Where The Heart Is: A Bay City Paranormal Investigations story

and…” Sommer made a soft, strangled sound in the back of his throat. “It was cold. Freezing cold. But this time when I touched it, I felt warm inside. And I got this clear idea in my head, telling me to dig right here. So I went back to the house, got my shovel and started digging.”
“It sounds like we’ve found your m—um, your ghost’s body.” Dean stared at the skull still half-buried in the dirt. The empty eye sockets stared back at him. He pressed his lips together to stop himself from pointing out what was, to him, painfully obvious.
“You were right, Dean.”
To Dean’s surprise, it wasn’t even a struggle to avoid saying, “I told you so.” He pressed his shoulder to Sommer’s in a silent invitation for him to continue.
Sommer pointed into the excavation. “Do you see the ring on her finger?”
Dean leaned over to get a better look at the skeletal hand sticking out of the earth. An ornate Celtic knot ring shone silver on one bony finger. “I see it.”
“I remember that ring. My great-grandfather made it himself, when he first emigrated here from Ireland. He gave it to the woman he married, and it’s been passed down through the family ever since.”
“Sommer…” Dean held Sommer’s gaze, putting the question he couldn’t bring himself to ask into his eyes.
The corner of Sommer’s mouth lifted in a melancholy smile. “I think this is my mother.”
Chapter Fourteen
    By the time the police left, the eastern sky had begun to pale. Dean shut the door behind the last uniformed officer with a deep sigh and headed back into the kitchen. Sommer sat at the kitchen table, staring silently into the cup of coffee Dean had made him.
    “Well, I guess that’s it for now.” Shuffling over to the table, Dean fell into the chair next to Sommer’s. “I’ll give Ron and Kerry another call in a little while. They don’t need the car yet, since Ron’s biking it to work, but they’ll want to know what’s going on.”
    Sommer nodded without looking up. “Were they upset when you talked to them earlier?”
Dean let out a rueful laugh. When he’d talked to them the previous night, Ron had taken the news with his usual laid-back calm. Kerry, predictably, had shifted gears from furious with Sommer to frantic with worry over him once she’d heard what happened. The only way Dean could talk her out of calling a cab to bring her straight over was to promise to call again after the police left.
“Not really,” Dean answered. “They’re worried about you, that’s all.”
“At least I’m not under suspicion yet.” Curling his fingers around his coffee mug, Sommer lifted it and took a sip. “I don’t mind having to stay in town. I wasn’t planning to leave anyhow.”
“They have no reason to suspect you. I heard one of the cops say it looked like the body had been there a long time. And that there was several years worth of weeds and stuff growing there.” Dean didn’t mention that he’d been deliberately trying to overhear the two officers’ conversation, and he was pretty sure they hadn’t meant for him to hear that bit.
Sommer glanced up, the barest hint of his normal sweet smile on his face. “Thanks, Dean. For coming over, and for staying with me while the police were here. I really appreciate it.”
“I just wish they would’ve let me stay with you while they talked to you.” Scooting his chair closer, Dean rested an elbow on the table and propped his chin in his hand. “I’m sorry your guests all left.”
Sommer shrugged. “Me too. Not that I blame them. Being woken up near midnight by a bunch of cops stomping around and not saying what’s going on wouldn’t make me want to stay here either.”
“You were awfully nice to refund their money and find them rooms at other places.”
“I owed them that much. They didn’t expect this sort of thing when they booked the rooms.” Sighing, Sommer set his mug down and rubbed both hands over his face. “God, I really didn’t need this though. I’m already running in the red.”
Not knowing what to say, Dean reached out to run a tentative finger over the back of Sommer’s wrist. To his surprise, Sommer took his hand and pressed the open palm to his cheek, eyelids fluttering closed and lips parting. “God, I’ve missed you. I know it hasn’t been that long, but it felt like forever.”
Dean’s breath hitched as a sudden desire flared to life in his belly. Bad timing, his good sense warned him, even as his thumb caressed