For Always

by Janae Mitchell

  I was surprised when he got up and went into his bathroom, shutting the door behind him. When I heard him turn the shower on, I knew it was time for me to go. I took what was left of my wet bathing suit off, put my clothes on, and gathered my things. I was in tears by the time I got to my Jeep, but luckily no one saw me. I texted Beth, telling her bye and that I’d talk to her tomorrow. Then I called Grandmama and told her I was on my way home, and I cried all the way.

  I had sent Jace a text before I left his house apologizing again and telling him bye. Whether it was bye for tonight or bye forever, I left that open to interpretation. I wasn't mad at Jace; I was mad at myself. I was no better than Tonya. I was worse. At least when she threw herself at him, she didn't back out. And as excited as he was, I hoped she didn't throw herself at him tonight because he might not be able to tell her no. I didn't think he would do something like that because he had always been so honest and caring, but after the way he had just acted toward me, I wasn't sure.

  I was almost sick by the time I pulled into my driveway; wondering if he was really mad or if I had just read him wrong. I hadn't heard back from him, so I cut my phone off and dropped it in my purse. I was starting to get mad at him for getting mad at me, which I assumed he was.

  I sat in the car for a minute trying to compose myself. If Grandmama was up, I didn't want her asking me what was wrong. So I turned the Jeep off and dropped my head, wiping my eyes with my shirt. It seemed like I had changed since I had moved here. Or maybe this was just part of growing up. Or maybe it was just this small town. "Maybe I should just go back to Nashville," I said to myself.

  "Over my dead body."

  My heart about jumped out of my chest. I sucked in my breath and it took a minute before I could let it out again, and when I did, it was only to whisper, "Beau."

  Chapter 18

  SUITORS

  Malyn

  "Close your mouth, Malyn. Ya look like ya just saw a ghost."

  I was still sitting in my Jeep, in shock. Beau was gone, so now I knew I was going crazy. I shut my eyes and heard him say my name again. I looked back up and he was still standing by my door. I slowly got out, shut my door, and just looked at him. When he smiled, I threw myself in his arms. "How?"

  "It didn't work, Malyn. I'm sorry, but you're stuck with me."

  Then I realized that I was hugging him—actually hugging him. "How are you…?" I asked, squeezing his arms as if he wasn't real.

  He didn't answer me. Instead, he just hit me with his dimples and said, "Let's go for a ride."

  "What?"

  "A ride," he said again, motioning towards the Jeep.

  "How can we go for a ride?" I was beginning to wonder if I was losing my mind. Or maybe I fell asleep in the Jeep and was dreaming.

  "I'll explain on the way," he said with the half grin that I loved and had missed even more than I realized. "But you better drive."

  I didn't say anything, just sat back down and buckled up, waiting on him to get in. I looked at him for a minute, still in shock, before I finally started the Jeep. "Buckle up."

  "Buckle up what?" he asked as he looked around the Jeep.

  "Sorry, I forgot," I reached over and pulled his seatbelt across him.

  "Do ya think this'd really make a difference?"

  "In whether or not I kill you? No. If we get pulled over? Yes. That's all I need is a ticket."

  "A ticket?"

  I had to laugh. I forget that a lot of things were still new to him. "If you get caught not wearing your seatbelt, you get a ticket from the police." Then I had a thought. "Did you tell Grandmama we were leaving?"

  "Yes, ma'am." He smiled and grabbed my hand, which reminded me of something else.

  "And she was okay with that?"

  "Yep."

  I took his word for it and started the jeep. "So, what's going on? How are you"—I lifted up my hand that he was holding—"so solidly here now? And able to go for a ride?"

  "Max's plan didn't work, so I'm stuck here…for now." Then he reached around and pulled a black box out of the back of his waistband and held it up for me to see. "This is how I'm able to do this," he said, smacking my leg. "This is one of your birthday presents from Max. The other ones are in the house. It works just like that ball, but we can take it with us."

  "Really?"

  "Yep."

  I was trying to process what he was saying. "So, you're not leaving?"

  "Nope."

  I couldn't help but smile. That was all I cared about. We could talk about my presents later. "So, where do you want to go?" It was so weird being able to leave the house with him.

  "Anywhere," he said with longing in his voice that was undeniable.

  "Okay, then." I knew exactly where I wanted to take him.

  As we drove, he explained what had happened with Max and why he thought moving him on didn't work. It did make me feel good to think that his feelings for me were the reason he was still here, but I also felt guilty. He had spent so much time wanting to move on and now I was keeping him from doing that.

  He then went on to tell me about the EMF pumps, as he called them, which Max had sent me. "They work similar to that plasma ball in the sense that they put out energy, Max said. But these run off of batteries, so I can take 'em with me wherever I wanna go," he said with eagerness. "I went for a long walk this mornin' after me and Nellie finally figured out how they worked. She seemed a little worried, but I told her if it quit workin' I'd just end up back here anyways. Well, that’s what Max said would happen." He looked out his window and added quietly, "I could've walked forever."

  I was excited about his new found ability to roam where his heart desired. That's all he had wanted—to be free. Then something occurred to me. "You never left."

  "What?"

  "You never left. You let me believe you were gone when you were right here the whole time. And so did Grandmama and Max!" I would deal with them later.

  "Don't be mad at 'em. I told 'em not to say anything."

  "Why?" It hurt to think that he didn't share my birthday with me.

  "Because I wasn't sure."

  "About what?"

  "If I was gonna just stay out of the way or not." He finally looked at me. "I was gonna hide so ya could just forget 'bout me. That way ya could live a normal life."

  That made me laugh. "My life has never been normal."

  "Ya know what I mean." He grabbed my hand again. "Normal with someone else." He looked down at our hands, rubbing the back of mine with his thumb. "But I can't. The night of your birthday I snuck into your room one last time and realized that night that I can't stay away from ya…ever."

  He still made my heart dance. "Good." It was hard to stay mad at him.

  We were quiet as we drove through town, which was so small that it took all of a minute. He seemed mesmerized by how everything looked. "I can't believe how much it's changed. But it's weird, too, to see how some things are the same after all this time."

  I pulled into a parking spot next to an old cemetery that was in the middle of town. When I looked at Beau and smiled, he leaned over and kissed me. I don't know why, but I suddenly was overwhelmed with feelings that had been building up since he had left—or since I thought he had left.

  He felt my tear on his cheek and sat back to look at me. "What's wrong?"

  I dropped my eyes, hating for him to see me cry yet again. "I'm just happy."

  "So, ya cry when you're sad and happy?"

  "Apparently," I said, fiddling with something in my cup holder so I didn't have to look at him. "I was just so sad when you left, and now I have you back. It's just a lot to take in, I guess."

  "I'm sorry I wasn't 'round for your birthday," he said softly as he wiped my tears.

  "That's okay," I said, but then added, "just don't let it happen again."

  "I'll never miss another one of your birthdays ever again," he agreed as he kissed my hand. Then he leaned over to look out the window at the buildings. "We'll have to come back wh
en it's daylight outside so we can get out and walk 'round."

  "Do you think that's wise?" I asked, looking toward the dead lady sitting in the cemetery.

  "Well, I don't see why not. The worst that could happen is that one of the pumps die and I disappear."

  "Oh, yeah, that won't cause a scene at all…a guy disappearing right before their eyes," I said sarcastically.

  Then he looked to see what I was staring at. "Oh, ya mean if we run into another spirit that my pump might work on them, too."

  "Can you see her?"

  He nodded. "I guess the dead can see the dead. It's weird; I've never seen another dead person before. Wonder what she'd do if I just walked up and introduced myself?"

  I laughed at the thought. "I don't know."

  "I hadn't thought about runnin' into 'nother spirit. That'll make it tougher goin' out, especially in this old town. There's like a dozen dead people walkin' 'round out here."

  I hadn't noticed, since I had trained myself to ignore them, but he was right. I had only seen a couple here and there during the day when I had ventured into town, but they were out in droves tonight. "Wonder why I don't see as many during the day?"

  He shrugged his shoulders. "Maybe they're inside doin' what they used to do, watchin' everybody, but then everybody goes home. Who wants to sit in an empty building all night?"

  "True." I watched them for a minute. Some would talk to each other, but most of them just did their own thing. I looked over at Beau and he was watching me curiously. "I always try not to look at dead people because if they notice that I can see them, they attack me."

  "Attack ya?"

  "Well, sort of. Imagine if we just moved in and you were coming up through the yard to see who we were and you saw me staring at you. What would you have done?"

  "I'd attack ya whether ya were starin' at me or not," he teased. But then he sat back and thought about what I had asked. "I guess I see your point. Goin' so long with no acknowledgment from anyone, then realizin' all of a sudden that a liver can see ya. That would make me go to 'em and find out what was goin' on. I know I was startled when Nellie just talked to me that first time."

  "Exactly." It was so nice to have someone besides Grandmama who understood me and didn't think I was crazy. I started the Jeep, making several of the dead people look our way. "Let's go."

  "So, where to now?"

  "You'll see." I hated taking him to the place Jace had taken me to on our first date, but it was beautiful. And I knew it's something Beau had never seen.

  Suddenly someone was at my window. "I saw you! You were watchin' us! You can see us! Who are you?"

  I kept on backing up, but the woman followed, and I was afraid she was gonna get in the Jeep with us. She was an older lady, maybe in her seventies, with her hair stacked into a bun on top of her head. Her clothing didn't look as dated as Beau's, though. She made contact with my window a couple of times, which seemed to surprise her almost as much as it did me. Luckily she was a frail woman or I'd have to replace my window.

  The lady had stopped following us, but was still yelling. "Please help us!"

  I stopped, putting the Jeep in drive. Her pleas for help broke my heart. "Beau," I whispered, "what should I do?"

  He was quiet for a minute before he rolled down his window and yelled, "We'll be back!" Then he looked at me and said, "Now drive."

  I took off, still in shock and rather confused. “‘We’ll be back?'"

  "That'll let her know we heard her. And it'll give us time to figure out what to do." He took a deep breath and said, "That was batty."

  "Welcome to my world," I laughed nervously. "That EMF pump just made it a little more intense, is all."

  "No shit."

  "Maybe I can come back tomorrow night by myself and talk to her, see if I can help her somehow."

  "Ya don't need to be out at night by yourself. Have Nellie come with ya."

  I had finally gotten a safe distance from town and was able to relax again. We were both quiet for a while when he randomly asked, "Why do they put houses so close to each other? Huge houses. And put signs up like they're some sort of little town or somethin'?"

  We had just passed an obviously wealthy neighborhood. "People who own land sell small lots on it to get more money out of the property. They usually get more money out of establishing neighborhoods rather than just selling the land, especially lake lots."

  We had talked a lot about how things had changed and how he had always learned about new things from the people who had lived in our house before us. He had learned a lot, but still had a lot to learn. It seemed to be the little things, like seat belts and neighborhoods, that piqued his interest.

  "Well, look at that," he said softly to himself as we approached a brightly lit gas station.

  "You want to go in and get something?"

  He looked at me like I had just turned into a dog. "Dressed like this? I ain't got no shoes on."

  I glanced over at his clothes. "Oh, I forgot." I pulled into the gas station anyway. "Just come on in. If they say anything we can say you were in a play or something."

  "A play?"

  "Yeah, a really bad one. Now, come on."

  He immediately passed me and opened the door to let me in. "I'm glad I can do that now."

  "Thank you."

  We went over to the coolers and Beau seemed to be in awe. "There's so much to choose from. Why are there so many Colas?"

  I grabbed a Diet Sunkist. "Because now days you can't have just one of anything." I handed him one of the more potent drinks. "You should try this,"

  He looked down at it inquisitively. "Mountain Dew?"

  I nodded and smiled, but then a thought hit me. "Can you even drink one?"

  He seemed to contemplate this for a moment then shrugged his shoulders. "Guess we'll find out."

  I loaded my arms up with a Slim-Jim, a Twix, some gum, and a bag of chips and told Beau if he wanted something to get it.

  He looked at all I was holding. "Is all that for you?"

  "Um, yeah."

  He just smiled and shook his head. "To be so small, ya sure can eat."

  Luckily, the man that took my money didn't even give Beau a second glance. "We are definitely gonna have to get you some new clothes."

  "Yes, ma'am," he said with a wink.

  I wondered then if he would always give me butterflies…if we even had an always.

  * * *

  "What is this?" Beau asked in awe.

  "It's Douglas Dam. It uses turbines in the water to generate electricity. It also helps with flood control down river."

  He laughed sarcastically. “Wish they’d have built this a little sooner.”

  “If they had, and there had never been a flood, do you think you’d be standing here with me right now?”

  “I don’t know.” He was quiet for a minute, just stood there looking out over the water. And then he put his arms around my waist and whispered, "It's amazin'. Thanks for bringin’ me."

  "I thought you'd like it. I bet it's really pretty during the day when you can see the mountains. You want to go to the bottom where the turbines are? I've not been down there yet."

  "Sure."

  We got in the Jeep and drove to the bottom. There was a bench by the edge of the water, so we got out and sat down. I was suddenly nervous; like I was the first time I had met him. Then he reached over and held my hand.

  "You don't know how good it feels to get away from that house."

  "I can't imagine." I couldn't imagine what it would be like to be dead period.

  He squeezed my hand and said, "And I'm glad I get to do this with you. I can't wait to see where ya take me next."

  "I have a few places in mind."

  "I betcha do."

  The fact that this was like our official first date must be what was making me so nervous. It's like I became shy all of a sudden. We sat there quietly for a few minutes just watching the water churn.

  "So, what's gonna happen to us now?"<
br />
  His question took me by surprise. "What do you mean?"

  "Well, I'd like to court ya, Miss Reed," he said with slight grin. "But I know ya have another suitor that vies for your attention."

  His choice of words made me smile. "Maybe not after today," I admitted. After the evening I had had with Jace, I wasn't sure where we stood.

  "Either way, I get rather jealous." He looked at me more seriously, flexing his jaw slightly. "I can't share ya, Malyn." His face softened and he squeezed my hand. "So now that things have changed a little, I just want to make sure ya know what ya want. ‘Cause if you'd rather have the sap," he added with a chuckle, “then I'll step aside."

  I did care about Jace…quite a bit, in fact. But after the way he acted, and being here with Beau, I knew what I wanted. "I want to be with you."

  He smiled and put his arm around me. "Good."

  * * *

  Grandmama met us at the door when we got home. "Did ya like your little road trip?"

  "Yes, ma'am, I liked it mighty well.”

  I dropped my purse and keys on the table and listened in as Beau told Grandmama how much town had changed, and what was still the same. I had taken him to Sonic Drive-In on the way home, which he kept going on and on about. I think he was more impressed at the fact that people on roller skates brought our food to the car than he was at seeing the dam hold back an entire lake. "Just wait until we go to the movies. You'll really get a kick out of that."

  He looked at me weird, so I knew he had no clue as to what I was talking about, but I didn't give him time to ask. "Something strange happened when we were downtown."

  "Strange how?" Grandmama asked.

  "We were parked near the cemetery and were just looking around when a lady came up and started yelling at us. She even made contact with my window a couple of times."

  She sat up in her seat, alarmed. "What? Who? Why?"

  "No, no, no, she was a dead lady. She said she knew we saw them and asked for help."

  "Them? How many were there?"

  "Several. I want to go back and talk to them, but Beau said I needed you to go with me, since he can't." Thinking of what happened made me start to laugh.