Chaste Kiss (15 page)

He strolled across the room and stopped in front of her. “I think if you like it, then ‘tis perfect."

"You don't like it.” Her enthusiasm dwindled to a whimper.

"Isabel.” William chuckled softly, shaking his head. “What I think, matters not. I know nothing of shops and stores. You must be the judge."

She propped her elbow atop her crossed arm and tapped her chin with her ink pen as she carefully studied the room. The downstairs was perfect. If the upstairs proved to suit the remainder of her needs ... “It's perfect."

"Then you have work to do, sweeting. But I suggest you remove that beautiful smile from your face first. This man is shrewd and will likely try to take advantage of you."

Her smile turned into a smug grin. “You haven't seen me in action.” She spun around and headed up the stairs ready to do battle for her dream.

The only one that had any chance of coming true.

Chapter Nine

William had never seen her quite so determined. He had no doubt she would get exactly what she wanted out of Mr. Jennings. Especially if she put a bit more swing in her skirt. Her beautiful backside and shapely legs taunted him as she ascended the stairs. Thankfully, the odd little man had been the first to go up. William would not have been able to bear it if he caught the man's eyes appraising his sweet Isabel from such a perspective.

He silently followed her up to the second floor, ducking his head beneath the low ceiling, although he would have passed through it, and pondered this feeling of possessiveness he had for her. He would not be able to find an appropriate suitor if his thoughts continued along such a path.

The upper room was a large open area. William overheard the man say it had previously been used as an office and additional storage. A lone battered desk stood in the far corner near the windows overlooking the street.

William wandered over and looked down at the people milling about the sidewalk. He had not been able to see more than a single person or two at any one time for hundreds of years. Now here he stood looking down onto a street full of them. The pretty little carrot-top who smiled and waved at him outside toddled along with her mother. He'd never seen any children up close except for Isabel and never dallied about when Isabel's childhood friends visited. Was it possible that all children could see him?

The child's impish little face came back to him. She was so like Isabel when she was that age. Full of energy and mischief. But Isabel was no longer a child, she was a woman. An image of Isabel with her belly growing round with a babe, his babe, stole into his thoughts. She would be an extraordinary mother.

The sound of a car horn wrenched him from his daydream. Nay, she would never carry his child. His time was past. He had carelessly thrown away his chance to be a husband and a father, assuming of course that none of his liaisons had produced any unexpected offspring.

His gaze followed the little girl along the sidewalk until she disappeared around the corner.

Life
. He watched as people hurried about with their own itineraries, living their lives, oblivious to his existence. All except the little girl and his sweet Isabel.

William glanced back to where she stood discussing the property. Her smile dazzled, her eyes sparkled, and her voice held an unwavering strength. His heart warmed at the sight of her. He made his way back to her side to offer his support, although she obviously did not need it.

He listened to her arguments regarding the cost of leasing the space and the general terms of the agreement. She was amazing. He had feared Mr. Jennings would beat down her confidence and barter strongly against her, but in truth ‘twas the other way around.

Her strength reminded William of his mother, God bless her. There weren't many women of her stature in his day. Perhaps that was the reason he dallied so oft with so many maids. Had he been trying to find one that held the same spark as his dear mother? She had taken no guff from Father, to be sure, yet appeared outwardly to be a proper and obedient wife. William often wondered if his father ever realized how the woman he loved cajoled him into doing things her way. His parents would have liked Isabel. Nay, they would have adored her, as he did.

Jennings swiped his brow again, bringing William back to the present. He agreed to Isabel's stringent terms and then some, bringing a bright smile to his sweeting's face. As the group started for the stairs, Isabel paused. Looking back over her shoulder, she winked at him. Lord, she was incredible, and entirely out of his reach.

The car filled with excitement during their ride home. Isabel couldn't stop talking about the shop. After signing the lease, her dream was finally becoming a reality, and she couldn't wait to get started. The only thing dampening her mood was William. He seemed distant since they got back in the car.

She remembered his earlier mood, and what he'd said about his family. “Uncle Jerome, have you ever done any genealogy research?"

"A little. Why do you ask?"

"I have this friend who's been trying to trace his ancestry. I thought I'd help.” She knew William had turned his attention to their conversation by the wary look he gave her.

"I've got a few books in the library on the subject of how to go about it, but I can almost guarantee I won't have the information you're after. I believe Brantley College library may be of some use. And if not there, I'm sure the Internet will have something."

"Of course! I didn't even think about the Internet."

"Don't get your hopes up too high. A lot depends on where and who this family you're trying to trace comes from. Boring old textbooks on family lines is hardly exciting reading and not likely to take up a lot of space on the World Wide Web. But you might be able to tap into some of those colleges that put their entire library on line. Who knows?"

Isabel leaned over and pecked him on the cheek. “Thanks, Uncle."

"Who's this friend, if I may ask?"

"Oh, no one you've met.” It was time to change the subject and quick. She jumped back to making a list of things to do in order to get the shop ready to open with a few added suggestions from her uncle. By the time they arrived at Derrington Manor, her legal pad had filled up nicely.

Running up to her room to change, she continued going over her to-dos in her mind, but William's search for his family consistently jumped to the top.

After returning the dagger to its hiding place, she bounded back down the stairs to the library. “Where are those books you were talking about, Uncle Jerome?” she asked.

"I believe they're over there under the encyclopedias."

She practically ran to the shelf and quickly located the books on genealogy. As she flipped through the pages she realized how time consuming and complicated the search could be, but she was determined to lift the awful gloom hovering around William.

The last she saw of her handsome ghost, he'd decided to take a stroll through the garden. She hoped her research would help. When he didn't smile, she felt lost. Without being able to touch him there was almost no way to console him, and words were of no help since he already resisted talking about his problems. Not to mention, it was difficult to have a conversation when someone could walk in on them at any moment. The last thing she needed was her uncle or Constance to think she'd gone batty. They worried about her enough already.

It didn't take Isabel long to realize there was little to no information on the Ashenhurst family in any of her uncle's books, so she switched to the Internet.

William's family was buried deep and had apparently been a very quiet sort. She managed to find the current Earl of Kent, but no other information other than a passing mention of William. Seeing the date of his birth and death in print left an eerie feeling in the pit of her stomach, but she forged ahead in search of the family her friend had lost.

After nearly an hour, she located his brother, who had become the Earl of Kent upon William's death. He had three children, two girls and a boy. His son, James, became the Earl of Kent upon Alexander's death. Then James married and had four children. Three girls and two boys. When he died, his eldest son became the Earl of Kent, but there the information abruptly stopped. Although she lost the Ashenhurst line, she wasn't finished by a long shot. She simply needed to dig further. She had to. For William.

Several hours later as Isabel stretched to relieve the ache in her back from bending over her laptop, she felt the familiar tingle of William's presence behind her. Her uncle had left to help Constance in the kitchen, as if he had any idea how, allowing her the privacy she needed to talk with her invisible friend.

"You have been working too hard, sweeting,” his deep voice said behind her. “Is starting a business always so taxing?"

"I haven't been working on that. I've been working on finding your family.” Tilting her head back, she smiled up at him.

"Isabel, I explained ‘twas of no import."

"Okay. Then I won't tell you I found two generations of Ashenhursts after you, and that an Ashenhurst is also the present Earl of Kent.” With a confident smirk, she turned the chair around to face him.

"Truly?"

"Mm-hmm. Your brother Alexander had two daughters and a son. His son, James, had three daughters and two sons. I need to find more resources to get any further. I was thinking about going to the college library tomorrow to see what they have. I've also gotten into some of the genealogy bulletin boards on the web, and I'm waiting to hear back."

"You amaze me. I know nothing of bulletin boards, but I thank you for your efforts. You have done more than enough. I am more than pleased to hear an Ashenhurst lives. Please cease in your research. You have your business to tend to now. I will not let you stray from your goal."

"Look, the bulletin boards are like sending out a message to the world asking for any information on your family,” she explained. “As for going to the college library, it's on the way. I have to have the utilities turned on at the store, start a bank account, and get my business license anyway. It's no bother, and I want to do it.” She rose from her chair and studied him. He looked better, but not quite the old William.

"If you are certain. I would like to know more about my brother's heirs,” he said with a half smile as he stepped away from the desk.

"I know, why don't you go with me tomorrow? I could use the company, and you could do with more time outside."

William's smile widened, lifting her heart. He really enjoyed those outings.

"If I could, I would kiss your hand, mistress. I thank you,” he said with a courtly bow.

"My pleasure, my lord.” She giggled as she curtsied in return.

After a lot of talking on Isabel's part, she finally wore her uncle down and convinced him she would be perfectly safe to go into town by herself to handle the few errands needing to be done in order to get her business started. William appeared next to her in the car solid form shortly after they turned the corner from the manor.

Slipping on her sunglasses, she glanced at him. “Do you want me to hold on to the dagger or do you want to carry it?"

"If you would not mind, I prefer you keep it. If I should need to disappear while in public, it would make quite a scene, I fear."

She nodded. A floating dagger would definitely create a little noise.

"Where are we going first?” he asked.

"City Hall. Oh, now that I think about it, that might be a problem. There's bound to be a metal detector somewhere around there and the knife won't get through. I think the best thing to do is for you and the knife to stay in the car while I run my errands then hit the library last. Okay?"

"Sounds like a plan."

She laughed. “Where on earth did you pick that up?"

A broad smile spread across his handsome face. “Television."

Isabel shook her head in amazement. He was a fast learner, and the more time they spent together the more his sixteenth century phrases fell away. It wouldn't be long, and he'd be a man, uh, ghost of the twenty-first century.

Several minutes later, her business papers in hand, she turned to hurry back to the car and William.

"Izzy? Izzy, is that you?"

She stopped and swirled around at the sound of a familiar voice. One she hadn't heard in years. “Debi?"

The two practically ran across the wide gallery, their shoes clicking rapidly against the marble, and fell into one another's arms in a fierce hug. Isabel instantly noted her friend had lost some weight since she saw her last.

Although they each stood just over five feet, Debi had more of a buxom figure, but her weight loss bothered her. She silently prayed that all was well with her childhood friend.

"I can't believe it's you? I thought you were in High Point?” Debi said, smiling broadly, her catlike eyes sparkling.

Their hands clasped, she said, “I just moved back. What about you? I thought you were out in California?” She nearly choked on the words, fearing she'd bring back the horrible memories of her friend's past. Could that be what caused her to lose so much weight?

A flicker of pain crossed Debi's face before her bright smile widened. “Ma'maw got sick and no one else could take care of her. And you know how she is, she refuses to go into a nursing home. She doesn't really need to when she's feeling herself, anyway."

Isabel breathed a silent sigh of relief, believing Debi's physical changes had been brought by her fear for her grandmother's health and not the past.

"I'm sorry to hear about your grandmother, but with you taking care of her, she'll be good as new in no time. Once she's well are you moving back across country?"

Debi shook her head, setting her large hoop earrings swaying. “Nope. I'm here to stay."

Isabel had a flash of brilliance. “Are you planning on getting a job?"

"That's why I'm here. I applied for an office assistant job in the Finance Department. Why?"

She slipped her arm around Debi's shoulder as they walked toward the door. “My friend, do I have a proposition for you."

"Uh-oh. Dizzy Izzy is at it again,” Debi said with a chuckle. “What are you scheming now, oh, Great One?"