She hurried up the stairs and disappeared into the cabin, reappearing almost as quickly, jingling a ring of keys in the air. “Let’s go.”
He wished he could offer her his arm as they walked. Since he couldn’t, he focused on her warmth, and reveled in the soft glow of her aura. “Meredith, do all ghosts see the auras of the living?”
“That was random.” She laughed. “I take it you do?”
“Aye, and yours is beautiful. You wear an overall halo of rainbow colors where most people give off one, maybe two shades. I suspect the color and intensity depend upon mood or energy level. After you helped Frederick depart, you lit up the entire interior of Keoghan’s Saloon.”
Her eyes widened. “I’ve never asked a ghost whether or not they can see colors much less auras. I’d assumed everything appeared to you in shadowy grays and sepia browns.”
“Grays and browns?” Daniel frowned.
“To tell the truth, I don’t understand how you see at all, much less in color.” She sent him a sheepish look.
“I’ve wondered about that myself. How do we think, speak, and see at all when we’ve no physicality, no nervous system or brain?” He cast her a sideways glance. “It’s a mystery, to be sure. I suspect once we’re dead, we see and speak through our souls and not with our eyes or mouths at all.”
“I like that explanation.” She smiled. “I don’t know why I assumed your perceptions were devoid of color. Maybe it’s because most phantoms appear to ghost whisperers as shadowy forms of gray or sepia, and some are only orbs of light. If all ghosts see what you see, I wonder if that might be why they’re attracted to individuals who have the ability to communicate with them. Perhaps all ghost whisperers have multi-colored auras, and that acts as a beacon to ghosts.”
“Could be. Would you like me to ask the linger of Garretsville ghosts if they too see auras?”
She chuckled. “Not really. It’s enough that I know you do.” Meredith slid a hand into the front pocket of her dungarees and stopped walking. “Here we are,” she said, pulling out the keys. She sorted through them until she found the one she wanted and unlocked the padlock latching the front door.
Daniel followed her inside and looked around. An aisle divided two sets of student desks, all facing a slate chalkboard, and a teacher’s desk made of pine stood off to one side. Like everything in Garrettsville, the building appeared aged and weathered. The interior walls had been whitewashed though, and a newer pot-bellied stove made to look old took up one corner.
Meredith strode across the room and sat atop the teacher’s desk. She patted the space beside her. Obligingly, he settled himself beside her. “Tell me the news, lassie.”
“Boann can’t get involved, or she’ll be banished from the earthly realm for good. She has her human family to think about, and they take precedence.”
He nodded gravely as all his dreams burst like soap bubbles hitting a stone wall. It took several seconds before he could respond. “It’s sorry I am to hear such news, but I cannot say I’m surprised.”
Meredith ran her palms up and down her denim-clad thighs. Even as upset as he was, the slide of her hands over her legs mesmerized him. She kept talking, but her words couldn’t compete with the erotic images his mind conjured, giving him a phantom cock stand.
“Daniel, did you hear a single word I just said?”
He shook his head, his gaze still glued to her shapely thighs, and his mind still imagining them bare and opened for him … only for him.
“Hey, I know you’re disappointed about Boann, but like I said, Alpin is willing to help.”
Her words finally penetrated his ghostly haze of remembered lust. “What?” He frowned. “Who’s Alpin, and how can he or she help?” His question elicited an eye-roll and a comment about ghosts and attention deficit disorders. He deemed it best not to respond.
“I’m sure I’ve mentioned Alpin to you before. He’s Fionn MacCumhail’s cousin. Unlike Fionn, Alpin is one hundred percent Tuatha dé Danann. He’s the real deal.”
“I don’t recall hearing his name, but go on.”
Meredith explained what this Alpin fellow had offered to do for them and the risks involved. His dreams resurrected, and the possibility of a future with Meredith once again beckoned on the not so distant horizon.