And why did she care?
Men. She shook her head and sipped more wine. Why was she thinking of men?
Because, she realized with a half laugh, she had no one to share those sexy toes with. No one to touch her as she liked to be touched, to thrill her. To hold her in the night.
She'd done without those things, and was content. But every now and again, she missed having someone. And maybe she was missing it now, she admitted, because she'd spent an hour talking with an attractive man.
When the water turned tepid, she got out. She was humming as she dried off, creamed her skin, performed her nightly ritual with her moisturizer. Wrapped in her robe, she started into her bedroom.
She felt the chill even before she saw the figure standing in front of her terrace doors.
Not Stella, not this time. The Harper Bride stood in her simple gray gown, her bright hair in a crown of curls.
Roz had to swallow once, then she spoke easily. "It's been some time since you've come to see me. I know I'm not pregnant, so that can't be it. Amelia? Is that your name?"
There was no answer, nor had she expected one. But the Bride smiled, just a brief shadow of a smile, then faded away.
"Well. " Standing, Roz rubbed the warmth back into her arms. "I guess I'll assume that's your way of letting me know you approve that we're getting back to work. "
She went back to the sitting room and took a calendar she'd begun keeping over the last winter out of her desk. She noted down the sighting on the day's date.
Dr. Carnegie, she assumed, would be pleased she was keeping a record.
Chapter Three
HE'D NEVER BEEN much of a gardener. Then again, he'd lived in apartments most of his life. Still, he liked the look of plants and flowers, and had an admiration for those who knew what to do with them.
Rosalind Harper obviously knew what to do with them.
He'd seen some of the gardens on her estate this past June. But even their graceful beauty had paled next to his encounter with the Harper Bride. He'd always believed in the spirit of a person. Why else would he be so drawn to histories, to genealogies, to all those roots and branches of family trees? He believed that spirit could, and did, have influence and impact for generations, potentially centuries.
But he'd never believed in the tangibility, the physical presence of that spirit.
He knew better now.
It was difficult for someone with Mitch's academic bent to rationalize, then absorb, something as fanciful as ghosts.
But he'd felt and he'd seen. He'd experienced, and there was no denying facts.
So now he was caught up. He could admit it. With his book finally put to bed, he could pour his energies and his time, his skills, into identifying the spirit that had - purportedly - walked the halls of Harper House for more than a century.
A few legalities to get out of the way, then he could dive in.
He turned into the parking area of In the Garden.
Interesting, he thought, that a place that certainly had its prime in spring and summer could look so attractive, so welcoming as December clicked away.
The sky was heavy with clouds that would surely bring a cold, ugly rain before it was done. Still there were things growing. He had no clue what they were, but they looked appealing. Rusty red bushes, lush evergreens with fat berries, silvery green leaves, brightly painted pansies. At least he recognized a pansy when he saw one.
There were industrious-looking piles of material - material he assumed one would need for gardening or landscaping. Long tables on the side that held plants he assumed could handle the chill, a small forest of trees and shrubs.
The low-slung building was fronted with a porch. He saw poinsettias and a small, trim Christmas tree strung with lights.
There were other cars in the lot. He watched a couple of men load a tree with a huge burlapped ball into the back of a truck. And a woman wheel out a red wagon loaded with poinsettias and shopping bags.
He walked up the ramp, crossed the porch to go inside.
There were a lot of wares, he noted. More than he'd expected. Pots, decorative garden stakes, tabletop trees already decorated, books, seeds, tools. Some were put together in gift baskets. Clever idea.