Page 12 of Air Of Mystery (Witches On The Hill #4)

“He’s pretty cool,” I agreed. Danielle punched in a code and the door unlocked.

I followed the girl inside to an impressive foyer.

Wide and open, the elaborate parquetted floors gleamed.

To the right there appeared to be offices for the running of the hotel, and opposite of that a gorgeous carved, wood staircase swept up to one side.

A staircase that Gabriella was now jogging down to greet me.

“Come on up,” she invited.

I nodded calmly, making small talk as we traveled up the stairs and past the security gate that divided the business section on the ground floor from the private family space.

But inside I was practically jumping up and down.

I’d never been in the eastern side of the building—the family wing.

I knew from my own research that the eastern wing also had a history of many paranormal disturbances.

The second floor consisted of a bathroom and a large open kitchen with a sprawling family room. On the third floor the children’s rooms, a guest bedroom, and a library were held. The top floor had been converted out of attic space and now made up a primary suite for Gabriella and Philippe.

Gabriella led the way down the hall of the third floor into a dramatic room that incorporated the tower. A huge stone fireplace dominated, and the library was made cozy with tall bookshelves, comfy leather sofas, and club chairs.

It was an incredible room and if I could have discreetly pulled it off, I would have taken a video of it all with my cell phone.

Gabriella gestured to the sofa, and I sat on one end. “I texted Nicole,” she said. “She’s our PR person for the winery and the hotel; she’s going to bring up some paperwork for you to look over so we can answer any questions about having you film at the mansion in October.”

I nodded. “I have some release forms you’ll need to sign as well, giving me permission to film here for my channel.”

A moment later a brunette glided in carrying a notebook.

Despite the fact that she was heavily pregnant, she moved fluidly in high-heeled sandals.

Her maternity dress was a snazzy black and white pattern and sleeveless in deference to the summer.

The woman’s dark hair was cut short and framed her pretty face.

“Nicole Dubois,” she introduced herself and took a seat in a chair across from me.

I recognized her. She’d always been in the background working at the Halloween ball. “Hello.” I nodded and the meeting began.

After Nicole and Gabriella gave me a brief talk about the history of the property and the 1800-era Marquette family—most of which I knew already—we chose a Thursday night in mid-October.

It had to be on a Thursday as the weekends were completely booked for weddings.

The ghost tours ran on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons and evenings in September and October every year.

They’d proven very popular, both with history buffs and ghost enthusiasts.

The tours added a nice additional income stream for the mansion.

I was informed that the ghost tours began in the museum room on the ground level of the hotel wing, and then went through the ballrooms and up to the third floor where the missing dowry was found. Weather permitting, the tour also went out to the gardens.

Once the meeting was done, Nicole sat back in her chair with a tired sigh.

“If you want to head home a tad early, Nicole,” Gabriella began, “go ahead.”

“I may take you up on that,” she said.

“Before you go,” I said to Nicole, “would you take a look at the calendar and see if I can book the smaller event space here at the mansion for an afternoon bridal shower for my sister Brynn? I was thinking mid-September...”

Nicole flipped open her electronic notebook and began typing. “We don’t have any Saturdays that aren’t booked in the months of September and October, however, I do have a Friday afternoon spot open in early September. Would that work?”

“Yes,” I said immediately. “About thirty to forty guests, I’m thinking. We’d bring our own food, but our family is huge, and when we did Cordelia’s bridal shower at our house, we were too crammed in.”

“Your email?” she inquired. I rattled it off to her and waited as she typed away. “There.” She closed her laptop with a click. “I just emailed you the contract. Send me the deposit before the end of the week and it’s yours.”

I smiled. “You’ll have the deposit by tonight.”

“Perfect.” She glanced down at the floor. “Aw nuts,” she muttered, as she tried to bend over from the chair. “I’m not going to be able to reach my shoes.”

From the opposite side of the coffee table I saw that she’d taken her shoes off at some point during the meeting. “I’ll get them for you,” I offered and popped up to grab them.

“Thanks,” she said. “Bending over is almost impossible these days. I’m beyond ready for baby boy to be here.”

Gabriella was at Nicole’s side a moment later. “You are going down to two days a week starting today,” she announced as she helped her rise. “I don’t care if you told Philippe you’d work full time until week thirty-nine.”

Instead of arguing, Nicole accepted the shoes I held out. “Okay. I think that’s probably a good idea.”

Gabriella’s mouth hung open in surprise. It was clear to see she’d been expecting a full-blown disagreement about Nicole going to part-time.

“This pregnancy has been tougher than Caleb’s,” Nicole admitted. “Max has been after me to slow down and rest more.”

“ Ma belle? ” Philippe’s voice traveled down the hall.

“We’re in the tower room,” Gabriella called back.

Philippe Marquette entered the room, and I smiled automatically at the Frenchman. While he wasn’t conventionally handsome, he was still striking with his dark eyes and hair. Also, the way he gazed at his wife was adorable. Then his eyes landed on Nicole, and he began to frown.

“Did you come up the stairs alone?” he asked Nicole.

She tossed her hair a bit. “Yes, I did.”

“Well, mon cher, you will be getting an escort on the way back down,” he said, easing the shoes and electronic notebook from her and then taking her arm.

“Walk her out to her car too,” Gabriella added. “She’s exhausted. I told her to go home early.”

“I’m fine,” Nicole insisted.

“And we will see to it that you and the baby remain so.” Philippe steered her gently from the room.

“Nice seeing you again, Nicole,” I called out.

“Email those release forms to me tomorrow,” she called back as they left the room.

To my left, Gabriella was texting a message on her cell phone . “I texted Max, her husband,” she explained. “He’ll be waiting for her when she gets home. He’ll make her sit down and put her feet up for the rest of the day.”

“Is there a problem with the pregnancy?” I asked, concerned for Nicole.

“They tried for a long time to have a second baby, and Nicole is pretty much unstoppable...but lately we could tell that she’s getting more tired and we’ve been after her to cut her hours down this last month. But she keeps insisting that she’s fine.”

“My intuition says she’s putting on a brave face and not wanting anyone to know how worn out she actually is.”

“I agree with your assessment,” Gabriella said. Suddenly she cocked her head to one side, going very still.

Before I could ask what was wrong, it suddenly sounded like a herd of elephants were stampeding one floor above. I jumped hard at the unexpected noise.

Gabriella began to shout at the ceiling. “I’m not sure what you three are doing up there, but it better stop right this minute! Otherwise, I swear to whatever god is listening, there’s going to be serious consequences!”

“Yes, Maman ,” was the answer that sweetly called back.

Gabriella shook her head and chuckled. “Monsters,” she said affectionately.

“They’re great kids,” I said.

“Most of the time,” she agreed. “And sometimes I want to smack their heads together.”

From above, I could hear the kids laughing.

“Stay for supper,” Gabriella said. “We can talk more about you doing your show from the mansion. I know Philippe has some questions for you and well honestly, I’d love to learn more about your investigations.”

“Thanks,” I said. “I’d love to.”

Over dinner, the Marquettes casually filled me in on their own paranormal experiences at the mansion. I’d have killed for a pad of paper and a pen to take notes. Getting personal information after years of hearing secondhand stories or rumors about the haunting was incredible.

I also had the feeling that this was a test…to see if I would stay discreet with the stories that they had shared with me.

So I sucked it up and didn’t press for more. Besides, after hearing the family’s experiences with their resident ghosts, I had every reason to believe that doing a live show from the mansion would be memorable. And during the month of October? My subscribers would absolutely love it.

After supper, Gabriella gave me a quick tour of the museum room that was located in the public section of the building, down the hall from the main lobby of the hotel.

I was thrilled. Every time I’d been at the hotel previously—as a guest for the Halloween Ball—the museum room had been closed to the public.

During Cordy and Tim’s wedding, I’d been way too busy to think about poking around.

I admired the framed vintage newspaper articles they had about the missing bride, Bridgette Ames-Marquette.

The headline read: Bride Disappears: Foul Play Suspected.

Someone had taken a lot of pride in setting up all of the museum’s displays and story boards.

There were old, reproduced maps of the village on the walls, as well as blueprints of the mansion from when it was built.

Their museum room’s displays were both professional and interesting.