Read Online Treasured Legacies (A Mary O'Reilly Paranormal Mystery) by Terri Reid - Free Book Online Page A

booths for people who wanted
a little more privacy than the counter afforded.   Between the two rooms was a small alcove that
held an old jukebox with tunes from earlier years.   Customers from either side of the restaurant
could enjoy the music for only a quarter.
    The restaurant was warm; Mary was sure Jodi had left the
heat up for her comfort, so she slipped off her coat and laid it on the red
Formica counter.   She glanced around the
room.   Light glinted off the chrome
fixtures behind the counter and the lines of sparkling sundae and shake glasses
on the shelves.   Mary started when she
thought she saw someone behind the counter, but released a soft breath when she
realized it was only her reflection in the mirror on the wall.  
    The sounds of the night were different than the sounds
during the day. The freezer hummed softly, the ice maker thumped and the
furnace occasionally whooshed as it started a new cycle.   There was no clattering of silverware, no
chattering of customers, no clinking of dishware or
ringing of the cash register.   It was as
if the restaurant were asleep, breathing deeply, waiting for someone to wake it
up.
    Mary slid onto a short stool; making sure to avoid the one
Jodi said had been occupied by the ghost.   She couldn’t help herself; she twisted the seat from one side to the
other, enjoying the movement just as much today as she did when she was a
child.   She was about to laugh out loud
when a new noise stopped her.
    Cha- ching . The jukebox suddenly lit up.   She could
hear the sounds of the mechanism lifting the record from its shelf and moving
it over to the player.   Then the voices
of the Everly Brothers singing “ Whenever I Want You All I Have to do is Dream ” echoed throughout
the room.   The figure of a young woman
slowly materialized in front of the jukebox, swaying to the music.   She was dressed in a plaid cotton shirtdress
with a full skirt and a matching cardigan sweater draped over her
shoulders.   She looked like she stepped
out of a movie from the fifties, from her    shoulder length hair, styled in soft waves and bangs, to her
ballerina-style flats.
    Mary just sat and watched the girl as a frisson of
paranormal electricity swept up her back and along her arms. As the song ended,
the girl turned and walked toward the counter, perching on the stool next to
Mary. The pedestal stool slowly turned, but instead of the quiet, well-oiled
stool Mary was on, the mechanism squealed painfully.   In a moment, Mary was face to face with the
specter.   “Hi,” Mary said, “I’m Mary.”
    The ghost stared at her for a moment and then slowly smiled.
“Hi Mary, I’m Erika,” she replied. “Do have any smokes?”
    Shaking her head, Mary said, “Sorry, I don’t smoke.”
    “That’s okay,” Erika replied evenly. “The guys will be along
soon and they always have them.”
    “The guys?” Mary asked.
    “Yeah, you know, for cruising,” she said. “I’m dying to ride
in Adam’s Chevy, it’s dreamy.”
    “Cruising?” Mary asked.
    “What are you from outer space or something?” Erika asked.
    “Yeah, well, I’m from Chicago originally.”
    Erika’s face brightened considerably. “You’re from Chicago?
That is just dreamy,” she said. “I bet you hate it here in Freeport.   There is absolutely nothing here compared to
Chicago.   Do you know any gangsters?”
    “No, sorry, my family is in law enforcement,” Mary replied.
    “Oh, that’s too bad,” Erika said.
    “So, you were telling me about cruising,” Mary prompted.
    “Oh, ya , sure,” Erika said. “The
boys drive their cars downtown and they pick the girls who get to ride in their
cars, unless, of course, they got a steady.”
    “A steady?” Mary asked.
    “They don’t teach you a lot in Chicago,” Erika said, rolling
her eyes. “You know, a steady, like a boyfriend and a girlfriend. Going together. A steady.”
    “Oh, got it,” Mary said. “So, if they don’t have a steady,
they