THE PERFECT TEN (Boxed Set)

shifted from one corner of the high parapet to the next. Nothing.
    “Ah,” murmured her ghost. “Why is it, lass, that ye canna see me now, yet on occasion, ye can?”
    Her heart slammed into her ribs. His voice rumbled from only two feet away. She reached out a tentative hand.
    He chuckled, “Ye canna touch me in my present state, lass. Oh, that I wish you could, but ‘tis not time.”
    “Why...?” She didn’t know where to begin her inquisition, her nerves still rattled by all that had just happened.
    “Because, I’m dead, lass.”
    “No...I understand that you’re dead.” She grinned as she dashed away tears. “I meant to ask, why have you finally decided to speak to me?”
    “Ye appear to be in need of someone at the moment.”
    “Ah.” Her handsome specter was compassionate. “I’m Beth.”
    “Aye, I know that. I’m Duncan Angus MacDougall, also called The Black, the MacDougall, or laird.”
    “Do you have a preference?”
    “Hmm.”
    She waited, focusing on the dense cold hovering before her.
    “From what little I know of ye, I’d be pleased ta have ye address me as Duncan.”
    Oh, my. He wanted to be on a first name basis with her. Her excitement multiplied at the prospect. She wanted to ask if he felt cold, if he ate, slept, or why he’d chosen to speak to her when he hadn’t talked to Tom. For some inexplicable reason she asked, “Are you ever lonely?”
    “Aye, at times.”
    “Me, too.” Burning started at the back of her throat again, a familiar sting at the back of her eyes. A dead man was making her life palatable and she was happy about it. What’s wrong with this picture, Beth?
    “Duncan, do you mind my being here?”
    “Nay, lass. I’m quite pleased you’ve come. ‘Tis a big place for one wee man.”
    She grinned, sniffing back tears. “From what I hear, there’s nothing wee about you.”
    His laughter rumbled like wooden barrels rolling down a long hall. “To be sure, lass, there is naught on this body that’s wee.”
    She felt a blush creep up her neck, turned from the mass of cold air and studied the harbor. Did ghosts miss making—
    Good gravy. She was definitely in worse shape than she’d thought.
    Beth watched the police launch dock at Drasmoor and men scramble out of the waiting ambulance. As soon as the elder Frasier was loaded into the ambulance, it took off, lights flashing and sirens woo, woo, wooing, which to Beth’s ears didn’t sound near as serious—as urgent—as its high-pitched, screaming New York City’s counterparts.
    “As I said, lass, ye did verra well.”
    “I pray he recovers consciousness soon.”
    “God’s hand was on ye shoulder. Fraser will be fine.”
    When the ambulance disappeared from view she turned to watch the sun set, something she hadn’t been able to enjoy very often in a city filled with skyscrapers.
    Looking like a giant orange, the sun slowly slid behind a distant line of molten silver. Wide swatches of orchid, flame, and daffodil surrounded the spectacle. She thought it a fitting close to her first week as owner of Castle Blackstone. 
    “Do you sleep?” she asked her specter.
    “Of course.”
    “Where?”
    “Where I choose.”
    Of course he did. “Do you eat?”
    “Nay, and I do miss that verra much. The taste of roasted venison I sorely crave.”
    “What else do you miss?”
    “The men who stood at my side, the sounds of babes at play, the feel of a woman’s skin under my hand.” He chuckled. “The taste of fine whisky, and of course, reeving. Ack, ‘tis nothing finer on a fair night than racing the wind for home on a sturdy mount with yer enemy braying at yer back.”
    Whoa! She’d been under the impression he’d done it simply to get his cattle back. Apparently not.
    The sun slipped away for the night and she shivered.
    “‘Tis time to go below, lass, before ye catch yer death.”
    She nodded. As she headed for the stairs, she asked, “Will I ever see you clearly?”
    Silence answered back.
    ~#~
    Beth, exhausted but still awake, reached for the ringing phone. “Hello?”
    “Tom here, my lady. Just thought you’ll like to know Bart Frasier has awakened in hospital. He’s a bit befuddled and missing a good bit of hair, but the doctor says he’ll recover.”
    “Thank God. Is his son okay?”
    “Aye. Young Will finally settled once his Da was alert and talking. How are you?”
    “I’m...can you hold on a moment?” She reached for her compact and scanned the solar. Finding herself