A Ghost of a Clue Read online

  “A bit different. But you’d have to have your parents’ permission to come.”

  “Okay, sure.” They all shrugged as if it were no problem.

  “Don’t be too quick. What I’m inviting you to is a Dumb Supper.”

  Travis raised a brow, but the kids just looked confused. Amber looked at her as if she wanted to say something but wasn’t sure she should. Finally she leaned over to Travis and whispered.

  “Should she really be saying something like that, Mr. Reed? I mean, I can’t ask my mom to go to a dumb supper. She’s going to think I’m being mean, and I’ll get in trouble.”

  Travis struggled to hide the grin. “It’s okay, Amber. It’s an old-fashioned term, and at the time it was used, it simply meant someone who didn’t speak.”

  “Didn’t speak? Cause they were dumb?” Michael stared at her.

  “Still doesn’t sound nice.” Amber folded her arms over her chest and glared at Rory.

  Rory held up her hands. “I mean no offense, Amber. A Dumb Supper is an old tradition in my religion. You know what holiday it is in a couple of weeks, right?”

  “Sure.”

  They all nodded.

  “It’s Halloween.”

  Justin looked at the other two as if to say, well, duh.

  Rory nodded. “Yes, it’s Halloween, or All Hallows Eve, which is an old name for it.”

  “Like Harry Potter, huh?” Michael smiled as if he finally understood the conversation. “Like the Deathly Hallows.”

  This time Travis didn’t keep the grin off his face. He appeared to be having way too much fun watching Rory try to explain what she meant to the kids. Probably he was just enjoying watching someone else do what he did five days a week, she thought.

  “Well, sort of. There’s another name for Halloween, an even older name that’s used in my religion. It’s Samhain.”

  “Your religion celebrates Halloween? Cool.”

  Rory could tell she had just gone way up in Michael’s estimation at least. The jury was still out on Justin and Amber. Justin looked confused, and Amber was still frowning at her like she’d said a bad word.

  “Yes, we celebrate Halloween, but we do it in a little different way. When Wiccans celebrate Samhain, some of us hold what’s called a Dumb Supper. It’s a meal where everyone there is given a plate of food, even those people who are only there in spirit.”

  “You mean as ghosts? It’s a ghost supper?” Amber looked like she didn’t believe her.

  Rory laughed. “Sort of. Wiccans believe that the veil between this world, the world of the living, and the next world, the world people go to when they die, is thinner at Samhain than at other times of the year. What that means to us is that those we love who have passed on through that veil, those who have died, can communicate with us more easily at Samhain than at other times of the year. So we set a place for them at the table and invite them to sit and eat with us once more. The dumb part means that there is no talking during the meal. Talking sometimes frightens away ghosts, as you know from your ghost hunting. So we sit there without talking, or dumb.”

  She noticed Amber’s continued frown and rushed on. “Dumb, a long time ago, didn’t mean stupid. It meant not able to talk. Since we are not able to talk during this meal, we call it a Dumb Supper.”

  Amber’s frown had disappeared so Rory thought she might have gotten through.

  “That’s what I’m having on Halloween, and you’re all welcome to come and join me.” She looked pointedly at Travis. “All of you.”

  “I don’t know.” Michael shook his head. “I usually take my brother and sister trick-or-treating. I’d like to come, but I can’t miss that.”

  Rory smiled. “We can start the supper later if it’s all right with your parents. You can do your usual Halloween stuff, and we’ll meet around 8:30.”

  “Cool.” Michael’s face split into a grin. “That would be awesome.”

  “I can pick you guys up at the school again.” Travis glanced over at her. “Meet me about 8:15, and you can tell your folks I’ll have you home by ten.”

  “Awesome!” They all high-fived each other and ran off down the pier, throwing a “thanks, Ms. DuMont” back over their shoulders as they bumped their way through the crowd.

  “Living dangerously these days, are you, Mr. Reed?” Rory looked up at him as he took her hand once again.

  “Not at all. Just doing my part for the advancement of science.”

  “Two ghost hunts in one month. I don’t know. If you keep this up, Jane Harvitz is going to be offering to sign you up as Lobster Cove’s newest member of the Ghost Hunting Society.”

  Travis shuddered. “Don’t even joke about something like that. I spent far too many nights as a kid listening to my parents and their friends arguing the finer points of astral travel and angelic spirit guides. Believe me, it sounded far more complicated than astrophysics.”

  “So you opted for the easy way out, is that it?”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “Yet here you are with me.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “Doesn’t that make you wonder?”

  “I always wonder about things.”

  “But I mean, shouldn’t it make you wonder if being with me is the right thing for you?”

  He stopped, tugging her hand until she turned to face him. “Rory, wondering is a good thing, a useful thing. But if all you do is wonder, it doesn’t give you any answers.”

  She gave him a quizzical look and he laughed.

  “You can spend your whole life wondering about stuff, about how something might fit or work out or come to be and that’s good, that’s a start. But it’s only creating your hypothesis. If you never experiment, you will never know if what you wonder is true. You have to try it on, check it out, walk around in it a while to see how it fits.”

  “And that’s what we’re doing now?”

  “Didn’t you come all the way out here to try on Lobster Cove? It wasn’t just your aunt’s cottage that brought you here. If you didn’t like the rest of it, you wouldn’t stay. The cottage was the initial step, but you’ve taken it further. You’re getting out, getting to know people, trying this town on to see how it fits.”

  “Okay, I can follow that. So you’re spending time with me to try me on and see if I fit.”

  He gave her a wicked smile, and she turned red as she realized how her words sounded. Oh great, she thought, now I not only look crazy, I look needy.

  “Let me rephrase that.”

  “No, that’s okay. I think I got the gist of it. Look, Rory, let’s try this on. We have some differences. One of the things my parents talked about endlessly that I didn’t step away from was the beauty of diversity. Being different isn’t the same as being incompatible. So let’s take this one step at a time and see how it goes.” He grinned at her. “You might just find we fit better than you think.”

  Chapter Six

  It was late when they got back to the cottage. Rory’s feet hurt, her stomach felt like it would explode and she was happier than she’d been in a very long time. Spending the day with Travis had been more fun than she expected and more eye-opening. It had been like examining him in his natural habitat. The conclusion was an easy one. People liked him. It was interesting to stand back and observe as he interacted with the parents of his students and with the students themselves. His easy manner was the same with the adults as it was with his kids. Watching him, Rory realized that he just liked people, and they liked him. He joked with them, complimented their kids, and gave them something to feel good about. She thought that probably didn’t happen often to parents of middle school kids. Being rotten was often what they did best.

  As he pushed open her door, Rory felt a strange current of energy hit her. All of her instincts told her it was ghostly energy, but she saw nothing. There was an odd tinge to the energy, not malevolent, or at least not entirely. But it carried a great deal of chaotic energy, sad and lonely and filled with a violent hue that
streaked it with a taste of melancholy. Rory braced a hand on the doorframe as she stumbled through the door. Travis glanced down at her.

  “Sleepy?”

  “No.” Rory shook her head, shoving the ghostly energy away for the moment. The day had been too perfect, too much fun to delve into that kind of melancholy now. “More worn out than sleepy. And content.”

  “Ah, so that’s what that look is. I was afraid I might have bored you with all the talk about the oceanic studies.”

  “No, I enjoyed listening to you. The work you’re doing is fascinating.”

  “I wish more of my students thought so.”

  “You’re planting a seed. It’ll just take time for it to grow.”

  “Now you sound like those teacher magazines.”

  Feeling very bold, she stood up on tiptoes and kissed him on the cheek. “Thank you for a wonderful day.” She stepped back and smiled at the surprise on his face.

  He pulled her back to him and kissed her back but it wasn’t a simple, friendly one. It was a kiss that promised more, and it made her head spin. When he let her go it was all she could do to not go “wow.”

  “You’re very welcome, Ms. DuMont. Believe me, it was my pleasure.”

  Well, that certainly put a cap on the weary feeling, she thought. Rory felt the heat on her face and decided she’d better put her packages down before they ended up on the floor. She dropped them on the overstuffed sofa then plopped down herself. As she leaned her head back against the soft cushion she groaned.

  “Okay, now that I’ve sat down I’m feeling the burn. We did a lot of walking today. My muscles are now reminding me of the dangers of spending too much time hunched over my computer and not enough time stretching them out.”

  Travis dropped down onto the floor beside the sofa. “Come here.”

  He spread out his long legs, and Rory felt her mouth go dry. The last traces of fatigue vanished to be replaced by need, hot and heavy. He patted his knees. Rory arched a brow at him.

  “Excuse me?”

  Travis pointed to the spot on the floor in front of him. “Have a seat. You’re about to receive the benefit of my mother’s lifelong training in healing massage. I’m going to show your muscles they’ve got nothing to worry about so long as you have me around.”

  What about the rest of me? Rory wondered. His words had some other parts of her body clamoring for attention as well. Just the sight of him sitting there, like an offering of male sexuality laid out specifically for her, stirred up a hornet’s nest of desire in every part of her body.

  Ignoring the protests of her little inner voice, which was getting on her nerves more and more these days, Rory sank down between Travis’ knees and leaned her head back against his chest. Surrounded by him, inhaling his scent, made her dizzy with the desire for more. He leaned over and kissed her.

  “Just put yourself in my hands, Rory. Put your worries aside for now and let me make things better.”

  “Uh-huh.” She almost whimpered as he started kneading her shoulders. “Who knew someone so dedicated to logic and reason could have such magical fingers.”

  “Nothing to do with magic. Everything to do with biology.”

  “Less talk, more action, Teacher Man.”

  He chuckled. “Your call, Ms. DuMont. I aim to please.”

  “Then aim right here, please.” Rory leaned forward and rubbed a hand along the back of her neck.

  “Ah, in time.” Travis pushed her head back down as his fingers slid up to tangle in her hair. “Tonight you get the full treatment.”

  His strong fingers flexed in her hair, warm and steady, filling her with a heat that spread through her tired body. Rory bit her lip as he rubbed her temples, willing herself to let go of the worry, let go of the fear and let things be. She listened to his breath, a steady sure sound that both calmed and stirred her. Travis was here right now, she told her inner voice. He was beside her, touching her, heating her with passion. Tonight, she thought, that was enough. Tomorrow could be worried about later.

  She melted back against him as his hands made slow, soothing circles around her neck and shoulders. At first he was gentle, but as she relaxed against his chest, his hands became firmer, stroking up and around her shoulders before moving lower. Rory let out a soft sigh as his fingers dipped beneath the top of her blouse, scraping her sensitized skin with the rough pads of his fingertips.

  “Umm…” Rory felt herself slip into the rhythmic movements of his hands, hypnotized by the feel of his palms kneading her muscles. “This is something your mother taught you?”

  “I’ve added a few techniques of my own.”

  “I’ll say.”

  Time slid away as she gave herself over to the feel of him stroking her. She let go of any thought but pleasure as she sat there, her mind doing a slow blur into a hazy world of sensual pleasure. The more his touch moved along her skin, the more she stretched out to give him other places to touch. He leaned over, and she shivered at the sensation of his hot breath on her skin. Keeping his hands moving, his fingers touching her sensitive spots, he pressed his lips to her neck, letting his tongue linger as he tasted her with slow, soft kisses.

  He took her by the shoulders, urging her to turn and face him. Rory scooted around. Travis lifted her legs, placing one on each of his thighs. It was a surprisingly intimate position, Rory thought, one that put her in a good position to see the bulge in his jeans. Need and want and tenderness stirred up in her, and she found she wanted to take him inside her, to fill herself with him and give him all of her. Rory wasn’t a virgin, but she always struggled with turning off her brain and letting the passion overwhelm her. Her previous relationships had had more going for them out of the bedroom than in. Worrying about the outcome generally had her measuring each move before she made it. This was the first time in her memory that placing herself in such an intimate situation didn’t fill her with nervousness but instead flooded her with sheer unadulterated lust. Her mind actually let go of control and allowed her to be swept up in the passion of the moment. And let her participate in it. She wanted to rip his clothes off, to lean forward and take a bite out of him, and to love him with a tenderness she hadn’t realized she possessed.

  She couldn’t take her eyes off his face, watching every expression that flitted across it as his fingers opened the buttons on her blouse one by one. The look of wonder in his eyes as the silk slid off her shoulders and fell to the floor, exposing her to his gaze, made the hunger inside her grow to a burning that fought to get out, to take control, to take what it wanted. To take him and make him her own.

  Slowly Travis laid her back onto the floor, murmuring to her how beautiful she was as he did. His gaze roamed up and down the length of her, the desire filling those wild blue eyes exciting her on every level. For a moment she thought she could get lost in them, knew she would willingly jump into the passion they offered and go wherever the night took her. He was a man of such curiosity, and tonight she planned to let him do all the exploring he wanted. Tonight she understood the sensual side of that trait.

  Travis leaned over her, and she smelled the ocean on him as he smoothed the rug out around her.

  She wanted him close to her, weighting her down with his long lean body. Her fingers slipped under his t-shirt and stroked the hard muscles of his chest. His scent combined with the feel of his hot skin beneath her palms sent her senses into overload. She wanted to say something, but she wasn’t certain her voice could form words anymore. All of her body had been reduced to its primal essence, to need straining to be filled, to be satisfied. Something about being on Aunt Lorena’s rug with her body bared to the waist and her very own Viking warrior making her writhe beneath him had stolen the very breath out of her.

  His fingers traced an expert line of desire down her belly to reach for the snap of her jeans.

  “You’ve done this before,” she whispered.

  He grinned, his fingers skimming below the band to slide along her hip. “All practice for now
.”

  He covered her mouth with his own as his curious fingers splayed across her skin, and she bit back a moan. Rory let her head fall back as his hands slid her jeans and panties down to her knees. Before she could gasp he was cupping her, smoothing his rough palm over her mound in a motion that made her gasp. A look of pure male arrogance crossed his face at the sound. Then he thrust a finger inside her, and her mind left the room completely. The only thing left to do was to ride the current of the orgasm. When the waves of pleasure subsided, she looked up at a one very pleased man.

  “Come here,” she said, in perfect imitation of his invitation.

  With a growl of frustrated need, she tugged at his shirt, and he obliged her by pulling it over his head. She wanted to lick him, bite him, have him cover her with all that hot muscle and take her on the wild ride those blue eyes promised. Sex wasn’t foreign to her, but the feeling of being completely uninhibited with a naked man was. As the welcome sensation of pure pleasure rolled over her again, making her hot and needy beneath him, she hardly noticed him ridding her of the rest of her clothes. Her only thought was to get him out of the rest of his. Then her focus became a blur as he stroked her, tasted her, and growled with pure pleasure at the moans she couldn’t hold back. Each new touch made her cry out for more even as he gave her so much sensual pleasure she thought she might explode from it. For a moment he held himself over her, as if commanding her complete attention. She might have told him he had it, but what came out of her mouth sounded more like a growl. Then he thrust inside her, fast and hard, in and out in the ancient rhythm of sex, building the flow of pure energy between them until she knew they would explode, couldn’t help but explode from the power surging within their joined bodies. When the wave hit them, they rode it until it left them both spent and satisfied.

  Rory was the first to get her breath back under control though it took far longer than it ever had before. Travis had shifted his weight off of her, but he lay with his eyes still closed, breathing heavily. It made Rory smile and made her feel a bit proud. I did that to him, she thought, with a mental pat on the back. When he finally rolled over beside her, curling her under his shoulder, she couldn’t stop the smirk.