The Ghost in Mr. Pepper's Bed Read online

  Chapter 24

  Sonya’s heart dropped at the name. The full impact of what Nellie must be feeling hit her hard. Motioning for the older woman to have a seat, Sonya’s mind grappled with how to tell Nellie about her daughter’s death as gently as possible. Once the food was distributed and Nellie had eaten well of the provisions, the two sat quietly after some initial exchanges of personal information.

  “Nellie,” Sonya said reaching out to lay her hand on the other woman’s hand, “I am sorry to have to be the one to tell you something.”

  The older woman nodded her head and wrinkled up her nose. She blinked hard and wiped away the tears that manifested quickly in the soft pale eyes.

  “I know. I think I’ve known all along. You spoke of a ghost. It must be my Poppy.”

  It was all that was said for a couple of minutes. Sonya knew how to give space to people when they needed it. After a few sips of ginger ale, Nellie cleared her throat and spoke her mind.

  “Poppy wasn’t an easy child by any means. It was as if the good Lord, when he divided the two girls into twins, gave one a good dose of common sense and the other little or none. Poppy was smart as a whip in school, but when it came to men, her need for acceptance and attention was a curse. It might be because her Papa died when the girls were thirteen. Rose turned inward and Poppy went looking for attention.”

  Nellie shook her head and looked heavenward.

  “That day she brought Rick Mitchell home having already married him, I sat down and cried. I knew what he was and why he’d married her. His own papa worked in the riverboat casinos as a card shark and his mama left when the boy was two. His grandmother raised him and she wasn’t up to the task being nearly sixty-five when she got him. Ricky Mitchell was running cons by the time he was twelve, and he’d grabbed Poppy on the rebound from Ryan.”

  “What happened between Ryan and Poppy?” Sonya asked.

  “She loved him in a terrible way, and he walked on cloud nine whenever she smiled at him. That was a true love match if ever there was one. They should have married, but the truth of it was that Kathy Berkowitz, Ryan’s old girlfriend, had gotten pregnant back when they were dating. Her parents sent her off to Texas to live with her aunt till the baby was born and she didn’t tell Ryan about the baby. Her parents didn’t want her to deal with the slap to her reputation.”

  “What did Ryan do?”

  “Kathy was gone for a year. By the time she came back, Ryan was with Poppy. Kathy’s heart was broken. She went back to Texas to live and didn’t tell Ryan about the pregnancy for over two years. Then when her parents didn’t have any control anymore, Kathy told Ryan about the little boy. Once Ryan found out, he of course told Poppy. For some reason, I never understood why, Poppy broke it off with Ryan and a year later married that human parasite, Ricky. She thought Ryan should go to Texas and be close to the child. It was a terrible situation.”

  “Did Ryan take care of the baby?”

  “Ryan’s father told him he should marry Kathy. He tried to do the right thing, but to Kathy’s credit, she said she didn’t want him to marry her unless he loved her. Besides, she’d met this new boy and wanted to marry him. As for the child, the last I heard, Ryan was trying to be a long-distance father to him.”

  “It’s so sad. All those young lives torn apart,” Sonya mused softly. “How did the marriage between Poppy and Ricky go?”

  “After they were married, my days were numbered living here and watching Poppy grow miserable in her choice of husbands. I begged her to leave him, but it was as if she was punishing herself in some horrible way by staying with the no-account loser. I couldn’t take it anymore, so one day, I told her I was going to live with Rose in Australia. Rosie had a baby and wanted me to come help, so I went. Never expected to stay so long, but that’s another story.”

  “How did Poppy take it?”

  “The day I told her about Rosie being pregnant and how I wanted her and me to go to visit in Australia, Poppy sat down and cried. It broke my heart. I knew how much she wanted a baby and that worthless…” Nellie shook her head and tears welled up again in her eyes.

  “Anyway,” she continued, “Poppy told me she wanted to leave Ricky. He would give her the divorce if she signed over half of the farm.”

  “Were you willing to let him have it?”

  “No. The farm is in an estate. My husband, before he died, settled it on me to hold for the two girls. Rose had a right to half of it. The last thing I was going to do was to hand half of that property over to Ricky Mitchell. I told Poppy if she wanted to leave him I’d pay for an attorney and they’d have to come to some form of a settlement.”

  “Do you know what happened once you left for Australia?”

  “Poppy wrote regularly after that and she stayed with him. Middle of last year, the letters stopped. I tried to get ahold of her. I called people I knew and finally called Ryan. He told me she’d left town and he blamed Ricky. Ryan looked for her and couldn’t find her. I told Rose something was wrong, but out of the blue, I received a letter from Poppy.”

  “What did it say?”

  “Poppy said she’d left Ricky for a man named Charlie Watkins. They were living in Springville and she was happy. She sent me a picture of herself laughing and sitting in a restaurant booth. The letter said she’d be in touch once they were more settled and her job was secure. I didn’t hear from her again. I started calling people in Willow Valley and no one knew anything except that Ricky had remarried. No one had seen Poppy in quite some time. I even called the police in Springville and told them the situation. They said I needed to talk with her ex-husband. That’s when I broke down and called Ricky.”

  Sonya guessed how that went. “Was he helpful?”

  “Told me he had no idea where she was, but that she’d signed the divorce papers and that was all he cared about and hung up on me. I was in an awful state. It had been a half year since Poppy’s last letter and I couldn’t get any real help over here. My daughter, Rose, was struggling with her own health issues since the birth of her baby, and I couldn’t leave her. It wasn’t until last month that I was able to set a date for return. All this time I’ve known somewhere deep inside me that Poppy was dead. It didn’t come as much of a surprise when you talked about the ghost of a woman. In a way, it’s a relief.”

  Nellie broke down again and cried for some time. Sonya held her and offered soft words of understanding. Once the sobs slowed and Nellie could drink some more ginger ale, Sonya thought it was time to push a little further.

  “Nellie, you need to understand that Poppy’s body is dead but not her spirit. I think she was killed and it had to be her body they found a couple of days ago in the ground at The Whispering Pines RV Park. I saw her hovering above the open pit and I’ve talked with her. She remembers being pushed down a flight of stairs here at this house, but before you begin to blame Ricky, you need to know she has total recall of him leaving the house minutes before she was pushed.”

  Nellie took one of Sonya’s cloth napkins from the picnic basket and covered her face while soft sobs shook her frame. After her tears were spent, Nellie looked up at Sonya and said with a thin smile, “I’m glad to know, but I wish to God I’d seen her one last time.”

  As if on cue, a soft whisper of wind lifted the hair on Nellie's face. Sonya knew Poppy was there.

  “It’s okay, Poppy. Your mama wants to see you. Show yourself,” she said gently.

  The look on Nellie’s face was almost one of pained hope. Her gaze darted from one vantage point to the next with an eager intensity. Poppy materialized in front of them the same way light sparkles across the surface of a lake. Suddenly, she was there with joy radiating on her face for her mother to see. Nellie reached for her, but there was nothing substantial to hold.

  “Baby,” Nellie almost groaned. “Oh, my sweet girl, I’ve missed you so much! Mama is so sorry I ever left, Poppy.”

  Poppy came to her and for a long minute, they stared at each other with loving smile
s.

  “Mama,” Poppy said. “I love you, and I don’t blame you for leaving. I need to be buried properly and I want to see Ryan.”

  Nellie nodded with a rapt expression that combined both love and grief. “I will do it, darling. Poppy, please tell me who…” she balked at the word but pushed through, “killed you.”

  “I don’t know, Mama. I never saw them. I can’t stay much longer, but you need to know one more thing.”

  “What? What, darling? Tell me. Please don’t go,” Nellie pleaded.

  “The baby...I was going to have a baby, Mama. Tell Ryan it was his.”

  And as she said the last words, Poppy disappeared, leaving Nellie and Sonya to stare in silent horror at the vacant spot where she’d once stood.

  Chapter 25

  “Poppy! Poppy, come back, please,” Sonya called out in hopes of bringing the ghost back to them, if only for a few seconds longer.

  No reply came back to the two living women left sitting in the peaceful backyard of the old Turner house.

  “A baby,” Nellie said more to herself than to Sonya. “Poppy was pregnant.”

  Sonya sat down again on one of the old metal chairs as the growl of a car’s engine came up the road. Both women stood up quickly and went to see who was pulling up into the drive. Upon seeing it was a police car with Zeb and Tommy in the front seat, Sonya felt a sense of relief. She got up from the blanket and walked down to meet them.

  “Sheriff, I think there is someone here you’ll want to meet.”

  They all three turned their gaze toward the top of the drive. Nellie walked around the corner of the remains of the house and made her way to where they stood.

  “Guess I’d better introduce myself,” she said shakily. “I’m Nellie Turner, Poppy and Rose’s mother. I think I need to sit down.”

  Sonya saw it coming and Zeb moved with a quickness that came from his years of working in law enforcement. Nellie’s knees were buckling, but he got to her before she went down. The shock of everything she’d heard and experienced had caught up with her.

  “Let’s get her to the clinic. She’s as white as a sheet,” he said calmly. With an almost effortless act of male strength, Zeb lifted Nellie up off her feet and carried her like a cradled child. He put her in the backseat of the police car and signaled for Tommy to hit the lights not the siren.

  “Mrs. Caruthers, do you want to ride with us to the clinic?” he asked.

  Sonya was kind of rattled herself, but she pulled herself together quickly and answered him.

  “No, I have my moped. I’ll follow you.”

  In less than thirty seconds, the police vehicle disappeared from view. Sonya found it hard to actually move. The experience had exhausted her, too.

  “Sunny,” a soft voice said close behind her.

  Sonya smiled. Taking a deep, cleansing breath, she let it out.

  “Is that you, Fritz?” she asked with hope in her voice.

  “Of course, it is. Do you think I’d let my favorite lass be alone when she needs me most?”

  “It’s been a hard day, Fritz,” she said, her voice thick with the emotion of everything she’d been through and heard. “I need you to tell Poppy to come with us. She needs to stay at our house. I think we’re closer to learning who killed her. Tell her we will bring Ryan to her.”

  Sonya didn’t hear from Fritz for about ten minutes, but he came close to her again and said, “Come on, my girl. It’s taken care of and she’s with us. I will ride on the back with Poppy. I’ll stay with you the whole way.”

  It was the right thing to say and Fritz was as good as his word. He was the faithful friend, a protective spirit and the supportive presence Sonya needed. Love is that way. Even when we can’t see it, it’s there.

  That evening, Sonya coerced Nellie into staying with her at her home. She put her to bed after a long, warm soak in the tub and a heavy dinner of homemade sourdough rolls and chicken soup. The exhausted Nellie was asleep before her head hit the soft pillow.

  “I think she needed some mothering herself,” Sonya said to Willard as they both descended the stairs into the living room. “Poor Nellie has been through the mill, as they say. Let’s not wake her till mid-morning and no barking at the kid on the skateboard tomorrow, Willard. Okay?”

  Willard tilted his head to the side as if trying to make out Sonya’s strange language. Fortunately, dogs have a brilliant ability to know what we mean before we even say it, so he gave her a two-paw high-five on her knee and trotted off in the direction of his food bowl.

  “Good, we’re set for our visit with Ryan tonight, and if I’m not mistaken, Zeb Walker will probably show up, as well.”

  The time they’d spent at the clinic with Nellie had given Sonya ample time to talk with Zeb about everything she’d learned, but instead of discussing it there, she thought it would be better if both Ryan and Zeb talked with Poppy themselves.

  Fritz had spent the last two hours babysitting their ghost visitor and making sure she didn’t wander off. Finally, he’d figured out a way to manage her. Once Nellie was in bed and asleep, Fritz took Poppy into Nellie’s room and tucked her into bed beside her mother. With a warning not to touch the woman, Fritz was certain the ghost would stay put and went down to sit with Sonya.

  “I’m absolutely exhausted,” he fussed from the top of the kitchen table. “Some of the dead can be as annoying as most of the living.”

  Sonya burst out laughing at Fritz’s truism. She shook her head and lay down the wooden spoon she was using to mix a cherry dump cake.

  “I love you, Fritz! You are such a darling person. Some of the things you say give me such a chuckle.”

  Fritz, for his part, was delighted to hear Sonya’s admission of affection. He sat up straight on the table and reveled in his ladylove’s pleasure at his witticisms.

  “I must tell you, Sonya, my sweet, the sea hag of Dunbar wasn’t willing to let me take up residence again alongside my living kin at the castle. Mary MacGregor Dunbar is a mighty foe and if she’d been born a man, I’m sure she’d have routed the English from the land of the Scots with only her tongue as a weapon.”

  “Sounds like you weren’t as charming as you needed to be to win her back,” Sonya said dumping the ingredients into a baking pan.

  Fritz sighed. “I spent a lifetime with the woman, and I don’t want to spend my afterlife with her, too. As for her, I think she’s taken up with one of those roaming soldiers from the Culloden battle. She told me I can visit once a month and to stay away from our great-great-great-grandson who’s turning my home into a flop house for whiskey poachers.”

  Sonya couldn’t help it; she laughed again and turned to put the pan into the oven to bake. She gave the unfortunate Fritz an understanding, loving smile.

  “It’s the way it goes, poor Fritz. Nothing stays the way we most want to remember it. In your heart, you’re upset at Mary moving on. But remember this Fritz, if you’ll continue to go over to visit your family, on her terms, of course, you’ll see how hard they’re trying to save the ancestral seat. Mary may come around, and, if so, you may have a better relationship with her than you did while you were alive.”

  Though Fritz was refusing to even semi-materialize, the tabletop wobbled with his fidgeting. After a few minutes, he appeared to have thought it over and the table was quiet.

  “Sunny!” he said brightly with a renewed vigor in his tone. “I’m going to do it, but first, I’m going to run that interloper from my land.”

  “Fritz!” Sonya called to the retreating Laird. “Wait! I’ve got two questions before you disappear.”

  There was a hovering in the atmosphere of the kitchen.

  “Yes, my dear?” Fritz answered.

  “Did you make sure Poppy is going to stay?”

  “She’s upstairs with her mother and content at the moment. No promises.”

  “Last question, does the interloper have a name?”

  Fritz’s voice boomed, making Sonya jump. “Yes! Mary’s taken up
with a damnable MacDonald! The clan that’s been trying for three hundred years to make Dunbar land their own! I will na have it!”

  The atmosphere of the room cracked and snapped with Fritz’s departure. With her shoulders a bit hunched at the loudness and ferocity of his exit, Sonya stayed still until she was sure nothing was going to be sucked up into the energy vacuum.

  “Whew! I wouldn’t want to be one of those poor MacDonald’s,” she said out loud. Thinking it over for a second, she said, “Oh, they’ll probably love it, especially Mary. She might give Fritz another chance if she sees how jealous he is.”

  Sonya’s musing on Fritz’s love life was cut short by the doorbell. Sticking her head around the kitchen’s doorframe to see who was there, she saw it was Ryan Houseman.

  “Well, here goes. Let’s hope Poppy doesn’t do a runner.”

  Sonya went to the door and opened it.

  “Come in Ryan,” she said with a smile. The words had no sooner left her lips than a great rush of air smelling of gardenias and a ferocious outburst of the word “Ryan!” came full speed down the living room stairs, through the hall and burst over the two living people still standing in the doorway like a summer thunderstorm.

  Chapter 26

  “What’s going on?” Ryan yelled as both he and Sonya’s hair lifted from the turbulent air swirling around them. “I feel like something is kissing my face!”

  Sonya’s hair and the scarf around her neck were beating time with the personal tornado taking place on her front porch.

  “Come inside! And for goodness sake, Poppy, BEHAVE!” she shouted.

  A car door slammed in front of Sonya’s house, and, as she pushed Ryan in through the screen door, she saw Zeb Walker and the skateboard boy on the sidewalk in front of her house. They were both standing with their mouths completely dropped-jawed and their eyes looking at the whirlwind happening only on Sonya’s porch.