Chapter Two
The tavern was a rundown building on a two lane road. There was an equally rundown gas station across the street and a few shabby homes further down the lane. Grace was ashamed to think about it, but the place reminded her of something right out of a scary movie. She loved scary movies, but Hope did not.
"Are you sure they serve food here?" Hope asked skeptically.
"No, but I sure hope they do. I really don't want to drive an hour to a bigger town," Grace replied. The girls stepped out of the van and headed inside.
Dean looked up from the table that he and Sam were sitting at, his jaw slack, beer midway to his mouth.
"Well, well. What do we have here?" Dean smiled as the girls walked in. Sam turned and looked at them. There was a tall red headed woman in a bright red dress that hugged her slender, curvy body. She was followed by a shorter brunette in a light green retro dress. Both girls seemed way too overdressed for this little dive bar.
"I don't know, Dean. I think they may be out of your league," Sam said, turning back to face his brother. They watched the girls walk up to the bar. Dean couldn't keep his eyes off the redhead.
"No such thing!" Dean replied, smiling arrogantly at his brother.
He pushed his chair back and strode over to the bar. Sam watched him walk over to the red head, lean one arm against the bar and strike up a conversation. Sam shook his head and turned back to his computer. They had just finished a case and they were driving thru Nebraska and had stopped to eat. He was looking up local papers to see if there might be another job around.
"Is he always this cocky?" A soft female voice asked.
Sam looked up to see the brunette sitting at the table next to him. She had sat down on the opposite side of her table so she was facing him. Her forearms rested on the table while her fingers played with the glass in front of her.
"Always." Sam smiled at her. He watched her cheeks flush a little as she smiled back. He looked over at Dean standing at the bar talking to her friend. They seemed to be into a decent conversation so he looked back at the girl across from him. She had picked up her menu and was trying not to notice him. He took a minute to really look at her. She had shoulder length brown hair and soft brown eyes. Her red lipstick accentuated her full lips. She sat up straight in the hard wooden chair with her feet crossed at the ankles instead of leaning back on the chair, her skirt flowing softly around her. She seemed too proper for a place like this. Sam was intrigued.
"So what brings you ladies to a place like this," he asked.
She looked back up at him. "Same as you I'd imagine. We were hungry." Her eyes lit up when she smiled and Sam found himself wanting to see her smile again.
"It's just that you're dressed awfully nice for this place."
"We actually dress like this most of the time," she replied. "Grace makes our clothes. She has an online store that she does custom clothing."
Sam was surprised. He glanced at her friend and then back at her taking in her light green dress. "Well, you both look great."
"Thank you." She smiled. "So what brings you and your friend here? "
Sam cast a quick look at Dean.
"My brother and I are just passing thru. We just finished a job and we're looking for another."
"What kind of work do you do?"
"We're...consultants."
"And you travel a lot for that?" She asked curiously.
"Yeah, we're on the road most of the time," he said truthfully.
"That must be hard. Never getting a chance to settle and be with people you love."
"It's hard but we manage." Sam said looking at Dean.
She polished off the small glass of liquor she was drinking and Sam noticed the slight tremor in her hand. He watched as her to see if she showed any other signs of nervousness. Her eyes darted around the room keeping an eye out for trouble. He flagged down a waitress to order her another drink.
"What can I get you?" The waitress asked.
"Disaronno on the rocks. And a cheeseburger please."
"Would you like fries with that?"
"Yes, please."
"You can just put that on my tab." Sam said.
The waitress nodded walked way.
"Thank you. You didn't have to do that," she said gratefully.
"No problem. So are you just passing thru or...?"
"Grace and I moving here."
"Here?" He asked pointing at the table, "There's not really much here."
"Tell me about it!" She laughed sarcastically, "Grace inherited a farm about 5 miles from here so we decided to check it out. Worst case scenario we fix it up and sell it, I guess." She didn't sound like she was convinced of the idea herself. She looked up at the ceiling and let out a deep breath. Sam could tell something was wrong.
"But it's more than that." Sam prompted.
She looked over searching his face before she spoke. "It's probably nothing but... I just thought..."
"What?" Sam asked.
"I'm afraid it might be haunted," she said quietly. She dropped her chin embarrassed.
Sam's eyebrows went up. "Haunted, really?"
She looked up at him, embarrassed, "I told you it was stupid."
"It's not stupid. What would make you think that?" Sam said.
"What would make you think what?" The redhead asked, stepping up to the table.
"Oh, it's nothing." The brunette said blowing it off. Her eyes begged Sam not to say anything.
Sam looked up at the red head and smiled, "That it's going to be hard to find a decent grocery store around here." The redhead sat down next to Sam.
"Well, yeah we are in the middle of nowhere," she agreed.
Dean sat down in his seat across from Sam.
"I'm Grace, by the way," she said, holding out her hand for Sam to shake.
"Sam." He replied taking her hand.
"I'm sure Sam here can just look up the nearest shopping places for you." Dean said indicating the computer.
"Oh, yeah. Sure. No problem," Sam said, clicking away on his keyboard.
The waitress returned with the brunette's drink.
"Did you want to order?" Grace asked her friend while the waitress was still there.
"I already did," she replied with a blush.
"Oh, well then, I'll have whatever she's having," Grace told the waitress.
"That's very trusting of you," Dean observed. "If I did that with Sam I could end up eating seaweed or something."
"Hope and I have been friends for almost 20 years, so I know that I would like anything she'd order, now she may not like the things I order..." Grace laughed.
Sam looked over at the small brunette. So her name was Hope, Sam was both relieved and disappointed. Ever since that psychic had told him that his soulmate was out there and would need his help, he had been on the watch for her her. But the psychic had said her name was Katherine, so he knew this wasn't her. Not that he wanted to believe in that sort of thing but after all he'd seen, he knew it could be true. Sam focused back on his screen, he had to figure out how to help her without being obvious.
"Looks like it's about an hour and a half south to North Platte or three hours to Lincoln, if you want a big city," Sam said. Both girls groaned. Dean chuckled.
"It's just as bad for us, Dean. The nearest motel is North Platte."
"That's the wrong direction." Dean replied, "Well, won't be the first time we slept in the car."
"You're gonna sleep in your car tonight?" Grace asked, wrinkling her nose.
"Yeah, it's no big deal," Dean replied.
Grace and Hope exchanged a looked.
"Well, it's a bit unconventional but why don't you guys stay at the farm with us tonight." Grace suggested.
Sam saw his chance to help Hope and jumped on it. He looked at Hope. "You sure you wouldn't mind? I mean it'd really help us out."
"No, I wouldn't mind," Hope replied, looking relieved.
The girls food arrived and Sam excused himself to the men's room. Dean quick on his heels after him.
"What the hell is that about?" Dean asked.
"What?"
"You never want to get close to a girl and now all the sudden you want us to spend the night with them. I know you. Something's going on."
Sam sighed, "Hope thinks she may have a ghost. She's scared and doesn't want her friend to know."
"So it's a job?"
"An easy job but, yeah. It's a job," Sam replied. "Besides we got nothing right now anyway so what's the hurry."
"I guess it might not hurt to have a day or two off and maybe get some home cooking." Dean agreed.
"Great! And don't follow me to the can again. We look like gossiping women."
"Are you really ok with them coming to the house?" Grace asked as she watched Dean walk away.
"Yeah, that house gives me the creeps and having a couple of big guys there would help me sleep."
"Dean is actually taller than me in these heels!" Grace said excitedly.
Hope just laughed, "And the fact that he's hot enough to melt butter doesn't hurt."
"Well, there's that." Grace agreed, smiling. She saw Sam emerge from the men's room and walk to the bar. "Sam isn't bad either." She continued.
Hope followed her line of sight and saw Sam at the bar. She blushed profusely.
"He has a great smile," she admitted.
Sam walked back over to her table and set a glass next to her plate before returning to his seat.
"Thank you," Hope said.
"Your welcome," he replied.
Grace smiled, she could see that Sam didn't even notice she was there. He only saw Hope. Grace was glad, her friend needed a guy like that right now. She looked up and smiled as Dean walked back over to the table.
"I'm going to get another drink, can I get you one?" He asked Grace.
Her glass was still half full. "I'm good thanks, I gotta drive home."
"Hmm, kind of a light weight, good to know." Dean teased as he walked to the bar.
Grace just shook her head and finished her burger. When she was done she challenged Dean to a game of pool.
"Ok, but I'll warn you. I'm pretty good." He smirked.
"Then maybe you can teach me how to handle a cue stick," she teased.
Dean's eyebrows flew up as he followed her to the pool table. They each grabbed a cue stick and Dean racked the balls. Grace casually put some chalk on the end of her stick.
"Do you want to break?" Dean asked politely.
"Sure," Grace said moving to the end of the table. She hit the balls just hard enough to barely move them. She looked up to see Dean smile.
"You need a little more power behind it," he said, lining up a shot and hitting the balls harder than she did.
"Well, are you gonna show me how or what?" She challenged.
Dean smiled and walked around behind her. He leaned his cue stick against the wall and bent over behind Grace lining up a shot.
From across the room Sam looked up from his computer and saw Dean and Grace.
"Well he's in 7th heaven," Sam commented. Hope turned around and looked and almost laughed out loud.
"Yeah, she got him eating out of the palm of her hand."
"Now, if she just made pie, we'd never leave."
"Pie?" Hope asked, looking at Sam confused.
"Dean loves pie."
"What kind of pie?"
"Any kind of pie."
Hope tucked that little nugget away for later and changed the subject.
"Thank you by the way for not ratting me out."
"My pleasure." Sam smiled, "So what makes you think the place is haunted?"
She took a deep breath, "I don't know that it is. The place just gives me the creeps."
"Anything specific?"
"Well, my horses refused to go in the barn but it was pretty dark and I've never put them in a barn before. I don't know, it's just like somebody's watching me sometimes. And I thought I saw someone downstairs when Grace was upstairs. But it could have just been a curtain moving, so it's probably nothing."
"Let's see if we can find out." Sam reached over and pulled Grace's chair next to him.
Hope was confused but she moved to Grace's seat, taking her drink with her.
"First, we set up a decoy." Sam said bringing up and additional screen on his laptop. He googled Walmart and brought up the closest location. Then he went back to his original screen.
"Does the house have a name or is it under a family name maybe?" Sam asked.
"There was a sign over the driveway that said Ferguson Farm." Hope said.
Sam typed in Ferguson farm, Nebraska and hit search. He looked at a few websites that came up before he found what he was looking for. It was an old newspaper clipping.
"Girl Saved By Ghost" was the headline.
Hope leaned to look over his shoulder. Sam caught the scent of her perfume and was momentarily distracted. It was sweet and musky and he wanted to lean closer for another whiff. He cleared his throat and began reading quietly.
"Local girl Marjorie Ferguson, 8, says she was saved by a ghost. Her family had gone to town to sell vegetables at the market when the tornado came thru last week. Marjorie says that she was playing with her dolls when the ghost of her grandmother appeared to her and led her to shelter before the storm hit. She said the ghost stayed with her until the storm ended and it was safe for her to leave the shelter.
Although the tornado did not actually reach the Ferguson house there was debris scattered around the farm. The family said they've never seen a ghost before and that it was purely the child's imagination.
Marjorie's grandmother, June, disappeared mysteriously after the murder of her husband leading the sheriff to believe that she had killed him and run away, never to be heard from again."
"So there is a ghost." Hope said leaning back in her chair.
Sam looked over at her. She had gone pale as a sheet and her hands were trembling in her lap. He reached over and put a hand over both of hers.
"Hey, we don't know that. We just found one story. But don't worry, I'll be there with you tonight, ok?"
She nodded. She had no idea how he could protect her from a ghost, worse she could just be putting him in jeopardy.
"Here, finish this. You'll feel better," he said handing her the glass of disaronno he'd brought her. She slammed the rest of it.
"Do you need another," he asked. She nodded and he flagged down the waitress and ordered another for her and a beer for himself. He closed the window on his computer and switched back to the Walmart window.
"How long have you been in the house?" He asked.
"About an hour," Hope replied.
"An hour? And you're already thinking it's haunted?"
"You'll see," she said, staring off beyond him.
"Come on, we need to distract you," he said, standing up and holding out a hand to her. She looked at him skeptically for a moment, then took his hand. He led her over to dart board and began to teach her how to play.
Dean racked up a second game of pool for him and Grace.
"Do you need help again with the break?" He smiled crookedly at her.
"Nah, let's see how good of a teacher you were," she said, coyly.
She hit the break so hard she knocked two balls in.
"Much better," Dean said, impressed.
As she walked around the table looking for her next shot Dean watched her hips swaying back and forth. She was beautiful, no doubt about that. He'd lost track of what she was doing till he heard the balls crack again. His eyes flicked to the table as another ball dropped in the pocket. He didn't know if it was just a lucky shot or if he really was that good of a teacher. She crossed the table and leaned towards him. She looked up at him giving him an excellent view of her cleavage. She hit the cue ball and it jumped the ball in front of it and knocked her ball into the side pocket.
"Wait a minute! I'm a good teacher but that was a hell of a shot," he said coming to his senses.
Grace laughed and came around the table to stand in front of him.
She leaned in close and whispered, "You really are a good teacher."
He huffed at her, taking a step back, a frown across his face. "You're just a hustler and now you think I'm some idiot you can just take," he said, angrily.
"Ah, come on. I was just having fun," she said, still smiling. She closed the space between them, resting a hand on his chest. "Besides, I rather enjoyed having you pressed up against me." She whispered breathily.
Dean looked in her eyes to see if she was serious. He could see the lust smoldering in her eyes.
"So should we head back to your place?" He said, clapping his hands together.
Grace laughed, "Sure, it's getting late and I gotta find sheets for the rest of the beds." Dean frowned at her words.
They found Sam and Hope at the dart board. Sam was trying without success to teach Hope how to throw darts. She couldn't stop giggling when she would throw one and it wouldn't even stick to the board.
"You ready to head out?" Dean asked.
"Yup. I think someone has had enough to drink tonight," he said, indicating Hope.
"Hey, I resemble that!" She began giggling again.
"How many did she have?" Grace asked.
Sam thought for a moment, "Five I think."
"Five?" Grace asked incredulously, "She ought to sleep good tonight. You must have given yourself permission."
Hope smiled guiltily.
"Permission for what?" Dean asked.
"Permission to get drunk." Grace replied.
"You have to have permission for that?" Dean asked.
"Well, it's just our theory," Grace said.
"What theory is that?" Sam asked as he guided Hope out to the van.
"If you know you have to be responsible and drive you can usually have a few drinks and keep it together. But if you know you have a DD or you have something to celebrate or something to forget you tend to get drunk faster because you give yourself permission."
"Well, hell. I've been doing it wrong all these years," Dean said smiling.
Sam just shook his head as he opened the door for Hope. She started to get in but turned back to him, worry creasing her forehead. "You're still coming with us, right?"
He smiled, "Yeah, we'll follow you there."
She climbed into her seat, "I don't know why you would want to, I mean there's nothing you could do to protect me from a ghost anyway."
Sam's looked over at Dean and Grace. They were still outside the van so they hadn't heard what she had said.
"I can protect you and I will," he said seriously.
"Why would you do that?" She asked.
"Because you asked me to."
She leaned over and kissed him. She tasted sweet from the liquor and Sam wanted to continue the kiss but Grace opened her door and climbed in the van.
"So, you'll just follow us," Grace asked.
"Yes, ma'am." Dean replied.
Grace smiled and stuck the keys in the ignition. She turned the key and and the van made a groaning noise, but wouldn't start.
"Come on!" She said, turning the key hard. Again the vehicle groaned but wouldn't start.
"Pop the hood." Dean said walking to the front of the van. Sam walked around and joined him.
"What is it?" Sam asked.
Dean fished around for a minute and told Grace to try it again. It groaned but still wouldn't start.
"Looks like the alternator." Dean said closing the hood. He walked back over to Grace. "Looks like you need a new alternator." He told her.
"What I need is a new car." Grace complained.
"Why don't you ride with us tonight and we can get the part tomorrow and I'll get you back up and running. At least till you can trade this in." Dean said.
"Thank you." She replied. "I don't know how I can repay you."
"Well, we'll think of something." Dean winked at her.
Sam retrieved Hope from the passenger side and held her hand as the walked to their Chevy Impala.
"Wow! Nice car!" Grace said.
"Thank you." Dean said proudly walking around to get in.
Sam opened the back door for Hope and helped her in. Grace waited to slide in next to Hope but Sam opened the front door for her, closing it after she got in. He then slid in next to Hope in the back seat.
"Don't let her get sick back there." Dean said looking at Sam in the rear view mirror.
"I'm not that drunk, ya know," Hope said defensively.
Dean started the engine and revved it. He looked over to see Grace's smile and peeled out of the parking lot and headed down the road.
Grace gave him directions to the farm. While Sam slipped an arm around Hope and pulled her close to him. She laid her head on his shoulder as they drove back to the farmhouse.
