Richard was sitting on the couch, staring into space, deep in thought. Nicky was sitting opposite on the single sofa chair, ignoring him.
He thought about the name: Christina Long. He repeated it over and over in his head, hoping that something would click into place. But he knew no one by Christina, or even by the surname Long. Who the hell was this woman if not his former homeowner? Was she perhaps a former lover of the last owner, Mr. Young—or even his sister? Or maybe the sister of either Mr. or Mrs. Rees? Maybe the dream was just a dream. For all Richard knew, he could have heard the name Christina Long on TV, or in a movie, and placed it in his dream. So many possibilities ran through his mind. But one thing he was certain of: there was a ghost living in his house.
And he had to get rid of it. Now.
He glanced over at his wife, who was clearly not talking to him, pretending to be interested in the movie. Unsure of what to say to her without flaring up another argument, he remained silent about the subject. Probably best not to include her in all of this, he thought. She just doesn’t understand. I’m sick of fighting with her. I don’t need her help anyway. I’m better off dealing with it on my own.
“Nic?” he said.
She didn’t answer.
“Nic? I’m sorry I went a bit mad earlier.”
“It doesn’t matter,” she replied, still not looking at him.
“Yes it does. I’m sorry. You’re right. It probably was just a dream. I haven’t been sleeping very well; my mind’s been a little hazy the last few days.”
Turning to him, she forced a smile, clearly struggling to shake off the disagreement. “Don’t worry about it. Let’s drop it. I can’t be bothered with all of this. I’m already stressed out at work, I don’t need to come home to more.”
He nodded, now even more convinced not to involve her any further. “Yeah, let’s drop it.” He could still feel tension in the air so he changed the subject. “So, what’s wrong in work? Anything serious?”
She shrugged. “Oh, the usual, but it’s been getting to me lately.”
“So why don’t you look for another job?”
“I have been thinking about it, but…”
“Look, if it’s making you feel stressed then you should quit. Find somewhere else to work. I’m sure you’ll get something easily.” He smiled. “You could work with me.”
She gave him a look of disbelief. “Work with you? No thank you.”
“Why not? What’s wrong with working with me?”
“Look, Rich, I love you loads, but I couldn’t think of anything worse than working with my husband every single day.”
“What’s the big deal? Lots of couples do.”
“I’m sure they do, but spending twenty-four hours together isn’t healthy. I need space—we both do. Trust me, it’d be an absolute nightmare.”
“Okay, I get your point, but the offer’s there if you want it.”
“Thank you for the offer.” She nodded and smiled. “But no thank you. I’ll just have to grin and bear it for another few months. My boss is going on maternity leave soon, so Brian’ll be in charge.”
Who the hell is Brian? Richard thought, as he nodded in agreement. Got to start taking more of an interest in her job.
But for now, Richard had bigger fish to fry. And tomorrow he would find out whether or not Christina Long was just a random name—or in fact the woman in the white dress.
Tomorrow he would begin his investigation.
But first he would have to face sleeping on the same bed that she had sat on.