The Write Dream (Storage Ghosts) (5 page)

It
looked like Andrew felt the same. He marched over to Grace and pointed at her.
“What are you doing here? Spreading more lies about my mum?” He turned to
Sharon and said, “Just wait til you hear what she’s been saying.”

Chapter 10

Grace
didn’t know where to look as Andrew told Sharon about the notebooks. She
glanced at Marie but couldn’t read her expression, it was as if Marie couldn’t
decide what to think.

Andrew
said, “But the other things in the storage locker couldn’t have belonged to
mum, could they? You told me that everything had been lost.”

Grace
shot a look at Sharon expecting to see daggers of hate heading her away.

Sharon’s
calm composure was shaken, she fiddled nervously with her necklace. She turned
to Grace and said, “Tell me exactly where this storage locker was.”

Grace
did so.

Was
it her imagination or did Sharon quickly gulp?

Sharon
let go of her necklace and suddenly clicked her fingers. “It must be those
removal men! They must have put the boxes in there. I knew they were a shifty
bunch and they smelled funny. That’s exactly what must have happened! I should
sue them.”

Sharon
looked brightly around at everyone to see if they were taking in her words. She
pointed at Brian, “Didn’t I say they were shifty? Didn’t I?”

Brian
frowned slightly. “I don’t quite remember that, my love, but you know best.
Although I don’t know why you hired removal men, I could have moved everything
from Marie’s house to ours.”

Sharon
gave him a dismissive look. She turned her attention to Andrew. “I’m sorry you
had to find out about your mum’s things like this, it broke my heart when I
heard about them going missing.”

She
clicked her fingers at Grace and said, “Give the items back, they don’t belong
to you. Go and get them now, it’s the least you can do.”

Heat
flushed through Grace. In a cold voice she said, “Please don’t click your
fingers at me. Legally, the items do belong to me. Although I could find out
who was paying for the storage unit, if you’re in the mood for suing someone.”

Sharon
waved her hand angrily. “What’s the point now? Can’t you just give the things
to Andrew? You can see how upset he is. I think you’re being extremely
selfish.”

Grace
narrowed her eyes at Sharon. There was something going on here, Sharon wasn’t
telling them the truth.

Marie
said to Grace. “Ask her if there was anything left of mine, perhaps some small
items of jewellery that she didn’t trust the removal men with.”

Grace
repeated the question.

Andrew
looked hopefully at his aunt. “Do you think you forgot about something? You
spent a lot of time in Mum’s bedroom after she died.”

Sharon
exploded. “Are you accusing me of stealing? Of keeping your mum’s precious
things from you?”

Andrew
moved forward, a pained look on his face. “No! Of course not, I’m sorry I
asked.”

Brian
put his arm around Sharon and said, “Come on, love, don’t get upset. Why don’t
you close up for the day, I’ll take Andrew to the CCTV job, it’ll be good
training.”

Sharon’s
lip wobbled, she tried to give Brian a brave smile.

Grace
almost felt like clapping her performance. Why couldn’t Andrew and Brian see
through her?

Sharon
sniffed and said, “I can manage, there’s only a few hours left. You two go.”

Brian
gave her a look of total admiration. He planted a kiss of her powdered cheek.
Grace didn’t miss Sharon’s look of disgust as he did so.

Andrew
didn’t say anything. He kept his eyes down as he followed his uncle out of the
shop.

The
second they were gone Sharon turned a vicious look on Grace. She snarled, “Get
out of my shop, don’t ever contact us again. I know where you live and I know
how bad your locks are!”

Grace’s
eyes widened. Was this over made up woman threatening her? Grace had been
threatened by worse than her. She’d even had a gun held to her temple by a
nasty thug of a man.

Grace
kept her voice calm as she said, “I don’t respond to threats. I know you’re up
to something and I’m going to find out what it is.”

Sharon
looked her up and down, she curled her lips. Grace could almost see the venom
dripping from her mouth. “What’s it got to do with you?”

Grace
leant forward. “I’m a friend of Andrew’s mum. She wanted the best for her son,
I’m going to see that he gets the life he deserves. Goodbye, I won’t be buying
your deluxe package.”

Grace
left the shop without a backward glance. She took a deep breath when she got
outside.

Marie
grinned at her and said, “You were magnificent, standing up to her like that. I
think I’ve just seen the true side of Sharon, and it’s ugly. She’s definitely
lying about my things.”

Grace
began to walk away from the shop. She checked around to make sure no one was
looking at her. She didn’t want people to see her talking to herself. She said,
“How do you know?”

Marie
said, “Did you notice that necklace she was fiddling with? It was mine. My
husband bought it for me on our honeymoon, he had it specially made at a shop
in Paris. I’d recognise it anywhere. I never wore it after he died. Andrew
wouldn’t recognise it, I’m surprised Brian didn’t though.”

“Men
don’t notice jewellery much. He seems quite blinded by Sharon, and so does
Andrew. What are we going to do?”

They
walked in silence for a minute.

Grace
nearly jumped out of her skin as Andrew walked out of a side street. He put his
hand up and said, “I’m sorry about Auntie Sharon, she’s got a bit of a temper.
And I’m sorry I didn’t believe you about Mum’s things. Do you think I could buy
the items from you?”

Grace
gave him a kind look and softly said, “I’m really sorry but the items have been
sold. It’s my fault, I should have hidden them away from my brother. I’ve still
got your notebooks, you can have them.”

Andrew
sighed and looked at the ground. When he looked up his eyes glittered. “I’d
love to be a published writer but it’s never going to happen. I’ve got this job
now, I can’t let Auntie Sharon down.”

He
walked swiftly away.

Grace
and Marie watched him.

Marie
said, “What power has Sharon got over him? Why is she controlling his life?”

Grace
gave a slow shake of her head. “I don’t know but I’m going to find out.”

Chapter 11

Grace
headed back to her house. She couldn’t get Andrew’s face out of her mind, he’d
looked so defeated, as if his life had been sorted out for him. She had to do
something.

When
she got home she switched on her computer and went online. She typed in a
subject and was amazed at how much information came up.

Marie
sat down at her side. “What are you looking at? Have you got a plan to help
Andrew?”

Grace
pointed to the screen. “He wants to be a writer, doesn’t he? Look at this, he
can self publish his stories. He doesn’t have to wait for a publisher to decide
if he’s good enough.”

“But
doesn’t he need to go to university? Get a writing degree or something?” Marie
asked.

“Only
if he wants to. Look at some of these bestsellers. I’ll click on their
websites. See, some of them are doing other jobs and writing part time. Andrew
could do. But look at this one, this author has given up work and is a full
time writer. The internet is making anything possible. Andrew could try
publishing his story himself.”

“But
he won’t, will he? He’s convinced that he has to work for Sharon, for some
reason.”

Grace
looked at Marie, she gave her a small smile and said, “We’ll have to convince
Andrew that he can become a published author easily.”

Marie
frowned. “How can we do that? We can’t force him to write.”

Grace
turned back to the screen and clicked on a website that she’d found. She moved
to one side so Marie could read it.

Marie
did so, her hand flew to her mouth. “Are you suggesting that we ...?”

Grace
pressed her lips together and nodded. She said, “Desperate times call for
desperate measures. This could work out wonderfully well, or, he could sue me.
What do you think? Should we do it?”

Marie
considered the matter for a moment. “What have we got to lose? I can’t let
things carry on as they are. I’m giving you my parental permission.”

Grace
raised her eyebrows. Did parental permission from a deceased parent count? Oh
well, she was going to do it anyway. She had a feeling it was the right thing
to do.

“Which
story are you going to use?” Marie asked.

“The
last one,” Grace said in a definite voice. “If things work out well then he can
write more. Now, I don’t know how long this will take, I’m not a fast typist.”

“I
can dictate, if you like,” Marie offered.

“Good
idea, thanks.”

Grace
listened to Marie as she read out Andrew’s story. She typed it on to the screen
and saved it. She then followed the instructions on the website and uploaded
the document.

“Here
goes,” she said. She pressed the publish button. A feeling of panic shot
through her as she realised what she’d done. She hoped Andrew would understand.

Grace
stood up and stretched her aching body. “Time for a cup of tea. I wish I could
offer you one, Marie.”

“I
wish I could take one!”

Grace
turned to the kitchen. Her phone rang.

It
was Frankie.

“Hi,
you know those boxes from that locker,” he started.

Marie’s
boxes?

“Yes,”
Grace answered.

“You
seemed upset that I’d sold everything so I had a good look in the corners of
the boxes, to see if there was anything stuck there.”

“Yes,”
Grace said again. A bubble of hope was rising in her tummy.

“I
think I might have found something. It’s a necklace made of pasta. It’s like
something that a child might make. Do you want it? If you don’t I’ll fling it
into the rubbish.”

“No!”
Grace gripped the phone. “Don’t do anything with it, I’m coming over now.”

“Alright,
no need to shout, I’m not deaf. I might be now though,” Frankie grumbled.

Grace
ended the call and turned to Marie. “Did you ever own a necklace made from
pasta?”

Marie
stared at her, her mouth dropped slightly. “I did. Andrew made it for me when
he was five. He made it for Mother’s Day. I wore it on special occasions. Has
your brother found it? Has a miracle occurred? Tell me, Grace!”

Grace
laughed. “Yes! Frankie said he’s found something. I really hope it’s the same
necklace.”

Marie
whooshed over to the door. “What are we waiting for?”

Grace’s
knees buckled slightly. She’d never seen a ghost do that, move without walking.
She’d almost forgotten that Marie was a ghost.

She
looked away from Marie and grabbed her handbag and coat. By the time she’d
turned back her heartbeat had slowed to a normal pace.

They
left the house and caught the bus to the shop. Marie sat at Grace’s side,
leaning forwards as if willing the bus to go faster.

Grace
crossed her fingers. She really hoped it was Marie’s necklace. She’d love to
give it to Andrew. It might set in her good stead for when she told him what
she’d done with his work.

Chapter 12

Frankie
was waiting for Grace. He dangled the necklace from his finger. “This is it.
You can see a child has made it, it’s rubbish. I could have done better.”

Grace
ignored his tactless comment and hoped that Marie was doing the same. She
carefully took the necklace as if it was made of delicate gold thread.

Grace
felt a coldness on her shoulder and knew Marie was right behind her. Marie said
solemnly, “It’s my necklace. Oh, Grace, it’s making my heart hurt. I didn’t
think it could hurt anymore.”

Grace
spoke to Frankie but her words were directed at Marie. “I think we need to get
this to the rightful owner.”

“How
do you know who it belongs to?” Frankie asked.

“Erm...”
Grace began.

Frankie
clicked his fingers. “Never mind that, I’ve got to tell you something. It’ll
put your mind at rest.”

“What?
I didn’t know my mind wasn’t at rest,” Grace said.

Frankie
gave her a look as if to say he knew better. “Wait til you hear what I’ve
done.”

Grace
didn’t want to hear. She’d seen that look many times, it was never followed by
good news.

Frankie
grinned at her and opened his mouth. His phone rang. He held up a finger to
Grace. “Hang on.”