“Well, you know. I met a ghost, rode an ancient elevator, found a real life couple who, on paper, sound a lot like the original couple I was looking for, including his death in a greenhouse. Nothing too out of the ordinary,” she answered, as she lifted bags out of the back seat.

“Met a ghost?! Susan, are you kidding me?” Justin asked as he closed the SUV door and they headed toward the house. “So, was it transparent and floating around in midair?”

“You have definitely seen too many movies,” she said shifting the bags in her arms to open the door. “She was very sweet and helpful. When she touched my arm her hand felt solid. I didn’t even realize she was a ghost until I was leaving the library and saw her picture.

 “And to think the most exciting thing I did today was direct the movement of boxes and figure out that the refrigerator still works,” he grumbled from behind her.

“It may work, but it’s still ugly and will be replaced, soon,” Susan said as they crossed the threshold. “Wow, I didn’t realize we had packed so many boxes. Guess we’re gonna have to decide what stays and what goes.” As she passed the half-circle table she dropped her keys on top with the envelopes. “I forgot all about that other note. We’ll have to open it after we eat.”

“You mean the beige envelope, right? I was gonna open it earlier, but it just didn’t feel right without you,” Justin commented as he walked into the kitchen. “What did you get for dinner?”

“Fixin’s for PB and J. I just figured it would be easiest until we find out what works and what doesn’t in the kitchen.” Susan sat the bags she carried on the counter and turned to her husband. “Did you get a chance to check the stove today?”

“Nope, but I figured if we needed to cook anything right away, we could do it in the fireplace. Just like our ancestors used to do.”

“Right. So, it’s peanut butter and jelly for dinner and breakfast,” she muttered as she turned back to the groceries.

The couple put the dry goods away that Susan had purchased, made sandwiches and sat on the parlour floor to eat. While eating, they discussed the information she had found that day and how she had met a ghostly librarian. She told Justin how the ghost had looked, talked and felt when it touched her arm. Susan also revealed she might have overreacted to the encounter until she was approached by a small boy. While finishing their meal, they decided where to place some of the furniture in that room. After cleaning up her research and disposing of the paper plates, they returned to the entry way to retrieve the beige envelope.

Holding the envelope in her hands, Susan felt uneasy about the possible contents. “I really don’t know what this could be. Why was it lying under so much dust if its from Smith? Smith … Smith …” Justin could tell she had lost her original line of thought and that she was trying to focus on an elusive piece of information. “Jeb Smith, Jeb Smith …” she mumbled “Jeb Smith, Jebediah Smith. Oh, my God, that’s it! Jeb Smith, our mysterious never-been-seen realtor must be Jebediah Smith, Emma’s lover and the father of her child.” Her hands shook as she handed the envelope to her husband. “But, that would mean we bought this house from a ghost!”