Echoes in the Mist (Kingsleys in Love 1)

“I told you: Vanessa.”

Slowly, Ariana clasped his fingers in hers. “Vanessa is dead.”

“Yes, I know that. But apparently her ghost doesn’t.”

“Her ghost?” Ariana paled.

“Ah, I see your confidence in my sanity is ebbing.”

“What is it you think you saw?”

“I don’t think, Ariana … I know.” He slapped his palm on the table. “I found the lantern she used that night; it was buried in the sand.”

“The lantern? But the authorities checked thoroughly—”

“I’m sure they did. It wasn’t there before, but it is now. I was examining it when I sensed someone watching me. I looked up. That’s when I saw her.”

“Her?” Ariana’s heart lurched. “You don’t mean Vanessa?”

“The very same. Looking exactly as she had that last night, right down to the gown she wore.” He laughed hollowly. “So you see, misty angel, I am indeed insane. Because no matter how hard I try to convince myself that there is some logical explanation for all this, that I didn’t really see a dead woman … hear her call my name … I cannot. Because I did. And so did she.”

Ariana clutched the lapels of his coat. “Trenton, anyone could have placed a lantern on the beach, and we already suspected that someone was impersonating Vanessa.”

Trenton shook his head vehemently. “No. Impossible. The lantern was the exact one she carried that night; I’ve never seen another like it. And the woman I saw was no impostor, Ariana; it was Vanessa.”

“Stop saying that.” Ariana shivered. “You’re frightening me.

“I’m terrifying myself.”

“Trenton.” She raised her chin and looked him straight in the eye. “I refuse to believe that you’re insane.”

“Then how do you explain it?”

Frantically, Ariana’s mind raced. “Remember that last night at Spraystone? The way you reacted when we set Odysseus free?”

“At the water’s edge,” he said slowly.

“Yes. You were looking at me but seeing Vanessa instead. Something triggered that: my resemblance to her, my proximity to the water, my lantern … perhaps all of these. The point is, you were visualizing Vanessa, right?”

“Right, but—”

?

??You didn’t actually see her, you saw a memory of her.” Ariana paused to catch her breath. “When was the last time you visited the River Arun?”

Trenton was silent.

“You haven’t been there since the night Vanessa died, have you?”

“No.”

“Then of course you were shaken. That, combined with the mysterious delivery of that book and your raw nerves, would be enough to prompt your brain to play tricks on you. You didn’t really see Vanessa. Maybe you saw someone, but it wasn’t Vanessa. My guess is that it was the same person who bought you that book and who obviously went to the trouble of duplicating Vanessa’s lantern.”

“Do you really believe that’s possible?” The agonized hope on Trenton’s face tore at Ariana’s heart.

“Of course.” She slipped her arms about his waist, resting her head against his chest. “I won’t allow you to think you’ve lost your mind.”

“He thinks he’s lost his mind.” Vanessa bit into her warm scone and gave Baxter a triumphant smile.