Ghost Girl in Shadow Bay: A Young Adult Haunted House Mystery (7 page)

"Really?"

"Luke said you were at work."

"Yeah, I have to put a few dollars in my
pocket," Bryant said.

"I think it's great that you found this job.
I'll probably be working here myself next summer." Peyton wished
she was working there
this
summer so she could spend more
time with him away from home.

"Do you want to get together and do
something?" Bryant asked, moving closer.

Peyton took a breath. "Like what?"

"Oh, I was thinking maybe we could have a
picnic--just the two of us."

"You mean like a date?"

He grinned. "Yeah, you could say that."

Peyton's heart skipped a beat. He must have
read her mind.

"That would be great." She prayed that her
mother or stepfather wouldn't try to ruin things for her.

"Cool. How about this Sunday--at two?"

"I'm sure there won't be any problem with
that."

He looked pleased. "I'll bring the cheese,
crackers, and whatever else you want, if that's okay?"

It was definitely all right with Peyton. She
enjoyed being considered special enough by a guy that he would
actually prepare a picnic basket just for her.

"Of course," she told him. "But I'm pretty
good with picnic baskets, too."

"I'll remember that for the next time."

So he was already planning a second picnic.
Peyton was overjoyed at the prospect.

"There you are..."

Peyton turned to see her mother pushing a
cart filled with items, including colorful dishware.

Melody spotted Bryant.

"Hello, Mrs. McIntyre," he said
politely.

She didn't hide her surprise.
"Bryant...Peyton didn't tell me you worked here."

"I didn't know--well, not exactly," Peyton
defended herself, realizing Bryant had never identified the store
where he worked.

There was a moment of awkwardness before
Bryant said, "Well, I'd better get back to it". He smiled at
Peyton. "Those are some good choices you made with your
clothes."

"Thanks." She blushed.

"See you," he said. "You, too, Mrs.
McIntyre."

Melody nodded. "Goodbye, Bryant."

On the way home, Peyton told her mother
about the picnic, afraid of what she might say, given her limited
dating experience, being new in town, and the fact that Bryant was
Luke's son.

Melody's eyes lit with approval. "That's
great, honey, and sweet. Bryant seems like a nice young man. Just
like his father."

"But what if Vance objects?"

"You let me worry about him," she assured
her with a pat on the hand.

Peyton relaxed on that note, turning her
thoughts to Bryant, while trying not to think about the ghostly
girl who seemed to be occupying her life for no good reason.

CHAPTER TEN

Peyton was up bright and early Sunday
morning to get ready for her big date with Bryant. With any luck,
they would be able to leave as soon as he came over without her
mother or stepfather embarrassing her by interrogating him--or
worse.

By one o'clock, Peyton wanted to call or
text Erica for some last minute advice. Mindful of Vance's
presence, she chose not to risk him catching her in the act and
maybe taking away her phone for good. The next best thing was her
computer, which she rarely seemed to use these days and he had
apparently forgotten in his attempt to control her life.

Peyton closed her door. She went online and
logged onto Skype. She was happy to see that Erica was already on,
so she requested a video chat.

Erica accepted and her face suddenly
appeared on the screen. "Hi there. Nice to see your stepdad hasn't
taken your computer away, too."

"Not yet, knock on wood." Peyton could only
hope he didn't get any ideas about that. "So what are you up
to?"

"Just talking to a cute guy named Tyler I
met online."

"Cool."

"So what's happening with you?" Erica
asked.

"I'm about to go on a picnic with Bry,"
Peyton said excitedly.

"Sounds like things are beginning to heat up
with you two," Erica said.

Peyton considered it only lukewarm between
them at the moment, but was happy that they seemed to be getting
closer.

"I'll let you know just how hot later," she
promised.

"Any more sightings of the girl goblin from
the bay?" Erica wondered.

Peyton thought back to her latest brush with
the girl. "Well, sort of..."

"What does that mean?"

"I saw her in my bathroom mirror," Peyton
confessed.

Erica's eyes grew wide. "Really?"

"I think so. Only when I turned away, my
mother was standing there so...I'm not sure what to make of
that."

"Sounds really
spooky,
" Erica told
her.

"Or crazy," Peyton said, beginning to
seriously wonder if she was starting to lose it where this ghost
girl was concerned.

"You're not crazy, Peyton," Erica assured
her. "Whatever's causing you to see this girl and other strange
people, I'm sure it's not in your head. Not by itself anyway.
There's something so not right going on in that house."

"Yeah, I think so, too," Peyton said
uneasily.

"Maybe the ghost girl, or whatever she is,
will do you a favor and disappear from your life once and for
all."

"That's what I keep telling myself." Peyton
envisioned the girl's image in the mirror. "Hope she's listening!
Anyhow, gotta go. Bry will be here in less than an hour and I don't
want to keep him waiting."

Erica frowned. "Why not? Guys never seem to
have a problem keeping us waiting."

Peyton chuckled. "Bry's different."

"If you say so. Maybe Tyler will be, too.
See ya."

"Bye," Peyton said and closed out. She
turned her thoughts to Bryant and tried not think about the girl
who seemed to be haunting her from time to time.

* * *

When Peyton went downstairs at the sound of
the bell, Vance had beaten her to the door, much to her
chagrin.

"Come on in, Bryant," her stepfather said in
an imposing tone.

"Thanks," he said.

Bryant walked through the foyer with Vance
closely behind.

Peyton ambled toward them. "Hey, Bry."

"Hi!" He grinned at Peyton.

"I'm all set if you are," she said quickly,
not wanting to stay any longer than they had to.

"Don't be so eager to leave, Peyton," Vance
said. "I'm sure Bryant can spare a few minutes with your mother and
me. Isn't that right?" He looked at him narrow-eyed.

"Sure, why not?" Bryant said nervously.

Peyton sneered at her stepfather. She hoped
Bryant wasn't grilled by him too much.

They went into the living room where
Peyton's mother was already seated. Vance sat next to her. Peyton
followed Bryant's lead and sat on the loveseat.

Vance peered at Bryant. "I hear you two are
going on a picnic."

"Yeah," he responded matter-of-factly.

"I think it's a lovely idea," Melody
offered. "Will you be going to that nice little park a few blocks
away?"

"No, I thought we'd have our picnic by the
bay."

She smiled. "That sounds even better."

Anywhere sounded good to Peyton, so long as
it was away from that house, her parents, and the ghostly girl.

Vance leaned forward. "So, what's Luke up to
this afternoon?"

"Uh, he went to town to get some supplies,"
Bryant said.

"Well, when you see you see your father,
tell him the grass seems a bit long and he should cut it as soon as
he can."

Bryant pursed his lips. "Sure, I'll tell
him."

Peyton was steamed at her stepfather's
hostile attitude. Why is he treating Bry like his private messenger
or like the caretaker's son instead of her date and possibly her
future boyfriend.

Peyton looked to her mother for support and
got nothing in return but a blank stare.

She glared at Vance. "If that's all, can we
go now?"

"Yes, you can go." He paused, eyeing Bryant.
"One more thing. Peyton's sixteen and nowhere near as worldly as
she sometimes thinks she is. You understand what I'm saying?"

Bryant flinched. "Yeah, I think I do."

"Good. Don't keep her out too long--"

"I won't," he promised, maintaining a calm
voice.

Peyton felt like dying on the spot over
Vance's thinly veiled warning about her sexual innocence. It was
not something she wanted to advertise to a guy. He would find out
soon enough without her stepfather throwing it in his face.

Peyton would much rather it had been her
real father grilling Bryant, instead of someone who seemed more
interested in power tripping than looking out for her best
interests.

* * *

"Is your stepdad always like that?" Bryant
asked when they were outside. "For a minute there, I thought he was
going to chaperone us on the picnic just to watch over me."

"Yeah, I know." Peyton colored. "I just
don't know what's gotten into him. Ever since we moved to Shadow
Bay, Vance has been overprotective and bossy."

"Maybe mind-altering spirits in the house
are turning him into the stepdad from hell," joked Bryant.

Peyton frowned. "That's not funny."

"Sorry. Didn't mean to--"

"It's all right," she cut in, feeling silly.
How was he supposed to know what she'd been going through in that
house with those awful dreams?

Bryant grinned. "All set for a picnic?"

Peyton smiled back. "Am I ever."

"Good." He took her hand and Peyton felt
like Cinderella must have when the prince touched her for the first
time. It was something Peyton would never forget.

"So what's in the basket?" Peyton asked.

"Oh, nothing too special. Aside from
crackers and cheese, we've got turkey sandwiches, a couple of
apples, and some bottled waters and fruit drinks."

"Wow, you really do come prepared! Sounds
great."

"Better wait till you taste the food before
you say that," he warned.

"Good point," she agreed, smiling.

They stopped just short of the bay on a
patch of green grass. Peyton tensed ever so slightly as, in spite
of her best efforts, she couldn't totally dismiss the fact that
this wasn't far from where she had run from the bay after seeing
the ghostly girl in the water.

Bryant took a blanket from the basket and
laid it out for them to sit on. He then set down paper towels as
placemats, followed by the food and drinks.

Soon they were eating.

After biting into the sandwich, Peyton said,
"Mmm, this is good."

"Glad you like it." Bryant put a cracker in
his mouth.

"So did you make this yourself? Or buy it
readymade from the store?"

He grabbed a bottled water, smiling. "The
one thing my mom left me with was the ability to at least be able
to put together sandwiches. She said you never know when you might
need those skills. I think I needed them just for you."

Peyton giggled. "Bet you say that to all the
girls."

"You'd lose that bet. I only say it to the
prettiest new girls in town."

She blushed. "I see."

"And what do you see?"

"That you're wacky, but in a nice way."

Bryant laughed. "Well, I feel better knowing
it's in a nice way at least."

Peyton laughed, too, amazed at how
comfortable she felt with him.

"How often do you see your mom?" she decided
to ask, knowing how difficult it was to be without one of her real
parents with no choice in the matter.

"About once a month, I guess. And we talk
every few days."

"Why did you decide to live with your
father?"

He shrugged. "It just worked out that way.
My mom started seeing someone else and dad stayed on his own. We
sort of started over together."

"Do you have any regrets about moving to
Shadow Bay?"

Bryant looked at her thoughtfully before
breaking into a warm smile. "Not at this moment."

"Same here."
This very moment
.

"I'm glad you came with me this
afternoon."

"Hey, what could be better than being
invited to a picnic by the bay on a sunny afternoon?" she teased.
By the hottest and definitely most charming guy in town.

"Maybe this..." he said, and leaned over to
kiss her.

Peyton closed her eyes, feeling certain she
had died and gone to heaven right then. His lips were soft and the
kiss amazing.

When she opened her eyes, Bryant was gazing
at her.

"Well, was I right?"

Peyton's pulse was racing. "Yes, you
were."

"Do you wanna try it again?"

"You have to ask?"

He smiled and they kissed again, keeping it
going for what seemed to Peyton like forever.

She wondered if the tingling feelings that
had surrounded her like a magical mist were the first stages of
falling in love.

* * *

Later they stood by the water, putting their
bare feet in as if to test the temperature. It felt just right to
Peyton and she ventured a little further in with Bryant so the
water came up to their ankles.

"I've been asking around about the girl you
described," Bryant said.

"And...?" Peyton was more than a little
curious.

"Came up with zilch. Whoever you saw down
there, she's not from around here."

Maybe so and maybe no.
Peyton twisted
her lips thoughtfully. "You're probably right."

Bryant's eyes widened. "Still think you saw
someone?"

Peyton stared at the question, feeling the
heat of his gaze. She went against her true feelings for fear of
turning him off.

"I don't know. I probably just lost it down
there, not used to the bay and all.

"It can happen," he said, seemingly buying
her explanation.

But why did it have to happen to me
?
And why was it still happening?

Peyton changed the subject. "So do you have
friends here?"