Wild West Hauntings, page 16
Rachel patted her sister’s knee. “You’ll do what you’ve always done, get up, brush yourself off, do some shopping and go on with your life.” She winked.
Marianne shook her head. “I don’t know, Rachel. I think my heart would be too broken. And I know I should talk all this out with him, but I’ve tried. He keeps telling me that we’ll discuss it later. I can’t keep pushing the subject cause I don’t want to chase him away.”
“Could you maybe hold off on the subject until after New Year’s? Let him get through the holidays?”
“Yeah, I guess so.” Marianne toyed with the fringe on the edge of the blanket.
“Ladies?” Miguel and Pedro came around with trays of food. “Some breakfast for the two lovelies.” The men handed them the chargers.
The plates were filled with scrambled eggs, a couple slices of bacon and sausage links, a side of hash browns and a piece of buttered toast. A champagne flute cradled orange juice and what Rachel hoped included some bubbly. Both she and her sister picked up their forks and dug into the delicious looking food.
“Oh wait.” Miguel pulled the wood tray away from Marianne.
“Hey! Why are you taking away my breakfast?” she asked around the one forkful of food she was able to get in her mouth, pointing the spokes of the fork at the plates in his hands.
With a nod to Pedro, Miguel stated, “Because I forgot something.”
Pedro plucked the fork from Marianne’s hand. The combination surprised and pissed off look on her sister’s face struck Rachel funny. The poor thing. She chuckled.
Marianne’s attention swung away from the food being placed on a table several feet from them to Rachel. “It’s not funny. I’m hungry.”
“I’m sure you are, mija.” Miguel let out a short laugh, too. “But fixing this will only take a moment. Then you can eat all you want.”
He pulled a little box, the color a cross between aqua and robin egg blue, from his pocket and sank to one knee.
Marianne’s hands covered her mouth. Rachel paused in bringing her fork to her mouth.
“Mija. My beautiful star.” Miguel’s Adam apple bobbed up and down as he popped open the lid. Inside on a white place holder sat a beautiful platinum ring with a large princess cut diamond. “When I first saw you, I thought to myself, who is this wild woman, and I wondered how you’d ever fit in. But as time progressed, you worked your way into our lives here and into our hearts. I love your spirit, your independence, your passion for life. You inspire me to take chances and live my own life to the fullest. I love you, Mattina Marianne Stella. I want us to be together forever inspiring each other and experiencing each wonderful day of life through each other’s eyes. Marry me. Be my wife.”
Marianne shot to her feet. Tears streamed down her face. She glanced at Rachel. “Did you know about this?”
Rachel shook her head, swiping away the wet in her eyes. Miguel’s proposal was as much of a surprise to her as it was to her sister. “Nope, not a clue.”
Miguel pulled the wide-banded ring from the box and held Marianne’s left hand. “Well? Will you have me?”
“Yes. Of course I will.” He stood, slipped the ring onto her finger, and she threw her arms around his neck. “I love you, Miguel. I can’t wait to be your wife.”
As the couple kissed, Rachel sighed. She was happy for her sister and that Marianne’s wish to have her relationship with the cook progress to the next level be fulfilled, but she couldn’t help reflecting on Dalton. She’d had a love with him like her sister had with Miguel. Ghost or not, she probably could have had something with him in this time, too. After all, connecting with him in her dreams had been working for them and fit well into her lifestyle.
Dreams. Man, they’d sure be different now that he poofed out of her life.
“Rachel, look.” Marianne presented her hand to show off the piece of jewelry.
She held her sister’s fingertips and studied it. Stars and hearts etched in the band wrapped all the way around. The beautiful diamond sparkled under the recreation room’s lights. “What a wonderful ring. Miguel has great taste.”
“He sure does, doesn’t he?”
He embraced her from behind, and she clasped her hands over his at her waist. “Mija. Sit. Eat.”
She looked over her shoulder, placed a kiss on his chin. “Okay.”
Brimming with happiness, Marianne retook her place on the couch and accepted the tray of food again. Every few seconds she glanced at her hand, wiggling her fingers to make the diamond sparkle.
When they were through eating, Pedro took the trays away, and Miguel opened a bottle of champagne. “Who’s up for some mimosas?”
“We are,” Marianne and Rachel replied in unison then giggled.
“Did I hear someone say mimosas?” Cassie strolled into the room. “I sure could use one.”
Miguel prepared a flute for her. “How is the new Mrs. Dougan, Damon and the little one?”
“They’re all well. Damon is just beaming and can’t put down Devon, all five pounds and two ounces of the little critter. It’s pretty funny, too, the two of them each grabbing at chances to hold their son. He’s such a cutie. Eyes like Damon’s. Head of dark hair like Bristol’s. She’ll be in the hospital for a few days since the baby came a month early.” She drank the contents of the glass, her gaze darting around the group gathered in the room. “Am I missing something?”
Marianne showed Cassie her hand. “I’m engaged!”
“Congratulations, Marianne. That’s some rock. This calls for another toast.”
More champagne was poured and words of cheer expressed. Rachel felt like the smile on her face was frozen into place. It was a shame Nonna missed out on this. She was a sucker for anything romantic.
The doors to the outside swung open. Bright morning light burst into the room, backlit the two large figures coming in.
“Dakota,” Cassie called. “Come join the celebration. Marianne and Miguel are going to get married.”
“Be right there. I need to settle a guest in.”
Rachel’s gaze followed the two men as they sauntered over to the office. The shorter man’s stature stuck a chord of familiarity in her, but his head was covered with a cowboy hat and a shadow obscured his face.
So much of the situation reminded her of how she used to see Dalton. Come on, dude. Turn around. Dakota went in and came out of the office with a key that he handed to the newcomer. Come on. Both men finally faced the group.
Rachel gasped and tugged on her sister’s shirt.
Marianne bent toward her. “What?”
“It’s him,” Rachel whispered staring at the man’s profile as he continued to talk to Dakota.
Her sister looked up at the guy. “Him who?”
“The guy I dated in college. Andrew. He’s changed a bit, but I’m almost definite it’s him.” Different was an understatement. There seemed to be more muscular bulk to his body. His face had lost its roundness, was chiseled and highlighted with a scruffy five o’clock shadow. Tight jeans adorned his legs, accentuating a great looking ass.
“How so?”
Rachel didn’t want to go into all the nitty gritty details that she was noticing, so she offered a few basics. “Looks like he grew his hair out and went back to his natural color. He used to dye it blonde.”
Miguel raised a brow. “A man dying his hair?”
“Yeah,” Rachel replied. “He was a total metrosexual. We went together to have manicures and pedicures a couple of times. He was always clean shaven, very put together. He figured if he was going to be a psychiatrist in the city, he’d have an image that he’d have to maintain. Marianne, why didn’t you tell me he’d be here?”
“I didn’t know.”
“Folks,” Dakota announced walking over to them with the man at his side, who’d removed his hat. “I’d like to introduce a long lost cousin. Everyone, meet Andrew.”
Andrew took turns shaking hands and greeting each person. An easy smile lit his face. The longer brown locks of his hair curled over his forehead and ears. Laugh lines creased around his eyes.
Dalton. Rachel’s heart sped up as her stomach dropped. She flung her hand out to grasp onto her sister.
“Are you all right?” Marianne inquired sotto voce.
“Yeah, I’m just seeing a ghost.”
Marianne followed her gaze to Andrew who was in conversation with Miguel and Cassie and back to her. “I didn’t think you believed in spirits.”
“After my dreams and this trip, I’m a believer.” She kept her gaze glued on Andrew as he turned toward them.
His blue-eyed gaze caught hers. “Rachel, what a surprise!”
She rose on shaky legs and extended her hand. “Andrew, shocking to see you here.”
He waved her hand away and hugged her.
She fit perfect in his embrace. As if I were made for him. Why didn’t I ever notice this before with him … or Dalton?
Andrew held her at arm’s length, trailed his gaze up and down her body. “You’re looking great. What are you doing here?”
“Visiting my sister and her fiancé. What are you doing here?”
He glanced around, and she did too. The group stared at them with puzzled and anticipatory expressions in their eyes and on their faces.
“Visiting family. It’s a bit of a long story. Is there a place we could talk?”
She pointed to the doorway near the piano. “Over there in the dining room. We’ll have some privacy there.” Rachel looked at the group.
They appeared disappointed but agreed to leave them in peace. Marianne silently mouthed a question asking if she’ll be all right. Rachel nodded then led Andrew into the dining area.
“You have a lot of explaining to do, starting with why you disappeared on me and never called,” she stated, sitting at a table. Rachel couldn’t get over how similar in appearance Andrew was to Dalton now.
“Why are you staring at me like that?” He sat in a chair across from her.
“You’ve changed. You don’t look so … um … refined anymore. There’s a rugged quality about you.”
He chuckled. “You could say that. I’ve done some growing up and made some hard decisions over the past couple of years. I’m really sorry about leaving you and not offering some sort of closure. My mother had a medical emergency over in England, and I had to rush off. Dealing with her and the medical issues and trying to find work and a flat, I barely had a moment to breathe. By the time she was released from the hospital, and I helped her with the insurance issues and court proceedings, so much time had passed that I wondered if it was too late to contact you. Many times I picked up the phone, started dialing your number, but hung up before I completed it. Then there was her continuing care, physical therapy and the sort, working two jobs to support us.”
Andrew hung his head and threaded his fingers together. “I know it’s no consolation to hear this, but I thought about you. A lot. I wanted to call, to apologize, to continue what we started. When I left New York, I’d been feeling so run down, so soulless and lost. I’d felt like my spirit had gone missing. Even if I contacted you, I didn’t think you’d want me back. Not with the frame of mind I was in and especially how I left things. Before I knew it a year had gone by, then a few more months. Mother got healthy. I left one of my jobs. More time passed. When I wasn’t working, I was weight lifting, running, biking. I also started taking holidays up in Scotland and over in the French Alps. Lots of hiking, skiing, rock climbing…”
“Sounds wonderful,” she scoffed.
A flash of distress crossed his face. He shrugged. “It was, and it wasn’t. I was in search of something, trying to find myself. I let go of a lot of material stuff and pretenses. A couple of months ago, I started thinking of you again. I couldn’t shake you from my mind. Dreamt of you and me living together. I told my mother about you. Told her how much fun we had. How I’d started to really care for you. She sat me down and opened up about my father.”
“After twenty-seven years of not telling you anything?”
“Yeah, I wondered the same thing. She said that she’d wanted me to figure out relationships and love on my own without being swayed by her relationship with my dad. She finally felt it was the right time to tell me about him, his side of the family, where my roots came from.”
Something clicked in her mind. She sat back in the chair with a quick burst of breath. He is part of the Dougan family. Just like Dakota said. That’s why I’m seeing a resemblance.
“What? Have I said something wrong?”
“No.” She shook her head. “It just hit me. Your roots are from here. In Nevada. Your father’s from the Dougan line.
“Yep.” He smiled. The same toothy grin she’d come to love from Dalton. “You were always so quick figuring things out. So after our heart to heart, my mother called here, explained I needed a place to stay when I moved back to the states to search for my love. Even though I’m a long lost cousin, they said I’d always have a place in their home and always be welcome.”
Rachel held up her hand. “Hold it. Back the train up. Search for your love?” It would be just her luck that he’d fallen in love with another woman and came back to the states for that reason.
He grabbed her hand out of the air and clasped it in both of his. “Yes. I came back to find you.” Andrew appeared to think for a moment. “Brilliant. Wait a sec. I have something to show you. Sit tight.” He dropped her hand, bounded from the table, hurried around another one and through the doorway near the office.
Marianne poked her head in from the other doorway. “What’s going on?”
Rachel propped her arm on the back of the chair, glanced back at her sister and shrugged a shoulder. “Not quite sure. He says he has something to show me.”
Footsteps pounded near the other entry. He came back into the room. In his hands was an old wooden box with tarnished brass fixtures and hinges.
The Christmas gift. A knot formed in Rachel’s throat and her breath stopped for a long moment.
Andrew placed the small chest on the table before her and sat. “My mother said the box was handed down through my father’s family. He gave it to her with strict instructions that I was to get it when I found my special woman. Now, I know we haven’t seen each other in quite some time, and we have issues to work on, but I’d love to have you in my life again. And if our relationship works out, then this will be yours.” He tapped the wooden lid.
“May I open it?”
“Sure.” Indicating the container with a sweep of his hand, he leaned back in the chair.
A combination of excitement and trepidation churned her stomach. She pretty much knew what she would find inside, but wasn’t sure what it would do to her emotions. Dalton had given her the gift right before she’d given him a very personal gift. Almost right before he’d died. Holding back any sad feelings, she carefully moved the clasp and opened the lid. The mirror and brush, in new condition, still sat where they had over a century ago. She traced the porcelain back of the mirror and picked it up.
The woman staring back in the reflection wasn’t Rae. It was one hundred percent her. A twinge of longing to see her counterpart flickered within. She returned the apparatus to its spot, laid her fingers on it. “Oh, Dalton.” The words came out on a whisper of a breath.
“Who told you my middle name?”
Rachel’s head jerked up. “Excuse me?”
“My middle name. Dalton. Andrew Dalton Mathison. I know. Just what this place needs around here. Another guy with another D name. Good thing I don’t go by Dru anymore like I used to when I was a kid.” He laughed, but when he noticed she wasn’t sharing in the humor, he stopped. “Mom told me that was another thing that was handed down through the generations. All the boys’ names, be them first or middle, could be whatever the parents wanted but one of the two had to either start with a D or be shortened into a nickname that begins with the letter. My parents did both. But you didn’t answer my question. How did you know? I never told you.”
Thinking fast, Rachel remembered the journal and the photo album. “Cassie showed me some family history that was recorded in some books. One of your ancestor’s names was Dalton, and from what I understand, he’d given this gift to his wife one Christmas. The story touched me, so I guess that’s what made me think of him and say his name when I saw this.” Andrew’s brow furrowed, and for a brief moment, she believed he wasn’t buying her story. What would she do if he didn’t? It’s not like she could tell him the truth … yet.
“Interesting.” In the background, the Christmas song What Child is This? played. He smiled and crooned, “For I am still thy lover true, come once again and love me.” He reached out and took her hand again. “So, do you think we have a chance? Will you be my Christmas star again?”
The lyrics from Greensleeves touched her. Rachel gazed into the depths of his eyes, saw the love there that transcended time and the universe, the connection she and Dalton had shared. From the moment Dalton and Rae had met they’d been one. Maybe she and Andrew hadn’t had the same lightning bolt, life-changing incident happen to them, but they did seem to share a bond. When they’d first met, there was an easy affinity between them, as if they’d always been friends and dating hadn’t ruined that. Could they pick up where they’d left off?
Dalton’s words that he’d spoken down at the gravesite crawled through her mind. Destiny works in mysterious ways. Somehow our spirits, our souls if you like, are searching for each other, crossing the vast deserts of time to connect. Maybe you’ll find my real life counterpart in your lifetime.
Had he sensed something? Had he known about Andrew? Figuring it didn’t matter anymore—Andrew was here and still wanted her—she rose and went to his side. Rachel wrapped her arms around him. She whispered in his ear, “Yes, we can have a chance with each other again. A chance I don’t want to let slip by. I’d love to be yours.”
“You make me very happy, Rachel. This is going to be the best Christmas ever.”
“Yes.” No more crazy train. No more weird dreams and evil spirits haunting her and her loved ones’ lives. And having the man who could be her one, her true love, back in her life, made her time on the ranch all better. All was good. Finally. “Yes, it is.”
