“Well, someone needs to see to it,” snarled Maxine. “Tired of looking at the dingy place ever’time I driveby.”
“You never drive that way anyway,” Juanita said. “It’s completely out of your way. Why, you probably haven’t seen it for threemonths—”
“I drive past thereall the time,” Maxine returned. “You just ain’t paying attention. Always messing with that snooty French dog ofyours.”
“Why, how dare you say such a thing! My Brucie isn’tsnooty—”
“You’llneverguess who’s staying in the Sunflower House,” Iva exclaimed, once again diverting the subject. She glanced at Leslie. “It’s too bad your bed and breakfast isn’t ready yet, because maybe you could have been the one to hosthim.”
“Who?” askedCherry.
“It’s a famous writer,” Maxine said in what was possibly supposed to be a low voice, but rang in Leslie’s eardrums nevertheless. “Mildred didn’t tell us his name—claims she was sworn to secrecy, the crotchety old bat—but we figured it out. She can take her mysterious winks and hintsand—”
“Mildred is the owner of the Sunflower House,” Orbra told Leslie in an aside before turning back to Iva. “I heard someone was coming to stay there in the off-season—some big celebrity who wanted privacy. I was hoping for Robert Redford myself. It used to be Paul Newman I hoped would show up, but then he died. And then James Garner, but he died too.” Shetsked, as if it were the poor actors’ faults they’d passed on before chancing a visit to WicksHollow.
“Who is it?” asked Leslie—more interested in keeping the topic away from her not-so-haunted house than who the celeb was…because she was still remembering that odd sort of groan and shudder she’d felt when the staircase railing was opened. Not that anything had happened otherwise, but it had only beenyesterday.
How long did it take for ghosts to bestir themselves once awakened? Didn’t they most often show themselves at night, anyway? After the so-called witching hour ofmidnight?
She wouldn’t know, for Leslie hadn’t slept at home last night, as it turned out, for Cherry had made her share a bottle of wine and watch reruns of30 Rocktill after midnight, and she ended up crashing in her aunt’s guest room. So this would be Leslie’s first night in the house since the stairway had been opened, since she’d felt the house shudder and moan—and what sort of nonsense was shethinking?
Maybe she’d inhaled too much drywall dust or paint fumes. Leslie gave herself a mental shake and tuned back in to the conversation—still apparently about the identity of the mysterious celebrity staying at SunflowerHouse.
“It’s the man who writes them big action books, Mildred said. She told me in confidence, you know,” Maxineannounced.
“Then she must want everyone to know,” Cherry said, laughing. “Then she can blame it on you, but still get the wordout.”
“Which action books?” Orbra demanded. “Who isit?”
“They make movies about ’em with Tom Cruise—is that the guy?” Maxine peered at Juanita as if to read the answer in her bottle-bottom glasses. “The one who danced in hisunderwear?”
“That’s Tom Cruise, yes. Action movies based on books, starring Tom Cruise. Jack Reacher?” Orbraasked.
“No, not that one. The other Jack,” Maxine grumbled, frowning. “The author, I mean. His character had a Greek name or maybe a Roman name…something like one of them musiciansnowadays.”
“At least, that’s what Mildred was dropping hints about,” Juanitasaid.
“Wait, are you talking about Jeremy Fischer?” Leslie said, a spark of interest sizzling through her. “He writes the Bruno Tablenturebooks?”
“Yes, that’s him! Not Jack. Jeremy. He’s done locked himself away in the tower room at Sunflower, going to be writing on his new book, Mildred said. But she told me not to tell anyone, because he doesn’t want to bebothered.” Maxine clearly didn’t appreciate thatsentiment.
“Jeremy Fischer? For certain?” Even Aunt Cherry seemed impressed, and it took a lot to impress her. Or maybe she was just assessing her chances of getting to meet the man. “How do you know? He’s such a recluse. He doesn’t even do booksignings.”
“I told you, Mildred dropped alotof hints for us. She even got a bunch of his books about Bluto, Brundo—whatever—those detective stories on her bookshelf in the sitting room. We’re going to have to go by for tea—no offense, Orbry,” Maxine added. “So we can accidentally-on-purpose run into him and check him out. Pam down to the book shop told me Mildred ordered in a whole bunch of them Bluto Talent-whatever books, and now she’s just put them out casual-like in the front parlor there. And they’re all signed. She ain’t saying for sure he’s the guest, butIknow it’s him.” Maxine jabbed the air with her finger. “He’s telling everyone his name isJohnFischer,though.”
“So tell me about this haunted house of yours,” Iva said, turning back toLeslie.
The sudden change of topic caught her by surprise, but Leslie recovered immediately. “There’s really nothing to tell. The house needs some updates—it’s been empty on and off for the last thirty or so years. The last woman who lived there stayed on the main floor, so there’s work that needs to be done on the second and third floors. I just had someone in yesterday about replacing a big wrought ironstaircase.”
And, thank goodness, she’d just this morning hired a high school student as an intern to help her out after class and on the weekend with whatever needed to bedone.
“Are you talking about that big, grand staircase in the foyer? It always reminded me of that stairway Rhett carried Scarlett up inGone with the Wind,” Iva said with a sigh. “I loved thatmovie.”
“That’s the one. Some of the spindles are missing, and other ones arerusted.”
“Leslie needed a blacksmith and I told her to call Declan Zyler,” Orbra said with a wink at her friend. “Cherry here can’t wait to see him in action in that hot, dark smithy—all sweaty and muscularand—”
“And I figure if he’s doing work for my niece, I have an excuse to—er—check up on it.” Cherry grinned, looking very much like a naughty Helen Mirren with her spiky champagne hair and pink lipstick. “Leslie was on the front page of the paper today too—did you see it? Not because of the staircase, but because of her being famous and her plans to open a bed and breakfast. But you can see the missing section of railing behind her. Unfortunately, Declan wasn’t in the picture. Did you get my extra copy,Orbra?”
