"Don't worry about it. I'll cover for you."
I loved Beth. "You don't know how relieved I am that you know. Especially since you seem okay with it all."
"I have to admit, it is crazy. I've never had a friend who can see what you can; or who has a ghost for a boyfriend, for that matter. But that just makes our friendship that much more interestin'."
"You got that right," Grandmama agreed. "But as interestin' as y'all are, I'm goin' up to bed. Y'all have worn me out."
"G'night, Nellie."
"Good night. I love you."
"I love you, too," she called back over her shoulder.
We sat quietly for a few minutes after Grandmama went up when Beth asked, "So, do you see ghosts often?"
"Sometimes, but when I do, I try to ignore them. If they know that I can see them, they won't leave me alone."
I could almost see the wheels in her head spinning. "Have you ever seen any around me?"
I couldn't help but smile. "Yes." I didn't want to tell her that there was one down at the marina, afraid it may freak her out a bit. Luckily he stayed down by the lake and didn't pay attention to anyone.
"Really? You need to tell me next time."
"Why?"
"I don't know. Just so I'll know." She was quiet for just a few seconds before her face lit up and she said, "Hey! Can you see 'em if they're on TV? Like on those ghost huntin' shows?"
"I don't know. I've never even thought about that. I don't really watch TV, but I'll have to watch one of them and see."
"That would be cool if you could. I love those shows! Maybe you could have one of your own. Can you imagine?"
"No, I don't think so."
"Why? You'd be famous! And you could make a lot of money."
"You're the only person who knows, and that was by accident. I don't want people thinking I'm crazy." For some reason, Tonya popped in my head. "So, please, don’t tell anybody."
"I said I wouldn't. Don't worry." She leaned forward and put her hand on mine. "You can trust me."
"I know. It's just scary…having someone know."
She removed her hand and leaned back into the couch. "And to think, I was just comin' to see if you were dead, and it turns out Beau's the dead one," she laughed, causing me to join her. We were quiet again when she said, "Oh, I have a bit of good news for you.”
“What would that be?”
“Tonya left this mornin'."
"Good," came out of my mouth before I knew it.
"I know. She's changed since she was here last summer. She even got on Jace's nerves. But Ty seemed to enjoy her enough."
"Now if Red and her entourage would leave, too, Dandridge would be a much happier place."
"No doubt." She looked down at where Beau was, even though she couldn't see him. "So, can he do…normal stuff? I mean, how long are y'all gonna be able to be together? And can you be together together? And since Nellie can't see him, does he stay in your room?"
I held up my hand, making her barrage of questions cease. "Sort of, I don't know, yes, and no."
I could tell she was trying to match up my answers with her questions. "Really?"
"When that thing is turned on," I motioned toward the pump, "he's just like you and me, pretty much." I tried to explain to her everything Max had told us about Beau's energy, why he was still here, and how he becomes solid. She listened intently as I recounted Max's theories. Once I got finished telling her as much as I could, I felt like I could lay down and go to sleep. I assumed that Beau was tapping into my energy supply again.
"That's amazing, truly amazing. I never in my wildest dreams would've ever thought it possible. I mean, it's like he can live again."
"I know."
"He's lucky you moved in here. What are the odds?"
"I know."
"I'd loved to have been a fly on the wall when you two first met."
"Yeah."
"Are you okay?"
"I'm sorry, just tired all of a sudden."
"Well, I guess I'll go so y'all can rest. And don't worry 'bout tomorrow. I'll tell Mom you're still sick and won't be in. I'll cover your shifts for ya. She may let ya have the rest of the week off, knowin' her."
"I don't want to get in trouble, though. I should be fine after tomorrow."
"We'll see how it goes. I'll call or come by tomorrow to check on y'uns."
"Thanks, Beth. I really do appreciate it."
I must have fallen right to sleep because I didn't even remember Beth leaving. It seemed like I was thanking her for being such a good friend one minute and Beau was waking me up the next.
"Good mornin', Beautiful," he whispered, stroking my cheek.
I rolled over and rubbed my eyes. When I could focus, I squinted into the sunlight and saw him on his knees next to the chaise. "What time is it?"
"Um," he looked back at the clock, "it's 'bout ten." I stretched and yawned, wanting to go back to sleep. "I'm sorry to wake ya up, but I'm hankerin' to know how many got out. I felt several, but couldn't tell."
"Nine, I think," I mumbled. "You did great." I grabbed his hand and held it to my chest, closing my eyes. "And Beth showed up in the middle of it all."
I felt him stiffen and lean back. "What?"
"Beth knows. She knows everything."
"Everything?"
"Yeah," I whispered as I started to doze off again, "everything."
I felt myself being lifted off of the chaise and carried. I opened my eyes enough to see Beau carrying me up the stairs. "I thought you'd be more comfortable in your bed."
I wanted to thank him, but I think I fell back asleep before I got it out. The next thing I knew, I was dreaming; but the dreams weren't my own. I spent what seemed like forever playing with Beau's brothers and sisters under the big willow tree. Then his family disappeared and he was dreaming about me. I was standing out in the sun, away from the tree, squeezing water from my hair. It was weird seeing how I looked through his eyes, wondering why I was soaking wet. Then suddenly I was watching him watch me instead of me watching myself.
"Did ya have a good swim?" He rolled over on his bare side, still watching me.
I stopped squeezing water out of my hair and just looked at him. I was dreaming, but it was the same dream Beau had been having. And my view was my own, not his. He started laughing, probably at my perplexed expression.
"What is this?" I asked, waving my arms around me. I walked over and sat down on the blanket next to him. "This is your dream, not mine. I'd never go swimming in that river."
"It's yours now, too."
I was so confused. How did his dream turn into mine? And how was he still in it, informing me of this? "I hate dreams. They never make any sense."
"Maybe I can change your opinion 'bout that." He gently yanked on my hair, pulling me down onto the blanket. As he kissed me, I quickly forgot we were dreaming until our surroundings started to fade away.
I sat up and looked around, but everything became bright and normal again. "What was that?"
He smiled, looking embarrassed. "Sorry, I did that. It's just…everything seems to fade away when I'm with ya. I just didn't mean for it to actually fade away."
He rolled onto his back and shut his eyes. I still couldn't wrap my mind around what was going on. "I'm asleep, right?"
He looked up at me, folding his hands behind his head. "Yep."
"And you must be sleeping too, right?"
"Yep."
"So, how are we dreaming together? I invade your dreams. How are you invading mine? Or did your dream just turn into mine?"
He laughed. "I dunno. All I know is that I laid down with ya for a bit, and before I knew it, I was dreamin' 'bout my family and then started dreamin' 'bout you. And it's like I realized I was dreamin' and felt ya here with me. So I just pushed ya out." He shrugged his shoulders like he was just as confused as I was. He rubbed his thumb up and down my arm. "Whatever's goin' on, I ain't complainin'."
"But how—"
"Who cares how
?" he interrupted me, sitting up so his face was next to mine. "How am I here at all? How can I, at the flip of a switch, be alive again? Well, not alive, but close enough. How can I have someone like you come into my life and change everything?" He shook his head and smiled. "I don't know how, and I don't care."
Then something occurred to me, so I tried it. And when I saw the look on Beau's face, I knew that it worked.
"For the love of all that's holy," he cringed.
I shook my hair forward and picked up a strand of it. "It worked!" My hair was as white as Grandmama's. Then I focused on Beau, and suddenly his hair was white to.
"You didn't do that to me too, did ya?"
I laughed, even though he still looked as handsome as ever. "Do you know what this means?"
"Um…" Obviously he didn't.
"We can completely control our dreams."
He looked at me with a sly grin. "Really?"
When I felt my bathing suit disappear, I quickly grabbed the edge of the blanket and covered myself and smacked him. "Beau!"
He was laughing so hard he could barely get out, "Sorry, I didn't…think…I didn't think it’d work."
I put a sundress back on me, smirking at him. "That was not proper dream etiquette."
"I really am sorry." His laughter had lessened to just a smile. "Really, I am."
"Okay, I guess. Just don't let it happen again." I wondered how long we had been asleep, and when we might wake up. I wanted to do one thing before that happened. "Close your eyes." He looked at me skeptically. "Just close your eyes. I won't do anything mean, like strip your clothes off."
"I don't think that'd be mean at all."
"Close your eyes!" When he did, I changed our scenery.
He quickly opened his eyes, startled. "Where are we?"
"In a dream," I smiled. "A wonderful dream."
He looked around in awe at the white beach we were sitting on, and the full moon glistening off the ocean. He reached down, picking up a handful of sand and letting it run through his fingers. "I've never been to the ocean. Is this really what it's like?"
"The best I can remember. Grandmama took me several years ago."
"I can even smell it." He stood up, walking toward the water. He barely let it wash over his feet before he turned around and sat back down next to me. "Thanks for sharing this with me."
"You're welcome." Then he looked up into the sky, causing me to look, too. I saw him look back at me, but I couldn't take my eyes off the sky. "I've never seen a falling star." Several were shooting across the horizon.
"Now ya have."
All of a sudden it felt like we were having an earthquake. We looked at each other wondering if the other one was doing it. Then everything started crumbling around us exposing bits of my bedroom. The smell of the fresh ocean air was replaced with a mixture of sandalwood and patchouli. I was immediately blinded by a bright light, causing me to cover my face. I heard Beau moan, so I knew he was still by me.
"Wake up, Malyn," I heard Grandmama say.
I peeked through my fingers and saw that she was standing at the end of my bed, shaking it with her foot. I was suddenly very mad that she had interrupted my ocean front dream with Beau. "What? I want to sleep." All I heard was her clearing her throat, which I quickly interpreted as a full blown lecture on how I was being disrespectful. "I'm sorry. I'm just sleepy."
"Yeah, I can tell. You've slept all afternoon."
"That was some of the best sleepin' I've ever had," Beau said as he sat up grinning, causing me to elbow him in the side.
"I'm sure it was. No wonder she's so mad I woke her up."
I still felt drained. "I'm gonna go back to sleep for just a bit, okay?"
"Well, seein' as how Jace is waitin' on ya down stairs, it's probably not okay."
I sat up so fast I almost knocked Beau right off the bed. "What?"
"Since ya missed work again today, he got worried. Came as soon as he got off work." She smiled like she thought it was funny. "I'll entertain him 'til ya come down. Make it snappy."
I sighed—well, it was more like a drawn out, torturous moan. "Tell him I'll be down in a minute." As she walked out the door, I looked at Beau, who looked irate. "Will you wait up here on me? I'll just go tell him I'm fine and he'll go."
When he finally answered me, his voice was much softer than I had expected. "Why's he here at all?"
"I don't know." I shrugged my shoulders. "I guess he's concerned."
"But why? If y'all ain't together, he shouldn't be. That's my job now."
I felt awful. "I know. Just let me go get rid of him."
He motioned his arm toward the door. "Just make it snappy," he said, mimicking Grandmama.
I kissed him before I headed toward the door. "I will."
Every step I took made me feel more like throwing up. I didn't want to be too rude to Jace, but I didn't want to be too nice, either. I didn't look up until I got to the last step and turned toward the kitchen.
Jace stood up from the bar and walked toward me. "Malyn, I've been worried sick about you." He started to hug me, but the expression on my face must've made him think twice about it because he didn't.
"I've just had a touch of the flu or something. Been really tired."
"Yeah, ya look tired."
"Thanks," I chuckled.
"You don't look bad, just tired." He shook his head slightly. "I guess I'll go. I just wanted to make sure you were okay, since you won't answer your phone."
"I don't even know where it's at, to be honest."
"It's right here," Grandmama said, pointing at the counter. "I'm sorry, that’s my fault. It kept goin' off so I plugged it up here and turned the ringer off so she could rest."
"Yeah, she needs to rest," I heard come from behind me, and I suddenly felt sick again.
Jace looked over my shoulder at Beau, who had come down the stairs so quietly that I hadn't heard him. He stayed back, leaning intimidatingly against the stair rail. "I know. That's why I was fixing to leave." When Beau didn't say anything, he looked at me and smiled. "But if ya need anything, don't hesitate to call."
"I think I can handle anything she may need, and then some."
Jace ignored him. "I hope you get to feeling better." He stepped toward and kissed my forehead, causing Beau to take a territorial position at my side. "And Mom said not to worry about work. If you need off this weekend, just let us know."
"I will. I should be feeling better soon, though."
"I hope so," he said as he walked towards the door. Then he turned around and looked at me before he walked out and added, "I…they miss you."
All I could do was smile a fake, half smile before he shut the door behind him. I felt Beau slip his hand in mine, causing me to turn on him. "Why did you do that?"
"Do what?" he asked innocently, causing Grandmama to laugh.
"Come down here."
"Well, I do live here. And we had a guest. I didn't wanna be rude."
I just shook my head, not having enough strength to argue with him. And I had to admit, I kind of liked the fact that he was jealous and bold enough to confront Jace. "I'm going back to bed." And that's exactly what I did.
I didn't wake up until later that evening. I heard talking and laughter coming from outside, so I was trying to listen, see who it was, when I heard Beth's distinctive laugh. When I walked downstairs, I was surprised to see Grandmama cooking and not outside with Beth.
"She's alive," she teased me.
"Barely. Who's Beth talking to? Beau?" A pang of jealousy shot through me, even though I knew it shouldn't.
"Yeah. Beau said to let him know when ya woke up."
I sat down at the bar, debating on being stubborn and seeing how long him and Beth would live it up on back porch, or going out and breaking up their party. "How long has Beth been here?"
"Not too long. Maybe thirty minutes or so. Ya feelin' better?"
"Yeah, but I bet I'll still sleep all night." When I heard Beth laugh again, I o
pted for option number two; go break up the party.
It was already dark outside, so I was surprised, and a little miffed, that the porch light wasn't on. As I walked outside, Beau jumped up and came around the table to hug me. "I'm glad you're finally awake. I almost came up and woke ya up myself."
"I just told him if you weren't up in five minutes that if he didn't wake you up I was goin' to."
"I'm up, but barely." And then I added sarcastically, "It sounded like you two were having enough fun out here without me." Yet again, words came out of my mouth before I gave them permission to, so now there was an awkward silence. So I smiled and said, "Why do you think I'm up? You did wake me. Next time, take the party further away from my window." I laughed, hoping they would think I was just cranky from being sleepy, which I probably was.
"Next time we'll bring the party to you, right in the middle of your bed. Maybe Hunter can join us, too. One big soiree," she said with a French accent, cocking her eyebrow.
"Now I don't know 'bout all that," Beau laughed.
"Why did Jace come by here today?" I purposely asked Beth in front of Beau, hoping he would realize Jace wasn't invited.
"He had tried to call you a bunch, but you didn't answer. I told him you were fine, but I guess I sounded like I was lying. So he said he was gonna make sure you weren't dead," then she laughed and motioned toward Beau, "like some people around here."
"You didn't tell him, did you? About Beau?"
"No, silly. I told you that I wasn't gonna tell anyone."
"Sorry." I knew Beth wouldn't tell anyone—not on purpose, anyway.
Luckily Grandmama yelled for us to come in and eat, so Beau stood up and turned to open the door for us, winking at me as I walked by. How could I have had bad thoughts about him and Beth, of all people?
No sooner we got in, Grandmama's phone rang. I figured it was just Margaret, since she talked to her almost every night. I grabbed some plates and started filling them full of spaghetti when I noticed that Grandmama seemed upset.
When I heard her say, "Are ya alright?" I stopped to listen to her side of the conversation. "Which hospital? — For how long? — Well, me and Malyn will be down tomorrow. — Yes, we do."
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