Be My Love Song Read Free Page B

hall on the first floor west wing.” She was
about to tell about Lafitte’s hounds when he interrupted her.
    “Oh, we’ve researched Windswept. We know about the woman who
appears on the widow’s walk and the phantom pirate ship. Believe me, we’ll be
keeping our eyes peeled for those rascals. How about away from the hotel? I
brought my ghost hunting gear.” He patted his duffle.
    Madeline had her spiel ready. “Galveston is listed as one of
the most haunted cities in America. Make reservations to visit the Menard
House, take Dash Beardsley’s ghost tour and drive down to the University of
Texas Medical Branch’s Ewing Building. There’s a huge face on the outside wall
that many believe is the image of the man who used to own the property. His
will stated that the property was never to be sold.” As Maddie told the tale, a
little crowd gathered around her. People loved stuff like this. She continued
with her story. “When his heirs went against his wishes and sold this prime
piece of beach front property to a university, the building that was
constructed had an unusual decoration appear on one of the concrete panels. A
very recognizable face appeared. The owners sandblasted it off, but the face
reappeared on the next panel below. Again it was sandblasted and again the
image moved lower.” A few gasps could be heard.
    “Did they sandblast it the third time?” the woman with the
bright red hair asked.
    “No,” Madeline whispered. “The door is right below the third
panel and they were afraid he’d come right in.”
    While a conversation began among the guests gathered in
front of the check-in desk, Maddie escaped to her quarters. She had a lot to
do. Despite living in a hotel, she took care of most of her own needs herself.
The maids didn’t clean her quarters and she cooked her own food, unless there
was something on the menu downstairs that was particularly appealing. Living in
a Bed and Breakfast could be overwhelming, guests were demanding and there was
always something going on. That was why Maddie made a concentrated effort to
carve out her own little niche in the big mansion. She couldn’t be too
critical, however, Windswept couldn’t exist as a private home, not without a
major influx of cash. Since she wouldn’t bend to her family’s manipulation
tactics and had no hope to marry anytime soon, the Bed and Breakfast was the
answer.
    After she prepared a strawberry trifle, Maddie vacuumed all
the rugs and dusted the furniture. There were no antiques in her suite, she
preferred French country to French provincial any day. Now, she needed to get
the beef tenderloin ready for the oven. Since this wasn’t a real date, Maddie
wasn’t worried about her hair being perfect or what she would wear. Morgana’s
opinion of her couldn’t be lower and Rod would be happy if his check didn’t
bounce. So there was no one she was anxious to impress.
    She set the table, prepared a salad and moved her basket of
the festive cyclamen to the coffee table as a centerpiece. Needing a moment to
breathe, Madeline went to the window and gazed out at the water. On the West
end of the island, there was no seawall. From the front door of the hotel to
the surf was only a couple of hundred yards. A comfortable sitting area flanked
the boardwalk leading over the dune and steps wound their way down to the sand.
There was even a beautiful pool and cabana on the beachside for her guest’s
enjoyment. Feeling peaceful, she peered out over the Gulf, counting twelve oil
tankers lined up to enter the Houston ship channel. A harbor master would come
and escort them through the crowded waterway.
    No matter the chill in the air, there were always people on
the beach hunting shells, watching birds or boats and enjoying the sea air.
Even though she had lived in this home most of her life, she never grew tired
of watching the water. One day was never like the one before. In the last year,
she’d seen a whale, found a US ammo box washed up