^{Tag: Noel Anderson  | ### | NOTES}

It was a beautiful spring day. That was one thing she had been looking forward to upon moving, the sight of everything coming into bloom. It would nice to actually see seasons change for once, something she had missed while living in the city.  Isabelle smiled as she walked down the street, though she had been to Winterly a few times and actually lived there for a year, she was still learning where everything was. One place was easy to find after she had realized she had walked past it numerous times in the past. It did not surprise her than he had bought a bar, it seemed like a very Noel thing to do, she honestly did not know what she had expected him to do after the Navy. 

She stopped walking when she reached the door to the bar, The Sailor House, a very fitting name figuring the owner was a former sailor, reaching out she rested a hand on the door. She had been thinking of what she was going to say, if anything she was just going to say she stopped by to say hello, it had been twelve years since they had last seen each other...and they did have a daughter...that Noel did not know about. Isabelle closed her eyes and sighed, now THAT was the big issue. Noel had every right to know but Isabelle had also done just fine (minus a few stressful moments) raising Emma on her own. But it did not feel right to not let Noel know.

Realizing she looked stupid standing out on the street, Isabelle took a deep breath and pushed the door open. The inside of the bar was actually neater than what she had been expecting..of course she did not know what she had been expecting, after several years of fancy New York City bars and restaurants, it was nice to be in some place that felt..comfortable. No one judging what you were wearing and you could order a straight whiskey if you felt the need, no fancy over priced cocktails with barely any alcohol in it. 

The bar was empty, at first she thought she had seen an older gentlemen sitting at the end of the bar but when she looked again he was gone, so it must have been a trick of the light. As the walked further into the bar she pushed a strand of her blond hair behind her ear,  Isabelle looked around and realized that she was alone, she doubted that they would just leave the door unlocked during the middle of the day, so where was whoever was working.

Someone was watching her, she felt a pair of eyes staring at her back, so she turned to see who it was, only to find that she was still alone in the room. Whoever had been watching her was now gone..if anyone had been there at all to begin with. So Noel bought a weird bar. Great. She wondered what else was knew. Isabelle set her purse down on the bar top, "I did not see a sign with hours out front, and the door is unlocked, are you open?" she called out to whoever was there. 

Logan watched Charlie make a move on the board and frowned at the old ghost, "That's cheating," he shouted loudly before making a face, "you are not allowed to cheat." Those who were already in the bar did not move at the boy's loud protest. "I'm gonna tell on you."

The boy's head turned to see who was coming inside, as from the corner of his eyes he saw Charlie dissappear before re-appearing to make another move and finally leaving the boy along, "CHEATER, CHEATER, CHEATER!!" He stomped on the floor and looked at the lady again, "Of course we are open," the boy told her, "Can I help you?" The most his Uncle Noel allowed him to do was pour water for customers. He wasn't allowed to anything more. At least not yet.

~*~

He heard his nephews loud bellowing at Charlie and shook his head. One could never win the chest game when one played with the spook. He had lost count of how many games he had been defeated in. One move turned the whole game in the old ghost's favor. And he smirks he would get told him, he was a fool to try winning.  Noel picked up coffee as he pulled out another folder to go through, the freaking yearly inspections were going to be the death of him. With spring around the corner he needed more hands on the deck. His cousin was helping out one day a week. He was going to keep an eye to make sure that Bobby - Anderson mentally filched and corrected, Jason didn't over do himself.

Now he could hardly hear anything out of Logan, and frowned. It was going to be worth checking it out as he was expecting someone coming for a interview. He was sure that Logan would try to chase the person away and that not something he was talking a chance with. Placing the folder on the desk he picked his now empty mug, might get a refill as well. Walking out and down, he saw the brown haired kid talking to a blond and shook his head. His nephew took after him, "I thought I told you to call me when someone came by," he told the boy.

"But...But...." was all he could protest as his uncle shooed him away. The only thing the boy could do was stomp off.

"I don't suppose you have your -" he cut off when he recognised her. Too many years had gone since he had seen her, "Isabelle." He greeted her, "What bring you back to Winterley?"

<<Tag: Isabelle Mia Cooper >>

^{Tag: Noel Anderson    | ### | NOTES}

The child's outburst was hard to miss, and she had no clue as to who he was getting mad at but she could tell he had been playing Chess with someone...maybe himself? It seemed like an odd thing to spend the day doing..better yet it seemed odd that they would let a child into a bar period. "Of course we are open, Can I help you?" Logan turned and looked at Isabelle with a friendly smile, something about the expression looked like Noel, so maybe the kid was his son? "I am looking for Noel...Noel Anderson.." she told him. Logan glanced back to the office then quickly looked back to Isabelle, "You know who he is?" she asked. Logan nodded, "Are you a lawyer? My mom doesn't like lawyers."Isabelle brow wrinkled in confusion, why didn't the boys mother like lawyers? 

"No, I am not a lawyer, just a friend.." she told him, Logan nodded again, and started to turn to go and get Noel but stopped as the man himself appeared. "I thought I told you to call me when someone came by," he said in a stern voice, Isabelle looked at Noel. He looked just about the same..just more mature, his hair seemed to have a little hint of gray mixed in. Logan frowned, "But...But...." his protests fell of deaf ears as Noel motioned for him to move away, figuring he'd have to wait to finish the chess game he made his way down to the basement to go play. "I don't suppose you have your -" he looked at her and she gave him a small smile as the recognition became clear on his face. "Have my resume?" she took a guess of what he had been asking for, "I am sure I have a copy somewhere back home, I am used to emailing them these days..and I think my expertise if not exactly suited for what you might be looking for. As for why I am back...." she trailed off, did she come straight out and tell him or did she wait a bit? "My aunt Martha died..and left me her house so I decided to take advantage of a change of pace, small town life can be good for the heart." she told him. 

He rose an eyebrow at her guess and comment that followed, "Very funny," he told her as he leaned on the bar, "I had been expecting the person who was applying for the job here. Summer's around," and shrugged. Summer normally brought more tourist to the town and that meant more customers, drunk fights, or dealing with drunks in general.  While he didn't patrons getting drunk, the money tourist brought was good for business. But she was the last person he was expected to see after so long. He gave her a look over and noticed she had hardly changed herself. Expect older and sightly winkled around the eyes, but the natural youth overrode that. He had fallen hard, after the break up, he had hardly dated. If he did, it had been a rare. For a second dared himself to look at her left hand for a ring. More out curiosity he told himself. She was allowed to move on.

He nodded at her reason, "Sorry to hear that," he told her, "You mean the cute cottage she lived in?" The woman had celebrated her last birthday her in the House. Noel had gone a little out his way to make it special for her. Hopefully it wasn't too girly like it had been once if he remembered correctly. At her last few words his mind turned to Bobby's twins, the girls hated the small town life so far. Hopefully, spring and summer might have them changing their minds. "Sick of big cities?" he asked, as he shifted back on his feet, "Can I get you a drink?"

<<Tag: Isabelle Mia Cooper >>

^{Tag; Noel Anderson   | ### | NOTES}

Isabelle smiled and nodded, "Yes, the cute little cottage over off of Morris, I am actually excited to have a yard for once." basically everyone in town knew of the house, Martha had been known for her herb garden and the large clusters of lavender scattered around the yard. She was already making plans to update the inside of the house, maybe a coat of paint here and there, update some of the furnishings, just to make it more of her own. "I'll take a beer, it has been a while since I have had anything that was not wine or a fancy overpriced cocktail." god forbid if a fashion designer was caught drinking anything but the trendiest drinks or the always classy glass of wine. Isabelle moved and sat on the nearest bar stool, resting her arms on the bar top she glanced over to the chessboard that Logan had left out, "Does your son always play chess by himself?" she asked as she looked up from the game. She was guessing again, honestly she didn't know whose kid Logan was, just that he did look a little bit like Noel. 

Hearing her request for a drink, he moved over to grab a glass before scooping ice into it, "Nice," he nodded, "That house never failed to amuse me. And all those flowers...." Noel shook his head, as he brought the drink over and placed in front of her. He couldn't recall the last time she had beer. Heck he couldn't remember the last time she looked this relaxed, he would blame it on a faulty memory.

"If you want a cocktail, Lisa makes them best," he tipped his head towards the back, "and mean." It was one skill the woman had that was not involved with math. He frowned when she asked the question and looked over at the abandoned game of chess, realising who she was talking about, he chuckled, "Logan is not my son. For your information he is my nephew. He's Veronica's son. He doesn't play the game by himself." And he wondered what gave her the impression that he had a child?

"I don't have kids, nor I'm married," he grabbed himself a glass of beer, "In case you were wondering." And sipped as he eyed her over the rim. She wasn't jealous, was she? It had been years since they were a item. And his recent brush with the law, courts and a possible jail time hanging over his head. Dating wasn't an option.

<<Tag: Isabelle Mia Cooper   >>

^{Tag; Noel Anderson   | ### | NOTES}

"I will remember that next time." She replied as he mention Lisa and her cocktail making abilities, next time...would there even be one of those after she tells him why she was there? Isabelle took a sip of the beer he had given her, she did not know the name but it was good.

She nodded as he explained who Logan was, so Veronica ended up having kids after all, "I thought he was your son because you two look a little alike." Isabelle told him, she did not expect him to keep on talking, telling her that he was still single and with no kids of his own. That he knew of. For a brief moment Isabelle looked away from Noel, ever since Emma had been born she had run over several dozen scenarios of how she'd tell Noel about his daughter, now that she was actually face to face with the man, she realized it was easier said than done.

She didn't know what to say as she opened her mouth only to quickly close it again, her eyes went back to Noels and then to the chess board, "If he doesn't play alone...who does he play with? A ghost?" She asked with a laugh.



. 

He would let Lisa know that someone was up for trying her drinks. The woman made them but far in between. It seemed to Noel it was only when the mood struck. Or someone was there to look after Logan. He didn't like dragging the kid into the bar. Nodded at her words, "I'll let her know," and poured himself one as well. Looking at it he decided he could use more of the hard stuff, but he was on his own clock.

He laughed, "If my nephew doesn't look like me, who would he look like? His father is a whip for a man." He was the only male figure around other than Charlie for the boy to look up to. In the past few weeks he hadn't been the best role model for the 10 year to look up to. In the gesture she had looked away didn't go past him. They hadn't gotten to the point where marriage and children were the next step, at least from what he could make from the memories he had.

He followed his own eyes at her question. A smile drew on lips at her word, "Actually," he looked back at her, "He does. Town is full of them." It was easy to accept as the lore, legend and stories  that were tied to the town of Winterley. If one looked closer, there was chance they might see a ghost.

Tag: Isabelle Mia Cooper

^{Tag:&nbsp;Noel Anderson   | ### | NOTES}

"If my nephew doesn't look like me, who would he look like? His father is a whip for a man."

Isabelle rolled her eyes and glanced around the bar, it was clear Noel had the same snark, but not as bad as Bobby had back in the day. Her eyes moved back to Noel and she raised a brow as she realized he had said Logan did play chess with a ghost, "Really Noel Anderson..you are just pulling my leg, I am not that stupid." she told him as she took a sip from her beer. Logan reappeared back at the bar, a very mischievous smile on his face but he quickly replaced it with a sweet smile, "Uncle Noel, can I go play outside?" he asked, he glanced back to the other side of the bar and then back to Noel. "Yes?" he asked not waiting for an answer, the boy even looked to Isabelle for an answer, she just shrugged, she had no say in the matter. The only child she had to keep and eye on was her own. Logan didn't wait for an answer, he spun on his heel and ran for the door, yelling his thanks as he went out the door. 

Isabelle said a silent prayer than Emma was not that hyper, for the most part her their daughter was easy going, though she had her moments. "He seemed to be in a rush." she said quietly, who knew with kids, they always had something to do and adventures to go on.  "So all these years and you-" she stopped talking as the lights in the bar suddenly flickered and went out, the floor boards seemed to give a little shake as if a large truck was driving past. Earthquakes did not happen in the mountains, and it was not storming so why would the power go out. 


Izzy looked towards where she Noel was in the dark, "Is...is everything okay?" she asked, "Does this old building have electrical problems?" if he needed money to fix it she could help, that is if he wanted. "Noel....that boy is messing with things that ain't his again, all because I didn't let him win." the voice that spoke from the dark was deep and had the faint hint of an Irish accent. "I don't ask for much...but he needs to stop." whoever was speaking was angry. She shivered as the room suddenly got very cold, "Next time he does it I am going to teach him a lesson." the voice suddenly  came from beside her. Isabelle turned to face whoever it was and right then the lights in the bar forcing her to come face to face with something that was not entirely human, least it did not look that way. Charlie was exactly focused on making himself look normal, so at that moment he looked rather spooky. 


He stared at the woman for a moment, not really in the mood to be nice because of what Logan had done, he watched as Isabelles eyes went wide as she tried to figure out what she was staring at, in a rare move Charlie rolled his eyes, "Lass looks like she has never seen a ghost before.." he muttered. "Noel...what is that?" she asked as she jerked away from Charlie, her arm knocked her beer glass to the floor where it shattered. Charlie moved a step closer, Isabelle instinctively held up a hand to stop him only to discover that her hand went straight into the ghosts chest. "N-N-Noel....that....." the words did not want to come out, "That is a ghost." she said softly, Charlie smiled, "Boo." was all he said before watching Isabelle eyes rolling back in her head and the blonde woman dropping to the floor like a sack of potatoes.