Eternally Yours Read Free Page A

Vereker, who in life had won modest fame with his poetry and utter notoriety with his womanizing, floated around his haunt on a summer afternoon, utterly bored with his existence. Ennui , he’d long ago concluded, was his personal hell. Life for him had been an ongoing chase after adventure in one form or another, and the afterlife had proven the same--only with far fewer successes.
    He glided down Main Street in Falls Borough, the town where he’d been born and raised. Though his haunt ranged to any place he had traveled during life, he found himself coming back to his hometown more and more frequently. What did it matter where one wandered when one could do so little anywhere ?
    A pretty redhead walking out of Town Hall caught his attention. Ah, here is some excitement worth pursuing. Geoff drifted closer to her for a better view.
    She turned in his direction and sauntered toward him. Tall and elegantly dressed--for her times , in any case--she was a little slimmer than he preferred. As she approached him he sucked in his breath, admiring her green eyes. Her complexion was fair and faultless, precisely as he liked--though he rather wished she had long flowing locks, instead of the short modern coif she sported.
    Reaching an electric traffic light, she stopped and waited at the crosswalk.
    Geoff inched up beside her to study her profile.
    All at once she put a hand up to her mouth, as if suddenly recalling something. She turned away from the light and strode at him--promptly walking through him.
    “Oh!” Shuddering, she nearly stumbled in her spiked high heels. She directed a horrified glance over her shoulder toward him, but her gaze sliced through him. Shaking off her discomfort, she hurried on her way.
    Geoff hovered behind, scowling to himself. This was the extent of his contact with women! He could inspire only fear in mortal females, and he had never met a female spirit--or a fellow male one for that matter. Though he occasionally might have sensed another ethereal being, making contact loomed beyond his abilities.
    Well, if he’d learned one thing in the last century, it was that pining away only made his circumstances seem worse. He let out a great sigh and floated off, choosing the direction opposite the way the redhead had gone.
    Having been out of town for several months, he decided to check up on a favorite local beauty. He’d first noticed the woman the previous autumn on the day her husband had moved out. Taking in the scene at the house, Geoff had been titillated. Divorcees had always intrigued him because of their worldliness. Soon he’d found, to his delight, that this one often read his poetry! From that moment on, the lovely blonde had held a special place in his heart.
    As he neared her residence today, he spotted a strange man in front of the house. A jagged stab of jealousy ripped through him. A mortal man could do what he could not--touch the lovely divorcee. Still, it remained to be seen whether the woman actually liked this fellow. Trying to stifle his fears, he floated closer to see what would happen.
    The man looked to be fetching an article from one of those motorized carriages people drove these days. As he pulled back out of the vehicle, Geoff glided over next to him. When he got a good look at the fellow, he started.
    A Vereker! He would have known that profile anywhere--and because it had shown up in his own hometown, he felt doubly sure. That the man who could potentially steal his divorcee from him might be a relative didn’t lessen his resentment. Over the years he’d run into many of his descendants, and few of them had impressed him. Though occasionally one dabbled in writing or another fared well with the ladies, none had seemed to encompass enough of his own personality to interest him much.
    The man stood up straight and revealed his full height, a good six foot. As he stepped onto a slate walk that led to the house, Geoff conceded that the fellow might have some presence.