Ghost in the Gallery Read online

  “I’m so happy to meet you,” I said. “Nikki has told me all about you.” I looked around the room. “Your gallery is lovely.”

  “Thank you.” Her face softened as she smiled. “Nikki tells me you own the inn on the bay.”

  I nodded. “Yes. For almost two years now. You should come out and take a look around. We’re hosting events every weekend in October, beginning with a wine tasting tomorrow.”

  “I heard about that. It sounds like a wonderful event, although we’re holding our own exhibit this weekend.”

  “I heard you managed to attract an artist from New York.”

  She nodded. “Xander Bloomfield.”

  “I’m impressed,” I said, and I was.

  “The exhibit opens this evening and runs through the weekend.”

  Glancing toward the back of the gallery, I said, “I noticed that your backroom is screened off.”

  She tilted a corner of her mouth. “We can’t have anyone getting a sneak peek now, can we? Why don’t you have Nikki show you around the part of the gallery that isn’t screened off for the opening tonight? If you’d like to come back later, I’m sure I can get you in.”

  “Actually, my friend, Colt Wilder, and I plan to come by on Sunday. I’ll just take a quick tour with Nikki now, and then plan a longer stay once the exhibit opens.”

  Nikki, who’d been squirming around next to me the entire time I’d been chatting with Elena, took me by the arm and dragged me directly to the sculptures. I noticed right off that the gallery seemed to display artists incorporating a variety of styles. I wasn’t sure how well a gallery so far away from the touristy section of town would do, but I supposed once word got out, folks would make the trip, and having a well-known artist such as Xander Bloomfield as a guest exhibitor would go a long way toward putting the gallery on the map.

  “These are Damian’s,” Nikki said proudly, running her hand over a twisted figure which seemed to have too many arms and not enough heads. The figure was an interesting piece made from a dark gray marble. It really was striking.

  “So he’s a sculptor. I thought you mentioned something about a painting when we spoke earlier.”

  “He works with various mediums. His oils are along the back wall. It’s odd. His work with marble is very modern, but his oils are considered to be quite traditional. Come on, and I’ll show you what I mean.”

  Nikki seemed to be in her element as she showed me around. I hadn’t realized that my young neighbor knew as much about art as she did. Not only did she know the difference between all the different styles and was able to identify and explain those styles to me, but she knew a lot about each of the different artists who had pieces on display as well. Apparently, there was more to my part-time housekeeper than I realized.

  “And this,” Nikki said, stopping in front of an oil painting of a beautiful woman, who was obviously a ghost, standing over a cradle containing twins who’d been laid out head to head, “is the Gemini Ghost.”

  “Gemini Ghost?” I asked.

  Nikki nodded. “The painting is based on a legend. You see, there used to be a coven of witches living in Old Salem who believed that twins born under a full moon would have special powers. These witches were known as the Gemini Witches. The legend says these special powers came with a price, and that the supernatural world would require a sacrifice.”

  “What sort of sacrifice?” I asked.

  “The legend tells us that if a witch from this coven delivered twins under the blood moon, she should expect to die before the next moon cycle was complete.”

  I looked at the painting. “So that’s what the painting depicts. A witch who delivered twins under the blood moon. She’s died, yet even though she’s dead, she still watches over her babies.”

  Nikki nodded. “That’s the story. The legend warns that witches who’ve died due to this particular curse are able to walk the earth on Halloween as well as the five days before Halloween and the four days after on years when a full moon falls on Halloween night.”

  “So ten days of haunting.”

  Nikki nodded. “Basically.”

  “And when will that occur?” I asked. “A Halloween when there’s a full moon, that is?”

  “This year, actually.” Nikki looked around the area and frowned. “I wanted to show you the watercolor Damian completed recently, but it seems to be missing.”

  “Missing?” I asked.

  Nikki walked toward the back wall, where other watercolors were displayed. There was an obvious bare spot where it appeared a painting should have been. “I know this is going to sound crazy,” she said, “but someone or something keeps moving things around.”

  “Something?” I asked.

  “Elena thinks we have a ghost in residence. So far, nothing has gone missing permanently, but almost every morning when we come in, we find that one or more of the pieces on display has been moved. Usually to another location within the gallery, but on a few occasions, it seems as if a piece will be missing one day, and then turn up the next. Of course, it may simply be that the piece has been moved to a location where no one can find it like the storeroom or perhaps the room Damian uses to restore damaged pieces. I mean, it really makes zero sense that a piece would actually leave the building only to turn up later, but I swear that’s what seems to be going on.”

  “Sounds more like a mischievous human prankster than a spirit,” I said.

  Nikki ran her hand over the wall where the painting she was looking for should have been. “Maybe,” she answered, although she seemed distracted. “But the items that are moved are moved at night when no one is around. The gallery has been outfitted with an alarm system complete with cameras and infrared sensors. A flesh and blood human would set off the alarm if it hadn’t been properly disabled, and so far, the alarm has failed to sound, which means that unless there is a ghost doing the moving, it must be an employee.”

  “An employee sounds like the more logical choice,” I pointed out.

  “Perhaps, but I don’t think a lot of people have the code.” She frowned. “But Elena isn’t overly concerned, so I guess I won’t be either.” Looking up, she smiled. “Oh look, there’s Damian now. I was afraid you were going to miss him.”

  Damian was a tall and thin man who looked to be in his mid to late twenties. He had dark hair, dark eyes, and an olive complexion. He was dressed in black leather pants that, in my opinion, fit a bit too tightly, and a white silk shirt with three buttons open at the neckline. He was polite yet aloof. It was odd, but he seemed irritated that Nikki had asked me to come. After briefly greeting me, he excused himself and headed toward the back of the gallery, where the screened-off area that was being set up for the exhibit was located.

  “I guess we caught him at a bad time,” Nikki said, frowning as he walked away. “He’s been busy setting up for the exhibit.” She glanced in the direction of the partition he’d disappeared behind. “I suppose I should go. I need to tell Elena about the missing painting and then see if Damian needs any help.”

  “That’s fine,” I answered. “I’ve enjoyed the tour. I’ll be back for the exhibit on Sunday.”

  I hugged Nikki, who said her goodbyes, and then went to speak to Elena about the missing painting, and then I headed home. As I pulled into the long drive that connected the house to the road, I felt my smile brighten. Although it wasn’t dark yet, I could see that Jeremy had been busy hanging orange and white twinkle lights in the trees that lined the drive and fronted the house. As I pulled up, I waved to Jeremy and his girlfriend, Mylie Sanders. I’d first met Mylie when she was a guest this past December, but after a romp through Europe with another guest she’d met during her stay, she’d decided to sell the house her grandmother left her and move to Holiday Bay.

  “Wow, everything looks really wonderful,” I said, taking in not only the lights but the corn stalks, scarecrows, and pumpkins on the front porch as well. “It looked great before, but the things you’ve added have really rounded it out. The sc
arecrow on the bench looks new.”

  “Mylie made it with straw and old clothes,” Jeremy said, smiling in her direction.

  “You made it? How very clever of you. It really is adorable.”

  She grinned. “Thank you. I wanted to help and was feeling creative.”

  “We need to finish stringing lights in the garden behind the house, but otherwise, we’re almost done,” Jeremy informed me. “We were able to hang larger lights around the deck, and Georgia had those big lanterns and LED candles that we used last year, so she worked them into a display with fall flowers and large pumpkins. You should go and take a look. She did a fantastic job.”

  “I will. I want to talk to Georgia. Do you know where she is?”

  “Baking pumpkin cookies in the cottage,” Mylie answered. “I snatched one earlier. They’re delicious.”

  “I just might try one,” I said, heading in that direction.

  Once I arrived at the cottage, I bent down to say hi to Georgia’s dog, Ramos, and my dog, Molly. “Something smells good.”

  “Cookies,” Georgia informed me. “Pumpkin cookies, to be exact. If you want one, there are some that have cooled on the back counter.”

  “I do want one.” I reached over and ruffed my cat, Rufus, behind the ears before walking into the kitchen and grabbing a cookie. As with everything Georgia made, they were delicious.

  “There’s fresh coffee if you want a cup to go with that,” she informed me.

  I poured a mug and sat down at the counter.

  “Did you get everything taken care of that you wanted to while you were in town?” she asked as she slid a cookie sheet into the oven and then began sliding the cookies she’d taken out of the oven just before that onto a cooling rack.

  “I did. I chatted with Velma and ran into Colt while I was there. We plan to go to the exhibit at the gallery Nikki has become involved with on Sunday. You and Tanner should come along. We’re going out for dinner after. It would be nice to hang out, just the four of us.”

  “I’ll ask him,” she promised. She took a bowl out of the refrigerator. “I called Tanner this morning after all the guests had gone off for the day. I guess our midnight chat helped me to get some clarity. We didn’t really work anything out, but we’re talking again. He’s going to come by this evening after I get the dinner mess cleaned up.”

  “Don’t worry about the dishes. Jeremy and I can take care of them. In fact, we can serve as well. Why don’t you let Jeremy know what needs to be done and then call Tanner and arrange to have him over earlier? Or better yet, why don’t you go to his place. Nikki will be at the gallery, so you’ll have the whole place to yourselves.”

  I was half expecting Georgia to argue, but she didn’t. Instead, she hugged and thanked me and then headed to the garden to talk to Jeremy. When she returned, she assured me that she had worked everything out with Jeremy and Mylie and that I didn’t need to worry about a thing. After she called Tanner to inform him about the change in plans, she headed toward the shower. I guessed she was missing Tanner after having not spoken to him for several days and was anxious to spend some time with him. I really did hope they found their way back to the easy and uncomplicated relationship they’d shared in the past.

  Chapter 3

  The sun was high in the sky by the time I awoke on Monday morning. A late-night out with Colt had left me feeling exhausted. Stretching my arms over my head, I sat up. The bedside clock informed me that it was already nine-fifteen. I slipped my legs to the side and placed my bare feet on the thick rug I’d laid over the hardwood floor. The night had started out okay. Colt had picked me up for our date to the gallery, followed by a late dinner at the nicest restaurant in town. We’d arranged to meet Georgia and Tanner at the gallery, so we’d had time alone to talk and really catch up. I could tell that he’d missed me as much as I’d missed him given the diminished amount of time we’d been able to spend together in the past few weeks. Our separation hadn’t been intentional, but between his busy schedule and mine, it had been hard to make a connection. Or at least that’s what I’d been telling myself. The reality was that it was more likely our busy schedules had simply been an excuse for some time apart as we tried to work out the parameters of our relationship.

  The exhibit at the gallery had been interesting. Elena had played the perfect hostess with plenty of food and wine to sample as patrons had walked through the artful displays discussing the various offerings and putting in bids for those pieces listed for sale. Nikki had seemed to be in her element showing Colt, Georgia, Tanner, and me around, as she discussed the merits of each item on display and pointing out her favorites along the way. Damian made an appearance as well. In contrast to our first meeting where he’d seemed dark and brooding, he was energetic and charming last night. He went out of his way to be helpful and attentive, and I could actually understand what Nikki might see in him. Still, there was something in his eyes. Something shuddered that was barely discernable but seemed to communicate a tension I could see he hoped to hide from those he interacted with.

  Xander Bloomfield, the headliner for the evening’s event, was another case entirely. He was a pudgy man of medium height, and everything about him had seemed to scream overdone. His hair, a bright red, had to have come from a box. His eyes were dark, and his cheeks were flushed. He’d spoken in a tone so loud, he could be heard across the busy room, and his use of arm gestures to enhance every word had gotten old after the first two minutes. I had to admit that his artwork was interesting. It was the sort of thing that made you look twice to confirm you’d actually seen what you thought you had. The fact that the man was such a total showman had most of the guests hanging on his every word, but I’d found him to be rather boorish. Based on the lack of bid sheets accompanying his work, it appeared the items he’d brought to Holiday Bay were for display purposes only, which might also account for the fact that he didn’t seem to be trying nearly as hard to be charming as those artists with items for sale.

  My favorite artist had been a local woman who specialized in seascapes. Her use of light and shadow was quite brilliant, and I found myself lingering as I tried to figure out how she’d managed the transparency of the waves while still bringing a depth of color to her pieces.

  After Colt and I’d allowed Nikki to sidetrack us with the introduction to an artist she’d seemed to know fairly well, Colt and I went looking for Tanner and Georgia who’d wandered off. Once we found them, we suggested that the group head to dinner. I, for one, had been starving, and it had been a while since the four of us had hung out together outside the larger group we often got together with. I figured it would be nice to discuss topics of a more personal nature that might only be appropriate in the smaller group.

  I’d been happy to see that Georgia and Tanner seemed to have worked things out. In fact, based on the hand holding and intimate gazes, I’d say they’d picked up right where they’d left off. Colt and I had held hands as well for much of the evening, although there had been an awkwardness between us that hadn’t seemed apparent with the other couple.

  All in all, it had been a wonderful evening that had left me feeling lonely when Colt dropped me off at the cottage. I knew that if I wanted him more fully in my life, I needed to figure out the answers to the very real questions he’d asked the previous spring. To be honest, by this point, I wasn’t sure it was possible to know with any certainty how I’d feel about matters that were years in the future. Maybe just knowing the way I felt now would be enough.

  I slipped out of bed and padded across the room. Opening the glass door, I stepped out onto the deck that overlooked the sea. It looked like it was going to be another near-perfect fall day. I took a deep breath of the salty air, allowing the crisp cool air to chase the last of the cobwebs from my mind.

  The second half of the night hadn’t been nearly as pleasant as the first half. Around two a.m., I’d been awakened from a deep slumber just in time to once again witness a dark image passing my window. Even though I
’d known in my mind that the shadowy figure had been nothing more than an image caused by light reflecting off the fog, I’d still felt chills up my spine as I’d waited for the next revolution of the beacon from the lighthouse. As I’d fought the urge to step out into the night, I’d remembered thinking of Cedric and his last minutes of life. Had he stood on the edge of the bluff as the lure of the shadows encouraged him to take that final step into the void?

  Of course, in the bright light of day, as it was now, I realized that I was completely off my rocker to have wasted one minute of sleep thinking about the mysterious phantom. Making the decision to pull my blinds tonight if there was fog in the forecast, I stepped back into my bedroom, closed the door, and headed toward the bathroom and the shower. I had a busy day today and figured that it was best I get started. One thing I could say about owning and living at an inn was that more often than not, there were guests to see to and plans to make.

  An hour later, I entered the inn’s kitchen through the back door. “Morning,” I greeted Georgia.

  “Morning, Abby. Did you sleep well?”

  “Eventually.” I took a deep breath as I poured myself a mug of coffee from the pot on the counter. Georgia was making bread, and the room smelled wonderful. “Did everyone get checked out?”

  She nodded. “Alaric is the only guest still with us. Most of the others left yesterday, but we did have two guests who stayed overnight and left early this morning.”

  “Is Nikki here?” I could hear the sound of a vacuum cleaner being run on the floor above us.

  “She is. I thought she might be late after her big weekend at the gallery, but she was here bright and early.”

  “Did she say how the event went overall?” I asked.

  “She said that Elena was very happy with the turnout. I guess there was some hoopla on Saturday morning when two of the Bloomfield paintings showed up missing, but otherwise, the event went off without a hitch.”