by Mya O'Malley
“Yes, that’s true.”
“It’s like she knew he was dangerous that night when he was spying on me from the parking lot. It has to be him, Bryce; otherwise, why would she have turned on the water by the sink?”
“She sure likes to play her little tricks, doesn’t she?”
“Yes, she does.” Naomi thought of Zelda, the way Maggie liked to rile the cat up, the way she directed Naomi’s attention to her grave through Zelda. Maggie had purpose. There was a reason behind almost everything she did.
Almost everything.
Naomi grinned as she recalled Maggie’s play with Zelda. It seemed Zelda and Maggie enjoyed each other’s company and that was just fine with Naomi.
The one thing Maggie didn’t seem capable of was communicating directly with Naomi, or anyone else for that matter. She could move, she could appear, she could hum, moan, and scream. Words, however, proved to be beyond her capabilities.
Maggie was trapped in a world of silence when it came to using words. No wonder she was so frustrated.
It all came back to listening. There it was again, the idea that Naomi needed to hear what the ghost was trying to communicate.
“I think you should stay here with us for a while. Just until we’re sure Nick can’t harm you. I have plenty of spare rooms here.”
She shook her head firmly. “No way. I will not put you and Holly in harm’s way,” Naomi whispered as she looked over her shoulder. Luckily, Holly was still upstairs.
“I can handle Nick, but you’re right. I can’t chance it.”
“Good, at least that’s settled.”
“You need somewhere else to stay for now.”
“Absolutely not. Not when I’m so close to communicating with Maggie. I’m almost there, Bryce, I can feel it.”
He rubbed his chin. “I don’t like the idea of you over there alone. There’s got to be another way.”
There was another way, but she was pretty sure Bryce wouldn’t like it. She wouldn’t put Amy in harm’s way, and there was only one other person she could think of that would protect her at any cost. Someone who was every bit as invested in solving Maggie’s crime.
Ryan.
“There is. Now before you get the wrong idea, there’s some things you must know.”
Bryce held his hands against the counter, his eyes focused on Naomi. “What are you talking about?”
“Ryan. My friend, Ryan. He’s the one you met at the hospital.”
“I know who Ryan is. How could I forget?” He turned his gaze from Naomi.
“There’s nothing between us, I swear. Just the fact that he was in love with Maggie makes this plan even better. Maybe she can communicate better with him. He’s the perfect choice.”
“I like you, Naomi, I barely know you. I can’t tell you what to do. I can only support your decisions.” He hesitated. “But that doesn’t mean I have to like them.”
“You’re an amazing man, and I’m true to my word. You’ll see.” She stepped over and wrapped her arms around him.
“I have no hold over you.” He turned his eyes away.
Naomi placed her hand on his chin, directing his gaze back to her. “That’s where you’re wrong. You do have a hold over me.” Standing on her tiptoes, she kissed him. He placed his hands on her waist and kissed her back.
“Holly, she might come down,” Naomi wiped her face and spun around.
“I’m not going to let you go so easily next time, you know.” He kissed the top of her head.
“And I’m not going to let you.” Naomi couldn’t tear her eyes from his face. She lifted her hand to touch his cheek.
“Daddy, Nomi!”
The whirlwind of energy was back, rushing over to show them her stuffed bear. “Look, Nomi. His name is Bernard. I call him Bernie for short.”
Leaning over to kiss Holly on the top of her head, Bryce caught Naomi’s eye, and she knew then that she was a goner.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Naomi
LATER THAT NIGHT, she and Ryan were settled in with a bottle of wine. True to her word, Naomi’s heart was wrapped around one person right now, and that was Bryce. Knowing that she was falling for him, she enjoyed the many emotions she felt but reminded herself to keep things slow for now.
“So if you like this guy, then why the caution I’m sensing?” Ryan gulped back his wine. His voracious appetite for all things was returning.
“Maybe it’s because of the fact that I really like him. I want to do this right, you know? And he has a vulnerable daughter. I don’t want to see her hurt.”
“Is this weird for you?” He swirled the wine from his long-stemmed glass. “You know, me and you, sitting here, talking about other people?”
It actually wasn’t. Strange enough.
“No, it’s kind of nice. I think you and I are better like this.”
“I agree,” Ryan mumbled as he popped a piece of cheddar cheese into his mouth.
It made her sad, though, to think that Ryan’s heart was still so attached to Maggie. He deserved to find happiness and love again, but how could he when Maggie’s memory wouldn’t allow it?
Maybe with time, he could open up and find love.
“Ryan? Can you see yourself down the road, ever loving anyone else?”
He scrunched his brows and guzzled back some more wine. “I don’t think so.”
“But Ryan, you have so much to offer.” She sat forward, placing her wine glass down.
“I don’t see it.” He munched on a cracker, crumbs falling onto his chin.
Oh, Ryan. Hopefully he would change his mind if the right woman came along.
“You should have some of this cheese, it’s delicious.” He placed a slice on to another cracker and finished it off in one mouthful.
“Wow, Ryan.” His one-track mind was certainly back, though she was kind of pleased to see his appetite return.
Picking up her wine glass, she studied Ryan. She ran her hands up and down the stem of her glass as she considered how to broach the topic of Maggie.
“I’m glad you’re here with me, Ryan.”
“Of course. I’m not going to let that loser within a hundred feet of you. I blame myself for what happened last time, you know.”
“That’s ridiculous, and you know it. It wasn’t anyone’s fault except Nick’s. You couldn’t have known, and they would have never released you from the hospital. Enough of that, though. I wanted to talk to you about Maggie.”
“What about her?” He put his cracker down and waited.
“She’s here, with us in this house. Heck, she’s probably watching us right now, biding her time before her next grand entrance.” Naomi looked over her shoulder.
“I want to see her.” He stared straight ahead.
Taking hold of his hand, Naomi waited a moment before continuing. “I know you do.”
“Where is she?”
“Ryan, it doesn’t quite work that way. She comes when she’s ready.”
Zelda took that moment to leap onto Ryan’s lap. “Hi, sweetie.” He stroked Zelda’s fur, a frown on his face.
“Hold on a second. I’ll be right back.” Naomi had an idea. With Ryan’s help, they would go through all the events that had taken place up until now. She sprinted to her desk, grabbing hold of two pens and a pack of Post-it notes.
“Here,” Naomi said, throwing some of the paper in Ryan’s direction. The pen came next.
“Start thinking. And write down every single thought that comes to mind. There’s nothing too little to consider here.”
Naomi scribbled furiously, writing down anything that came to mind. She would sort through all of the notes later.
There. That’s was a start at least. Satisfied with her notes, she placed her pen down and stretched.
“What do you have there, Ryan?” She peeked over at his notes. Or make that note.
One blank note.
“What’s the matter with you? I asked you to write down anything you can remember. You
’ve got nothing!”
“I don’t remember,” he mumbled, head down. “I don’t remember anything.”
“Sure you do. You know that you loved her, you know she loved you.”
He threw his pad down and stood. “Oh, what’s the use? Nothing is going to bring her back.”
“You’re right, nothing will bring her back, but we just might be able to bring her peace. That’s what she’s crying out for. It’s what she wants.”
“Is it?” Ryan turned to face her. “Is it? Did she tell you that?”
Her mind whirled with all of the events which had taken place.
“I think so, Ryan. What else could she possibly want from me?”
“I don’t know and neither do you.”
His words gave her pause. From the start, Naomi had assumed that Maggie had been seeking closure, looking for justice.
What if, just what if, she was asking for something else?
But what?
Bending over, Naomi grabbed all of her Post-it notes and ran over to the kitchen table. A grim-faced Ryan came around and helped her spread the notes around the table.
“Look. Each and every attempt has been to either warn me about something, like Nick’s presence, or to make me aware of her sorrow.”
“I highly doubt her intention was to just make you aware of her pain and sorrow. Maggie wasn’t like that. She is trying to tell you something, I’m sure of it.”
“I believe that she is trying to reach out and tell me something as well. We just have to piece together her clues.”
Ryan grabbed a pink Post-it and studied it carefully. After a moment, he dropped the note, his hand trembling.
“What is it? What?”
“This one.” He picked up the note once more. “What do you remember about her behavior that day?”
Naomi scanned the note she had written minutes before. “It’s just as I wrote. She pointed toward her heart and then fell to the ground, in a very dramatic way.”
“What else?”
She tried to recall every detail. “Like I said, it was dramatic. The entire time she was falling, her arms went up as if she were trying to hang on to something.”
“Or stop herself from falling,” Ryan ventured.
“It could have been that. It was very hard to tell.”
“She pointed to her heart, you say?”
“Yes, Ryan, I’m sure she did.”
“I remember something about her. I remember.” His eyes were wide. He smiled at Naomi.
“Oh my God, Ryan, what is it?” She reached over to clasp her hands in his.
“Her heart. She told me she loved me by pointing to her heart. Maybe it doesn’t mean anything, but it might.”
“It does. I just know it. It has to mean something.” Her mind raced back to what had happened moments before Maggie had dropped to the floor. Ryan. His number had come up on her contact list.
“She wanted me to tell you that she loves you!” Naomi jumped out of her seat. That was it! “Your name, it was on my phone, and suddenly she was pointing to her heart. It was you! She was trying to tell me she loved you!”
He gasped and then sank back down into his chair. It wasn’t typical for Ryan to be speechless, but he was exactly that as he sat, staring into the empty space before him.
“Are you okay?” She was by his side, holding him.
“She loves me,” he wept.
“Oh, honey. Of course she loves you.” She must have always loved him, from the moment they had met. It was so clear. Their story was the stuff romance novels were made of. What a tragedy that now, her love was out of reach.
“I can’t do this anymore. I can’t make it without her.” Ryan sobbed onto Naomi’s shoulder while she held him. Held him until his body stopped shaking, and then she continued to hold him.
“You can do it. I’m here for you, and you will make it. I love you, and I need you.”
“I love you, too, Naomi. You know I do.” Ryan lifted his head to look at her. Her heart broke seeing the sadness in his eyes.
Just then, all hell broke loose.
First, she saw his face, spying at her from the dark window.
Next, she heard the cries, Maggie’s earsplitting wails. This time, it came on full volume, not working its way up to the head splitting pitch. All at once, she was bombarded.
Every sense was on high alert. She cleared her thoughts, coming out of the blackness to focus.
“It’s him.” Nick was out there, watching them.
“What’s that noise?” Ryan screamed out, trying to be heard over the sound of a heartbroken ghost.
“It’s her. It’s your Maggie.”
“Oh my God, it is her. Maggie…” Ryan drifted over to the ghostly form, reaching out.
Another sound now forced her attention to the window. Nick pounded over and over.
“Stop, Nick. Stop!” She held her hands over her ears. Ryan was held in Maggie’s trance, so she was on her own.
Through all the noise, she couldn’t make sense of what Nick was saying, and she didn’t care enough to try to read his lips. All she wanted was for him to leave. All she needed was for him to leave her alone for good.
Turning around, she saw Maggie meet Ryan halfway, and then she did the most amazing thing. She pointed to her heart and then placed her hand over Ryan’s chest.
Whether it was the strength she gathered from witnessing Ryan and Maggie or the sheer amount of hostility she held for Nick, Naomi drew her fists into tight balls and stomped out the front door.
On second thought, she went back into the mudroom and quickly grabbed hold of a heavy umbrella before heading back outside.
“Nick!” she cried out, walking into the darkness. “Where the hell are you?” Waving her umbrella in the air, she was intent on using it to hit Nick if need be.
He appeared from behind the bush he had been standing near and approached her. “We need to talk. It’s not me you should be afraid of. I’m not the one who killed Maggie.”
“Oh, shut the hell up. I’m so tired of your lies.” She closed the space between them, holding her weapon of choice in the air. If ever in her life she wished to punch someone in the face, it was now, and it was Nick who had it coming to him.
“Stop! I’m sorry about the other night. I lost it, but I wouldn’t have killed you.” His hands went in front of his face.
“You were out of control. Seconds away from strangling me. Why should I believe you?”
“You’re in danger, Naomi, and it’s a lot closer than you think,” Nick shouted. “Take a long, hard look at Ryan.”
“What the hell are you saying? You’re the killer here. It was you and your precious uncle Frank who tried to stop the investigation.”
“I’ll admit it didn’t look good, and if I could go back and change things I would. All I can do is try to help you now.”
“Help me?” Naomi spat out the words. “Oh, Nick. You’re a hell of a lot crazier than I thought. Now get out of here, and don’t ever come near me again!”
Her voice shook as her body quivered in sync. She kept her gaze on his every move.
Feeling someone grab her from behind, she lifted her umbrella, without thinking.
“It’s me. Calm down. I’ve got you.”
Sinking into the man behind her, she let her body relax. “Bryce, thank God.”
“You heard the lady. Get lost, or your uncle won’t be able to fix the damage I do to you with my own bare hands.”
Nick’s eyes darted from Naomi to Bryce. “Who the hell is that?”
“None of your business, get out of here, now!” Naomi yelled as Bryce steadied her.
“Fine, have it your way, but don’t turn your back on him.” Nick pointed to her house. Nick had to be nuts if he thought Naomi would believe his story over Ryan’s.
But just as Naomi had convinced herself that Nick was only out to cause trouble and save his own skin, she remembered that Ryan didn’t have a story when it came to the end of Mag
gie’s life.
Oh, no, she reconciled in her head; he did indeed have a story, but it wasn’t one that he could remember.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Maggie
MAGGIE PRAYED OVER and over, saying the words aloud. When R.J.’s arm was removed from hers, she gasped and opened her eyes.
“No, where are you going?”
“There’s nothing here. What is it that you thought you saw?”
“He was there. Right in the very spot you’re standing in. He was right there,” Maggie cried out.
“Who, your ex?”
“Yes, it was him. I’m sure of it.”
R.J. approached her from the woods and then sat back down beside her. “No offense or anything, Maggie, but haven’t you admitted that you thought you saw him before, and then there was nothing there?”
It had happened. Several times. Maybe he had been there the other times as well. Who knew? The guy was stealthy, that was for sure.
Stealthy and dangerous.
Maggie shivered. “I want to go home now.”
“Home? But we only just got here. We still have to enjoy our picnic and then take a hike through the woods. You deserve a day off, and I’m going to give you a day to remember.”
“But… With all that’s happened, I’m not really in the mood.” Feeling a slight headache, she rubbed her forehead.
He laughed, running his hands through the air. “All that’s happened? Maggie, nothing happened. Except for the fact that I told you I loved you, and you told me you loved me.” He leaned in to smooth her hair.” What was that cute little thing you did before, when you pointed to your heart?”
Maggie released a deep sigh. “This?” She repeated the gesture, pointing to her heart and biting back a grin.
“That’s it. You’re adorable, you know.”
“I am?”
“You are, and that’s one of the endless reasons why I love you.” Placing his hands on her head, he pulled her close and kissed her. She responded heartily, forgetting about her ex for the moment. The pounding in her head decreased. His hungry kisses devoured her lips. She only felt R.J.
“Okay,” R.J. whispered. “Maybe we should take that walk soon.”