Page 3 of Paper Ghosts

It was clear there was no love lost between Gram and Mrs. Orr, so it was generally accepted that Gram knew a secret about Mrs. Orr and had forced her to accept the position. It was further proof to everyone not to get on Gram’s bad side. No one wanted Mrs. Orr’s job, not even Mrs. Orr herself.

Gram shooed Wills away, saying, “Dinner will be late, since Terrence isn’t arriving until seven. That sandwich will tide you over.” Wills got up and took the sandwich obediently. As she walked up the staircase, Gram called, “And take a nap. You look tired.”

Once upstairs, she parted the wooden strings of beads hanging in her doorway and closed the door behind her. Her friends loved spending time in her room. Wills had all the clothes, jewelry, and records she wanted. She had her own phone, too, so she didn’t have to stretch the cord of the kitchen phone into the butler’s pantry to talk in private, though nothing was ever truly private in the Wester House. Jani liked calling boys from here, but Wills would never risk it herself.

She put the sandwich on her dresser and dropped her books to the floor. Hopping from foot to foot, she took off her boots. She put the Andy Smooth album on her turntable, slipped on her headphones, then sank to the rug in front of the record player.

Lying back, she held the album cover above her and studied it, trying to figure out what it was about this day, this band, this music, that was suddenly making her so melancholy about a life outside Hen Town she had long ago decided not to have.

CHAPTER TWO

She felt someone touch her shoulder and her eyes opened to see Terrence Wester kneeling beside her.

A scratching loop was throbbing through her headphones like a heartbeat. The needle had reached the end of the album while she’d slept, and hadn’t returned to the start. She sat up and pulled the headphones off, then reached over to turn the player off.

Terrence stood and took a step back, giving her space. “I didn’t mean to startle you.”

But she wasn’t startled. His very presence was like waking up in a sunbeam, warm and completely predictable.

“I knocked first. Your grandmother sent me up to get you for dinner.”

“Shit,” Wills said. “Okay. I need to change.”

He nodded and started to leave.

“No, just turn around. If you go downstairs first, she’ll know I wasn’t ready.”

As soon as he faced the door, she took off her gauchos and shirt, then put on a short pink floral dress. “Okay, let’s go,” she said, grabbing the loafers that pinched her toes and leading the way to the staircase.

Gram was seated at the head of the table when they entered the formal dining room. Terrence pulled out Wills’s chair for her, then took a seat beside her.

Gram liked entertaining. The cocktail parties she’d hosted as a young woman were still talked about, how she’d decorated with fringed bunting and served tiny stuffed tomatoes on toothpicks. But Terrence was her only excuse these days. She’d done her job intimidating people a little too well and no one enjoyed themselves when she invited them over now, so she’d eventually stopped.

“Mrs. Orr made frosted meat loaf tonight,” she said with a flourish.

Wills and Terrence exchanged glances. Frosted meat loaf sounded horrible.

Gram reached behind her and took a small, avocado-green plastic box from the sideboard. It contained the Betty Crocker photo recipe cards she got on subscription every month, which she thought was the epitome of elegance. She forced Mrs. Orr to make a different recipe every week for dinner when Terrence visited. It was yet another way Gram brought the outside world to her, because Hen Town had no good restaurants, and certainly no fast food. Wills was going to change that when she inherited the Wester assets. New businesses needed to be allowed here. And new people needed to move here. A kingdom had to be populated, it had to have attractions, otherwise what was the point? Wills would eventually have nothing to rule over if she went by Gram’s playbook.

“Here’s a preview of coming attractions,” Gram said, handing Terrence the recipe card.

Wills leaned over, and she was as relieved as he looked that the photo on the card showed the meat loaf wasn’t actually iced with sugary cake frosting. The square loaf was iced with mashed potatoes, making it look like a crusty white brick.

“That looks fascinating, Alice,” he said, handing the card back to her.

“I hope it will be good. I wish Mrs. Orr were more proficient in the kitchen.”

This was timed just as Mrs. Orr came out of the kitchen with the platter. She set it on the table with a clatter, then left the room without a word.

After dinner, as she usually did, Gram told Wills and Terrence to go for a walk to give them some time alone.

“Another adventurous meal,” Terrence said when they reached the sidewalk and headed east.

Wills laughed. “When Gram is gone, Mrs. Orr will be out of here faster than you can say boo.”

“Do you like to cook?”

Wills thought about it. “I don’t know. I’ve never really tried. But I wish there were more places to eat out here.”