Chapter 1
The summer sunlight filtered through the puffy white clouds sending a few shadows over the walkway where Lin Coffin and her cousin, Viv, strolled past the boats and yachts moored along the docks of Nantucket town. The young women had treated themselves to lunch in a restaurant that overlooked the water and they sat outside on the deck under an umbrella with the sea breeze gently pushing away the humidity as they enjoyed their sandwiches, salads, and French fries. A gull cawed overhead and the water lapped against the pier’s pilings.
“I haven’t been to the gift shop in ages,” Viv said. “I’m looking for a pretty picture of a sailing boat. Something small that would look nice over my desk in the living room. Not too expensive. Beth came into the bookstore yesterday and told me she’d just gotten in some things that I might like.” Viv, who’d lived on the island almost all of her life, owned a bookstore-café on the main street of town and played in a band some nights each week with her Realtor boyfriend, John.
“I saw some nice drink coasters in her window when I walked by recently. They have different kinds of shells painted on them. I might buy them.” Lin had her long brown hair pulled up in a ponytail and wore a summer skirt and a tank top that showed off the definition in her upper arms that she’d gained by working as a landscaper over the past year. Returning to the island of her birth from Cambridge, Massachusetts, Lin had bought the small business and after a few months, had joined forces with Leonard Reed, an experienced landscaper, who she’d mistakenly thought was a murderer when they first met. Together they’d expanded their customer base and taken on bigger projects during their fruitful partnership.
Viv slipped her arm through Lin’s. “I have an idea. Our birthday is coming up. Why don’t you pick something out in the gift shop and I’ll buy it as your birthday present and I’ll choose something and you buy it for me.” Lin and Viv shared the same birth date and would be turning thirty in a couple of weeks.
Lin eyed her cousin. “Why do I suspect an uneven exchange? The coasters I want aren’t exactly equivalent in price to the painting you’re interested in.”
Viv chuckled and mischief danced in her eyes. “It’s the thought behind the gift that counts, isn’t it? Not the price.”
With a smile, Lin shook her head as they walked along the brick sidewalk and crossed the cobblestoned main street to the small road that led to the gift shop.
“I can’t wait to have a look at this painting,” Viv said entering the store and holding the door for Lin.
The beautiful gift shop had a crystal chandelier sparkling from the high ceiling, creamy mocha walls, and white shelves and tables holding jewelry, linens, candles, handmade Nantucket baskets, paintings, old maps, soft woven blankets, and other lovely household items. Viv called hello to Beth, the owner of the shop, and they walked to the back of the store where the painting of the sail boats hung on the wall.
As Lin moved from table to table looking for the coasters she was interested in, an odd feeling of apprehension washed over her and she shook herself trying to throw it off. She approached a white rectangular table covered with a pale blue linen cloth to see an artfully displayed collection of sailor’s valentines.
Most valentines, a kind of shell craft, were octagonal in shape with a glass front hinged wooden box that displayed thousands of small sea shells of different colors laid out in intricate, symmetrical designs. Common designs included compass roses, hearts, a person’s name, a loving message, flowers, an anchor, or other sea-related objects. The early valentines were made in the 1800s, many on the island of Barbados where sailors would purchase the beautiful shellwork to bring home to a family member or loved-one.
Lin’s eyes wandered over the amazing designs and when she picked up one of them to get a closer look, her hand felt like it was lifting a block of ice. So surprised by the sensation, Lin fumbled with the valentine, but caught it with her other hand before it slipped completely from her grasp. She quickly set the wooden box back on the display table and started to move away, but something about the object made her turn back.
Lin leaned closer to the box and admired the tiny pinkish, cream, white, and purple shells formed into a repeating design of small and large flowers surrounding a cameo set in the middle of the box ringed by pink and white shells. The little shells formed the pattern of flowers that spread out from the cameo to the edges of the box. Thinking she had never seen anything so intricately beautiful, a sudden flood of emotions roiled through Lin’s body … love and friendship, hope, uncertainty, fear … and a terrible, suffocating grief that nearly broke her heart. With her eyes filling with tears, Lin took several hurried steps away from the table as a whoosh of freezing air swirled around her.
“Lin,” Viv called from the rear of the shop. “Come see this painting.”
Lin sucked in a deep breath and forced her shaky legs to propel her to her cousin’s side.
“Look at this.” Viv stared at a twelve by fourteen-inch oil painting of a sailing ship moving through the ocean waves. “Look at the colors. Look at the water and the sails. It’s like I’m right there watching the boat glide over the waves,” Viv gushed.
When Lin didn’t respond, Viv tore her eyes from the artwork and turned to her cousin. Seeing the odd look on Lin’s face, she asked softly, “What’s wrong with you?”
“Nothing,” Lin said dully. Although she tried to focus on the picture of the sailboat, her mind kept wandering back to the sailor’s valentine she’d seen at the front of the store.
Viv, the golden streaks in her light brown hair glimmering under the shop lights, stepped closer to Lin. “I know that look,” she whispered. “What’s going on?”
“Um,” Lin mumbled. “I found those coasters I like.”
Viv’s blue eyes narrowed. “Did you see a ghost?”
Ever since she was little, Lin had the ability to see ghosts, but as a young girl, she’d decided she didn’t want to experience any more visitations and the ghosts stopped making appearances. On her return to the island, however, spirits began to come to Lin for help and it didn’t matter if she wanted to see them or not. When they needed something, they showed up.
“No.” Lin shook her head. “I didn’t see anything. Everything’s okay.”
Viv was undeterred. She put her hand on her hip. “No, everything isn’t okay. Tell me what’s going on.”
Lin looked back over her shoulder. “I felt a little funny.”
“When? What were you doing?”
“I was looking at the sailor’s valentines.” Lin gestured to the front of the store. “They’re set up on the display table. Did you see them?”
“No. Show me.” Viv gave her cousin an encouraging nod and they headed to the table with the arrangement of valentines.
When Viv saw the beautiful artwork made of shells, she leaned down to admire them. “Wow, these are some of the best I’ve ever seen. They must be antiques.”
Beth, the shop owner, walked by. “Aren’t they gorgeous? They’re all from the 1800s. The work is amazing, isn’t it?”
When Beth moved away, Viv looked at Lin. “Did you touch one of these? Were you attracted to one in particular?”
Lin hesitated, and then pointed. “I thought this one was especially pretty.”
“You picked it up?” Viv was like an inquisitor.
Lin gave a little nod.
“And…?” Viv asked.
“It felt cold, really cold.” Lin absent-mindedly rubbed her horseshoe necklace, an heirloom once owned by an ancestor, between her thumb and index finger.
Viv’s eyes widened and her hand flew to the side of her face. “Cold?” She glanced around the shop looking for ghosts even though she’d never been able to see one in her life. “Is there … someone in here?”
“I only felt the cold. I didn’t see anyone.”
A look of relief washed over Viv’s rosy cheeks and she exhaled. “Okay. It might be nothing. Maybe you picked up some vibe about the person from long ago who made the valentine … or maybe you sensed the person who bought it and carried it back to Nantucket.” Viv took her cousin’s arm. “I’m going to buy the ship picture. Let’s go do that, and then let’s get the heck out of here as fast as we can.”
Lin stayed by Viv’s side as Beth removed the painting from the wall, carefully bundled it in brown paper and bubble wrap, and rang up the sale. Something kept tugging at Lin and every few seconds, she looked back to the table of valentines.
“All set.” Viv held her prize in her hand and headed for the door looking anxious and eager to exit the shop. “We can leave now.”
Reaching for the doorknob, Viv paused when her cousin said, “I didn’t get the coasters.”
Viv forced a smile. “Why don’t we do that another day? We should be heading home.”
“I’d like to get them.” Lin turned around. Once again, her senses flooded with the emotions she’d felt when gazing at the valentine and a wall of icy air enveloped her as she walked past the display table and paused. “I wonder how much this is.” Lin gestured to the shellwork encased in the lovely wooden box.
Viv hurried over and tugged on Lin’s arm. “I bet its way too expensive. These are antiques. We can’t afford them.”
Beth came to the table, lifted the valentine that Lin had shown interest in, and checked the tag.
When she heard the price, Lin winced.
“See. Too expensive.” Viv put her hand on her cousin’s arm to steer her to the door. “You have great taste, but not a budget to match.”
Feeling almost dizzy, Lin stared at the tiny pink, purple, and white shells and she reached her hand out to touch the antique box. When her fingers set against the polished wood, it was as if she was touching dry ice … the valentine almost burned her skin.
Raising her eyes to the store owner, Lin’s words caused Viv to let out a little groan. With a voice barely above a whisper, Lin told the woman, “I’ll take it.”
Chapter 2
“My fingers don’t burn any more when I hold the valentine.” Lin placed her new purchase on the sideboard hutch in the kitchen and stepped back to admire it.
“Thank the heavens for little favors,” Viv said looking at the object with suspicion. “Why would it burn you? Why would burning someone’s skin make a person want to buy the thing?”
When the cousins returned to the house, Lin’s little brown dog, Nicky, and Viv’s gray cat, Queenie, woke from their nap in the bedroom and walked sleepy-eyed into the kitchen. Nicky greeted Lin and Viv and then stood up on his hind legs, trying to sniff the air around the valentine.
Queenie glanced at the young women and jumped onto a stool at the kitchen island where she sat and turned her attention to Lin’s purchase. The cat’s eyes were glued to the valentine and her tail swished rhythmically back and forth.
“These two sure are interested in that thing.” Viv took another look at the shellwork and then went to the refrigerator for the pitcher of iced tea.
“It’s really beautiful, isn’t it?” Lin cocked her head while gazing at the object.
Viv poured the tea over ice cubes in two tall glasses. “Yes, especially when it isn’t burning your skin when you touch it.”
With a chuckle, Lin sat next to her cousin and lifted one of the glasses to her lips. “As soon as I saw it, I was drawn to it. I had to buy it. I couldn’t leave it at the store.”
Viv knew all about her cousin’s ability to see ghosts and she’d been pulled into helping solve several mysteries on the island since Lin had returned to make Nantucket her permanent home. Viv and Lin were descended from some of the island’s earliest settlers and some of those ancestors had paranormal powers. Those powers had been passed down to Lin from both her mother’s and father’s sides.
Once as a young girl, Lin made the mistake of confiding the news of her skills to someone she thought was a friend only to have the child spread the information throughout their entire school until Lin was mercilessly teased and shunned. Lin and her grandfather left that town shortly after the incident and moved to Cambridge where Lin figured out how to keep ghosts from appearing to her.
Viv turned her head for a moment to have another look at the valentine. “Why do you think you were drawn to it?”
“I don’t know.” Lin shrugged a shoulder.
“It’s going to pull us into something, isn’t it?” Viv crossed her arms over her chest in a defensive posture. “It’s haunted, isn’t it?”
“We don’t know that.” Although she said the words, Lin didn’t really believe her hopeful comment. “It might just be what you said at the store. I might just be sensing the person who made it, or the person who bought it, or owned it.” She gave her cousin a smile.
“Or,” Viv’s eyes narrowed, “it’s going to draw us into something.”
Lin put her chin in her hand. “Maybe.”
“What do you know about these sailor’s valentines?” Viv asked.
“A lot of them came from Barbados and were bought by sailors who had been on long sailing journeys and wanted to take a souvenir back home to a loved one. I’ve read that many of the valentines were made by the women of Barbados.”
“So are you sensing the woman who made it?”
“I don’t know who it is.” Lin got up, went to the sideboard, and brought the valentine to the kitchen island. She ran her hand over the glass front and along the wooden sides while staring at the intricate patterns of the tiny shells. Lin’s hand became warm, but her skin didn’t feel like she was touching a hot coal like she’d experienced while in the gift shop.
The kitchen opened to a wide deck that ran between the sides of the horseshoe- shaped house and something seemed to move outside beyond the screen door. Lin looked up and Nicky let out a woof, but whatever was out there was gone. A bird maybe, or a squirrel Lin thought.
“I’m starting that new landscaping job tomorrow.” Heading to the fridge to get the pistachio gelato pie she’d made, Lin carried it to the kitchen island and sliced pieces for Viv and herself. She needed to talk about something besides the valentine. Even though she felt compelled to buy the item, the unknown aspects of the thing were unnerving her.
“That’s Jeff’s friend’s place?” Viv took a forkful of the pie and closed her eyes. “Delicious. So light and refreshing. I should put this on the menu at the bookstore.”
Lin thanked her cousin for the compliment. “Jeff’s friend, Neil, owns an antique Cape house off of the Polpis Road. Neil’s going away for a month on business and while he’s gone, we’ll re-landscape his property.”
“Will Neil being away make the project more difficult?” Viv asked.
“We’ve gone over everything with him. If something comes up, then I’ll email and send pictures. It will work out fine.”
“Jeff is working on the house?”
Lin gave a nod as she swallowed some of the gelato pie. “He’s doing some renovation work for Neil. It will take about three weeks for Jeff to finish everything.”
“Is Leonard going to work with you on the project?” Viv asked as she wiped her lips with a napkin and eyed the pie pondering whether or not she should have another piece.
“Leonard will work there most of the time. We have a lot of work at the moment so he’ll be handling other things while we do Neil’s place.” Lin smiled and flexed her arm to make a little muscle. “I’ve gotten in great shape doing all of this heavy outside work.”
“I don’t know how you do it. I couldn’t handle doing landscaping no matter how trim it would make me.” Viv shook her head. “I can’t work in the heat. Give me the air conditioned bookstore any day. I have no idea how Leonard works so hard, at his age, in the heat and humidity. It would kill me.”
“Leonard’s only in his early sixties. He’s in better shape than both of us.” Lin chuckled. “And it’s a good thing he didn’t hear that comment of yours. He isn’t old.”
Viv waved away Lin’s reprimand. “You know what I mean.”
Lin’s phone beeped with a text. “Speak of the devil. It’s Leonard. He’s asking if I can pick him up in the morning.” She sent a return text and set the phone down. “You know, it’s kind of weird. Leonard has never once invited me into his house.”
“Why is that weird?” Viv asked.
“Well, isn’t it?” Lin made eye contact with her cousin. “Leonard’s been here in my house a million times, he’s eaten with us, he even slept on the sofa one night to protect me when we were involved in that other case. He’s been to your house a bunch of times, too, but he’s never once invited me into his house.”
“Maybe the place is a mess. Maybe he doesn’t want you to see what a messy person he is.”
“When I first met him, I would have thought that was the reason, but not now.” Lin moved her fork over her plate to pick up the last of the pie crumbs. “I should drive you past his house one day. It’s a small, antique Cape, perfectly tended. There’s a white picket fence around the front yard. It’s filled with flowers and flowering bushes, and I mean filled. It’s like something out of a magazine. It’s gorgeous. And you should see how neat and tidy the outside of the house is. We should use his place as a testimonial to his landscaping abilities. It’s that perfect.” Lin sipped her iced tea. “I’m sure the inside is done just as nicely.”
Viv got an idea. “Ask him about the history of his house, then maybe he’ll ask you in to see it.”
“I did that. He answered my questions and that was it.”
Viv gave a chuckle. “Maybe he’s got a dead body hidden in there.”
Nicky and Queenie sat side by side looking out to the deck through the kitchen’s screen door. The dog turned his head and barked at Viv.
Viv’s comment caused a shiver to run over Lin’s skin and a serious expression to form on her face.
Viv noticed Lin’s reaction. “I’m kidding, for Pete’s sake.” She looked over at Nicky and said to the dog, “You know Leonard. He doesn’t have a dead body in his house.” Viv narrowed her eyes and used a sinister-sounding voice to kid them. “Or does he?”
Lin let out a groan. “I guess I’ll just have to keep wondering why Leonard won’t let me inside his house.”
Viv stood up to load the dishwasher with the dirty plates and glasses. “It was nice to have the afternoon off with you, but I’d better go check on the bookstore and make sure everything’s okay.”
Lin let the dog and cat outside and then went to cover the pie with plastic wrap. Movement at the living room window caught her eye and she craned her neck to see a man heading for her front landing. He walked briskly and was wearing a long-sleeved shirt and brown slacks. “There’s someone coming to the door.”
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