Page 11 of Painting Ghosts

“And lastly, and this is for you, Natalie.” Theo glanced at her sternly as she sat demurely by Bob’s side. “No scaring our guests or patrons. You two reveal yourself to anyone you think can take it, we won’t stop you, but please don’t frighten them away playing silly tricks.”

Natalie crossed her arms and glared at Theo. “You take all the fun out of things. Not even a little scare?”

Theo shook his head. “Not even one.”

Bob waggled a finger at his granddaughter. “You’ve been told, lass, as have I.” He nodded at Theo. “Your terms are acceptable. We won’t make a nuisance of ourselves.”

"And tell whoever it is that keeps appearing in my painting that I'll have none of it," Theo said sternly. "Whoever it is needs to make themselves scarce because it freaks me out."

Natalie giggled. "That would be me, 'cos I can make things appear in things. Grandpa says it's a magic gift, but I think it's funny." Her face grew wistful. "And I like seeing myself in the picture. It reminds me I was once real."

Theo's face softened.

I found a lump forming in my throat at her sad words. "Well," I murmured, "I'm sure Theo can live with one one mystery figure in his painting but perhaps refrain from adding yourself to any others. Does that sound fair?"

Natalie considered it, twirling her hair then nodded. "Deal."

Theo chuckled softly. "Forever the diplomat, you are." He brushed my cheek with his fingers and I nearly melted into a happy puddle of goo onto the floor. I ran a hand through my hair to distract myself. “Much as I’d love to stay and chat some more, I really should be getting home so I can shower and change.”

“I don’t think the snow has let up,” Theo commented. “Check first. I don’t want you driving in the storm.”

I strode over to the window and looked outside. Yep, the snow was coming down in swathes, and I didn’t fancy driving in that. My warm shower and clean clothes would have to wait a bit.

“Well, that’s annoying,” I said peevishly. “I need to freshen up. Brush my teeth. Oh God, I kissed you with morning breath.” I stared at Theo in horror.

He laughed. “Ty, you tasted of coffee, and besides I don’t care about morning breath. I see a lot of that in our future.”

“Oh, now you can tell the future?” I teased, thrilled at the sound of us waking up together again. “This ghostly stuff is rubbing off on you.”

“The water is still on here and the boiler works so that you can have your shower.” Theo walked over to a small coffee table and picked up his car keys. “And I have a suitcase of stuff I brought with me for my stay here. I’ll fetch it, and you can have some of my clothes. They may be a bit big on you, but at least they’ll be clean.”

Bob turned to Theo. “Call The Prestonwich Foundation and ask to speak to David Butterworth. He’s the treasurer there, and if you’re serious about buying this place, he’ll make sure any purchase you make goes smoothly. You’ll need to submit a business plan for your business to show them you mean it, and there may be a few hoops to jump through but,” he shrugged. “I promise you it’ll be worth it.”

He waved over at Natalie. “Come on, you. Let’s leave them in peace to get settled.” They disappeared God knows where.

Theo’s face lit up with excitement. “Tyler, are you sure you’re on board with this whole thing?” His hand reached out for mine and squeezed it. “I know this is moving very fast, but it feels so right.”

I stared down at our conjoined hands, no doubt with a silly smile on my face. I’d never felt anything that felt so right. “It depends on the money situation. I need to contribute too, and you know I don’t have much, so I’ll need to arrange something. I’m not letting you finance the whole shebang.”

Theo nodded. “We’ll make it work, somehow. I’ll give them a call and find out more about how we go about making this place ours, and then we can discuss options.”

We grinned at each other, then Theo turned away. “I’ll go get that suitcase out of the car. You go find the bathroom and have a shower.” He gave me a brief kiss on the cheek and walked out of the room.

I stood, still a little bemused at the way things had turned out. “Well, seems I now have a boyfriend and a new place. And it’s not even Christmas yet.” I shook my head in bewilderment mixed with happiness. “All we need to do now is see the ghost of Santa Claus, and that’ll be the icing on the cake.”

I shrieked when behind me a bell rung and a deep voice shouted, “Ho, Ho, Ho! Merry Christmas, everybody.” The sound of a little girl’s merriment accompanied the announcement.

“Rule number 3 already broken,” I shouted out to the empty room. “This isn’t starting out so well.”

A loud guffaw and another lilt of childish laughter was all I got for my troubles. I grinned and walked towards the door to find the bathroom. Hopefully, there’d be a towel in there.

And when I’d finished getting clean, and Theo had come back inside, maybe, just maybe, we could give in to long-awaited temptation and get down and dirty in front of another roaring fire.

It was, after all, nearly Christmas. A magical time of the year.