The Ghost in the Grove, Marcia [ebook pc reader txt] 📗

in her chest and she squinted, trying to peer closer. For those few seconds her heart stood still because she thought she had seen someone standing in the fading light, watching her. Blinking she looked at the tree again and saw nothing but the branches waving softly in the evening breeze. She berated herself inwardly and thought that the dust in the library must be getting to her because her imagination was really running away with itself today.
When she arrived at her home, Maria just stood and looked at her front door for a few moments. It was by no means an attractive door; she was just completely overwhelmed by an intense feeling of longing. A hot bath and a cup of coffee later, she curled up on her favourite couch and was staring out the window at the grove in the distance. She felt that sensuous feeling race up her spine and in spite of the heat of the evening she shivered.
Her thoughts went back to Alessandro. He was her first love and her greatest heartache. If there was one thing Alessandro had taught her, it was that intimacy was a fallacy. To be intimate with someone you had to trust them with your heart and your body and have complete faith in this person, that they would not wreck you. You might as well load a gun, hold it to your head and pull the trigger.
She had just turned 21 and as a gift Maria’s parents had sent her to Spain on holiday. The country had a long history and the very mystique it held captured her imagination. One of the most vivid memories she had was of standing on the marina on her arrival in Spain and watching the sun set over the Mediterranean. Adventure beckoned and she had answered her call with all the passion a young heart could offer.
Maria had met Alessandro while on a boat trip with friends. His entrance into her life was very dramatic and her attraction immediate. The boat had anchored just off the coast and all the young people aboard the boat were swimming and diving in the azure waters. Her first glimpse of him was like something out of a romance novel; he rose out of the water, his golden body glistening in the sun and time seemed to slow down. He had blonde hair that looked like dark honey when it was wet and his features were that of a Greek God. It was a wonder that her jaw did not crack when her chin hit the floor at the sight of him.
Their relationship consumed Maria to the point that she did what he wanted and when he wanted he wanted her to do it. Maria needed Alessandro like she needed air. He had challenged her mentally and had taught her an appreciation for art and music, something she would not have acquired on her own. Perhaps she was too young or naïve or maybe she had just wanted everything to be perfect, but whenever Alessandro and Maria were together it always felt like he held something back and she always ignored it.
She should have listened to her instinct. Alessandro had a fiancée that he had completely failed to mention to Maria. The first time Maria had learned of his other life was when local newspaper headline announced their wedding on the front page. His fiancée’s father was a well to do merchant in the town and the wedding had been the event of the year. The days and weeks following that Sunday morning were a blur for Maria. She went to work each day and cried herself to sleep every night. Most days she felt as if though she would just wither and be blown away by the wind. There was no reason to live, no reason to feel and no reason to laugh. On one of those blurry mornings, out of the blue, over a cup of coffee she just looked up at her boss and announced that that she was leaving and never returning.
Call it a light bulb moment but at that point she realised she had been waiting for Alessandro, waiting for him to call or to send some sort of message that would put this nightmare right. And every day without something from him destroyed her all over again. Leaving was the only choice she could make, the only thing that would save her. Mr Valdes, her boss looked at her sadly and said “Mi Hijo, your heart will heal”
Shaking her head sadly she said, “Mi querido amigo, it’s not my heart I worry about, it’s my shattered soul that needs taking care of.”
Within 2 days she was packed and out of Barcelona; no forwarding addresses, no contact details, it was as if though she had never existed in that space. Maria remembered those days and that awful pain. It was more like a dull ache now and for the first time in 5 years she felt something strange and wonderful flicker to life inside her. It felt like hope.
Aaron watched her leave the graveyard from the safety of the willow branches. She had seen him; of that much he was certain. Almost every day for the last 5 years, twice a day she walked through the Willow Grove to and from work and everyday Aaron had watched her, following her on her way as far as the path would allow. He knew things about her that he doubted even her closest friends knew. Things like the way she turned her face to the sun each morning as she walked, welcoming and giving thanks for a new day, how she spoke to herself when she was faced with an issue and when she was sad she would sit alone under the oak tree and brood for hours. Darkness had settled over the Grove and still Aaron stood under the willow tree and stared at the gate. He was certain of two things; he was drawn to Maria and he was ready to get her attention.
Maria had just finished reading Pride and Prejudice for the umpteenth time. She put the book on the bedside table and switched of the light. Perhaps she had overestimated the impact the day’s events had had on her because she fell asleep within minutes.
A soft mist surrounded her as she followed the path through Willow Grove which led her to the clearing under the willow tree. Inhaling deeply, Maria wrapped her arms around herself and a deep contentment stole over her.
His footsteps were light and barely a whisper but she knew he was there. A delicious shiver ran up her spine as he slipped his arms around her waist.
“I am glad you came,” he whispered into her hair.
Maria smiled and whispered back, “I did not realise that I was supposed to come.”
Her heart thudded in her chest and slowly she turned to face him. A beautiful face with clear grey eyes stared back at her.
“I was not seeing things today; it was you under the willow tree?” Maria asked.
“Yes it was.” Aaron answered.
She lowered her eyes and grinned to herself. “Am I dreaming now?” this time the question came out slowly as if though she was afraid of the answer.
He did not reply for a while, forcing her to look at him.
Eventually he said “What if I told you that this was more than a dream and that I was unlike anything you have or will ever experience? What if I told you that to believe in me was to accept the ridiculous?”
Maria stared at him, he really was strangely beautiful. He had dark slightly curly hair that grew in a shaggy mop around his face. His face was inlaid with clear grey eyes that burned with a curious glow, a straight nose and his lips were shaped like cupids bow.
However there was quirkiness about his beauty, as if though something was not quite aligned properly and her eyes roamed hungrily over his face trying to locate the quirk.
He lowered his head and kissed her lightly, she pulled back and blushed.
“Sorry,” he grinned, “it’s just that you were looking at me as if though I was something so yummy I could not quite help myself.”
Maria blushed harder, “I am sorry I never meant to give you any sort of impression…not that impressions count, I mean obviously they do, it’s just that this is a dream and it should not feel so real,” she finished lamely.
“Maria does this feel like a dream? When I hold you like this does it feel like a dream?” Aaron raised his hand and stroked the hair off her face and traced his finger across her lips.
“And when I do this? Does that feel like a dream too?” He knew he was pushing her, but he had waited for so long.
She stared at him, emotions chasing across her face like the evening thunderstorms across the sky. Desire and confusion were battling for supremacy.
“Who are you?” Maria asked, maybe if she had a fact to hold onto everything else would fall into place.
He put his lips close to her ear and whispered, “My name is Aaron, Aaron Lawder. Look me up some time wont you.”
With that he pulled her closer and traced a path with his lips from her ear to the base of her throat.
“I like that,” he said, “the way your heart beats so fast when I touch you. I really like that.”
Aaron pulled away from her and turned back to the willow tree.
Maria stared at him and asked, “Same time tomorrow?”
He threw her a crooked grin over his shoulder, “Of course.”
There was a bird on the windowsill and it was chirping a most annoying sound. Maria turned over moaning, the annoying bird would not leave. Opening one eye, she realised there was no bird on her windowsill; the incessant chirping was actually her alarm clock. Switching the alarm off, she threw off the covers, pushed her feet into her slippers and shuffled into the bathroom. Peering into the bath room mirror she saw the exhaustion reflecting in her face. It felt as if though she had been out all night. A sudden memory of her dream brought a smile to her face and she turned to go to the kitchen when she spun back to face the mirror.
Eyes wide with shock and trembling fingers, she pulled out a willow leaf from her hair. Staring at the leaf she walked across to her dining room table and carefully laid it down. There had to be a logical explanation for this. Maybe she had left the bedroom window open and the leaf had blown in. It was a plausible explanation except for the fact that she never slept with the window open and she had washed her hair when she came back from the cemetery. After a few minutes Maria, got up from the table, had a quick shower and was out the door on her way to the library.


CHAPTER 4
Mrs Hodgson looked up in surprise as Maria burst through the library doors. It was a Sunday morning and Maria’s day off. Usually Mrs Hodgson came in on a Sunday after church to just relax. She had been the town librarian for the last 25 years and the library was her sanctuary. It gave her time off from her husband and 4 children even if it was for just a few hours a day. Admittedly her work load had lightened considerably after she had hired Maria. However she still found a reason to come into work on a Sunday morning even if it was to just to walk