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Chapter 1

"The past cannot be changed. The future is yet in your power" James Patrick March didn't know who said that, but he tried to practice it in his afterlife by not dwelling on the past before opening his hotel.

"My work is unfinished. I must find someone to finish it" he would rave to Miss. Evers in-between bouts of killing and dinners with Elizabeth his afterlife consumed with the idea, but even then, James found he was content with that. However, James wasn't always successful with that. Sometimes, he found himself drawn to his past, but more so to the woman that had consumed it. She was the only one, the one person that dwelled on his mind in the form of a memory more than he could help. Though every time she did, James loved it because her memory made his dead heart beat again if only for a moment; he found himself still lovestruck even at her memory. Lorretta. His wife, his first and only love, James found himself thinking of her far too often.

He had met her when he was young, before he had a cent to his name, and he had loved her at first sight. She had been born Lorretta Wilson and he had made her Lorretta March once he had the money. She had been his queen, by his side through it all when he had lost her, so soon. James liked to think of their time together as the happiest of his life even the days when he was broke. He liked to think of her as his soulmate, his one true love, and even after remarrying, her memory was something Elizabeth simply couldn't compare to. Sometimes, when things were particularly bad between them, James would find himself closing his eyes to picture her face behind his closed eyes. He would always keep her memory in the back of his mind and his heart, always there to sooth him at the worst of times. She was the only person to ever truly understand him and even after she was gone that didn't change.

"I promise to love, honor, and cherish you as long as we both shall live" James remembered promising Lorretta that on their wedding day, but now whenever he remembered her, he thought those words wrong because she had been dead, so long, and even as he died himself James was still keeping that promise; he knew he would always love her and cherish her as his wife even in death.

In the beginning, he had thought Elizabeth could be her again, that he could transform her into the woman he had known, but it didn't happen. "I'm dead dear, not stupid" James told Elizabeth that all the time and in truth he had never been a stupid man, he had known why Elizabeth was marrying him, but he thought he could make her fall in love with him even as it continued to be a hopeless endeavor, for Lorretta had married him because she loved him, James learned though that Elizabeth could never be her; she would never love him the way Lorretta had.

"All that matters is you and me, James" Lorretta had said that to him before he had a dime, when he had refused to marry her because he wanted to be able to take care of her; now, James always wished he'd married her sooner even if they wouldn't have had a thing, he would have gotten more time with her, something he desperately wanted after he lost her. That was why when it came to dwelling on his past, James didn't mind dwelling on her. Because even after decades, he still missed her. He still loved her and remembered her even in this, his afterlife. Lorretta was the greatest part of his life. The only good part of it he wished to remember sometimes. It was why he was drawn to her again when she walked back into his life eighty years later.

It was like history was repeating itself as he spotted her, a reincarnation of the woman he'd loved, leaning against the bar in his hotel. She was still the most beautiful woman he'd ever laid eyes on as she stood, her heels making her impossibly tall, her strawberry blond hair pinned up atop her head to contrast with her creamy golden skin, a dress of blue shimmery material clinging to her.

"It can't be her" James felt the words drift through his mind even as he kept looking at her unwilling to let himself believe that she had really returned to him as he watched her smile handing a slip of paper to Liz who then came to walk by him.

"Who is that young woman?" James whispered his eyes still watching her. In that same moment, she caught him watching, but it seemed to stop her short.

"Oh! That's Lorretta…why do you ask?" whispered Liz her voice cautious as she let her gaze go from James to the girl his eyes fixed on her in a way she'd never seen.

"Lorretta…her names still Lorretta" James gasped fixing his eyes on the bald woman now his eyes almost crazed with joy. Any doubts he had seemed to go away then as he stared Liz down hoping she wasn't playing some joke on him. He knew she couldn't be, she didn't even know he'd been married before Elizabeth, and looking at the girl once more he felt something inside him shiver. He couldn't believe that after all this time she was standing in front of him again.

"Yes, her name is Lorretta Walker. I just hired her to work here as a waitress. What's going on?" exclaimed Liz not understanding what was happening, but following his gaze once more, she shook her head. If he planned on killing the girl, she already planned to put a stop to it. She liked the girl, she'd already taken her under her wing, and she wasn't about to let her be murdered in this hotel. The longer she watched him watch her though, Liz got the feeling that wasn't it. James was ignoring her now, his eyes solely on the girl, and shaking her head, Liz took Lorretta the drinks still trying to figure it out long after she walked away with them.

"Please don't hurt her, James, that poor girls been through enough" whispered Liz when she approached him again making him look at her dead in the eye as the words were said. James wanted to ask what she meant. To know what she had been through, but he didn't. He merely nodded their eyes lingering together until Liz walked away again allowing his eyes to return to her. After that, he watched her more discreetly over the rim of his glass, and as he did James realized how much he had missed her. How much he wanted to go up to her and take her into his arms, but he knew now was not the time. He had to be patient. So, he watched her from afar, a dreamy look in his eyes. Liz watched him watching her all night. She had never seen the man look so starstruck in all the time she'd known him. Not even when he gazed upon his wife Elizabeth. It was a bit alarming even as it was endearing.

After the bar was empty for the night, she sent Lorretta home, but James remained sitting where he was nursing the same drink. When Liz sat down beside him, he almost jumped his eyes widening as she drew him from his thoughts. Neither said anything as she topped off his glass, a bottle of bourbon on the bar as she stared at him asking for answers without really asking. James only looked away at first, peering down into his drink as if his answers floated in the amber liquid.

"What's going on? Why were you staring at Lorretta Walker all night?" whispered Liz her voice still stern as she watched him. As cautious as she was around the original owner of the hotel, Liz felt the need to protect her new friend, and staring him down, she made it clear she wanted an answer. James wasn't even sure how to explain it as he looked at the bar countless memories racing through his mind. He spared the woman a glance as he tried to find the words, but still they remained stuck in his head. He couldn't just say he thought she was his dead wife reincarnated even if that was the answer. In the end, James could only down his drink holding the glass out to be refilled before daring to speak the truth.

"She is the spitting image of my wife" whispered James letting her refill his glass.

"No, she isn't. Elizabeth and Lorretta look the exact opposite" exclaimed Liz not getting the chance to finish. James cut her off before she could his voice holding hints of a type of joy, she'd never experienced with him even in the heights of a good kill. He slammed his glass down on the bar, the sound filling the room, and looking her square in the eye he was shaking as he began to speak.

"No…she looks nothing like Elizabeth. I was married before Elizabeth and that woman is the exact image of my first wife. They even have the same name…I think she is her reincarnation or some type of living ghost…I don't know, but she is the very image of the woman I loved" exclaimed James becoming more incensed as he went before suddenly he stopped speaking seeming to sink back into his thoughts as a smile fell onto his face.

"You were married before Elizabeth?" exclaimed Liz hardly able to believe it.

"I was. Her name was Lorretta too…Lorretta Wilson…even their initials are the same. I loved her dearly. When we met, I had nothing, but she didn't care. She loved me as I did her and wanted to marry me before I made my fortune, but I wouldn't. Not until I could take proper care of her, but once I was a made man…I went back to her…I proclaimed my love for her, and I married her. She was the dearest thing to my heart, my greatest love…even Elizabeth never quite compared" whispered James his voice wistful and listening to him, Liz recognized the pain and faint traced of happiness laced within his words and then she saw them too in the expression on his face.

"I never knew you loved anyone other then the Countess. The way you look at her…well…it was nothing compared to how you looked at Lorretta tonight. What happened to her…your first wife? Does Elizabeth know?" said Liz looking around her to see it the woman in question had somehow been summoned by them saying her name too many times. It was still just the two of them as Liz gave him her attention once more on the edge of her seat as he continued.

"No…I never told Elizabeth…I never thought I'd marry again. I especially never thought I'd marry a woman like Elizabeth. Lorretta married me for love while Elizabeth did it simply for my money. Lorretta wouldn't have approved of it. They wouldn't have liked each other at all…and at the time, I still missed Lorretta so much. I suppose, as much as I thought I loved Elizabeth, I just didn't want to be alone anymore. I thought maybe Elizabeth would grow to love me as Lorretta had but she didn't. I thought I could somehow get Lorretta back, but Elizabeth was a dull replacement in comparison. After a while, I was glad she didn't know about her, glad she didn't try to be her because it was impossible. Lorretta was my one true love, I never stopped loving her even now that I am dead. If she had lived, I would never have married Elizabeth" said James not believing as the feelings he'd never dared speak aloud were vented to this woman.

"Wow…I'm sorry you lost her…how did she die…I'm assuming it wasn't in the hotel or she'd be another ghost here" whispered Liz finding she felt sorry for him for the first time since meeting him. James smiled for a moment wishing her words were true. Wishing Lorretta had lived to see the hotel he built in her memory. Wishing she was here to share his afterlife as he had shared his life with her. And then he remembered the girl he'd spent the night staring at, and he smiled still. Maybe she was his second chance to be with the woman he loved.

"She got sick with influenza…she fought, so hard…she didn't want to leave me, but in 1918…everybody was dying, she wasn't spared" whispered James a single tear leaving him.

"I'm sorry…I can see how much you loved her, but…James…this Lorretta and your Lorretta might be two different people. This might be her reincarnation, but even if that's true that doesn't make her yours. She is someone different with no memory of that life and can you imagine how she'll react if you tell her? Besides, if Elizabeth gets wind of this…she won't like it, I mean, she may not love you, but she thinks of you as hers and there's no telling what she'll do if she finds you chasing after your dead wife or her reincarnation or…whatever this is. Lorretta could get hurt because I know for a fact Elizabeth won't let anyone else have you no matter how she might feel" exclaimed Liz still looking around her for a trace of the Countess as she stood to walk away feeling sympathy for the man as she looked back only to find him still sitting there. As she did, James knew she was right.

Whether that girl was his Lorretta or not, James would make sure nothing harmed her. It was in her best interest that he stay away. He knew he would never forgive himself if something were to happen to her especially if Elizabeth were to harm her. He knew he would just have to watch her from afar and pretend there was nothing between them, but downing the last of his drink, it was the last thing he wanted to do.

"She's better off" James let the thought pass through his mind as he returned to his room the place feeling emptier than usual as he sat in his favorite chair, lighting a cigarette only to stare at it as it burned itself away. After a moment, he opened a drawer removing a photograph he kept hidden there. And there they were, Lorretta and himself, on their wedding day. He remembered that day like it had been yesterday. It had been the best day of his life. She had walked down the aisle to him on her father's arm in a dress of cream-colored lace that clung to her in all the right places. He remembered meeting her eyes as she approached, and they had shared a smile before her father set her hand in his giving her to him for the rest of their lives. Her smile had reached her eyes as well as his. He stood next to her in his tux his eyes on her as he held her close in the picture, they looked meant to be, and gazing down at the photo, James knew that was because they had been.

"I love you, my darling" James didn't even realize it as the words slipped free from his lips the memory of that day slipping into his mind, for he remembered the moment when this picture was taken, how he had kissed her soundly seconds after the camera flashed. Looking, remembering, part of him wanted to do as Liz said. To protect her from afar, while another desperately wanted to find a way for her to remember, but then he thought of Elizabeth. She could take Lorretta from him again and he knew he could never love her as long as Lorretta lived on in any form. To protect her, he knew he just had to stand aside.