Waiting For You Read online

  Waiting For You

  Paranormal / Time-Travel Romance

  (previously published as “Hearts Through Time”)

  By: Marie Higgins

  The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental and not intended by the author.

  Waiting For You

  (previously published as “Hearts Through Time”)

  Copyright © 2013 by Marie Higgins

  Cover Design by Sheri McGathy

  Edition License Notes

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, you should return it and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the author's work.

  For more information about author: http://mariehiggins84302.blogspot.com

  When a beautiful woman claiming to be a ghost from 1912 appears in Nick Marshal’s new office and begs for help in solving her murder, he’s intrigued enough to consider her plea. A scandal that rocked Hollywood almost destroyed his law practice, so taking on a client who insists she’s dead seems a good way to refresh his career. The more history he uncovers, the deeper he falls for the ghost. Abigail Carlisle believes Nick is her heart’s true desire, but how can happily ever after happen when she’s already dead?

  Other stories from Marie Higgins

  “Becoming a Lady” – Regency Romance

  “Dreaming of You” – Romantic Comedy

  “In the Arms of Danger” – Romantic Suspense

  “Crazy For You” – Romantic Comedy

  “The Spanish Outlaw” – American Historical Romance

  Christian Historical Series

  “A Walk In Heaven” – (book 1)

  “Touching Heaven” – (book 2)

  “Reaching Heaven” (book 3 not out yet)

  Regency Romance Series

  “The Sweetest Kiss” – (book 1)

  “The Sweetest Touch” – (book 2)

  “The Sweetest Love” – (book 3)

  “The Sweetest Secret” – (not out yet)

  Victorian Romance Series

  “Love Me Always” – (book 1)

  “Charmed By Knight” – (book 2)

  “True Love’s Deception” – (book 3)

  “Belong To Me” – (book 4)

  “Love Comes Blindly” – (book 5)

  Colonial Romance Series

  “Take My Heart” – (book 1)

  “Falling in Love Again” – (book 2)

  “Wonderland by Night” – (book 3)

  Dedication

  I want to dedicate this book to Melissa Lynne Blue, Sheri McGathy, and Veronica Mesia who helped me revise this story. And thank you especially to Sheri McGathy who created such a beautiful cover!

  I also would like to give a big thanks to those Wattpad fans that helped me write a great epilogue! littlewriterinme, lydialai8, and londie365.

  This book is also dedicated to those fans of ghost stories and paranormal romance! I hope you enjoy reading this story!

  Prologue

  Sacramento California, 1912

  “You’re gonna die.”

  Abigail Carlisle snapped out of her sleep. Pain pounded in her head as it kept in time with the speedy rhythm of her heart. Disoriented, she wasn’t sure if she’d really heard it or if she’d been dreaming.

  The room was dark, and her body screamed with stiffness. Abigail lifted her head from the desk it had been resting on. She blinked to get her bearings, trying to remember why she’d fallen asleep on her father’s desk in his office.

  In a rush, the day’s events came back to her. Her father’s death two weeks ago, and especially her uncle’s threats had made her life unbearable. Uncle Alexander wanted her father’s newspaper business, and her relative certainly did not think a woman could run a professional office properly. She, however, had different ideas. This was what her father wanted, or he wouldn’t have left her as the sole heir of the company.

  She rubbed her eyes—still swollen and chapped from crying. Stretching her arms above her head, she hoped to release the kinks in her body. Her headache would disappear soon enough, she was sure.

  Blinking her eyes again, she tried to focus on the room, but in the darkness she couldn’t see much except the outline of the window located on her left side. Night had somehow crept upon her while she’d slept, and she had no clue to the time.

  From the far corner of the room, the floorboard creaked. She jerked her head in that direction. The beat of her heart pounded out a different rhythm now. Eeriness crawled over her like a swarm of ants, and she rubbed the goose pimples rising on her arms.

  “Who is there?” she asked in a strained voice.

  Holding her breath, she waited for someone to answer, but the room remained silent. Still, she couldn’t shake the feeling that she wasn’t the only one in the room.

  She trained her ears to listen closer, and after a few seconds, she detected someone else breathing heavily. Just like Abigail.

  “Someone is there, I know it. Please tell me what you want.”

  The floor creaked again as footsteps came closer. Abigail narrowed her eyes, but only saw the shadowy outline of a person raising their hand, pointing something at her. Before she could think of what to do, a flash of fire pierced the murky darkness. Hot, searing pain erupted into her forehead. Her head snapped back. The burn spread throughout her skull, ripping it apart. Darkness fogged her vision as she collapsed on the desk, her hand dangling at her side. She was cold, so numb. The last thing she recalled was the pungent odor of gunpowder stinging her nose as darkness completely claimed her.

  Before too long, voices echoed all around her, but she couldn’t see anyone. At times she recognized her grandmother’s voice, pleading with her to go into the light. Just as quickly, a bright light appeared above her, more glorious than Abigail had ever beheld before. Go toward the light… Abigail tried to reach the bright glow, but her limb wouldn’t move. She couldn’t move anything on her body, but she wasn’t in any pain.

  Her mind drifted away from the dark fog and she felt as if she floated on a light and fluffy cloud. No sounds filled her mind for the longest time. No smells. Nothing.

  Just as she had gotten used to the stretch of silence, her vision cleared and colors appeared, as did shapes of people. More voices were recognizable. Sunshine filled the sky, making the trees so green and the flowers look like a rainbow.

  People whom she recognized were outside, all standing around a casket. The birds chirped in the trees, but the people were far from being cheered by the birds’ sweet songs. Headstones dotted the landscape. Her friends and family were wearing black as they dabbed white handkerchiefs to their wet eyes. An echo of sobs drifted all around Abigail and her heart wrenched for their sadness.

  Grandmother cried in her handkerchief, wearing the same lacey black gown she’d worn for two weeks after the death of Abigail’s father. Harry—Father’s best friend and co-partner in the newspaper—stood next to the older woman, tears streamed down his face as he stared at the pine box in front of him.

  She tried to take a step toward them to comfort, but her legs wouldn’t move. She glanced down at herself to see what was keeping her from going to them. She floated above everyone at the cemetery, looking down. Her feet could have touched their heads.

  What a strange dream…

  When her family and friends moved forward to place a flower on her casket, an invisible force tugged at her body, pulling her backwards.

  “No,” she cried out, reaching for those people she loved, but they couldn’t hear her.

  Crying, she closed her eyes, wondering what was going on, and why nothing made sense. When she opened her eyes, she stood in her father’s office at his building…the same room she’d been in when she’d fallen asleep earlier. A chalk outline of a body was on his desk, and in the middle of the outline, the oak wood was dark with dried blood.

  Oh, good heavens! Someone had shot her. She was really dead! This was not a dream after all.

  Yet, she couldn’t be dead. Wouldn’t she be in heaven?

  She glanced down at her feet, realizing she no longer floated above everything, but was standing on the floor. She tested her weight until she had full control over her limbs before turning and darting out of the room. She ran down the corridor to the stairs. The newspaper office stood empty—as empty as it had on the day her father had been buried.

  Running as fast as she could, she flew down the stairs and toward the front doors. She tried to grasp the handle to open the door and leave, but her body drifted through it.

  Panicked, she stopped short, gasping as she patted her face and her chest. She glanced back at the door that was still closed. She had literally walked right through the door! This was no time to think of why all of this was happening, she needed to return to the gravesite and talk to her grandmother. The older woman was the spiritual person in the family, having been raised a gypsy. Grandmother would know what to do.

  Abigail dashed away from the building, but the closer she came to the road, the more her chest tightened and she couldn’t breathe. Her limbs soon stopped working, and once again, the invisible force that she’d experienced at the gravesite was tugging her back toward the building.

  “Why can’t I leave?” she
screamed, not knowing if anyone could hear her.

  Tears swam in her eyes when she reached the front doors again. For certain she was not in heaven. This was indeed hell!

  Chapter 1

  Sacramento California, present day

  “You have two minutes to come rescue me before I scream.”

  What in the… Nicholas Marshal tightened his grip on the cell phone, bringing it closer to his ear. He moved away from the window overlooking Capitol Street—one of the busiest thoroughfares—as the street was clogged with traffic, making it difficult for him to hear the caller. In the distance, thunder boomed as if trying to compete with the honks and roars of car engines from outside. The ominous weather soured his mood almost as much as the crazy woman on the phone.

  He scowled. Who could possibly be calling him on the first day of his new law practice and say something like that? Perhaps it was a prank.

  “I think you have the wrong number,” he snapped.

  “Nick, I mean it. I need your help. Now!”

  It only took him a second before he recognized the voice. “Vanessa? Is that you?”

  “Of course it is! Who else would be calling you in a panic this early in the morning?”

  What she said was true, but he still wondered why she was up at eight o’clock in the morning to begin with. Thankfully, the call wasn’t a reporter from one of the tabloid magazines that’d been hounding him for the past six months. After refusing an interview for so long, he hoped they had given up on him.

  “What are you up to now, Vanessa?”

  Another grumble came from the other end. “Nick, I don’t think we have time for small talk right now. Although, I’m glad you recognized my voice, how did you know it was me?”

  “Because I’ve only been back in town one week, and you’re the only woman I know with the canine senses to track me down so quickly.”

  She released a horrific gasp. “Are you calling me a dog?”

  He held back a laugh. Vanessa was anything but a dog; in fact, she’d always been a perfect 10…at least in the physical sense. However, her personality was a different matter. “No. It just means you can track me down no matter where I go.”

  Nick grabbed the chilled bottle of water off his desk and took a long drink. He wasn’t kidding, either. He and Vanessa had dated over five years ago, but they remained friends, and she always knew where he was and what he was doing.

  “So, Vanessa, what do you need?” He sat behind his desk and leaned his elbows on the oak top.

  “I’m in the elevator down the hall from your office, and I’m stuck.”

  He nearly choked on his water. “Stuck? How did you accomplish that?”

  “Well, if you’ll stop yakking for a minute and come to the elevator, you’ll see.”

  Chuckling, Nick set down the bottle of water, pushed away from his desk, and hurried out of his office. “All right, I’m coming.” He ended the call and slid his cell phone into the pocket of his suit jacket.

  Finding out Vanessa was in town explained why things were already going wrong. This past week disaster after disaster happened in the old building, worrying him that he might not reach his goal in opening his doors the day he had advertised to be open for business. If it wasn’t the air conditioner breaking down, it was the water leak in the bathroom that threatened to ruin the new carpet inside his office.

  Now another disaster was here…Vanessa Westland. Her arrival only meant mayhem. He didn’t expect clients to be lined up at the door on the first day he opened his doors to the public—not yet—but he definitely had a bad feeling about his ex-girlfriend scaring off any clients if they did happen to arrive, seeking his services.

  As Nick strode down the hallway, his shoes clipped on the hardwood floor the building owner had newly-installed a month ago. Other offices along the way had not been rented yet, and the lack of people in the hallway made his footsteps echo.

  When he neared the elevator, Vanessa’s grumbling alerted him of her presence. She stood between the opened doors, bracing each one with a hand, as she wiggled her spiked heel, which was caught on the doors’ tracks. Holding back a laugh, he shook his head.

  She raised her gaze and looked at him. “My hero.” She batted her long, fake eyelashes at him and pouted her heavily glossed lips. The swimsuit model knew how to make men weak in the knees. Thankfully, Nick was immune to her charm now. It had been an adventure dating her, but it didn’t take him long to realize how selfish she was.

  “I’m so glad you’re here. I can’t get my heel out of the wedge.”

  He arched an eyebrow. “You can’t bend over and take it out?”

  “Of course not.” She rolled her eyes. “If I let go of the doors, they close on me and it hurts.” Proving her theory, she let her hands drop away from the doors and they started to close.

  He reached out, stopping one. “Point taken. You can resume your position.”

  Nodding, she braced her hands back on the doors.

  “Do you know,” he knelt in front of her and reached for her ankle, “if you wouldn’t wear such spiky high heels all the time, this wouldn’t happen?”

  She giggled. “Oh, Nicky, you know I only want to look good for you.”

  He carefully loosened the heel from the doors’ tracks so her shoe wouldn’t break.

  She smiled. “I think you enjoy rescuing damsels in distress.”

  Silently, he agreed with her. Perhaps that was his biggest weakness. If he could only stay away from damsels in distress, his life would turn out better. It seemed lately that his life had taken on a catastrophic pattern, like one car wreck after another.

  When he stood, Vanessa wrapped her arms around his neck and gave him a kiss on the lips. Nick pulled away, knowing all too well what she really wanted. The last thing he needed was his ex-girlfriend plaguing him while he rebuilt his reputation and finished scraping the tattered pieces of his life back together. Especially now, establishing himself as a top-notch lawyer took priority over everything. Allowing Vanessa into his life again would no doubt put a swift and painful death to his career.

  Flashbacks of his previous humiliation plastered across the front page of the tabloids passed through his mind. Scandal rocks Hollywood. Renowned Hollywood attorney, Nicholas Marshal, fired from the case of the century because of his illicit affair with client. Never again would he go down that road.

  “You really are a hero, Nicky,” she purred; the sound seductive.

  Nick withdrew and shook his head. “I didn’t do that much, Nessa. Any man would have helped you.”

  “Do you see any other man around?” Vanessa laughed and hooked her arm around his elbow. “So, are you going to show me your new office, now?”

  “Sure.” He led the way, back down one hall before turning down another.

  In the back of his mind he wondered how she’d found him. Confusion filled his head, threatening to suffocate him if he didn’t discover answers soon. “So, how did you know I was here? And how did you know my new phone number? It’s a private number.”

  She stroked his arm as she continued to hang on him. “You forget, darling Nicky, my father owns Capitol One Associates, this very building where you chose to set up your office…and he owns pretty much the whole block along with it.”

  Nick suppressed a grimace. How could he have forgotten such a vital piece of information? “You’re right.”

  Back when Nick was dating Vanessa, her father had approved of them as a couple. Nick was relieved to know the businessman held no harsh feelings for him now that he and Vanessa weren’t dating. Of course, Nick now wondered if the only reason he obtained an office here in this building was because of Vanessa.

  “Oh, Nicky. I have a crazy idea.” She clutched his arm tighter. “Why don’t you hang up the “CLOSED” sign, and we can hit the town and spend time together, just like we used to do.”

  Releasing his breath slowly, Nick tried to calm the irritation slowly rising inside of him. “Vanessa, it’s my first day on the job. I can’t close up.”