Lucky Stars (Ghosts and Reincarnation #5)(97)
Author: Kristen Ashley

“Jack, I don’t think –”

“Belle, love, we need to talk about this.”

“But, you –”

“Tell me, poppet, say it fast then it’ll be over,” he encouraged.

“But –”

His arm tensed and she stopped speaking, “Belle, tell me, I need to know.”

She gazed at him a minute, her cloudy eyes dark then she closed them tight, opened them and whispered, “I don’t want to tell you because you aren’t going to believe me.”

It was then, his body tensed.

He forced himself to relax and asked, “Why wouldn’t I?”

She shook her head and in return Jack gently shook her.

“Belle, whatever happened, I’ll believe you.”

She wet her lips nervously before she asked, “You will?”

“Yes, I will,” he replied firmly.

He watched her swallow then she said, “It’s going to sound daft.”

“It won’t sound daft.”

Her eyes moved from his to his shoulder then his ear and he watched as she came to a decision before she nodded. Her gaze finally came to rest on his and she spoke.

“Okay, you need to know.” He nodded in encouragement and she continued, “I’d just got off the phone with you. I was hungry and I told the dogs we were going to see about dinner.” She stopped talking and Jack’s fingers released her hair but slid through its length, coming back to slide through again and he felt her relax against him as she went on, “I was walking down the hall. I was preoccupied, the dogs were with me and then, all of a sudden…” she paused again and took in a breath but didn’t continue.

“Go on, poppet,” Jack urged, still stroking her hair as his other hand started to draw circles on the small of her back.

She nodded again and whispered, “I was at the top of the stairs. The dogs, they had pressed close to my legs and for some reason, they started to growl.” Jack stopped his hands stroking and circling and he wrapped his arms around her as she carried on in a barely there whisper, “It was strange. I started to ask them what was wrong but I saw…”

When she seemed to falter, Jack pressed gently, “Keep going, love.”

She shook her head but, her eyes locked on his, she said in a rush, “I saw movement on the stairs. It was Lewis. He was drifting up the stairs toward me. He was going so fast, Jack, so very fast. I could tell right away something was wrong.”

Jack’s arms convulsed but she kept talking.

“He stopped and shouted at me. I don’t remember what he said but I remember that he knew my name. He shouted my name and then…” Jack felt her body begin to tremble and her hand moved up, her fingers curled around his shoulder, digging in, holding on. “Jack, I swear, I felt a hand in my back and it pushed.” Tears came to her eyes and she whispered, “It pushed me down the stairs.”

Jack’s arms spasmodically tightened and it took effort to loosen his hold.

“Do you believe me?” she asked softly, the tears still shimmering in her eyes.

“Of course I do, love,” he replied absently, his thoughts on Angus’s words, that a ghost couldn’t touch a human which meant, if Belle had been pushed, someone had pushed her. “Did you see someone there?” Jack asked.

She shook her head. “I didn’t get the chance to look.”

“The dogs, you said they were growling. Do you think they saw Lewis?”

Belle kept shaking her head. “Lewis was in front of me but when I glanced down at the dogs, they were looking behind us.”

“Did you feel anything?” Jack enquired.

Her face turned from fearful to confused and her head tilted to the side before she asked, “Feel anything? You mean the hand in my back?”

“No. Anything else. Did you feel anything?” Jack repeated, “Hear anything? A presence. Did you sense someone there?”

She shook her head. “No, nothing. But the dogs did and I think Lewis saw something.”

“You didn’t hear footsteps, sense someone moving behind you?”

She kept shaking her head. “Nothing. But my mind was somewhere else. I just woke up from a nap and had talked to you and…” She stopped and her eyes slid to his ear.

“Belle, love, look at me,” Jack commanded gently and after a long moment, when her gaze finally moved to his, he urged, “And what?”

“And the baby,” she whispered and his chest, which had relaxed, got tight again at her mentioning their child. “I was talking to the baby about you, before you called. And, when I was walking down the hall, I was thinking about dinner and you and wondering how long it would take for you to get home…”

At those words, instantly, the tightness in his chest released and he cupped the back of Belle’s head and pulled her face close to his throat.

She resisted but only a little before her body relaxed into his.

When it did, Jack asked, “What were you saying to the baby about me?”

He was gratified to feel her nuzzle closer, pressing her forehead against his jaw as her fingers clenched his shoulder. “Just telling him that you were right. I’d met Cassandra and Angus that evening and they were so strange. I was telling the baby you were right about it not going back to normal and boring.”

“I was right, my love, things are definitely still not normal and boring and, with those two and your father in the house, I fear things will not be normal and boring for some time.”

Her body tensed then eased and he couldn’t believe his ears when she let out a short, strangled giggle.

His arms clutched her even closer and he was beyond thrilled when she didn’t resist but, instead, melted.

After several long, satisfying moments, Belle shared on a whisper, “I know you’re going to think I’m even crazier, but, Jack, I’m scared of the stairs.”

“That isn’t crazy, Belle, not after what happened.”

Her fingers pressed into his shoulder and she cuddled even closer. “Okay, but, this is even crazier,” she pressed ever closer and admitted, “Jack, I think there might be something in this house that wants to hurt me.”

He rolled to his side, taking her with him and he placed his fist under her chin and tipped it up so he could look in her eyes. They were still stormy with worry but the tempest had subsided.

“Tomorrow, we’ll talk to Angus and Cassandra.”

She tilted her head into the pillow and, seeing it and loving it when she did that, Jack couldn’t stop his smile.