The Old House (Haunted Series Book 16) (13 page)

“Me?”

“Yes, I have an important client who wants to meet with you.  I insisted that I come along as a chaperone.”

“This client isn’t Angelo Michaels, is it?” Mia asked.

“No.  I can’t tell you the particulars, but if you could trust me, in my opinion, I think that this is in your best interest.”

“I trust you, Alan.  Can you tell me what I should wear?  I’m going to have to purchase an outfit, because I don’t think
stretchy
is going to be Chicago chic enough.”

“Would I be a prig if I suggested a nice dress and shoes, not sandals?  The client is older and may be uncomfortable with Malibu Barbie.”

“I did ask,” Mia said, wrinkling her brow.  “I’ll drag Audrey along shopping.  She’ll be able to help me.  It’s a hell of a time for Ralph to be gone on his honeymoon.”

“Have you heard from them?”

“I got an email with lots of pictures attached.  I’m still sorting through them,” Mia confessed.

“I’m so glad they decided on the summer cruise.  Bernard was looking a little tired last time I saw him,” Alan said.

“Planning for a wedding and handling the security problems of an entire museum can wear a fella out.  I’m sure my bump in the road didn’t help.”

“Mia, we all have them.  I remember meeting the two of you at the Gruber mansion.  You were so wrapped up in each other, I remember thinking that I wanted a romance like that.  He couldn’t keep his eyes off of you, and you couldn’t keep your hands off of him.”

Mia blushed.  “We were pretty obnoxious, weren’t we?”

“I wouldn’t say obnoxious.  You two were cute together.  The differences in your heights and the way you guys spoke to each other… Yes, you were obnoxious,” Alan said, laughing.

“Who’s obnoxious?” Audrey asked, walking over with a heavy duffle bag.  She set it down at Mia’s feet.  “That’s your bounty.”

“And this is yours,” Alan said, handing Audrey a check.

“What’s this?”

“It’s fifteen percent of this booking,” Alan said.  “Mia wanted you to have the whole amount up front.”

Audrey, obviously pleased, insisted, “No, I did this for you, Mia.”

“And I appreciate it.  You’re a professional and should be paid for your time.”

“I accept.  Whoa, who knew you could make so much money from a few pictures?”

Mia, who was dialing her phone, raised a finger.  “Ted, I need to ask your advice,” she said.

Ted, who had just put Brian down for his nap, smiled. “My advice?  It must have something to do with a computer or world domination.”

“Regretfully, no.  Alan…” Mia proceeded to tell Ted about Alan’s strange offer.  “I hadn’t planned on being in the city this long and…”

“Put Alan on the phone, please?” Ted asked.

Mia handed the phone to Alan.  She watched as Alan fielded Ted’s questions before handing the phone back to Mia.

“Well?” she asked.

“He says he’s contractually bound not to reveal the client’s name to you but insists that it isn’t Angelo.  I’m very curious.  If you want to go, then I’d go,” he said.  “Alan says it’s an early dinner.  Which gives me the idea that the client is older.”

“I still haven’t a clue, but I’d like to go.”

“Then go, and buy yourself something respectable. Go to the dinner, and report back as you’re driving home.  Brian and I will have a lads’ night in.  I’m determined to beat him at chess this time.”

Mia laughed.  Brian’s idea of chess was to see how many pieces he could put in his mouth before Ted had a heart attack.  The pieces were too large for the baby to swallow, but they were part of a collectors Star Wars set.

Mia pocketed the phone, turned around and said, “It’s a date. Now all I need is the when and the where.”

~

Cid walked into the kitchen where Ted was working on his laptop while keeping a keen ear on the monitor while Brian slept.  “Do you think it’s too hot for Beef Stroganoff?” he asked.

“Mia’s not going to be home for supper, so why don’t we just order a pizza or something?”

“Pizza’s good.  Where is Mia going to be?”

Ted explained the mystery dinner date.

“You’re not bothered by that?”

“She asked for my advice.  I’m starting to think Mia’s taking our marriage serious.”

“Dude, she’s always taking it seriously.  You’re the only thirteen-year-old in the relationship.  So the mysterious date with Alan, the stud lawyer, as chaperone doesn’t bother you?”

“It didn’t until now, asshole,” Ted said.

“What are you working on?” Cid asked, sliding in beside his friend.

“I’ve been trying to compose a kiss-off-and-die letter to Beth.”

“Dude, you’re going to dump her again by email.”

“For the record, there wasn’t any she and me.  It was all in her mind.  The last bit was mostly in her mind.  Damn that Roumain!  He has a lot to answer for.”

“You know you had a hand in it.  You were up to your neck in Bouvier prior to Roumain,” Cid accused.

“I was not!  I just felt she was abandoned by her friends, for what?”

Cid stood up and walked around the table.  He looked at Ted and shook his head.  He opened his mouth a few times, but nothing would come out.  He thought a moment and said, “I’d like you to pretend for a moment.  This is just pretending, no malice is intended.”

“Okay.”

“Pretend that Mia came home drunk one night, and I waylaid her, made passionate love to her half-comatose body, and then bragged about it the next day.”

“You wouldn’t dare,” Ted said angrily.

“Pretend, idiot.”

“Oh, sorry.  Go ahead.”

“Then I notify the scientific journals and tell them that all your patents are stolen.  That you aren’t a scientist at all, just a hack.”

“No one would believe you.”

“But if they did?”

“Then I would be without a wife, a career and thought of as…”

“You’re starting to get it.  If Beth had succeeded the first time, Mia would be in a mental health facility somewhere, her career destroyed and suffering from a broken heart, not just from losing Whit, but from the woman who claimed to be her friend stabbing her in the back.  The über-Judas.”

“So, you’re saying that Burt and Mike relieving Beth of her position was not just to placate Mia?”

“No.  Who would want to work with someone like that?  And I believe Mia never asked them to.  She would have forgiven Beth in time, but you and I know that Beth never forgives.  She’s a vindictive, selfish bitch.  And if you don’t know this by now, then for God’s sake, pack up your stuff, leave this farm and never return.  Because it isn’t Beth who is going to destroy Mia.  It’s you.  For some reason Mia loves you.  She could have the world - hell, it seems like Heaven is on hold too.  But the silly girl loves you, trusts you. She shouldn’t. I no longer do.”

Ted looked at his lifelong friend and felt the clammy hand of fate move over him.  Right this moment, he had to stop being everybody’s friend.  He had to choose.

“Who do you want?  Beth Bouvier or Mia?”

“Mia.  All I want is Mia.  I want to protect, love and laugh with her.  I want to help her reach the pinnacle of her powers.”

“Even if she has to leave you sometimes behind?”

“She comes back.  She always…”  Ted slammed his hand on the table.  “How could I do all that to her?”

“Were you jealous?”

“No.”

“Is it Murphy?”

“No, I knew about Murphy from the beginning.  Angelo worries me.”

“Mia doesn’t like Angelo.  He’s not your problem.  Destiny is your problem.  And if you hurt her again, it’s not Murphy you’re going to have to worry about, it’s me.  I’ve been your friend forever, but I can’t let you act contrary to your programming.”

Ted looked sideways at his friend.  “How did I ever end up with Mia?”

“You told me from the first time you met her that you were going to marry her.  You told your mother that.  Mia hadn’t even spent more than a few minutes with you, and you were walking her down the aisle.  What happened to that Ted?”

“He became afraid.  She doesn’t need me anymore.  She can stand on her own two feet.  She’s beautiful.  How am I ever going to be able to hold on to that?”

“Dude, she’s here now, asking your permission, trying desperately to find her way back to you.  And it’s not just for Brian, it’s for her.  You have to rise to the occasion, not slink under a rock with dumpy, boring, Beth.”

“That’s not kind,” Ted said, defending Beth again.

Cid threw up his hands and walked out the door, slamming it behind him.

Ted’s phone vibrated, and he looked at the incoming multimedia text.  There was Mia holding up two dresses. 
Which one is the frumpiest?

He chose one and sent his answer, set down his phone and cried.

“How long have you been shadowing me?” Cid asked Murphy as he sat down on the picnic table.

“Since the stroke-it-off.”

Cid couldn’t help it; he started laughing.  “Stroganoff…  Here I am trying to save my friend from making the biggest mistake of his life, and you’re cracking jokes.”

“Yup.  Learned it from Mia.”

“She is pretty irreverent, isn’t she?”

“Yes, it keeps her alive.  Cid, I’ve watched her get her feelings trampled, her heart broken and come up fighting.  She doesn’t have to be with Ted. She wants to be.  We have to fix this.  Maybe I should visit Beth.”

“Oh no.  Ted has to do it.  He has to be the bad guy for once.  He can’t be Beth’s friend.  He knows that she is going to hate him, and he can’t stand people thinking ill of him.”

“He had no trouble hurting Mia.”

“Yes, that is strange, isn’t it?  I don’t think it’s conscious.”

“If he leaves, are you going too?”

“No.  I belong here.  The moment I stepped foot on your land, I knew that I belonged here.”

“Ted’s your best friend.”

“You and Mia are tied for second, and my godson needs me.”

“You’re not romantically thinking of Mia?”

“Oh no, not at all.  You can have her if Ted defects.”

Murphy was flabbergasted.  He pushed his hat back on his head and couldn’t make any sense of it all.  “I’m not allowed to be romantic with Mia.  She doesn’t want that.  She and I are soulmates. That’s enough for me.”

“Yet, we are all afraid that one day she is going to see you as the handsome brute you are and off herself just to be with you.”

“Have you been watching foreign films again?”

Cid looked at him.  “Tell me, if Mia died and stuck around, the two of you couldn’t…”

“Doesn’t work that way.  When you die, you leave the physical world behind you.  She and I would be as we are now.  So why kill her?”

“I’ve seen you look at her with longing.  You have feelings…”

“Only because she awakened them.  I wouldn’t be able to do the same for her because I’m already dead.”

“You could go off into the light together.”

“My place is the farm.”

“So, even if you were presented with the opportunity to spend an eternity with Mia, you would turn it down because of your farm?”

“Yes.”

“So you’re not a threat to Ted, are you?”

“No.  It doesn’t hurt to keep him on his toes though,” Murphy said.

Alan picked Mia up at Ralph’s condo where Mia chose to have a nap, a shower, and then frantically work on her hair.  She wore a rather sedate honey-colored, knee-length dress and nude pumps.  Audrey quickly emptied her purse and loaned it to Mia, taking her stuff home in a Ziploc bag.  Mia found enough cosmetics in Ralph’s bathroom to adorn her beach-tanned face.

“You look beautiful, Mia,” Alan said as he walked her to the elevator.

“You’re being kind.  I’m adequate at best,” Mia commented.

“You have to learn to take compliments,” Alan scolded.

“Let’s say we have a difference of opinion.”

“Okay, I’ll let you off with that.”

“So, can you tell me, who is my mystery date?”

“No.  I promised, and I take my promises seriously.”

They walked out of the elevator, through the lobby, and outside where a black sedan with driver waited for them.

Mia was relieved not to see Angelo’s driver at the wheel.  She watched as the driver expertly maneuvered them through the evening traffic and safely brought them to an elegant restaurant that Mia had heard Ralph talk about before.  The Everest was located on the 40
th
floor of the Chicago Stock Exchange.

“Our host chose this early hour so we would have the least distractions.  He wants you to fully enjoy the seven course French meal.”

“I can handle the seven courses, but I may need to be prompted on the right fork to use,” Mia admitted.

“Just be yourself.  You’re not being judged.”

“Monsieur Jefferies, Ms. Martin, follow me,
s’il vous plaît
.”

Mia followed the maître d’ to a table where an elegantly attired older gentleman rose.

Alan took Mia’s hand and placed it in the gentleman’s hand while he introduced them, “Mia, may I present Émile Neyer, your grandfather.”

Mia felt the warm hand of Émile through her glove.  Émile gently removed her glove and held her hand a moment.  Such love flowed from the man that Mia was overcome.  Alan contributed a comforting hand to her back.

“I have felt you in the wind, Mia.  I thought I’d never see your face, but here we are,” he said and released her hand.

Mia sat down, pulling her glove on while the men settled themselves.  She accepted the offered glass of wine, but she didn’t trust her shaking hand to hold it quite yet.

Alan stared at her a moment before speaking, “Mia, Amalie or, as you know her, Amanda is Émile’s eldest daughter.  She came to the United States to go to school and never returned.  They knew of your mother’s career and have read her papers, but they didn’t know Amalie had a daughter until your aunt Aubree saw the Ice Queen poster.  You see, you’re the image of Adele, your grandmother, at your age.  They had their people contact the photographer who contacted me.  I confirmed that you were indeed Amalie’s daughter.  Émile wanted to meet you, privately.”

“I’m not surprised that my mother has a family, sir.  My cousin Sabine, who has been doing a genealogy search, mentioned that my mother had a sister and both of her parents were living.  That was the first I knew of this.  I have been busy, but I did intend on pursuing an investigation of my own, I assure you.”

“You are married?” Émile asked

“Yes, and I have a child, a boy, Brian Stephen Cid Martin.  He would be your…”

“Great-grandson!” Émile said with jubilation.  “Here I find a granddaughter and a great-grandson.  Boys are rare in our family.  You are blessed to have one so soon.”

“I am pretty lucky.  Tell me about my grandmother. Is she well?”

“All in good time.  Let’s first start our meal.”  He nodded to the waiter.

Mia took a sip of the wine.  It danced on her tongue.  She suppressed a giggle, and Émile winked at her.

“Mia lives out in the country in a refurbished farmhouse,” Alan said.

“We too live in a farmhouse, in Alsace.  It is an old house, but we love it,” Émile assured her.  “Your grandmother is ailing, but I’m sure she will rally when she hears the news that I have found not only our granddaughter but our great-grandson too.”

“I don’t mean to be indelicate, but can you explain why my mother would not mention you to me, ever?”

“Very simply, we embarrass her.  We are artists and clowns.  Amalie doesn’t like laughter, and we can’t help who we are.  You either laugh or you cry, and we prefer to laugh.  Your aunt Aubree is a comedian.  She was touring your fine country when she saw the poster, found the contest video, and finally, the one of you putting yourself in such danger.  PEEPs, I believe it is called.”

Mia blushed.  “I don’t normally participate in contests.  That was a one-off.  I do, however, investigate the paranormal with my friends in the Paranormal Entity Exposure Partners.  My husband Ted is one of the partners,” she said proudly.

“And where is my great-grandson during these investigations?”

“We have a wonderful friend who watches him while we are away, and sometimes, my cousin Sabine helps out.  She has triplet girls.  Her husband recently passed.  We named Brian after him.  He was a very brave man, a knight.”

Émile listened to her intently, and when he talked, his face readily expressed his emotions.  “Aubree’s two daughters are living at the farm with us.  Just until they are out of university.”

“That’s what family is for,” Mia said wistfully. “I had a much different experience growing up.  I had two godfathers and a grandmother to watch over me when I was small.”

“I am sorry, we have not met sooner, Mia,” Émile said, meaning it.

“Me too.  Tell me, how long are you here?”

“Not long, I will be leaving in the morning.  I, however, issue an invitation for you, your husband and son to come and spend time with us.  Your grandmother, Adele, would so love to have someone to fuss over.  Think about it.  I will pay for your journey.  Life has been good to us. Let us share it with you, Mia.”

“I would love that, Grandfather Neyer.”

“No, you must call me Papa Émile, I insist.”

“Thank you, Papa Émile.  Thank you for finding me,” Mia said sincerely.

~

Alan took her back to Ralph’s and walked her to the condo where she would change before traveling back to the farm.

“Alan, what a surprise!  How did Émile become your client?”

“He set up a trust for you and your heirs.”

“Without meeting me first?”

“He said that he could tell by the PEEPs video that you had a sense of humor and you were one of theirs.”

“This is overwhelming,” Mia confessed.

“Don’t worry, Mia. I will take good care of you.  You’re part of my family too.  You and that rascal ghost of yours.”

“He’s hardly mine,” Mia said dryly.

“Keep telling yourself that,” Alan said, kissed her on the cheek and left her standing in the doorway.

~

Mia tried Ted’s cell as soon as she had cleared the city traffic.  It went to voicemail.  “I have so much to tell you,” she said excitedly.  “Call me!”

She next called the house and Cid picked up.  “Martin residence, head house-elf speaking.”

“Cid, this is Mia.”

“So says your caller ID,” he reminded her.

He sounded funny. His voice had a tremble to it.  “Cid, what’s wrong?”

“Come home, and I’ll explain everything.”

“Ted?  Brian?”

“Brian’s fine.  Come home.  How did your dinner go?”

“I met my mother’s father.  I have grandparents in France and an aunt and cousins.”

“That’s wonderful.  Hold on to that feeling.  Come home.”

Mia pushed the truck to its factory recommended top speed.  Soon she was pulling into the driveway.  Ted’s car was gone.  Mia launched herself out of the truck.  Cid ran out of the farmhouse holding on to Brian.

“Where?” Mia asked, tears streaming down her face.

“On his way to Kansas.”

“His parents, sisters?”

“They’re fine.  Everybody is fine except…  Come on in.  Hug your son, and don’t hate me, Mia.  I swear to God, I thought it was going to go in a different direction.”

Mia rocked Brian and told him about Papa Émile.  “I held his hand, and so much love poured out.  It was like an unending jar of jelly beans.”

“Bnnns.”

“Come on, you’re a Martin. Try again. Jelly beans,” Mia enunciated.

“Welly bees.”

“Oh, that’s wonderful, she said as she rocked her son.

Murphy looked in at the two and turned and asked Cid, “Does she know?”

“She has a feeling, but I told her we’d talk after Brian was put down for the night.”

Mia walked downstairs.  She was dressed in Ted’s Chiefs jersey and skintight, black yoga pants.  She walked to the front door and opened it, looking outside.

Cid stared at her.  Did she expect a different scenario?  Did she want to see their car there and Ted busy in the barn inventing something?

Mia shut the door and sat down on the couch.  Cid walked over.  Mia opened up her hand, and inside lay a platinum leaf ring, Ted’s size.  “I found it on the dresser.  What did I do?” she cried.  “No note, no explanation, nothing.”

“It’s my fault.”

“Tell me,” Mia said.  “Sit down please. I’m getting a neck ache.”

Cid pulled the chair over and told her of his and Ted’s conversation.  “I pushed him to do the right thing.  He was supposed to call her and tell her that it was over and to leave him alone.  At first, I thought, when I heard him packing, that he was going there to break up with her in person.  It was when he woke Brian up and cried, holding him, that I knew that something was terribly wrong.  He handed him to me and said, ‘Take care of them,’ and left.”

“So he chose her?  He doesn’t love her.  He feels sorry for her.  I refuse to believe that all he wants in his life is basic Beth.  But, she is someone whom he can always be better than, someone that isn’t going anywhere, isn’t sprouting wings for heaven’s sake.”

“I think that the thought has been with him longer than we imagined,” Cid said.  “I think, he thinks that he deserves her, that fate has decided that he has to leave everyone he loves and take care of her.”

“But she’s horrible.  I have to stop him,” Mia said, getting up.  “He’s not thinking straight.  What route does he take?” Mia asked herself.  She pulled off the Chiefs jersey. Underneath, she was wearing a black yoga top with a matching bra.

“You’ll never catch up to him.  He’s had two hours head start.”

Mia touched her wrist.  “I’ll catch him alright.”  She turned around and walked to the door.  Cid could see tattooed feathers moving on her back.

“Mia, what are you doing?” Cid asked, following her out into the yard.

Mia tapped her wrists together and a pair of beautiful, luminous wings sprouted behind her.  “I’m getting my husband back.  He’s got some misguided comic book idea of what a man of caliber is all about.  He thinks that you sacrifice what you want in order to be a hero.  Well, fuck that.”  Mia closed her eyes and pleaded with the powers of flight and flapped her wings.  She took off running and flew.  Low at first.  She buzzed right over Murphy on top of the hill before she turned west and disappeared.

Cid sat back on his heels in disbelief.  Murphy picked him up and set him on his feet.

“Did Mia just fly out of here?” Cid asked.

“Guess so.  Gone after Ted, I imagine.”

“What if she crashes, or Ted rejects her pleas?” Cid asked frantically.

“She has to try. She loves him.  She left Brian with his godfathers.  She did right.”

“And if she fails?”

“We’ll pick up the pieces,” Murphy said with more confidence than he felt.

~

Mia passed the hollow and began to follow the route she and Ted had taken to visit his folks.  She had a few hundred miles to go before she would start to look for him.  She had to concentrate on the movement of her wings.  It was a bit like rowing, the better the angle, the farther she would travel between flaps.

“My god, Mia, slow down. You’ll kill yourself before you reach him.”  Sariel was above her.  “Be still, glide.  Let me,” he instructed.

Mia did as she was told, and Sariel reached down and pulled her to his chest and held her there.

“I have to reach him.  He’s a fool, I know, but he’s my fool,” she said, crying.  “Get me there, and I promise you my sword and shield when the time comes to fight.”

“I don’t need to be bribed to do the right thing,” he scolded.  “Mia, you’ll fight beside me because it too will be the right thing to do.  Look down. Is that the car?”

“I think so.”

“‘I break for geeks’ is written on the bumper.”

“That’s the car,” she said.

“I’m going to release you.  Glide ahead, and set yourself down. Get ready to jump if he doesn’t stop.”