The Ghost and Mr. Moore (19 page)

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Authors: Ryan Field

Tags: #Erotica, #Romance, #Fiction

BOOK: The Ghost and Mr. Moore
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pretty enough to be in a book.”

 

When Brighton said the word “book,” Captain Lang bolted from the wicker chair

 

and shouted, “I’ve got it, Dexter. I know how you can make a living without leaving Keel

 

Cottage.”

 

Dexter looked at him and smiled. But he didn’t say anything. He went back to

 

taping the cardboard box.

 

Captain Lang pressed his palms together and rubbed them back and forth. “I have

 

hundreds of stories to tell about my adventures at sea and the places I’ve been. I’ve been

 

promising to tell you about them anyway, but we haven’t had a chance. Stories that no

 

one else could ever tell except me. I wanted to retire and write about them when I was

 

alive. But I died before I could.” He crossed the porch and stood next to Dexter. He

 

placed his palm on the small of Dexter’s back and said, “You’re going to write a book.”

 

Dexter looked up. “I’m going to write a book?” He said it out loud.

 

Marion was removing corn husk garland from the railing. She stopped moving

 

and stared at Dexter. Kellan and Paige moved closer with the camera to see what Dexter

 

was going to say next.

 

Dexter just stood there staring at them. His knees felt weak; he gulped a few times.

 

Then Jesse walked toward him, tilted his head, and said, “Well, what kind of book

 

are you going to write?”

 

Dexter looked at Captain Lang. Lang smiled and shrugged his shoulders. “You’d

 

better tell them. They’ll think you’ve lost your mind if you don’t say something.” Dexter gave him a look. Then he turned to the others and said, “I’m thinking

 

about writing a book about the man who built this house. His name was Captain Lang.

 

I’ll make it fiction, of course, and I’ll write about all his adventures.” Dexter looked at

 

Lang and raised an eyebrow. “I have a feeling that a man as good looking as Captain

 

Lang left many broken hearts on his travels around the world.”

 

Marion smiled. “I think that’s a wonderful idea, Mr. Moore. I’d read a book like

 

that.”

 

Brighton placed a neatly rolled ball of Halloween lights in a box and said,

 

“Sounds good to me, Dad.”

 

“I’m really just thinking about it,” Dexter said. “I haven’t made up my mind yet.”

 

Captain Lang waved his arm. “Of course you’ll do it. I have stories to tell and you

 

need money.”

 

Dexter clenched his fists. He didn’t like being forced into anything. He wasn’t

 

even sure he knew how to write a book. He’d always been an avid reader and he

 

devoured books. But writing them was something else. He looked at Captain Lang and

 

asked, “How will I get this published?”

 

Jesse lifted his arm and pointed. He thought Dexter was talking to him. “I know

 

the senior editor at a very large publishing house,” he said. “I’ll hook you up with him.”

 

“You have to talk to my agent in Hollywood first,” Dexter said. “I’m sure he

 

knows a literary agent who can represent me.” Dexter had been with his agent for a long

 

time. He never made a professional move without him and he liked to play by the rules.

 

Captain Lang smiled and patted Dexter on the ass. “See?” he said. “It’s meant to

 

be.” Then Lang tried to slide his hand down Dexter’s pants in front of everyone. But

 

Dexter stepped back fast and crossed to the other side of the porch with a huge smile on

 

his face. Captain Lang pressed his lips together and walked down to where Jesse was

 

standing on the lawn. He looked Jesse up and down, and gave him a small pat on the ass.

 

Jesse’s body jerked forward and he turned fast to see if anyone was behind him.

 

Dexter leaned over the porch rail and asked, “What’s wrong, Jesse?” He’d seen what

 

Captain Lang had done.

 

Jesse rubbed his eyes and shook his head. “Nothing,” he said. “I’m fine.”

 

But he didn’t look fine. His face grew pale and his eyebrows furrowed. And for

 

the rest of the day he kept looking behind his back to see if anyone was there.

 

Chapter Fourteen

 

A couple of weeks before the special meeting that would decide whether or not

 

the town would continue with the Memorial Day fundraiser, Dexter did an in-depth

 

interview with a popular magazine. It was the kind of magazine that focused on pop

 

culture and entertainment, which was perfect exposure for someone like Dexter. His old

 

TV show had just started coming out again in reruns on a cable channel. The new reality

 

show would air soon. Jesse Barlow had arranged the magazine interview to promote the

 

reality show. But Dexter wanted to take advantage of the publicity to get more local

 

people involved in his cause. His efforts with the Internet and handing out fliers had

 

reached some, but he knew there were plenty more he needed to reach if he was going to

 

sway the Board of Selectmen.

 

The timing was perfect. The magazine hit all the newsstands a week before the

 

meeting and everyone in town started talking about it. Some people had to drive all the

 

way to Chatham to get a copy because all the copies in Provincetown sold out fast.

 

People stopped Dexter in the street and thanked him for working so hard on something so

 

important to the community. A few people asked for his autograph. The local newspaper

 

interviewed him and he started receiving fan mail. He heard that the Board of Selectmen

 

had been inundated with phone calls and letters from residents in support of the

 

fundraiser.

 

Dexter gave the magazine an honest interview. He invited the reporter to Keel

 

Cottage and he spent the afternoon with him walking around Provincetown, with Kellan and Paige not far behind so they could film the interview for the TV show. Dexter was

 

used to having them around by then. He ignored them and told the reporter how much he

 

believed in the fundraiser and how hard he and the Retail Association were working to

 

save it. And instead of focusing on the mundane aspects of the reality show, the reporter

 

focused on how Dexter, a former childhood TV star, was now fighting hard in

 

community service for causes he believed were worthy.

 

The reporter also brought along a photographer. They took photos of Dexter in the

 

house wearing casual clothes, photos of him talking to other members of the Retail

 

Association, and photos of him walking around half naked on the beach. It had been a

 

bright, sunny day. Though the beach at Herring Cove was empty and the temperature was

 

only in the fifties, Dexter put on a skimpy bathing suit and posed in the sand as if it were

 

still summer. The beach shots had been Jesse Barlow’s suggestion. Jesse figured that if

 

people saw how good Dexter still looked they’d buy more magazines and his TV show

 

would get higher ratings when it aired. The reporter from the magazine agreed.

 

At first, Dexter frowned and refused to do it. He’d always had a more family

 

oriented image and he wanted to keep it that way. But when he looked to Captain Lang

 

for advice, Lang reminded him he’d be stripping down for a good cause. He frowned and

 

clenched his fists when he talked about Dexter posing this way, but he said the more

 

attention the article received, the better their chances were of saving the fundraiser.

 

So Dexter agreed, with reservations, and put on a sheer bathing suit so skimpy it

 

almost looked like a thong. If he hadn’t shaved his pubic hair, it would have been

 

exposed. His genitalia busted out of the fabric; the ring around the head of his penis was

 

more than evident. Jesse supplied the bathing suit. When he handed it to Dexter, Dexter’s jaw

 

dropped. When he put it on in the car while everyone waited, he almost didn’t come out

 

of the car. He had to walk slowly across the beach to keep his balls from falling out, and

 

the back kept riding up his round ass and getting stuck in the crack. At one point, while

 

they were on the beach taking the photos, Jesse pointed to Dexter’s crotch and smiled.

 

Dexter looked down and saw that the head of his penis was falling out of the side. He

 

gave Jesse a look and packed his dick back into the bathing suit, wishing he’d never

 

agreed to pose this way at all.

 

But it worked. His sexy beach photos made the cover of the magazine that week

 

and his story was featured in the centerfold, with more beach photos. The photographer

 

managed to miss getting full frontal shots, and it didn’t come off looking as obscene as it

 

could have.

 

A day after the magazine hit the stands the article was mentioned on several

 

national television shows. Anderson Cooper talked about it on his show. Bill O’Reilly, of

 

all people, called Dexter a “patriot” on his “Pinheads and Patriots” segment because

 

Dexter was working so hard for a good cause. And David Letterman devoted his Top Ten

 

list to Dexter one night, poking fun at Dexter’s beach photos. Provincetown’s small fight

 

over Memorial Day suddenly became a national topic. Evidently, even though Dexter

 

hadn’t been in the public eye for a long time, the public hadn’t forgotten about him.

 

The exposure only lasted a few days, and the national media moved on to other

 

things. But it lasted long enough for Dexter to stand before the Provincetown Board of

 

Selectmen and state his case once again. This time his hands didn’t shake and his knees

 

didn’t feel weak. He spoke with a clear, well-trained voice and everyone listened. Dexter’s side of the room was jammed with new supporters who wanted to save the

 

Memorial Day fundraiser. Fred and the Chamber of Commerce sat on the other side of

 

the room with wide eyes and sunken expressions. The first meeting had been well

 

balanced, with just as many people in favor of the fundraiser as against it. But that night

 

Dexter’s side of the room outnumbered Fred’s side of the room by three to one. Fred kept

 

biting his bottom lip and fidgeting with papers on his lap. The Board of Selectmen stared

 

into the crowd and murmured things to each other.

 

The majority of residents shouted praise and support for Dexter and the Retail

 

Association. The Board of Selectmen sat quietly, giving each other knowing looks,

 

waiting for the Chamber of Commerce to offer a viable rebuttal.

 

When it was finally time for the chamber to reply, Fred stood up and smiled. But

 

the audience booed and jeered. Arms waved and people stood up on chairs shouting

 

against his proposed plan to end the fundraiser. Fred’s face turned red and his hands

 

started to shake. He leaned over, said something to one of the restaurant owners, and then

 

stood up again with his arms in the air. The Board of Selectmen had to bang the gavel to

 

quiet the booing crowd so Fred could speak.

 

When there was silence, Fred took a deep breath and smiled. He looked around

 

the room and said, “While the Chamber of Commerce thought it was doing something

 

good for the town by offering an Arts and Crafts Festival on Memorial Day weekend, we

 

now see that it’s probably best to leave the traditional fundraiser intact, and switch the

 

Arts and Crafts Festival to another weekend.” He smiled at the crowd, then he smiled at

 

the Board of Selectmen. “We
love
the Memorial Day fundraiser. We really do. And after

 

seeing how much everyone else in town loves it, we’d like to ask the board if we can have the Arts and Crafts Festival sometime in the fall. We’ll go back and prepare a

 

specific proposal, and then we’ll present it to the board in a few weeks.”

 

The crowd roared with applause. Fred smiled and thanked them for their support.

 

Dexter was sitting beside Elliot, watching everyone praise Fred and the Chamber

 

of Commerce. He leaned in and whispered, “I don’t know how he did it, but Fred just

 

became a hero and he was the one who wanted to end the fundraiser in the first place.”

 

Then he shook his head and smiled. “I feel like all this work was for nothing now that the

 

chamber is agreeing with us. I wanted to win. I didn’t expect them to concede so easily.”

 

Elliot laughed. “Fred always knows how to come out of a bad situation smelling

 

like bay rum on a hot summer night. He’s made it an art. And trust me, this wasn’t all for

 

nothing. If you hadn’t worked this hard to defeat them, they never would have changed

 

their minds.”

 

Dexter sighed. “Ah well,” he said. “At least the matter is over, the fundraiser is

 

still a town tradition, and everyone’s happy.”

 

When the meeting was adjourned, Dexter ran into Fred and Steve out in the

 

parking lot. At first, Dexter stepped back and shoved his hands into his pockets. But Fred

 

walked over to him and said, “I’m so glad this is all settled. And I’m glad about how it all

 

turned out.” Then he put his arms around Dexter, hugged him, and said, “We
love
you.

 

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