Read Online Sketch Me If You Can by Sharon Pape - Free Book Online Page B

Vince. One thing in particular had stuck in her mind. Although she’d never really thought about it before, he was right. Houses had always been the theaters in which both the tragedies and joys of life played out, where some lives began and others ended. The number of houses that had borne silent witness to all manner of death throughout the centuries must be mind boggling. In that context, Zeke Drummond was just one of the unfortunates souls, unwilling or unable to let go. Somehow, thinking of it in that way made the prospect of sharing Mac’s house with the marshal easier to accept. But when her mind tiptoed over to the “g” word, her logic mainframe once again threatened to crash. She reminded herself that Mac had lived peacefully with Drummond for years and that he believed she could benefit from the experience as well. How could she give up without even trying? Especially since Mac had always talked about keeping the house in the family. He’d invested so much of himself in the restoration, working right alongside the contractors. No detail had been too small for his attention. He’d spent days picking out the finest faucets, the perfect door-knobs, the most ergonomic light switches.
    Okay, that was it! She slammed her palm on the steering wheel. No more fence sitting! She was going to move into the house. With one caveat—Drummond would have to agree to some ground rules. And if it didn’t work out, she could always play her trump card and put the house up for sale.
    With the decision made, Rory spent the rest of the trip home writing a mental list of what she needed to do next. She wanted to look at the title search that Lou Friedlander had given her along with the rest of the papers concerning the house. That should name all the people who had owned the property prior to Mac, as well as the amount of time they’d owned it. She wasn’t entirely sure why she felt the need for that information, but she suspected that it might prove helpful in her negotiations with Drummond.
    Then she was going to confront Marshal Drummond with her list of nonnegotiable terms. Of course, she wasn’t sure how to go about summoning him. It occurred to her with an unpleasant jolt that she might not even know if he were standing right next to her. Too bad Mac hadn’t left her some kind of handbook. She was fairly certain that the local bookstores didn’t stock guides like Living with Ghosts for Dummies or Chicken Soup for the Haunted House Owner . At any other time she might have found that thought amusing, but now it only served as an unsettling reminder that she was about to set sail on a vast, uncharted sea.

Chapter 7
    T he title search proved interesting. In the hundred and thirty-nine years since Winston Samuels took title to the house that had been built for him, it had known over thirty other owners before Mac. What’s more, many of the owners had chosen to default to the bank that held their mortgages rather than stay in the bank that held their mortgages rather than stay in the house until they could sell it, certainly not a prudent fiscal decision. In many instances the banks held on to the property for years before they were even able to sell it at auction. Apparently gossip had always traveled quickly along the suburban grapevine.
    Rory also found it noteworthy that Samuels had lived in the house until 1878, the same year that Drummond was shot to death there, according to Mac’s letter. Of the subsequent owners, none stayed longer than two years and most were gone in a matter of months. At five years, Mac had actually been there longer than anyone except Samuels himself. And all of it made perfect sense if you factored in Ezekiel Drummond.
    On one hand Rory was pleased with this reassurance that she and Mac were not suffering from some folie a deux , but on the other hand, she wondered just how Drummond had managed to scare away the other thirty-three people. Had Mac simply proven unscareable? Or had Drummond