out a heavy sigh. “Fine. Send me the call next time. Maybe that will make her stop pestering us.”
“Only if you’re sure,” Jolly said, her disappointment at my apparent caving showing on her face. She was enjoying being my gatekeeper maybe just a little too much.
“I’m sure.”
She picked up one of her never-ending lists—she made lists for everything, which was one of the reasons we got along so well—and crossed something off. “Well, then, here you go.” She handed me the messages. “Oh, and one more.” She reached for a pink memo pad and tore off the top note. “Your mother called. She said instead of the park at noon, to meet her and the children at Belmond Place to see the Christmas tree and the toy train in the lobby. The weather has turned a bit nasty for a walk in the park.”
I nodded, recalling my mother’s collapse the previous afternoon and the aborted trip to the park. “Did she mention if Jayne would be joining us?”
“No, she didn’t.” Jolly lowered her chin, looking at me over the top of her glasses. “Does that make a difference?”
I waved a hand in dismissal. “Of course not. She’s my sister.”
“Um-hm,” Jolly said, looking like someone who knew way more than she should and probably attributed it to her “psychic powers.” I wondered for a moment if I might be mentally broadcasting my mixed feelings about Jayne, and made a note to think only about babies and puppies while in Jolly’s presence.
I forced a smile, eyeing the coffee and doughnut on the credenza behind her; they were almost hidden behind a giant Santa Claus that would say,Ho, ho, hoand ring his bell if a person clapped. She saw where I was looking and blocked my view of the doughnut. “I’ll be in my office,” I said. “Let me know when the Farrells get here.”
“Will do.”
I began to walk toward my office but stopped when Jolly called me back. I turned around. “Yes?”
“When that adorable husband of yours stopped by yesterday to drop off your glasses, I saw that man again standing behind him.”
“That man?”
“Yes, remember? A while back, I told you both I’d seen a dark-haired man holding a piece of jewelry standing behind Jack. But then I said he had a mustache, and now I’m not so sure. I think he just has a dark shadow like he hasn’t shaved in a few days.”
“Yes, of course.” I did remember, mostly because Meghan Black had managed to capture a photo on her phone of a man standing by the cistern and matching the same description. “Tell me again what he looked like?” I asked, hoping she’d say something completely different this time.
