by Lisa Freed
I picked him up and walked over to his food dish depositing him gently in front of it. “This is your food, big-boy.”
Lance already had a sandwich on my plate and had pulled out the iced tea. I detoured to the fridge to get the mustard before hopping up on a stool next to Amber.
“Mustard?” Lance asked while he and Amber made eww nose crinkles at me.
I laughed, my eyes going from one to the another and a flash hit me. This could be us. Lance and I with a daughter of our own. Whoa, slow down, slow down.
“Are you okay, Aunt Teresa? Amber asked with a bite of sandwich in her mouth.
“Hmmm…yes, I’m fine. Guess I put too much mustard on my sandwich, that’s all.”
“Should have avoided it completely, right, Amber?” Lance asked while tipping her a wink.
“Yes!” she agreed happily giving him a wink back.
I was saved from melting into a puddle of domestic bliss by my sister’s arrival. She hadn’t bothered knocking, just opened the door and then followed our voices to the kitchen. “Amber eating lunch and not playing with it for an hour?”
Amber whirled at the sound of her mother’s voice nearly falling off the stool. Lightening quick, Lance shot an arm out preventing her from falling. Megan had rushed forward in an attempt to catch her child and managed to grab at Amber and Lance’s arm.
“Sorry to startle you,” she softly said kissing the top of her daughter’s head. Megan stepped back to allow Lance his arm back. “Thanks for your fast thinking, Lance.”
“No worries,” he said while indicating the full platter of sandwiches, “care for some lunch?”
Megan’s thin face looked torn which I found quite interesting. But then she answered in the negative. “No, I need to get Amber back in time for Dan’s parents arrival, they’re flying in from Mexico this afternoon. They’re plane probably already landed. We’ll have to get together another time, right, T?”
“Absolutely,” I answered while wondering what was up with my sister. If I didn’t know better I would have sworn she was blushing a little.
“Amber has time to finish her lunch, right? Come on, Megan, I want to show you something.” Without waiting for her answer, I hooked my arm through her left one and pulled her into the living room.
“What is it?” she asked looked around in bewilderment.
“What is going on with you?” I asked and then without meaning to reached for her hand.
Megan pulled away, “Don’t, T!” she said taking a step away from me and sitting on the edge of the couch. “Listen I’m just a little stressed. You know how particular Dan’s parents are.”
That was an understatement. The last time they had visited they insisted on taking Amber for a vision test when she couldn’t tell them the difference between Van Gogh and Picasso. The girl had been three at the time.
“Okay, yeah, I can understand stressed but that’s not it. Is it something with Lance?”
Delicate pink crept up her cheeks.
Aha!
“He’s a very attractive and intelligent man, frankly I’m rather surprised by your relationship.”
“And what does that mean? I thought you were happy I was with someone stable.”
“Just that with the age and maturity difference, it’s a surprise. A good one! Definitely a good one.” Her hazel eyes that had avoided me for most of our chat suddenly latched onto mine. “This is good for you T, really good for you.” She stood and hugged me tight whispering in my ear, “When you mentioned him on the phone you never said he was so darn good looking. Yum!”
I laughed and pushed her away. “Stop!”
Amber ran into the room with Lance a step behind her, “Sorry she was ready to go. Everything okay?”
“Everything is fantastic!” Megan said with a pointed grin at me. “Come on, girl, let’s go so we can beat Grammy and Granddad back.” She held her hand out to Amber who skipped over to grab it.
“Bye, Aunt Teresa, bye, Mr. Lance,” Amber cheerfully said before breaking away from her mom to throw herself at me in a fierce little hug. She gifted one to Lance too and I saw him close his eyes savoring it. Dang! There went my heart again.
After helping me straighten up the kitchen, Lance and I agreed some afternoon delight was in order. We both loved that old song and its naughtiness. He chased me up the stairs, both of us laughing the entire way.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
The sun was peeking from behind the row of shops on the boardwalk as Lance and I finished up our morning run. Sweat dripped off my face, down my chest, and I could even feel a slow, steady trickle running in between my but cheeks. But that wasn’t the most pressing issue, controlling my gasping breaths was.
Lance stood upright, sipping from his water bottle, facing the ocean, a man at peace. His gray t-shirt was plastered to his back, with a wide v of sweat around his neck, and his hair was in sweaty wind-whipped disarray, but those were the only outward signs of our recent exertion.
“What a great day for a run!” Lance exclaimed.
I wanted to drag myself into a hot bath, while he looked ready to tackle another five-mile run. I would have attempted to flip him off if I wasn’t already so sore and needing all my energy to make it back to the car.
“Yes,” I huffed, still embarrassingly out of breath.
He finally seemed to take notice of that, frowning at me in his ‘you’re not behaving as I want you to’ way.
“Teresa, drink some water and do a few stretches to cool down,” he casually ordered in his ‘Lance takes charge and states the obvious’ voice. I was getting a tad annoyed at his cavalier attitude.
I straightened from my slightly slumped, about to keel over, position and snatched at my water bottle that was secured in my hydration belt, a gift from Lance and something I had no idea even existed until the moment he gave it to me this morning.
When he had talked about a nice morning jog at the boardwalk last night, I had envisioned more of a stroll, complete with Thrasher’s French fries, a few games of skee ball, and maybe even Lance winning me a big stuffed animal. You know, the Hallmark boardwalk date experience. It wasn’t often I went all romantic but those sappy movies always sucked me in.
Instead, I had gotten a pounding workout before most sane people were out of bed. Even worse Thrasher’s wasn’t open yet!
Guzzling my water and drenching my shirt even more with the runoff my mood dropped even lower when I caught sight of a familiar sulking figure lurking in the shadows of the restrooms near Funland. Joey! Could my morning get any worse?
“Nature calls, be out in a few,” I tossed over my shoulder to Lance, already gingerly making my way to the ladies’ side on the left. Damn, my thighs hurt!
Once safely concealed behind the partition leading to the ladies’ room, I waited for Joey to stomp over to me.
“What are you doing here?” I hissed at him the moment he was close. “I thought your matter was solved.”
“What are you talking about? Nothing is solved! That lug Angelo is still with my girl!”
After forty years together, I had hardly expected Angel to leave Angelo, involuntarily manslaughter or not. Joey apparently had had other ideas.
“Joey, I’m sorry but that’s Angel’s decision.”
“If Angelo wouldn’t have backed over me, she would be with me!”
“Well if you wouldn’t have been behind his car slitting his tires that never would have happened either. It’s over, you’re dead, Angel and Angelo have been together since then. Deal.” I was so tired of his whiny punk ass!
Suddenly I felt old. Achy legs aside, I now knew how older people perceived teenagers. I prayed hadn’t been this annoying for my sister and our old neighbors the Tinmans.
“Deal? If you knew of a deal to get me back Angel why didn’t you say so before?”
Poor Joey just wasn’t up on the current lingo.
“No, not a bargain or a plan, you just have to learn to live…err poor choice of words…you have t
o accept Angel’s choice and enjoy your afterlife in peace.”
“Peace? What are you crazy, lady? How can I have a rosy death with Angelo living the life I should have had with Angel?”
It was simply too early for me to deal with Joey and I really did have to pee.
“Joey, I did my part and Angelo confessed all to Angel. She now has peace knowing that you didn’t just leave her. There’s nothing else I can do. So, bye-bye, I have things to do that don’t require an audience.” And with those parting words, I went into the ladies’ room.
Sadly, I gave Joey and the guys of his generation much more credit for being gentlemen than I should have. I had just sat down to go when his voice outside the stall door stopped me mid-stream.
“Listen lady, the way I see it you can see me and that makes you responsible for helping me.”
“Excuse me?!” I started to get up and charge the door, but thankfully realized in time what a precarious position I was in. I definitely didn’t want to dribble over my panties and leggings!
“Joey, how about we talk about this another time? Like when I’m not in the bathroom!”
The punk laughed! He was lucky a door separated us and he was already dead or I would have done some serious bodily harm to him when I got out.
As if having a dead teenager outside the stall stalking me wasn’t bad enough Lance chose that moment to knock on the restroom door. “Everything okay in there, Teresa? You’re not cramping up, are you?”
“I’m fine! Sorry I’m taking so long, be out in a moment!” I yelled, hoping he heard me, and thankful nobody else was in the bathroom.
I pushed out of the stall, wrinkling my nose at the sight of Joey smirking next to the wall, before going to the line of sinks to wash my hands.
Ahhhhh! Ice cold water and gritty soap. Should have included hand sanitizer on my belt, but the idea of carrying anything else seemed insane. While running I resented my water bottle’s weight and had briefly considered ditching it somewhere and begging for some of Lance’s water. Only a small measure of pride had stopped me.
“So, you gonna help me or not?”
“Fine! I’ll see what I can do, but please go away and let me finish my morning with my boyfriend.”
Boyfriend, I still wasn’t used to that word let alone it being Lance’s new title, his old one of jerkface had been cemented in my head for so long.
“Deal!” Joey grinned over his newly picked up phrase then thankfully faded away.
I exited the bathroom and spotted Lance over at the edge of the boardwalk overlooking the beach and ocean. His broad back stretched his gray t-shirt nicely.
As if aware of my silent perusal, he turned, his face lighting up into a welcoming smile.
Forget the problems of the dead, I was much more interested in the problems of the living, mainly mine. Which involved keeping Lance in the dark about my extra abilities as long as I could.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
“Well isn't this cozy?” Quietly snarled into my ear, the words had my eyes opening in a flash. Victor!
My tired eyes jumped to the left and there he was, his handsome face a mere three inches from mine.
“So, I'm gone for a bit and this happens? Couldn't wait for me to return?” Rage flared in his dark eyes, making them appear black. I could see my disheveled face reflected in them.
“It's not like that!” I hissed back defensively. All I needed was for Lance to wake up and see me having a loud conversation with thin air in bed. I glanced to my right where he still peacefully slept, with a small smile softening his face. There came that warm toe-curling sensation again.
“Go away!”
“Oh, no! I already did that and look what happened! You hop back in bed with the body I introduced you to.”
Once again, I thought how my life would be a million times simpler with no ghosts, no sensations or vibrations and definitely no Victor.
I slipped out of bed as gently as I could and motioned for Victor to follow, grateful that I had tossed an oversized t-shirt on before falling asleep last night. Victor had seen my body hundreds of times over the years, but it just would have felt weird for him to see me naked with another man.
He followed me to the office, even gently closed the door behind us. At least he was behaving civilly again.
I sat down in my heavily padded office chair while he slumped against the door in his gunslinger pose, as I thought of it, shoulder and hip cocked against the door, arms crossed and somehow looking down yet up at me. I shivered, the force of his male beauty hitting me as it always did.
“Why?” Simple, brutal and harsh that single word pierced me and made me squirm in guilt.
“It just happened, okay? It has nothing to do with us.” I lifted my chin defiantly and attempted to stare him down.
“You just happened to sleep with a guy that up to three weeks ago you couldn't stand?”
Well when he put it that way, yikes! I cringed.
“You couldn't wait for me?” Those dark eyes drilled right into me.
“Victor, you're dead! There is no waiting for you!” I yelled, then quickly slapped a hand over my mouth. “What happened before was wonderful, but it wasn't right,” I continued in a furious hiss.
He pushed away from the door and was at my side in a flash. I sat back in the chair as he leaned menacingly over me.
“It was right. What we have is something you will never have with that guy sleeping in my place. From the moment you placed your hand on that Ouija board, I knew.”
That should have thrilled me, and part of my heart did tug toward him, but Lance in his weird, dorky way had wormed into my heart. Lance was real, he was solid, he was fun, and most importantly, he was alive. Victor, for all his dark, sexy ways, was like a gloriously delicious fantasy, but it wasn't real and I couldn't for a moment let myself forget that. As much as Victor tempted and captivated me, he was not of this world any longer no matter how much he was hanging on.
“Victor, no.”
“I could take over his body again,” he whispered, his lips close to my ear as his cold fingers grazed my cheek.
I seized up, my heart pounding painfully in my chest as the air in my lungs froze.
“We could be together. You obviously like that body, I would have preferred something else permanently but I'm willing to make allowances if you are happy. I want your happiness, I want you.” His icy touch lingered on my face as his seductively soft words washed over me.
It could be so easy. Victor had a way of making everything seem so simple. I could have the man I had longed for, he could have the life that had been cruelly taken from him, together we could have the life we wanted.
And every time I looked into his face, into Lance's beautiful blue eyes that he was not behind, I would be eaten alive with guilt. I could not take Lance's life from him, we didn't even know what would happen to him.
Victor must have seen my answer on my face, he pulled back, his own face twisting into a cold hard mask.
“Teresa.” My name was drawn out, every ounce of his pain and suppressed rage poured into each syllable. I clenched my eyes so hard tears squeezed out, while covering my ears trying desperately to protect myself.
“Teresa?” Lance's hesitant voice called out in the hall.
I opened my eyes, blinking a few times to dispel the moisture clinging to my eyelashes.
Victor was gone.
The door opened and Lance stepped into the room. He had tossed his boxers back on, but his face bore the lines of the pillowcase. He looked adorably rumpled and sleepy. I wanted to run to him and protect him. Victor could be watching us still, I didn't feel him, but I wasn't sure I could trust my ghostly sonar.
“Is something wrong?”
“Sorry, woke up and came in here for a bit, didn't want to wake you.”
“Oh, I thought I heard voices, oddest thing.”
“Maybe you were dreaming still?”
“Maybe. Are you ready to come back to bed?”
/> How inviting that sounded. I wanted nothing more than to curl up in his arms and go to sleep, but there was no way I could sleep after that encounter with Victor. However, Lance would never understand that.
“Sure.”
I let him lead me back to my bedroom, he even went as far as tucking me in before he slid into bed behind me, his arms as comfortable and warm as I had envisioned. Despite my fears and confusion sleep pulled at me. I would worry about Victor tomorrow.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
The rough motion of the bed being violently jarred snapped me rudely out of sleep. As a girl who treasured her rest, this put me in a really foul mood. Even fouler than Victor’s unexpected late-night visit had me feeling.
Though not as foul as Lance's, as he uttered curses in a continuous streak while dashing about the bedroom.
“The damn alarm didn't work.” He eyed me suspiciously as if I were somehow to blame for his alarm not going off. I didn't have any alarm clocks, so he always set the alarm on his phone.
He continued to grumble as he knotted his silver and indigo blue tie with a fierce shove.
I shot a glance at the cable display to see it was after nine in the morning, we had slept late.
“Is it really a big deal if you're late?” I asked tentatively. In the past, his work schedule had seemed fairly flexible to almost non-existent.
“Yes, it's a big deal,” he growled while shoving his long legs into black suit pants. The matching wool-silk blend suit jacket was flung on the overstuffed chair that Daisy favored. At least her black fur would match the jacket.
I rolled over on the bed to follow his progress into the bathroom.
“I have court this morning, in less than an hour!” He finger-combed his hair into place in front of the mirror before he grabbed my toothbrush for a brief scrub.
He took more liberties with my things than any previous boyfriends had and I wasn't sure I fully liked this. Couldn't he have packed his own toothbrush?