Lucky Stars (Ghosts and Reincarnation #5)(119)

“We do, poppet,” Jack agreed and he watched her face register surprise.

For the purposes of containment, as well as other reasons, Jack’s arm tightened at her waist and his other hand slid up her back to capture her hair in a loose fist.

Then he said, “Belle, I need you to tell me about that night.”

Her body jerked before it grew tense and her eyes, stormy before with whatever thoughts she carried, were tempestuous now.

“Why?” she asked, the thread of fear starkly evident in her tone.

He used her hair to pull her face to his and he touched his lips to hers before letting her draw back and answered, “Because I need to know and because you need to share so you can let it go.”

“Jack, I don’t think –”

“Belle, love, we need to talk about this.”

“But, you –”

“Tell me, poppet, say it fast then it’ll be over,” he encouraged.

“But –”

His arm tensed and she stopped speaking, “Belle, tell me, I need to know.”

She gazed at him a minute, her cloudy eyes dark then she closed them tight, opened them and whispered, “I don’t want to tell you because you aren’t going to believe me.”

It was then, his body tensed.

He forced himself to relax and asked, “Why wouldn’t I?”

She shook her head and in return Jack gently shook her.

“Belle, whatever happened, I’ll believe you.”

She wet her lips nervously before she asked, “You will?”

“Yes, I will,” he replied firmly.

He watched her swallow then she said, “It’s going to sound daft.”

“It won’t sound daft.”

Her eyes moved from his to his shoulder then his ear and he watched as she came to a decision before she nodded. Her gaze finally came to rest on his and she spoke.

“Okay, you need to know.” He nodded in encouragement and she continued, “I’d just got off the phone with you. I was hungry and I told the dogs we were going to see about dinner.” She stopped talking and Jack’s fingers released her hair but slid through its length, coming back to slide through again and he felt her relax against him as she went on, “I was walking down the hall. I was preoccupied, the dogs were with me and then, all of a sudden…” she paused again and took in a breath but didn’t continue.

“Go on, poppet,” Jack urged, still stroking her hair as his other hand started to draw circles on the small of her back.

She nodded again and whispered, “I was at the top of the stairs. The dogs, they had pressed close to my legs and for some reason, they started to growl.” Jack stopped his hands stroking and circling and he wrapped his arms around her as she carried on in a barely there whisper, “It was strange. I started to ask them what was wrong but I saw…”

When she seemed to falter, Jack pressed gently, “Keep going, love.”

She shook her head but, her eyes locked on his, she said in a rush, “I saw movement on the stairs. It was Lewis. He was drifting up the stairs toward me. He was going so fast, Jack, so very fast. I could tell right away something was wrong.”

Jack’s arms convulsed but she kept talking.

“He stopped and shouted at me. I don’t remember what he said but I remember that he knew my name. He shouted my name and then…” Jack felt her body begin to tremble and her hand moved up, her fingers curled around his shoulder, digging in, holding on. “Jack, I swear, I felt a hand in my back and it pushed.” Tears came to her eyes and she whispered, “It pushed me down the stairs.”

Jack’s arms spasmodically tightened and it took effort to loosen his hold.

“Do you believe me?” she asked softly, the tears still shimmering in her eyes.

“Of course I do, love,” he replied absently, his thoughts on Angus’s words, that a ghost couldn’t touch a human which meant, if Belle had been pushed, someone had pushed her. “Did you see someone there?” Jack asked.

She shook her head. “I didn’t get the chance to look.”

“The dogs, you said they were growling. Do you think they saw Lewis?”

Belle kept shaking her head. “Lewis was in front of me but when I glanced down at the dogs, they were looking behind us.”

“Did you feel anything?” Jack enquired.

Her face turned from fearful to confused and her head tilted to the side before she asked, “Feel anything? You mean the hand in my back?”

“No. Anything else. Did you feel anything?” Jack repeated, “Hear anything? A presence. Did you sense someone there?”

She shook her head. “No, nothing. But the dogs did and I think Lewis saw something.”

“You didn’t hear footsteps, sense someone moving behind you?”

She kept shaking her head. “Nothing. But my mind was somewhere else. I just woke up from a nap and had talked to you and…” She stopped and her eyes slid to his ear.

“Belle, love, look at me,” Jack commanded gently and after a long moment, when her gaze finally moved to his, he urged, “And what?”

“And the baby,” she whispered and his chest, which had relaxed, got tight again at her mentioning their child. “I was talking to the baby about you, before you called. And, when I was walking down the hall, I was thinking about dinner and you and wondering how long it would take for you to get home…”