“Don’t touch me!” Reese demanded as she flailed her fists toward the figure which startled her out of the daze she was floating in. But her hands came into contact with flesh.

“Whoa there, girl,” Paul said. He was squatted next to Reese’s body and was now  clutching at her thrashing wrists.

Although his tone was reassuring, it was his scent which calmed Reese. She recognized the subtle earthy cologne and was quickly comforted. It really was Paul and not the menacing apparition who was too chicken-shit to even show his face.

“What happened to you?” Paul softly touched the skin around the bruising and bleeding cut on the side of Reese’s forehead.

Reese instinctively pulled away as she pushed herself up into a sitting position.

“Take it easy,” Paul said. He placed both hands on either of Reese’s upper arms and looked into her eyes. “Are you okay to stand?” He kept examining her eyes and Reese assumed he was checking her pupils for dilation.

Damn it, I better not have a concussion, she thought. Reese reached up and placed a palm on the mattress for leverage and tried pulling herself up. Paul grabbed her wobbly body and basically dumped her onto the bed. The room swam like she was on a drinking binge.

He leaned close to her and looked into her eyes again, holding her chin steady.

“I’m fine, Paul. Just a little dizzy.”

He nodded in agreement but said, “Give yourself a few minutes. I’m going to clean that cut.” He turned and walked into her bathroom. Not the most pristine room in the house, but she was too groggy and quickly becoming too pissed to care if Paul had a judgment against her cleaning skills to care.

She heard the water running and then he reappeared with a washcloth. It was damp and cool and he made an effort to dab around the cut first. While he played nursemaid, he asked, “what happened to you? Should we call the police now?”

Reese jerked slightly as the cloth grazed her wound. She wasn’t a wimp by any means, but having a delicious man tend to her needs was all together a different experience than she typically allowed. She didn’t have much room in her life for a living, breathing partner. Like single moms who hated to comingle their children and a new boyfriend, Reese wasn’t keen on mixing her brother and a lover. Luke was a difficult aspect of her life to explain.

“No police. They couldn’t do anything about this anyway.”

Paul stopped the cleaning and moved his face in front of Reese’s line of sight.

God those little tiniest of crinkled lines at his eyes were frigging sexy as hell.

“What do you mean?” He said.

“Last night’s visitor did this, the son of a bitch” She seethed. Then she looked at the bedroom door. It was wide open. “Was that opened when you got here?” She lifted her arm to point at the door and swayed at bit.

Paul followed her gaze to the door, but reached out to hold her steady.

“No, it was closed.” He turned back to Reese, his hand still on her arm. “Why?”

“I couldn’t open it. I mean the knob would turn but it was stuck.”

“Stuck, like it was swollen?” He asked apprehensively, which Reese could understand. Although the air was heavy with an impending rainstorm and had been for nearly a day, the humidity wasn’t thick enough to cause the door to swell.

“No, more like it was nailed shut. It wouldn’t budge. That fucker slammed it shut right in front of me.”

Paul looked to the floor by the side of her bed and then reached down for the phone after placing the cloth to her forehead and her hand over it to hold it in place. “Is this what hit you in the head?”

“Yes. I was going to call you to tell you what was going on until he cracked my skull with it.”

He placed the phone on the nightstand and looked around, but for what, Reese hadn’t a clue. “He seems to be gone now.”

“I thought I heard Luke calling out to me right before the phone flew.” She shrugged and removed the cloth from her head. She looked at it and saw several smudges of blood, but it wasn’t a lot. She didn’t feel too woozy anymore and slowly stood from the bed. “But he sounded really far away like he couldn’t get to me.”

Paul eyed Reese. She felt him staring at her as she made her way to the bathroom. She looked in the mirror. The gash wasn’t deep but it was about an inch long. The bruise was worse than the cut. Fortunately it was only slightly swollen. She rinsed out the cloth and dabbed at the wound again. Paul appeared at the doorway, hands outstretched on either side of the doorjamb. Reese could see his reflection. He looked miffed. 

“Why didn’t you tell me you communicate with Luke?”

Reese stopped fussing with her forehead and squeezed out the cloth. She laid it over the vanity top and turned to Paul. “I didn’t want you to make him disappear. But now he has.”

“Why would I make him disappear?”

“Isn’t that one of the things mediums do? Help the decease cross over? Besides, I had no idea if you were the real deal or not. I still don’t. I haven’t actually witnessed you communicating with a spirit yet.”

“Is that why you want the séance? To confirm my validity?” He couldn’t completely hide his irritation.

“Nope. I want to confirm my suspicions about who this asshole ghost is and I want to find Addie. I’d also like to locate Luke if possible. And since you’re a medium and involved in all of this, well it just seems appropriate to have a séance.”

“You think you know who the ghost is?”

“Now I do.” Reese crossed her arms over her chest.

“Care to share your thoughts?”

“Not here. I think you were right earlier. We shouldn’t do anything here. He doesn’t want us talking.”

Paul lowered his arms and took a step into the bathroom. He reached up to Reese’s forehead and softly traced the bruise. “You sure you’re up for this?”

She nodded and he moved his hand away. She felt disappointed as he turned to walk away.

“To your mom’s then?”

Reese followed Paul out of the bathroom and down the stairs. “Where’s Gregory?”

“At your mom’s already. I left him there in case you showed up. When you didn’t answer your cell, I came here first.”

“Did you tell him what we’re up to?” Reese asked. They stepped out of the townhouse and she pulled the door closed.

“Not really. Didn’t want to spoil the surprise.” He turned back to Reese and grinned.

She couldn’t help but laugh. He watched her for a few seconds and then his silly grin changed to a warm smile. After a few more seconds, he reached his hand out for her to take. “Come on then. I’ll drive.”

She placed one of her hands into his and let him pull her toward him. She said, “I can drive us.”

“Hell no. Are you crazy? You just took a hit to your head. I don’t need you passing out while driving me anywhere.”

“Oh, wait,” she exclaimed and ran back to her front door where she reached for the peanuts from behind the bush. She didn’t see Chip but laid three nuts in a row along the edge of her steps. From there she went to her car and grabbed her few belongings, including her cell phone. There were four missed calls. Three from Paul and one from Gregory.

Once they drove away, Paul said, “so what are your thoughts on the ghost? Who do you think it is?”

Reese opened her mouth to answer but then clamped it shut. She looked over at Paul as he glanced back every few seconds at her.

“Well?” He said.

“I’d rather not say so I don’t influence the outcome of the seance.”

Paul squinted at her. “You know I probably won’t communicate with him, right? He’s lurking around your house, not your mom’s. And I don’t get the feeling he wants to talk with us. We might have no luck at all.”

Reese felt disappointed, but was determined to keep her thoughts to herself until she felt it was the right time to say something. “Do you remember how to get to my mom’s?”

“I just drove from there, Reese. Remember?”

“Oh yeah.” She touched her fingertips to her head. Maybe the bruise was making her ditzy.

“Your mom seems good,” Paul said.

Reese heard his words but they didn’t make much sense to her. “You saw her?”

“Yes. She was excited to have company and started baking muffins. I didn’t tell her, but that will actually be helpful for the séance. I stopped off at a store on the way and picked up candles.”

He still was making no sense to Reese. “Mom’s home?”

“Yeah. Is that okay?”

“I guess. I just haven’t been able to get a hold of her.”

“She said she got back a little while ago. Was on a trip for a few days.

“A trip?” Reese mumbled under her breath.

They pulled into the driveway and before Paul had the car in park, Reese was opening her door.

She went to the front door and walked in. The smell of fresh baked goods permeated the front room. “Mom?” Reese called out.

“We’re in here,” Mrs. Caldwell answered from the kitchen.

She walked through the living room into the kitchen where a pan of blueberry muffins sat on the stove. She baked?

“Mom?” Reese said as she took in the scene.

Gregory and her mother were sitting in chairs pulled close together at the table and both were smiling. Gregory stood and pulled out a chair for Reese.

“Do you want a cup of coffee, dear?” Mrs. Caldwell said as she rose and headed to the coffee pot.

“Where have you been, Mom?” Reese asked. She felt dumbfounded by her mother’s appearance. She looked great. Her hair was washed and brushed out, grays framing her face. Her clothes were old but clean.

“Oh you know.” Mrs. Caldwell reached into the cabinet above the coffee pot and grabbed a mug. Reese was astonished by the neat rows of dishes and glasses in the cabinet.

“Are you okay, Mom?”

Mrs. Caldwell turned and gave her daughter a peculiar look. “What happened to you?” She placed the mug on the counter and walked over to Reese. She brushed the hair away from Reese’s forehead. “Oh dear, that looks painful.”

Reese pulled away. “I’m fine. Nothing serious.”

Paul walked into the kitchen carrying a plastic bag in one hand and a worn black leather satchel in the other. He glanced over to the kitchen table. “That’ll do,” He stated to no one in particular.

As he walked by Mrs. Caldwell he said, “good to see you again.”

She gave him a huge smile and clasped her hands together. “So what is all the secrecy about?”

Paul turned to Reese. He nodded. Reese realized he expected her to break the news of the séance. She looked from Paul to Gregory who had a goofy grin on his face to her mother.

Mrs. Caldwell was still smiling but was now directing her childlike anticipation toward Reese as Paul started to unload his bag. From the corner of her eye, Reese saw him set up a ring of pillar candles in the middle of the table. Gregory watched his movements and Reese saw his face contort from goofiness to concern.

“Mom, you remember Paul is a medium, right?”

“Of course,” she said, her smile spreading wider than Reese thought possible. Mrs. Caldwell turned to the task of pouring a coffee.

“Well, you see, there’s a girl missing and we’re going to try and find her through a séance.”

“Cool,” Gregory said.

Mrs. Caldwell nodded, but Reese saw the smile slip from her face ever so slightly.

“I know this may be difficult for you, but I didn’t plan on involving you. I didn’t think you were home.”

Again Reese’s mother nodded and turned holding the mug in both hands. She walked it to Reese who took it from her. Mrs. Caldwell had a look of mild concern across her face.

“I don’t want to upset you, Mom. We can’t do it at my place. I honestly didn’t think you would be here.”

Mrs. Caldwell walked away from Reese to the kitchen table. She picked up her own mug of coffee and took a sip, all the while looking dazed. Paul stopped setting up the paraphernalia and watched her. “Are you okay, Mrs. Caldwell?”

Reese approached her mother, laying a hand on her arm. “Mom, look at me.”

Mrs. Caldwell obeyed and looked up at her daughter. She gave a tentative smile. “Mom, if this is too much, we’ll take it somewhere else. It’s just that we don’t have a lot of time to find Addie and I’m afraid she might be in a lot of trouble.”

Mrs. Caldwell nodded absentmindedly and walked back to the coffee pot. “Addie? Addie Bennett?”

Reese shot a look at Paul before following her mother. “You’ve heard of her?” It was reasonable her mother may have heard about Addie on the news, not that Reese recalled anything on the television.

Mrs. Caldwell whipped around to face the trio who were staring at her. “You don’t need to perform a séance to find Addie.”

There was silence in the room. Reese was stunned. “Why not?”

“I know where she is,” Mrs. Caldwell answered.