Darkness Exposed (8 page)
“Oh, I’m so sorry,” Mary said.
Gary shrugged. “I’m okay now,” he said, shrugging. “I have lots of friends and my practice, I keep real busy.”
Ian nodded. “Good for you,” he said. “So, are you a good dentist? I’m sure we’ll be looking for one soon enough.”
Laughing, Gary nodded. “I’ve never had a patient complain yet,” he said.
“Well, that’s a fine recommendation then, isn’t it?” Ian replied, giving Mary a quick squeeze. “And what do you suggest the proper dental hygiene is for a woman who’s expecting?”
Gary looked straight at Mary. “You’re pregnant?” he asked, and then blushed again. “I mean, congratulations.”
Mary smiled. “Well, actually, we were trying to keep it a secret for a little bit longer,” she said, looking up at Ian. “But someone wants to shout it from the rooftops.”
He grinned at her. “It just keeps slipping out,” he laughed.
Gary stood. “Well, that’s just, that’s great,” he said. “You should be really happy. I, I’d better go now.”
Mary and Ian both stood. “We’ll walk you out,” he said.
Bradley sat back in his office chair. He could watch the meeting through the wireless camera system and hear the discussion in the next room through both the laptop and the camera microphones. He hadn’t seen Gary in years. The conversation Ian and Mary shared with Gary reminded him of so many evenings Gary and his wife, Beverly, had come over and chatted with Jeannine and him. And then, after his divorce, Gary had sought their company most nights and they all became good friends.
Jeannine had felt sorry for Gary because he was so shy and awkward around women and his divorce certainly hadn’t helped increase his self-esteem. Even though Gary was older than they were, he and Jeannine seemed to fill the roles of older siblings, offering advice and listening to his problems.
But when he had problems, Gary was the first one to step up. He had even been kind enough to help Bradley financially when he had continued his search for Jeannine. He knew the house wouldn’t still have been his without Gary’s help.
Bradley ran his hand through his hair and closed his eyes for a moment. But he knew those old memories weren’t the cause for the unsettled feelings near his heart. When Ian had announced Mary was pregnant, he immediately remembered his dream. In it Mary had been eight months pregnant. He could easily recall the pressure of her swollen body against his, the feeling of their child moving against him when they were embracing and the rightness of her in his arms. But at the end of the dream she had walked away, married to someone else.
All because he had chosen Jeannine. He suddenly sat up straight.
Had that been a warning?
He had never considered himself superstitious, but in his dream Mary told him she was married to Mike, a ghost. Would you have to be dead in order to be married to a ghost? Was Mary’s life at risk because of Jeannine’s investigation?
He leaned forward in his chair and placed his head in his hands. What were his choices at this point? Jeannine was Mary’s client and there was no way Mary would drop the case. He knew her well enough to know she would not be worried about her own safety.
Sitting back up in the chair, he scanned the monitor and found her in the camera screen in the front hall. She was smiling at Gary and waving good-bye.
“What do you want from me, Mary O’Reilly,” he whispered, at the screen.
He could hear her response in his mind. “Trust me.”
He would just have to have faith. Trust Mary. That’s what she had asked for, and if it killed him, he would trust her.
Once Gary left, Mary hurried over to the computer. She moved the screen back to face the room and unclicked the mute button.
“So, did you hear the conversation?” she asked.
Bradley nodded. “Yeah, but you don’t have to worry about Gary,” he said. “He’s as good as gold. He actually helped me when I was searching for Jeannine.”
“So, you wouldn’t put him on your list?” Ian asked.
“No, never,” Bradley said. “I’d trust him with my life.”
Chapter Eleven
Mary came out of the bathroom dressed in her favorite sleeping attire, a large t-shirt and sweatpants, turned off the lights and climbed onto the bed. She felt a little strange sleeping in the Master bedroom, the same bed Bradley and Jeannine had shared. But Ian had suggested that it would probably be the best place for her because Jeannine would gravitate to that room. She moved the pillows against the headboard, leaned back against them and pulled her laptop into her lap.
She powered it on and clicked on the video conferencing software. In a moment she was connected with Bradley who was still sitting at his desk.
“Planning on staying up all night, Chief?” she teased.
“I was hoping you’d call,” he replied. “How are you doing?”
The sound of his voice, deep and slightly rough, was heightened by the intimacy of sitting in his bed in the darkened bedroom. Mary felt it wash over her like a silken wave.
“I’m good,” she said, keeping her voice to a whisper. “I like your house.”
“I dreamt about you in my house,” he said.
Laughing softly, she snuggled against the pillows. “Was I chasing bad guys?”
He chuckled. “No, actually, you were cooking dinner.”
“Well, how domestic of me.”
“Extremely,” he said. “And, I have to tell you, exceptionally sexy.”
She felt her cheeks burn and was grateful of the darkened room. “How is cooking dinner sexy?”
“Well, it was a pot roast,” he replied with a quiet laughter.
“Oh, well then, I totally understand,” she said. “Pot roast can be a stimulating experience.”
“Exactly! I came into the house and you were standing in front of the stove. In my dream, I initially thought you were Jeannine, but then when I slid my arms around you and pulled you into my arms, I discovered it was you,” he said.
“Were you disappointed?”
“No, I was confused at first, but once you slipped your arms around my neck and kissed me, I knew everything was perfect.”
“I kissed you? Sounds like I was being a little assertive.”
“Have I mentioned how much I like assertive women?”
She chuckled.
“And when you were locked in my arms, I felt our baby move against me and I knew nothing could compare with that moment.”
“I was pregnant? You could have mentioned that. Was I really fat?”
“You were perfect,” he whispered slowly, his voice husky and his eyes meeting hers. “Absolutely perfect.”
She took a deep breath and slowly released it, feeling her body respond to his words. “Bradley, I…”
“Wait Mary,” he said. “Let me tell you the rest of the dream.”
“Okay.”
“You pulled away from me to stir something on the stove.”
“I’m an idiot,” Mary muttered.
“Pardon me?”
“Oh, nothing, please continue.”
“That’s when I noticed that Jeannine was sitting at the kitchen table,” he said. “She told me she’d been dead for eight years.”
“What did I do?”
“You invited her to dinner,” he replied, a small smile on his lips.
“Well of course I did,” she said. “That was the only polite thing to do.”
“Yes, I’m sure Miss Manners has something about dead wives and inviting them to dinner,” he said.
Her laughter bubbled out, “Of course she does.”
Bradley paused for a moment, just to study her. Her eyes were sparkling and her mouth was turned up in an adorable smile. Her lips were so kissable, especially when she was laughing. He had given her far too few reasons to laugh lately. Taking a deep breath, he continued. “That’s when Jeannine reminded me of our conversation on New Year’s Eve,” he said.
Mary inhaled softly.
“She reminded me that you told me the truth,” he said. “But I wasn’t listening. She reminded me that not only did you save my life; you had always been honest and open with me. She reminded me what an idiot I’d been.”
“I couldn’t tell you anything else,” she said. “I wanted to, really, but I couldn’t.”
“Yeah, I see that now,” he said. “I just wanted to let you know why I came knocking on your door at two o’clock in the morning. I had to apologize. I had to see in your eyes that you forgave me, that you still loved me. That is wasn’t too late.”
“And then Ian answered the door,” she said, nodding in understanding.
“And once again, I opted to act like an idiot rather than trust you,” he said. “If it helps, I was totally miserable on my drive home and nearly destroyed my living room when I got there by throwing my slippers across the room.”
“Slippers?”
“Yeah, I was in a hurry, so I just slipped on jeans and slippers.”
“But, there was an ice storm…”
“I figured that out when I stepped out of my car into a snow drift and then nearly killed myself slipping across your porch,” he confessed. “When Ian opened the door, I was laying on my stomach, inching my way to your door.”
Mary put a hand over her mouth to hold back the laughter.
“Are you laughing at me?” he asked.
She shook her head, too afraid to move her hand for fear the laughter would escape.
“Are you lying to me?” he asked, his mouth turned up in a smile and his eyes sharing the joke with her.
She nodded her head, still covering her mouth.
His face sobered and he looked at her with such intensity that her laughter was dispelled. Her heart accelerated and she felt a warm rush throughout her body.
“Do you still love me?” he asked.
A single tear slipped down her cheek and she nodded slowly. “I never stopped,” she whispered.
He took a deep breath. “It’s probably a good thing I’m not there right now,” he said. “It would be hard to walk away from you tonight, Mary.”
Nodding, she met his eyes. “It would be hard to ask you to,” she whispered.
His jaw tightened for a moment and then he relaxed. “Go to bed, Mary,” he said softly. “And have sweet dreams.”
“I will,” she said, “Good-night Bradley.”
She disconnected the call, lay back against the pillows and sighed. “I love you Bradley Alden,” she said aloud.
Smiling, Bradley adjusted the speaker on the bedroom’s camera, she deserved a little privacy. “I love you too, Mary O’Reilly,” he whispered.
Chapter Twelve
The house was dark, but she was used to walking through it with only the streetlights illuminating the rooms. She remembered all of those times when she woke in the middle of the night and couldn’t sleep. She’d come downstairs, sit in the recliner and talk to her unborn child. Sharing her hopes and her fears. Whispering to the baby about her Bradley and the silly things he was already worrying about. Letting the baby know how special she was and how much she was wanted.
Jeannine looked around the kitchen. She remembered finding the kitchen clock at a flea market. She could picture herself halfway up a ladder, painting the walls and working until midnight sewing the curtains. The refrigerator door was clean now, but it used to be filled with letters, take-out menus and photos. She strolled next to the counters, remembering the dishes lovingly created and the holiday feasts that were sometimes disasters, and smiled.
Am I haunting my home? she wondered. Is this what a ghost does?
Strolling into the living room she saw Ian sprawled on the couch, a myriad of computer screens and blinking consoles in front of him. His attention was drawn to one specific screen and as she approached to get a better look, he sat up and looked at her over the back of the couch.
“Good, it’s you,” he said.
Jeannine jumped back. “You startled me,” she confessed.
“Oh, sorry,” he replied with a grin. “I’ve been following your magnetic impulses since you entered the kitchen. I was hoping it was you; not that it wouldn’t be brilliant if there was another ghost living here.”
“I don’t know if I want a ghost living in my house,” Jeannine protested.
Ian looked at her and raised one eyebrow.
“Oh, yeah, I guess I am that ghost,” she said with a sigh. “Really, it’s hard to get used to.”
“So, have you ever had any psychic phenomena in this house?” he asked.
She put her hands on her hips and shook her head. “Do you really think Bradley would allow for something like that in his house?” she teased.
“Ach, no, I forgot whose house I was speaking about,” he replied. “No ghost would be so daring.”
She glided closer to him, and glanced over her shoulder. “Although, I have to admit there were a couple of times when I thought I saw someone out of the corner of my eye, but when I turned no one was there.”
“What time of the day?”