Page 7 of Tiffanie

“I agree, Aunt Esther. The Blue Ribbon Knowledge Fair does sound entertaining.”

“No. I promised no horses near your roses ever again, Uncle Edmund. That was unfortunate that the pony for the birthday party found your flowers so delicious. I’m not surprised, though. They are the largest blossoms in the county.”

“Now go practice your dancing in the ballroom. Tiffanie will be back any minute to plan for our other events. You’ll want to be ready to shake your tail feathers when we use that space for a party.”

He didn’t hear any responses, only a one-sided conversation. The pauses between her statements signaled to Phineas that Essie must be talking on the phone to someone. His eyes landed on the nameplate at the bottom of the portrait. Edmund and Esther Ferguson.

“She’s not nuts,” Tiffanie whispered. “I feel them in rooms sometimes too. See if the room seems chilly to you as we enter.”

She took Phineas’ arm that held the samples and pulled him toward the doorway into Essie’s office. Raising her voice to project, Tiffanie said, “Thank you so much, Phineas. I appreciate you carrying these in for me.”

Essie turned from where she stood at the windows. “Sorry to put you to work, Phineas.”

“Glad to help,” Phineas said as a cool waft of air brushed over his skin. His gaze met Tiffanie’s, and he read the “I know” in her look. He’d experienced what she’d suggested. That couldn’t be from ghosts, right?

Phineas placed the samples down on the couch. “I’ll leave you ladies to plan. Tiffanie, don’t forget to tell me when you’re ready to set up your online account.”

“Thank you, Phineas.”

He headed for the door, convinced he’d imagined the temperature change. He didn’t believe for a minute that Essie’s deceased aunt and uncle were hanging around Ferguson’s Folly. A loud meow stopped him in his tracks. The orange cat challenged him, standing directly in his path heading for the door.

“Hi, Marmalade,” Phineas said. He loved animals and had already decided this beautiful fellow was a sweetheart. As he leaned over to pet the creature, Marmalade ran through his legs back toward the office.

“Too busy for pets from me.” Phineas chuckled. Marmalade obviously liked women more than men.

To his surprise, Marmalade jumped up on the small table under the portrait of the founders of Ferguson’s Folly. The cat rubbed his face on the corner of the gilded picture frame and turned to stare at him. Phineas shook his head in disbelief. Marmalade wasn’t confirming that spirits still roamed the hallways, was he?

“Um, I’m going to go, Marmalade. See you next time,” Phineas said, excusing himself. Why did he feel that Marmalade was better informed than he was about the world? Definitely about Ferguson’s Folly.

As he drove home, his thoughts returned to Tiffanie Clarke. Had he missed picking up on something important about her? Phineas headed for the local grocery store, near the library. A larger, modern supermarket was closer to his apartment on the newer side of town, but he preferred to shop where a lot of the longtime residents bought their food. Visiting Ed’s as well as the farmer’s market had allowed him to meet some of the established families of the area—and keep up with the local gossip.

Parking in the last row of the crowded lot, Phineas grabbed a cart and prepared to navigate through the narrow aisles. His trick to speed up his trip was to start at the back of the store and end in produce. As a single guy who worked long hours, he didn’t need a lot at home. After picking up a frozen pizza and a Mexican dinner for one, Phineas grabbed a small milk, coffee creamer, and dip. His sisters had coerced him into trying pizza dabbed in French onion dip when he was a kid. Phineas always ate a slice that way now.

“Hey, Mr. Green!” a childish voice called.

Phineas glanced down the next aisle and smiled when he spotted a familiar young man. “Hey! I’m glad to see you, Albert.” The two had invented a series of fancy handshaking moves to greet each other.

“I turned in another card for the reading competition today!” Albert said.

“Good job! You’re going to have all the books read in the library soon. Guess I’ll have to buy some more. What do you think? Mystery, romance, or dinosaur adventures?” He laughed at the face Albert made at that middle suggestion.

“Dinosaurs for sure!”

“Got it. I’ll put those at the top of my list.”

“I’m sorry,” a kind-looking woman apologized. “He spotted you and dashed off to talk to you. Albert, we don’t want to bother Mr. Green. He’s not at work now.”

“Oh, no worries. I’m glad to see Albert too. He’s a superstar reader. He’s going to keep me employed,” Phineas said, smoothly taking the heat off the second grader who had wilted under his mother’s reprimand.

“The library is his favorite place in town,” Mrs. Peters shared.

“It’s better than Taco Town!” Albert said, nodding confidently.

“Wow. That’s high praise.” Phineas figured Taco Town was big with second graders.

“We’ll let you shop. Thank you for encouraging Albert to read.”

“Of course. I can’t wait to devour his recommendation card,” Phineas said, holding out his hand to exchange their much simpler classic handshake they used for goodbyes. All young men needed to learn a firm handshake.