Ghost Granny (7 page)

Catherine was
disappointed and she knew that she didn’t have time to search
through all of the garments or try any on. It wouldn’t take that
long before the children were done decorating Thelma’s Chocolate
Shop. She grabbed a Tinkle Bell adult sized costume and hoped she
would not look ridiculous in it.

Catherine checked
her watch. She didn’t want the children to leave and the shop be
open with no one in it. When she was crossing the street to get
back to the shop, Catherine looked up, amazed.

She was expecting
to see the usual, glitter pumpkins, scary jack-o-lantern cut out of
construction paper, a witch or two on brooms, that sort of thing.
There in front of Thelma’s Chocolate Shop were bales of hay, a full
sized scarecrow, and three large uncut perfect round pumpkins. The
white lights in the shop name were now orange. Catherine walked
into her shop and had to do a double-take to make sure she was in
the same establishment she had left a mere fifteen minutes ago.
There were now orange and black tablecloths on the four tables and
the chairs had back fabric with pictures of chocolate candy on
them. There was a big black stuffed spider sitting on the cash
register and bats and pumpkins on the walls. The entire place
looked as if they could hold the Halloween party in the shop, if it
were bigger. She wondered how the kids could have worked so quickly
and done such a fantastic job.

Catherine’s
thoughts replayed in her mind. The lady with the white hair and
nosy question. Catherine had been very lucky that the children came
in right at that moment, because she honestly would not have known
how to deal with the lady’s rudeness.

But
was it rude?
Catherine
had to admit that perhaps it was an honest question, but being
asked by a complete stranger was what made it jarring. She had not
been expecting such a personal question, but then, the entire town
seemed to know each other well.
Perhaps I need to do some serious thinking
for the next time questions of that natural are
asked.

The little bell
above the door rang and Catherine looked up to see the most
beautiful young woman she had even seen. She was about Catherine’s
height and her hair was a couple of shades darker than Catherine’s
blond hair which Catherine wore in a braid. She had wanted to keep
her hair out of her eyes while working around food. This girl had
many curls cascading down her back. Catherine could not help but
stare. The young lady smiled, showing pearl white
teeth.

“
Hi, you must be
Catherine. I am just checking to make sure the kids were on
schedule. Looks like they did a great job in here. Oh, by the way,
I am Cindy, from the school.” She said.

Of
course you are.
Out loud
Catherine said “Nice to meet you, Cindy. Yes, the kids really gave
this place the WOW factor and in such a short time too. I am very
impressed.”

Cindy’s eyes were
chocolate brown and large. She had long black eyelashes and a
beautiful complexion. Catherine shook herself out of her stare.
“Can I interest you in a hot cup of chocolate
coffee?”

“
Why, yes, thank
you, Catherine. I think I have time for a short cup. Can you take a
break and join me?”

Catherine poured
them both a cup of the hot chocolate coffee, put a couple of
cookies on a plate and walked around the counter to join Cindy at a
table.

“
How do you like
our town, so far?” Cindy asked.

“
Beautiful town,
beautiful scenery and very nice people.” Catherine answered her
honestly. My son, Cody, seems to really like his new school. I
understand from him that you are the lunch lady
there?”

Cindy laughed, her
beautiful face looking even prettier while laughing. “I was helping
Sebastian one day handing out subs for lunch. I think that must be
the day I met Cody and that is why he thought of me as the lunch
lady.”

“
So, what is your
position in the school?” Catherine asked
politely.

“
Cody seems like a
very good boy and he has excellent manners. Sebastian has mentioned
that he and Max play together well, so it’s nice that they have
each other and living right next to each other
too.”

Two
mentions of Sebastian without me even saying his
name
.
This young lady is doing her
best to either let me know she is interested in him or that he is
interested in her.
Cindy
looked like she had a charmed life. Beautiful face, beautiful
figure, perfect teeth and hair, she didn’t even look as if she had
any make up on and yet her complexion appeared
flawless.

“
Catherine? I was
asking if you were going to attend the party tomorrow. Everyone
will be there, even the shops will be closed.”

“
Oh sorry. Yes,
Cody and I will be there. We are going to be baking and making
candy tonight with Isabel in fact, making treats for the party.”
Catherine said as Cindy stood up and placed her empty coffee cup on
the counter.

The bell rang
again and Sebastian walked in with a big smile on his face. “There
you are! The kids did a terrific job in here and all over the
town.”

Catherine did not
know to which lady he had addressed his remarks, so she just stood
there and smiled at him. If she dared to answer him and then
realize that he had been speaking to Cindy, she would have been
mortified.

“
I have to get
going. It was nice visiting with you, Catherine. See you tonight.”
She said and then immediately looked as if she wished she hadn’t
said that.

Sebastian and
Catherine said goodbye to her and Sebastian gave Cindy a little hug
and then she was out the door. Catherine was surprised that
Sebastian hadn’t followed her out that door if she was being honest
with herself. Cindy just glowed and she was too nice not to like
her, no matter how perfect she was.

Sebastian put his
arms out wide, but he was just gesturing to the entire room. “All
of this, it really is amazing what the kids have done. The whole
street looks like a party. They decorated every store on the block,
both sides of the street too.”

Sebastian took one
of the cookies left on the plate and smiled at
Catherine.

“
I was wondering
if Cody could help me and Max haul in baskets of apples and
pumpkins after school to the Recreation Center for the party
tomorrow. We have barrels and the kids will be able to bob for
apples and we also have a game where the apples are used, other
than for bobbing. There is also going to be a pumpkin carving
contest for the older kids, and a lot of other fun, exciting things
that the kids can participate in. All ages should have fun, even
the adults.”

“
That sounds like
a good time. I have a camera in the van I keep forgetting to take
out. I want to make sure I bring it tomorrow to capture the
festivities. That was the first time I have met Cindy.” Catherine
said, admitting to herself that she was fishing for information.
“She seems like a lovely person.”

“
Cindy is the
whole package! She is the heart and soul of that school, they are
very lucky to have her.”

Uh
huh, O.K. then.
“Sure,
you can have Coby help you and Max out. I am sure he will want to.
The party is all he has been talking about.”

Just then they
heard the sound of the school bells so Catherine said “I will walk
with you over there.”

Sebastian and
Catherine walked up the school doors and Cody ran out to his mom.
“Cody, you and the other kids did a wonderful job decorating for
Halloween, very professional! Sebastian asked if you could help he
and Max haul some apples over to the Rec Center, are you up for
that?”

“
Sounds good to
me! Cody said, turning around looking for Max. “I don’t know where
Max went off to, he was here a minute ago. I thought I saw him
talking to Mr. Lucky.”

“
He might have run
on ahead, he didn’t know I would be outside the door today. Don’t
worry about the kids, Catherine. I’ll make sure they eat something
before we head back home to do the baking and chocolate stuff.”
Sebastian said.

Chapter
10

Catherine walked back to the shop. She
wondered why she wasn’t feeling upbeat with all the pretty
decorations surrounding her. Sebastian had said that Cindy was the
heart and soul of the school. Cody’s father had been the heart and
soul of her life.

David and Catherine had married young, just
out of high school. Cody joined them a mere ten months later. Cody
had only been two years old when a knock on her door changed their
lives forever. There were two men in marine uniforms, there to
inform her that her husband had been killed in Iran.

Cody never had the chance to know his
father. Catherine didn’t have any pictures of their wedding.
Neither David nor she could afford a wedding with a photographer or
catered meal. She and David had been married by a justice of the
peace. The few times they took pictures, they took them of
Cody.

It hurt too much to think of David and she
had been successful in putting that part of her life behind her.
For whatever reason, Cody had never questioned her as to why he had
no father like the other kids did. Catherine started to worry that
she was doing her son a disservice by not mentioning his father to
him. It was just easier for her to not bring it up, so she hadn’t,
to anyone.

Most people didn’t seem to care. Cody’s
teachers, their neighbors, not even Cody’s babysitter ever asked
where Cody’s father was. Come to think of it, that seemed a big
strange to Catherine now. Maybe they were just being polite.
It
is not a question I would ask.

Catherine had never had much interest in
dating and could not have afforded a babysitter even if she had
wanted to go out. Mrs. Roans, was that her name? Catherine’s memory
was fuzzy this morning. Her neighbor had watched Cody for her while
Catherine was at work until Cody was old enough to attend school
full time.

Cody is ten years old now, ten. Where did
the time go? She had watched Max with Sebastian and she knew that
Cody needed a male influence in his life. She could not be
everything to him, although he was everything to her. She wondered
where Max’s mother was.

Seems like everyone here has a lot of
questions, but no one has any answers. Why is there no telephone in
Thelma’s Chocolate Shop? Why have Sebastian and Isabel ignored my
request for their cell phone numbers? Why did Cindy blow off my
question about what she does at the school? Why would Sebastian,
Max and Isabel not be in the big house that she and Cody were in
instead of the smaller living quarters behind the house? Had they
lived here all of their lives? Who destroyed my costume?

“Hello.”

Catherine was jerked out of her thoughts by
the voice coming from the kitchen. She jumped up and saw Luna
coming in the back door.

“Oh, hello, Luna, you startled me. I’m
afraid I was daydreaming.”

“That is O.K”. Luna said. “Some dreams are
too good to wait until the night. The kids did an excellent job in
here. I brought you a special present.”

“You did? Thank you, what for?” Catherine
said.

“Just for taking such good care of Thelma’s
shop. She can be a very picky person.”

“I hope I get the chance to meet her
someday. Is Europe her main home, or is the house on Enchanted her
prime residence?”

“In Enchanted.”

“Excuse me?”

“You said on Enchanted. The name of this
village is Enchanted.”

“I don’t know how I missed that. Enchanted
certainly is. But who in the world does not like Halloween?”

“When I was little, Thelma and I made
"punkies" out of large beetroots that we carved a design into.
Then, we would carry our "punkies" through the streets while
singing the "Punkie Night Song" and we would knock on doors and
asked for money. Thelma, Hugo and I would put our turnip lanterns
on gateposts to protect homes from the spirits who roamed on
Halloween night. It was fun. No one sings anymore for Halloween,
but people like to go door to door around Christmas singing
Christmas Carols.”

Is Hugo your and Thelma’s brother?”
Catherine asked, pleasantly surprised that Luna had opened up as
much as she did.

Luna handed Catherine the small beautifully
wrapped box and said “Hugo is my husband. Here, these were made
especially for you.”

Catherine ate two chocolate truffles from
the brightly colored box and finished her chocolate coffee. By the
end of the hour she was humming to herself and looking forward to
Isabel’s bake and make that evening.

At five p.m.
Catherine put the left over candy and muffins back into the
refrigerator, cleaned out the coffee pots and made sure everything
was clean and locked up. Tomorrow was Saturday, but the shop would
be closed because of the Halloween party at the Rec Center and the
Chocolate Shop was not opened on Sundays. Catherine picked up her
purse and the Tinker Bell costume she had bought that morning and
started to walk towards the hill.