THE GHOST IN THE CHRISTMAS STAR

  A CRYSTAL COVE COZY GHOST MYSTERY

  BOOK 3

  MATHIYA ADAMS

  CONTENTS

  About The Ghost in the Christmas Star

  Also By Mathiya Adams

  Sign Up for Mathiya Adams Newsletter!

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  The Ghost in the Christmas Star

  The Ghost in the Vineyard

  The Christmas Corpse

  The Avid Angler by Mathiya Adams

  About Mathiya Adams

  ABOUT THE GHOST IN THE CHRISTMAS STAR

  All Sally O'Brian wants is a quiet Christmas. Yes, she wants to rent out her newly renovated and re-furnished Cliff House for the holiday season, but that goal is secondary to just spending some quiet family time with her daughter Jennifer, her son-in-law Jack, her delightful granddaughter Kiera...and her dead husband Matthew.

  But then she learns that her daughter has invited a whole host of family members to come and celebrate Christmas with them. While this normally would be a great source of joy for Sally, she's discovered a terrible secret.

  The ornaments she's bought to decorate the Cliff House where all her relatives will be staying are haunted.

  And the ghosts that haunt those decorations are the kind of ghosts that like to play tricks on the living.

  Sally is afraid that this will be one Christmas no one wants to remember.

  ALSO BY MATHIYA ADAMS

  Novels in the Crystal Cove Series

  The Ghost on the Stairs

  The Ghost in the Ice House (Coming Soon)

  The Ghost in the Vineyard (Coming Soon)

  The Hot Dog Detective Series

  Novels

  The Avid Angler – Case 1

  The Busty Ballbreaker – Case 2

  The Crying Camper – Case 3

  The Desperate Druggie – Case 4

  The Eager Evangelist – Case 5

  The Freaky Fan – Case 6

  The Groping Gardener – Case 7

  The Harried Hairdresser – Case 8

  The Impetuous Intruder – Case 9

  The Jaded Jezebel – Case 10

  The Kitchen Khemist – Case 11

  The Lazy Lawyer – Case 12

  The Morose Mistress – Case 13

  The Naughty Neighbor – Case 14

  The Obnoxious Oilman – Case 15

  The Paranoid Patient – Case 16

  The Quibbling Quartet – Case 17

  The Remorseful Rafter – Case 18

  The Strident Student – Case 19

  The Truculent Trannie – Case 20

  The Unselfish Uncle – Case 21

  The Vacillating Vigilante – Case 22

  The Wasted Womanizer – Case 23

  The Xanthic Xena – Case 24

  The Young Yogi – Case 25

  The Zamboni Zealot – Case 26

  The Absent Ally – Case 27

  Novellas

  The Christmas Corpse

  The Easter Evader

  The Jovial Juror

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  Sign up for my newsletter, with stories about upcoming books, by emailing Mathiya Adams at Misque Press: editor@misquepress.com.

  Or get on my mailing list at www.mathiyaadams.com.

  If you have any suggestions, compliments, criticisms or wish to write a review, please feel free to contact me directly at Mathiya.Adams@gmail.com.

  I look forward to hearing from you.

  CHAPTER ONE

  Thursday, Seventeen Days Before Christmas

  Sally O'Brian pushed open the door to EZ Pawn and entered the cluttered store of her good friend, Sam Wasserman. Sam greeted her with unbridled holidayenthusiasm.

  "Sally, happy holidays to you! You have come for the Christmas ornaments?"

  Sally held the door open for Matthew O'Brian, her husband. Matt didn't really need the door held for him. He could easily pass through the safety glass door, since Matt was a ghost. Matt had been killed earlier in the year in a fatal car crash that resulted when his car plunged fifty feet off a cliff into the Pacific Ocean. While he had died in the crash, Sally, his passenger, had miraculously survived.

  Or so it had seemed. In fact, Sally had died also, but when both she and Matt arrived at an enormous Gate in an amorphous, ethereal place, the angel (or what they assumed was an angel) informed them that Matt could pass on, but Sally had to return back to the Earthly plane of existence. Reason? Only Heaven knew.

  “It’s beyond my pay grade,” said Mimosa, the elderly Guardian of the Gate

  Matt wouldn't agree to lose the woman he loved, and contrary to the rules (yes, there were rules, though no one had thought of writing them down), he returned with Sally. She was brought back from the brink of death by her doctor son-in-law, Jack Winston, and Matt returned as a ghost.

  Since that fateful day, Sally could see and talk to ghosts.

  It was a blessing and a curse. A blessing, because it meant she could keep talking to Matthew; a curse, because it meant she had an obligation to help ghosts trapped on the Earthly plane to pass on. She had recently done just that, helping a mother and daughter find peace after death.

  But now it was December. Sally wanted nothing more than to fix up the three buildings that made up the Dolphin Point Bed and Breakfast. The largest of the homes was the Cliff House, a spectacular home built on the edge of the cliff overlooking the Pacific. The second home was the Blue House, a smaller, but cozier home. The third was the Cabin, a rustic one room getaway fantasy home on the furthest part of Dolphin Point. At the current moment, only the Cliff House had been made rental ready.

  But Sally wasn't satisfied with that. She wanted to dress up the Cliff House with all sorts of Christmas decorations. The problem was, she had spent all of her budget on furniture, accessories, and furnishings for the house. She had mentioned to Sam a week earlier that if he came across any Christmas decorations, she would be interested in them.

  And, true to the spirit of Christmas miracles, Sam had come through.

  "I bought the estate of a guy named Brett Cosgrove. You might have heard of him. I think he was a Hollywood movie star, retired here in Crystal Cove, and took up stage theatrics."

  "I've heard of him," said Matt. "I wouldn't call him a movie star, though. I was under the impression he was a stunt man."

  Sally listened to her husband, aware that Sam could not hear a word Matt said. "Did Mr. Cosgrove recently die?"

  Sam nodded. "His son, Simon Cosgrove, cleaned out the entire house, packed everything in a shipping container, and sold it to me. You need more furniture?"

  Sally smiled. "I will at some point. Where are the Christmas decorations?"

  "Over here," said Sam. "I can help you move them to your car if you're parked out front."

  "I would appreciate that, Sam."

  As Sally and Sam carried the boxes out to Sally's car, Sam gave her one last warning. "Be careful, Sally. I think I should mention that the ornaments might be haunted."

  Sally laughed. "Surely you don't believe in ghosts, Sam."

  "I don't," said Sam, staring at her intently. "But I hear you do."

  Jack had already set up two Christmas trees in the Cliff House. One of the trees, the larger one, was down in the solarium, a large glass-walled room on the lowest level of the Cliff House. The solarium was two-stories, floor to ceiling. It opened out on a balcony that encircled the large room. The balcony, and indeed the solarium itself, extended out over the rocky precipice on which the house was built. Waves from the Pacific Ocean crashed on the rocky shore beneath the house. All in all, it was a spectacular room with a grand view.

  The other tree was on the main level of the house, which was one large open area of living room, dining room, and kitchen. It was a room that invited social interaction. A stairway led down from the common room to the solarium, but because the upper portion of the solarium was on the same level as the common room, one could sit in that area and still get a wondrous view of the Pacific extending out to the horizon.

  Jack had set the smaller tree up in this area, thus providing both parts of the house with the potential for Christmas magic.

  There were three bedrooms located on the second floor above the common room, along with a large bathroom.

  Sally and Matt stared at the five boxes of ornaments. One box contained about three dozen wooden ornaments. All individually hand-crafted objects: musical instruments, nutcrackers, tops and boxes, bicycles, dolls of children, dolls of creatures from the Nutcracker. A second box contained glass bulbs and colored items that glistened in the light. Another box was stuffed with large colored lights. The fourth box contained paper decorations, pine cones, wreaths, and other organic decorations. The last box was filled with news clippings and didn’t look at all Christmasy.

  "We can string the lights up in the solarium," said Sally. "I want them visible to boats and mariners out at sea."

  'Your electric bill is going to be outrageous," said Matt.

  "It's Christmas. It's worth it," she replied.

  In one of the boxes, Sally was delighted to find an enormous star that was perfect for the top of the tree down in the solarium. She also found the most gorgeous angel she had ever see n. "This would be perfect for the tree up here," she said.

  For the next two hours, she and Matt sorted the ornaments, then joyfully placed them on the upstairs tree, and then the downstairs tree.

  By this time, Kiera, Sally's loquacious and exuberant five-year old granddaughter had come home from kindergarten and joined them in the Cliff House. She excitedly helped with the decorations. In addition, Jen had brought milk and cookies over for a late afternoon snack.

  Christmas really was a wonderful time of the year.

  "Where's the Star and the Angel?" asked Sally. "I had them right here on the table."

  "You must have moved them, Mom," said Jennifer Winston.

  "I didn't move them. Did you, Kiera?"

  "No, Gramma."

  "We must find them," said Sally, feeling frustrated with herself. Was she losing her grip on reality? Was this the first sign of senility?

  "Here they are," yelled Kiera. "Under the couch."

  "Under the couch? Are you serious? Really, Kiera, did you put them there? Grandma isn't angry, she just wants to know."

  "No, I didn't do it," insisted Kiera.

  "I've been watching her all the time she's been here," said Matt. "I didn't see her touch either of the ornaments."

  "Are you suggesting that Jennifer moved them?"

  Matt looked confused. "No. I just don't know how they got moved."

  Sally pushed the issue out of her mind. She and Jennifer got the tall folding ladder set up so that Sally could climb up and place the Star on the top of the solarium tree.

  "I really think you should let me climb up the ladder, Mom," insisted Jennifer.

  "I can do it, dear. You just hold the ladder steady."

  "I think you should listen to Jen," said Matt.

  "I can do this," snapped Sally.

  "I said okay," said Jennifer defensively.

  Sally climbed up the ladder, positioned the Star on the topmost branch of the tree, and then plugged in the electric cord to the string of lights she and Jen had wrapped around the tree. When she got down off the ladder, they turned on the tree lights.

  "Pretty!" exclaimed Kiera.

  "It does look rather good," said Matt.

  The two women and the girl finished decorating the upstairs tree. Then Jennifer stood on a chair and placed the Angel on the top of the tree.

  "Perfect!" said Sally. "I'm famished. How about some more milk and cookies?"

  The two women and child, along with the ghost, retreated to the kitchen to get their snack. When they sat down at the table, Sally stared at the upstairs tree in shock.

  On the top of the tree was the large Star. "Where's the Angel?"

  Kiera ran over to the stairs leading to the solarium. "It's down here, Gramma!"

  Sure enough, the Angel was perched on the top of the solarium tree.

  Sally looked over at her daughter. "Jen, are we both losing our minds?"

  Jennifer stared at her own daughter. "Is your father in the house playing a trick on us?" she demanded.

  Kiera shook her head, as puzzled as the adults.

  Sally, Jen, Kiera, and even Matt spent the next fifteen minutes searching the house for any sign of Jack.

  "He's not here," said Jen. She pulled out her phone and called him. When she was finished, she looked at Sally. "He's still at work."

  "Let's switch them back," said Sally. "I'm just glad we didn't put the ladder away."

  It took them almost a half hour to switch the two tree ornaments, but when finished, Sally felt satisfied. "We may have to put a camera in the room to watch the tree," she said. "But for now, it looks great."

  She and Jen stored the ladder out on the balcony, along the side of the solarium, then spent the rest of the afternoon cleaning up the packing materials, empty boxes, and broken ornaments that they hadn't been able to use. Sally took several of the empty boxes out to the front of the house to go in the trash, then came back inside. Jen was in the kitchen, cleaning up. Kiera was having another cookie.

  Matt was nowhere to be seen.

  Then she heard him call her.

  "Sally, come upstairs to the main bedroom," he yelled. "There's something you have to see."

  Sally, followed closely by Kiera, hurried upstairs to the large main bedroom located over the kitchen portion of the house. "What is it, Matt?"

  He pointed at the bed.

  Kiera pushed past Sally to look also. "Oh, Grampa, how cute! You put them to bed!"

  Sally stared in disbelief. She knew that Matt couldn't have moved the tree ornaments, but there they were...the Star and the Angel, snuggled up together under the comforter on the large king-sized bed.

  CHAPTER TWO

  Friday, Sixteen Days Before Christmas

  The kitchen of the Big Yellow House was spacious and well-equipped. Counter space afforded room to prepare even the most audacious dinner. The house sported two ovens, a large microwave oven, a cooking grill as well as a six-burner stove. There was plenty of cabinet and pantry storage, a conveniently placed preparation island with a built in rinse sink and a mag induction cooking surface, and a large dishwasher. Jack always insisted in loading the dishwasher, claiming that everyone else just wasted "good washing space." Since Jack's high standards usually got him into the kitchen doing clean up, Jennifer never found cause to complain.

  Blueberry crepes were one of Jennifer's specialties, and on a Friday morning were a special treat. She must have gotten up early to start preparing them. There was already a pile of blueberry crepes on the kitchen table. Jack and Kiera had a head start on devouring the delicious delicacies when Sally arrived.

  "No fair," protested Sally. "You could have pounded on my door when you all snuck down here to get more than your fair share."

  "Don't worry, Mom, there's plenty for everyone," said Jennifer.

  A few minutes later, everyone was busy devouring the crepes.

  Except for Matt.

  He stood in a corner of the kitchen, staring morosely at the four living persons enjoying the morning meal.

  "I saved some for you, Grampa," said Kiera.

  Matt smiled. "You eat them for me, darling. I can enjoy them from the smile on your face."

  "You can do that?" asked Kiera.

  "Do what?" asked her father.

  "Enjoy food just by seeing a smile on the face of the person eating it," said Kiera.

  "That's the way I do it," said Jennifer. "Nothing feeds the soul of a cook more than the smiles on the faces of the people who enjoy her food. And it doesn't add an inch to her waistline!"

  "I don't know what that means," said Kiera.

  "You will, one day, my baby," said Jennifer.

  "I'm not a baby!" protested Kiera.

  Jennifer changed the subject. "Mom, I know you're fixing up the Cliff House so you can rent it out, but I'd like to ask you to hold off renting it until next year."

  "Next year? Why? It's just about ready, and I need to get ads posted on the major travel sites real soon."

  "I wanted to put some people in that house for Christmas. It's not a long delay in renting it, maybe only a month."

  "Not as many people want to rent a house in January as over the Christmas holiday. Who are you thinking of bringing here?"

  "Well, Henry and Claudia, of course. I think Peter and his wife Harmony will be here. Susan said she was trying to clear her schedule."

  Sally put down her fork. If the expression on her face was any indication, the crepes no longer tasted all that good. "It's nice that Matt's side of the family are all coming."

  "It is?" said Matt. "I have no interest in seeing them."

  "I did invite your side of the family, Mom! You know how they are. They never seem to answer their emails or phone messages."

  "Maybe they're busy," said Sally, a response even she recognized as lame.

 

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