Now it was time for Ezra and Clara to share a look. Clara hadn’t done anything wrong by looking into the files. They were public record; it was her right to see them. But now being faced with this, her actions seemed intrusive somehow. She didn’t exactly want to admit to them. She did want answers though, and she couldn’t very well get those answers by admitting to seeing ghosts.
“I happened to learn about the house’s past,” Clara admitted. “Not just the past with Lyla and Richard, but the past that’s even older than that.”
“Billy’s parents,” Sam replied, a knowing look clearing away the confusion.
“Yeah,” Clara said. “It made us question Billy’s interactions with the family. It must’ve been hard for him, losing the family home like that. Plus, Nathaniel was working for us, so we felt we needed some sort of answers. Just to ensure nothing was amiss.”
“Was?” Sam asked as he looked at Ezra, a silent acknowledgment of their previous conversation.
“Was,” Ezra said. “He no longer works for us because the answers we got weren’t reassuring.”
“Probably for the best,” Brittany said, her eyes full of empathy.
“So, you think he could’ve been a problem?” Clara asked. “Do you think the past still affects him? Do you think it affected Billy?”
Brittany thought this over as she sipped her hot chocolate. “I don’t know either of them well enough to know for sure,” she said. “But I don’t think any of us can really run from the past. Certainly not a past as traumatic as theirs was.
“I’m sure Billy was far more affected by it than Nathaniel is. I always warned Lyla about that. I told her it was odd that he was working for them. I pointed out that it was kind of a risk. Though I’m not sure she ever truly heard me, you know?
“That bed and breakfast belonged to his parents though, parents he watched get murdered. No one can move past that. Not really. I’m sure he put some of that trauma on Nathaniel too. I’m sure there was at least some pressure on Nathaniel to one day buy the property and restore it under the family name if his father couldn’t do so in his lifetime.
“I don’t know how Nathaniel has reacted to everything. Like I said, I don’t know him well. But I do think it’s safest that he isn’t working for you anymore. Just in case.”
“I agree,” Clara said.
Though she worried their troubles with Nathaniel weren’t over. Sure, he wasn’t working for them anymore. But there was a chance he was angry at them for what they said. He was probably furious they were able to buy the property and he wasn’t. Clara wouldn’t have been surprised if he lashed out in revenge, and she was terrified of the consequences.
41
“So, where do we go from here?” Clara asked as she sat across from Ezra at the table the next morning. Their afternoon with Brittany and Sam had gone even better than they hoped for. They’d made plans and made friends. It was the break they needed.
Now they were back home. They were back in their haunted house and it seemed like their lives could be in danger. Neither of them knew what to do about it, though they knew something needed to be done. No one had taught them how to deal with this kind of thing and they didn’t know where to start.
“I don’t know,” Ezra admitted. “Nathaniel’s gone at least, so we don’t have to worry about that anymore.” It still bothered him a little, but especially after talking to Brittany and Sam, he knew it was for the best.
“But he could come back,” Clara pointed out. “He could come back angrier than ever because of what happened. I’m grateful he’s not in our house anymore, but we can’t completely write him off as a possible threat. Plus, we need to figure out who murdered Lyla, Richard, Olivia, and Kyle. It’s probably the only way to rid our house of ghosts, and it’s only fair to them.”
“I agree, but what can we really do about it right now? We do have the opening coming up soon, and we need to get this place ready. We have more work to do now that we have no outside help.”
“So, what are you suggesting?”
“I don’t know.” Ezra shrugged, then downed the rest of his coffee. As the sun reached in through the window to say good morning, it was difficult to even think of ghosts, murder, and secrets. Everything was too bright and beautiful. This was their dream. Ezra just wanted to live it.
“I think maybe we should go back to what we were doing,” he said. “We don’t know the area or the people well enough to solve their murder right now. And we personally haven’t been threatened by anyone. Nothing bad has happened to us.
“We suspect Billy killed the family. If he did, he’s dead too. I know it’s still important to prove it, to clear their names and maybe even figure out if Nathaniel does have any knowledge of it. It’d be nice to know if he…” This was the hardest part for Ezra. He still couldn’t fully come to terms with it. “It’d be nice to know if he wants us out of the picture.
“But I suspect that the longer we’re here, the easier it’ll be to find answers. I’ll be a lot easier at the opening too. People will be here, probably discussing what
