Where The Heart Is: A Bay City Paranormal Investigations story

But it did. It did, and he had no idea what to do about it.
    ~ * ~
    That night, the dresser drawer in the old sewing room opened by itself again. Dean missed it, since he’d partnered himself with Ron this time. Kerry was beside herself with excitement when she and Sommer came downstairs to report their experience. She was still talking about it when she and Ron left just after midnight. Sommer spent the rest of the night lost in thought. Dean eventually gave up trying to talk to him and dragged him off to bed, where he finally got Sommer’s full attention.
    Afterward, Dean lay staring up at the ceiling while Sommer slept beside him. He figured since he couldn’t sleep through the noise of theories and suspicions whirling in his brain, he might as well try to work out just what was going on here.
    Fact number one. Whatever entity haunted this place, it only manifested itself— whether through a physical form, a drawer opening or a cold touch—when Sommer was around. That much had become abundantly clear. Dean would have to ask the staff if they’d ever seen anything when Sommer wasn’t with them, but he had no doubt anymore of what the answer would be.
    Fact number two. So far, the apparition had only been seen in the kitchen and the upstairs guestroom. The old sewing room. In Dean’s experience, when an intelligent haunt persistently appeared in a particular place, it had a reason. Spirits often manifested in the place where their bodies died, or in places that were important to them in life. Was that the case here? If so, why had this entity only now begun to appear in the upstairs room?
    Of course, Dean didn’t know for a fact that no one had seen the apparition upstairs, but he found it hard to believe that Sommer’s employees—or guests, for that matter— would fail to mention seeing a ghost in that room.
    Which brought him nicely to fact number three—this haunting was escalating. And Dean knew in his bones that the reason had something to do with the connection between Sommer and the upstairs room and that mournful voice whispering his name.
    A yawn took Dean by surprise. He glanced at the clock and was shocked to see it was almost three a.m. Making a mental note to find out who had died in this house, and how, Dean rolled over to spoon himself against Sommer’s bare back. He shut his eyes and pressed his forehead to the tangled hair at the back of Sommer’s neck. Within a few minutes, he felt consciousness slipping away. He drifted off with the comforting rhythm of Sommer’s heartbeat in his palm.
    ~ * ~
    “Yeah… Yeah, of course it’s okay… No, no problem at all. We’re not busy right now, we’ll be fine… Okay… Okay… All right. Give your mom my condolences. Bye.”
Dean looked up from his coffee as Sommer clicked the phone off. “What was that all about?”
“That was Rich.” Sommer picked up his coffee mug from the counter and plopped into the chair next to Dean’s. “His grandfather died last night. He’s flying out to Sioux Falls this afternoon for the funeral.”
“Oh my God.” Dean took Sommer’s hand, weaving their fingers together. “Were he and his grandfather close?”
“Not really, no. But there’s a lot to sort out, so he’s going to stay there for a couple of weeks and help his mom get everything settled.” Sommer gave him a tiny smile. “I guess you won’t get to talk to him any time soon, Dean. Sorry.”
“Hey, no big deal. I just feel bad for Rich.”
“You can still talk to Cody, if you like.” Leaning back in his chair, Sommer peered at the clock. “He should be here any minute. I told him to come down to the house before going up to the winery today.”
“Yeah, that’d be good.” Dean scratched the stubble he hadn’t yet shaved from his chin. “I should probably ask if there’ve been any paranormal-type incidents at the winery, or out in the vineyards.”
“Nobody’s mentioned anything to me, but it certainly wouldn’t hurt to ask.”
A loud knock rattled the glass in the kitchen door. Dean glanced up and saw a head of curly blond hair through the gap in the sheer cream-colored curtains. “That must be him now.”
Sommer gave Dean’s hand a quick squeeze before rising and crossing the room. He opened the door and stood aside. “Good morning, Cody. Come on in.”
“Thanks, boss.” Cody sauntered inside. He gave Dean a friendly smile. “Hi, you must be Dean.” He stuck out his hand. “I’m Cody. Pleased to meet you.”
Dean