The Ghost of Christmas Secrets Read online

“We were not formally introduced.” Irvin extended his hand to Danielle. “Nice to meet you, Ms. Boatman.”

  Confused, Danielle shook his hand. “Umm…nice to meet you. Exactly why am I here?”

  Irvin motioned to an empty chair next to Sylvia. “I’ll explain shortly.”

  Reluctantly Danielle sat down and watched as Irvin took a seat behind the desk. He opened a manila folder already sitting before him.

  “Mrs. Smith wanted to take care of this before she returns to her house for the wake. While you, of course, are most welcome to attend, she just thought it would be best if we take care of this now. She would like to put it behind her.”

  Danielle frowned. She looked curiously from the attorney to Mrs. Smith.

  “I’ll cut to the chase, Ms. Boatman. Ben left you his Packard.”

  Danielle abruptly sat up straight in her chair. “He what?”

  The attorney started to say something, but Sylvia stopped him. She looked at Danielle and said, “I think I should explain.”

  Danielle looked to the elderly woman, curious to hear what she had to say.

  “I know what happened between you and some of the museum board members. Ben came home after the police questioned him, and he told me everything,” Sylvia explained. “He was so embarrassed—and ashamed.”

  “I’m so sorry you have to do this, Sylvia,” Ben said when he appeared the next moment, standing at his wife’s side. Danielle glanced up to him. Ben smiled at Danielle and said, “Marie explained everything. I know you can see and hear me.”

  “I always knew there was something not quite right with that Packard,” Sylvia explained. “I never understood why my father-in-law kept it locked away in his barn. And he would get so angry if Ben would show it to one of his friends.”

  “I didn’t realize at that time what my father had done,” Ben explained.

  “But even a car stored away for a lifetime and never used begins to age. I will say one good thing about the Packard, Ben and our son spent some wonderful hours working on the car—bringing it back to its former glory. This was, of course, after my father-in-law died.” Sylvia paused at the memory, silently reflecting before going on.

  “I’ll confess, it was why I couldn’t bear just giving it to you while I was still alive,” Ben told Danielle. “I knew the car rightfully belonged to you, but it held so many memories—memories I shared with my son. I wasn’t ready to let that go. But now, now I will be able to see my son again, and I have to make things right before I go.”

  “It was only after Ben started going through those old boxes of his father did he realize the car had been stolen from Walt Marlow. By that time, he and our son had finished refurbishing the Packard, and as far as he knew, there wasn’t anyone left from the Marlow family. While he understood Brianna was technically its owner, he conveniently made excuses why it was no longer relevant. But I suppose deep down he knew it was wrong. That’s probably why he didn’t take the car out much.”

  “When did Ben decide to leave it to me?” Danielle asked.

  “My client called me a couple of weeks ago,” the lawyer said. “He told me he wanted to make a change in his will. I’ll admit, I tried talking him out of it. He never explained why he wanted to leave it to you.”

  “I was ashamed,” Ben said, yet only Danielle could hear.

  Sylvia smiled at the attorney and then looked to Danielle. “After Ben died, I explained it all to Irvin.”

  “But the Packard has to be worth a fortune. Are you sure you want to do this?” Danielle asked.

  “It’s the right thing to do. And what am I going to do with a car like that? I don’t even drive anymore. And frankly, I would rather not have to worry about selling it. It’s not like I need the money. Plus, there is satisfaction in knowing things have come full circle. And it’s what Ben wanted.”

  Nine

  Walt and the others were curious to find out why Ben’s widow wanted to talk to Danielle in private. It wasn’t until they were all in the car with Danielle driving them to the Smith house for the wake did she tell them.

  “Do you have any idea how much that car is worth?” Ian asked from the back seat.

  “Not a clue, and it’s not like I haven’t tried to find out,” Danielle said as she steered her car down the road.

  “We wondered what it might be worth after I first realized it was my car,” Walt explained. “Danielle tried looking up the current value on the internet, with no luck.”

  “Has to be worth a fortune,” Chris said.

  “I found a 1924 Packard sedan online. That was as close as I got,” Danielle told him. “It was a YouTube video, and the owner was trying to sell the car.”

  “How much was the owner asking?” Lily asked.

  “I don’t know,” Danielle answered. “I didn’t bother watching the video; it was the wrong car.”

  “What are you going to do with it?” Chris asked.

  Danielle looked in her rearview mirror at Chris. “Who are you asking?”

  “You.”

  “Then you’re asking the wrong person. It’s not my car. It belongs to Walt,” Danielle said.

  “It may technically be my car, but as far as the good people of Frederickport will know, it belongs to you.”

  “Yeah, considering what it’s probably worth, your pal Joe Morelli might try having you committed if he thought you just gave away something that valuable to Walt,” Heather pointed out.

  “Can we just not discuss any of this at the wake?” Danielle asked. “I’d rather not have people asking me questions. To be honest, I don’t know how I can even explain it without making Ben look bad, and I don’t think that’s something I want to do to a person at his wake.”

  Shortly after arriving at the Smith home, Danielle and her friends found themselves greeted by Pastor Chad. Nearby was Millie Samson and Herman Shafer. It was the first time she had seen them together since all that had happened weeks earlier. She assumed Millie and Herman had been at the church for Ben’s service, but she hadn’t seen them there.

  Danielle felt awkward, while Chad and Herman seemed embarrassed. Millie, on the other hand, unabashedly opened her dialogue with Danielle by saying, “I understand you have a new car.”

  Stunned by Millie’s greeting, Danielle flashed her a halfhearted smile and said, “I suppose I do.”

  “The entire thing is silly, I think. Of course, Ben is free to leave the car to whomever he wants. I just feel a little sorry for Sylvia. I imagine that thing is worth a fortune, and I’m sure she could use the money now with Ben gone, and you certainly don’t need it.”

  “Millie, please. This is not the time or place,” Pastor Chad reprimanded.

  “I’m not criticizing Danielle,” Millie defended. “If someone left me something valuable in their will, I probably would want to keep it too.”

  “After all that’s happened—” Chad began, only to be cut off by Millie.

  “I’m sorry for what we did. In fact, I have apologized to Danielle. Didn’t I, Danielle?”

  “Uhh…yes…” Danielle glanced over to Walt and the others, who appeared as surprised at Millie’s opening as she had been.

  “After all, we never meant any harm. I think most people could understand us not wanting to flaunt all those old family skeletons. As for that Packard, we don’t really know if it belonged to Walt Marlow or not.”

  “It did,” Walt interrupted.

  Startled at Walt’s comment, Millie stared at him a moment.

  “Oh, there’s my sister and Joe,” Ian interrupted. Danielle used that moment to cut short her conversation with Millie.

  The six friends sat at a large table for twelve at the Mexican restaurant for an early dinner.

  “I hope you don’t mind that I invited my sister and Joe,” Ian said after they all sat down. Since Joe and Ian’s sister, Kelly, had also been at the Smiths’, Ian found it impossible not to invite the pair to join them all for dinner when Kelly had asked him what they were all planning to do
after the wake.

  “It’s Adam I have a problem with,” Danielle grumbled, picking up the menu.

  “What are you talking about?” Chris asked. “You knew Adam and Mel were going to join us for dinner.”

  “That was before I found out Ben left me the Packard,” Danielle grumbled.

  “What does that have to do with anything?” Chris asked.

  Before Danielle had a chance to answer, Joe and Kelly arrived, and a few minutes later, Adam and Melony showed up, with Marie’s ghost trailing behind them. The minute Adam opened his mouth, Chris understood Danielle’s earlier comment.

  Instead of sitting down with Melony, Adam picked up one of the full water glasses from the table. He raised a toast to Danielle. “Here is to Miss Boatman, who has once again fallen into a pot of gold!”

  “Oh, sit down, Adam,” Danielle grumbled.

  Marie chuckled. “You do have to agree, dear, it is amusing.”

  “What’s he talking about?” Kelly whispered to Joe.

  Joe looked at Kelly and shrugged.

  Adam laughed. “No, seriously, Danielle, how do you do it? Do you have any idea how much that car is worth?”

  “Adam, listen to Danielle and sit down,” Melony scolded while resisting the urge to laugh.

  Ian glanced from Adam to Danielle and chuckled, while Lily couldn’t help but giggle—although she did briefly feel disloyal to Danielle for doing so.

  Before taking Melony’s suggestion, Adam returned the glass of water to the table and then made an exaggerated bow to Danielle while saying, “Hail to the magnificent Lakshmi. I am not worthy!”

  Danielle crumpled her napkin and threw it at Adam; it landed on the floor, missing its mark. Adam bowed several more times while backing up to his chair before sitting down.

  Walt silently handed Danielle one of the extra napkins on the table, but stopped her from throwing it at Adam when she started to crumple it up like she had the first one. “No, you’re going to need a napkin for dinner. Plus, your aim’s not great.”

  Melony half-heartedly swatted Adam, who was now sitting next to her, and said, “You’re such a jerk.”

  “Would someone tell me who is the magnificent Lakshmi?” Heather asked.

  “I believe she is the Hindu goddess of wealth,” Lily told her.

  “I just want to know what pot of gold Danielle fell into now,” Kelly said. “And what car is Adam talking about?”

  “You didn’t hear anyone mention Ben’s Packard at the wake?” Ian asked.

  “I heard someone say Sylvia wasn’t keeping it,” Joe said.

  Heather glanced over to Marie, who sat next to her. Since the chair had not been pulled out from the table, and Marie was unable to harness energy, it looked as if the tabletop was cutting the ghost in half. Heather frowned at the sight.

  “Ben left the Packard to Danielle in his will,” Chris explained.

  “And that is one gorgeous car,” Adam said with a sigh.

  Kelly looked at Danielle. “Why would Ben leave it to you?”

  “There’s a good chance Ben’s father stole the car after Walt Marlow was murdered,” Joe explained.

  Kelly looked at Joe and frowned. “You never told me that.” She glanced to her brother. “Did you know that?”

  Ian shrugged. “Those boxes Beverly Klein brought over to Danielle a few weeks ago with the historical documents, there were some articles about how Walt Marlow’s car disappeared after he died. It was a 1924 Packard Coupe.”

  “Just because it disappeared, it doesn’t mean Ben’s father stole it,” Kelly argued.

  Heather looked over to Marie again, who was listening intently to the conversation. Abruptly Heather took one foot and shoved Marie’s chair out from the table.

  Marie let out a little yelp, but looked down and saw her body was no longer going through the tabletop. “Oh, thank you, dear.”

  Lily frowned at Heather. “Why did you do that?”

  “Why do you think?” Heather asked, arching her brows and then nodding toward Adam.

  Lily looked from Adam to the seemingly empty chair. “Oh…”

  “What are you two talking about?” Kelly asked.

  “Oh, nothing.” Lily smiled and picked up a menu.

  “You people are weird,” Kelly grumbled.

  “Yes, we are.” Ian laughed. He reached over and pulled his wife’s chair closer to him and kissed her cheek.

  “Is there something wrong?” Joe asked Kelly when they drove home later that night.

  “I feel like such an outsider these days,” Kelly told him.

  Joe pulled into their driveway and parked the car. Instead of getting out of the vehicle, he removed his seatbelt and turned to face Kelly, who sat in the passenger seat looking dejected.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Ever since Ian married Lily, we just aren’t as close as we used to be,” Kelly said with a pout.

  Joe reached out and brushed Kelly’s hair away from her face. “He’s married now. It’s to be expected.”

  She turned to face Joe. “But doesn’t it bug you how they always seem to have some sort of inside joke that we’re left out of?”

  “Inside joke?”

  She shrugged. “Something. Not a joke exactly. But it’s like they’re all sharing some secret and we’re not part of it. Don’t you ever feel that way?”

  “I’m not sure what you mean. But I figure, considering all that’s gone on, I’m just not accepted. It’s probably me, not you.”

  Kelly frowned at Joe. “What do you mean?”

  “You have to admit, if Ian wasn’t your brother, I would never have been invited tonight.”

  “That’s not true!” Kelly insisted.

  “It’s no secret I didn’t trust Chris when I first met him—and I still don’t trust that Marlow character. And while Danielle says she forgives me for arresting her, I suspect she doesn’t. And Lily, well, she’s always been fiercely loyal to Danielle.”

  “Are you saying this thing I’m feeling—how I feel like an outsider—is because of how they feel about you?”

  Joe shrugged. “That would be my guess.”

  Danielle and Walt sat alone in the parlor, sitting on the small sofa. Walt sipped a brandy while Danielle nursed a hot cup of herbal tea.

  “It was supposed to be our wedding night,” Danielle said with a sigh.

  Walt wrapped one arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer. She rested her head on his shoulder.

  “How do you really feel about inheriting the Packard?” Walt asked.

  “Well, it solves two problems,” Danielle told him.

  “What two problems?”

  “You need a car—and I was trying to figure out what to give you for a wedding present.”

  Walt chuckled. “Are you saying you’re giving me the car?”

  “Yes, of course. I can’t imagine doing anything else with it. But I think we should tell people you bought it from me.”

  “With what money?” Walt asked.

  Danielle shrugged. “No one really knows how much money Clint Marlow had. And no one has to know how much I sold it to you for.”

  Ten

  Walt didn’t care for the canned shaving cream Danielle had initially purchased for him. It remained in his medicine cabinet. Instead, he used the shaving soap she had found for him online. He finished shaving and then rinsed his face at the bathroom sink. After removing all traces of the shaving soap, he patted dry his face with a hand towel and looked in the mirror.

  He didn’t miss the beard he’d had for a short time after claiming Clint’s body. Fact was, in his day beards were not in style. The fashion was more toward a clean-shaved face with the exception of a mustache. He had tried wearing a mustache once, yet found the necessary trimming and extra cleaning more annoying than simply shaving each morning.

  Looking into the mirror, he smiled. Today was his wedding day. He couldn’t recall feeling this happy when he had married Angela. In fact, if he were truthful with
himself, there had been some hesitation on his part, yet he had been a man of his word, and at the time he would never have left a woman at the altar. Although, in retrospect, it would have been the smart thing to do.

  As soon as that thought came into his head, he dismissed it. Staring at his reflection, he said, “No, all that happened brought me to this moment. This is exactly where I want to be.”

  Twenty minutes later Walt headed downstairs from the attic. He passed Danielle’s bedroom. Her door was open, but the room was empty. Continuing on to the stairs leading to the first floor, he came across Max, who was sauntering in his direction, panther like—a black miniature panther with white-tipped ears.

  “Good morning, Max,” Walt greeted him.

  The cat paused a moment and looked up to him through golden eyes and then meowed.

  “Ahh, she’s in the kitchen, thanks. We’re taking a little drive today, Max. We’ll be home later this afternoon.”

  Max didn’t comment, but continued on his way to Danielle’s room, where he intended to nap.

  In the kitchen Walt found Danielle standing by the coffeepot—wearing a dress he had never seen before, her hair falling in curls several inches above her shoulders. It was obvious she had spent some time with the curling iron this morning. Busy pouring herself a cup of coffee, she hadn’t heard Walt walk into the kitchen.

  Stopping in his tracks, Walt took in the sight of her. “You look gorgeous.”

  Surprised by his voice, Danielle looked to him with a smile. Her eyes widened. “Walt! You’re wearing that suit you bought in Portland!”

  He stepped farther into the kitchen. “It is our wedding day.”

  Danielle’s grin widened as she looked him up and down. “That suit looks great on you.”

  He eyed Danielle, a crooked smile on his face. “Where did you get that dress? I’ve never seen it before.”

  Danielle glanced down at her dress and then looked back to Walt. “You like it?”

  “I said you look gorgeous, didn’t I?” He walked to Danielle and took her into his arms for a kiss. After their kiss ended, he asked, “When did you get the dress?”