Free Gingerbread Man by MAGGIE SHAYNE

on
vacation."
    "So you keep insisting," Holly muttered.
    He glanced at her sharply, about to say
something rude, she was sure, but then his eyes widened on
something beyond her, distracting him. "You're shitting me. Is that
who it looks like?"
    Holly turned to follow his gaze, and spotted
the town's reclusive celebrity settling into his lawn chair, as his
niece draped a blanket over his shoulders. He'd barely got himself
seated before several children made a beeline for him. He was
surrounded in a matter of seconds. "You didn't know Reginald D'Voe
lived out here?" Holly asked.
    He shot her a glance. "I knew he had a place
here, years ago, but I read that he moved to the west coast."
    "You never would have struck me as a fawning
fan, Vince," she said, fighting a smile.
    His brows creased. "I don't fawn." Still, it
was the first time she'd seen him lose that preoccupied scowl of
his. "I grew up on horror flicks, though, and I think he starred in
most of them. I was planning to drive by his house while I was out
here, just to see what it looked like."
    "It looks like something out of Scooby
Doo, just about like you'd expect, I suppose. It's that
creepy-looking one on the hill." Holly pointed across the lake, to
where the house loomed, its windows dark, its shape like a phantom
against the night sky.
    "Of course it is," he said, shaking his head
as if he should have guessed.
    Doris chimed in, "Reggie's something of a
recluse, you know."
    "Yes, I know, I read that somewhere,
too."
    "You're right that he moved away. Oh, it must
have been fifteen years ago, give or take. But he never sold the
place. He and his niece only moved back here the year before last."
Then she nudged her daughter. "Hon, take Vince over and introduce
him to Reggie."
    Holly sighed. "Okay, just don't go asking for
an autograph or fussing. He doesn't like it. Frankly, I'm surprised
he even showed up for this."
    "So am I. The celebrity scandal sheets make
him sound borderline agoraphobic."
    "They exaggerate," she said, looking at him
in surprise. "You really are a fan, aren't you?"
    "Not a fanatical one. But, yeah, if I see his
name on the cover I'll usually buy the magazine and read the
article. And I have several of his films on DVD. Not the full
collection or anything, but..." He shrugged.
    She thought he seemed almost embarrassed to
admit to having followed the old actor's career, and it did seem a
little out of character. But somehow, it made him seem a little
more human. A little less intimidating. She walked across the sand
with O'Mally at her side. A little too close, maybe. She wouldn't
have minded, if he had been anyone else. But she seemed to feel his
closeness more than she felt anyone else's.
    "He's really not the hermit the press makes
him out to be," she said, just to get conversation going again. She
didn't like silence as a rule. Less so with him nearby. "He's
reinstating his annual Halloween party for the kids this year, you
know."
    As she spoke, little Bethany Stevens climbed
up onto Reggie's lap.
    Vince stopped walking suddenly, and when
Holly looked at him, his expression was hard and cold as he stared
at Reggie. "He likes kids, does he?"
    Startled, Holly studied him. What was that in
his voice, just then? It hadn't sounded like a casual question.
"It's not the kind of thing they'd play up in the press," she said
at last. "Not in keeping with his dark, menacing image, I suppose.
But yes, Reggie loves kids. They say he always has."

 
SIX
     
    “ACCORDING TO LOCAL gossip, he's always loved
kids," Holly went on. "Aunt Jen says before he moved away back in
the eighties, he had a Halloween party every year for the little
ones. It was the biggest event of the year in this town. And Reggie
always had lots of special effects and spooky surprises. They still
talk about those parties around here."
    "And who's the woman?" He nodded toward where
Reggie sat, with the young woman standing at his back.
    "That's his niece, Amanda. She came to live
with him