Ghostly Issues (A Harper Harlow Mystery Book 2) (7 page)

“What if he upsets her again?” Eric protested.

“That’s life,” Zander replied, nonplussed. “Nothing is ever perfect. He is, however, perfect for my Harp. He just needs to learn to buy more than one box of chocolate next time he screws up. Harper is going to be sad she missed this round.”

“I don’t think I agreed to this.” Harper glanced around the park, frowning as the setting sun caused her to narrow her eyes. “How did this even happen?”

Jared shrugged as he ushered her down the slight embankment and toward the taped-off area where Derek Thompson’s body was discovered. “I think I managed to sneak the request in between kisses.”

Harper scowled. “You don’t play fair.”

“What’s that saying about everything being fair in love and war?” Jared challenged.

“Which one is this?” Harper knew she was putting him on the spot, and she relished her power as he shifted uncomfortably.

“I think it might be too soon to tell,” Jared replied smoothly, although his blue eyes took on a far-off look. “I missed you, Harper.”

His voice was so soft when he said the words Harper wasn’t sure she didn’t imagine them. She glanced at him. “Did you just say … ?” She didn’t want to ask the question in case it made her look needy – or ridiculous if she imagined it – so she snapped her mouth shut.

“I said that I missed you,” Jared repeated, holding her gaze. “If you think I’m embarrassed to say it, then you don’t know me. I’m not embarrassed … and I did miss you.”

Harper frowned. “You have a funny way of showing it.”

“I know.”

Harper shook her head, dislodging the warm and fuzzy feelings rolling around inside of her. “I’m still mad at you.”

“Duly noted,” Jared said, pressing his hand to the small of her back and urging her forward. “I’m not here to get you to forgive me.”

“Then why are we here?” Harper asked, scanning the area.

“Mel said you saw Derek Thompson’s ghost earlier,” Jared replied, keeping his voice low. “I was hoping you would be able to talk to him and find out what happened. If a young man’s death gets in the way of your anger … well … I guess I can take you home.”

“Oh, well, that’s playing fair,” Harper said, sarcasm practically dripping from her tongue.

“I’m not here to play fair,” Jared whispered, pressing his mouth close to Harper’s ear and enjoying the way she involuntarily shivered. It took him a minute to get his bearings, the feeling of her warm body momentarily giving him ideas, but the memory of Kim’s anguished face pulled him back to reality. Now wasn’t the time to play games. He forced himself to take a step back. “Can you see Derek?”

Harper shot Jared a dirty look. “You did that on purpose.”

“What?”

“You know what,” Harper snapped, although she turned her attention to the quiet park. “He was over here earlier,” she said, picking her way to a spot close to the tree line.

“What was he doing?” Jared asked, focusing on the seriousness of the case.

“He was just standing here and watching everyone group around his body,” Harper answered. “He looked … confused.”

“Is that normal?” Jared asked, leaning over to study the ground where Harper pointed. “I mean … do ghosts realize what has happened to them?”

“Most of them understand that they’re not still alive,” Harper replied. “A lot of them think they’re trapped in a dream. Others are … confused … by their new reality.”

“So you’re basically saying you have no idea what Derek is feeling,” Jared surmised.

Harper scowled. “You’re an ass.”

“That wasn’t a dig,” Jared argued. “You can take it however you want, but it was not a dig. I know you’re angry with me for not calling … .”

Harper crossed her arms over her chest. “I don’t care about you not calling. Why would I? It’s not like we made some sort of … promise to one another before you left. We shared one kiss. You said maybe we would go out on a date. I’m not the sort of woman who gets pathetic and clingy so … .”

Jared tugged on his ear as he studied her. She was a mystery. He couldn’t wrap his head around what she was feeling from one moment to the next. “Are you saying you don’t want to date me?”

“No. Yes. No. I … what was the question?” Harper was beyond flustered.

Jared smirked. She was just as worked up as he was. “Do you know what I think?”

“That you wish you’d never bought me flowers?”

Jared shook his head. “I think you’re amped up,” he said. “I think you thought I was going to call and when I didn’t you couldn’t help feeling hurt. Don’t bother arguing with me. There’s nothing embarrassing about that.

“I should have called you,” he continued. “The truth is … I was embarrassed myself. I didn’t want to look needy. The first thought that occurred to me once I checked on my mother was calling you. Do you know what I told myself?”

Harper bit her lip and shook her head.

“I told myself you and Zander would make fun of me for calling you so soon,” Jared explained. “So I didn’t call. I had dinner alone in front of the television after my mother went to sleep. I sat there and wondered what you were doing. I pictured you and Zander getting in your pajamas and watching some … chick flick or something. Don’t ever tell him I said that, by the way. He’ll accuse me of stereotyping him and that’s the last thing I want because I’m going to need him on my side.

“So then I woke up the next morning and I was going to call you before I even got out of bed,” he continued. “I worried it was too early, so I had breakfast. Then I told myself you were probably working a job and I would call you after dinner. I didn’t do that, though, because then I started wondering why you hadn’t called me.

“I spent the next three hours obsessing about what you were doing and why you hadn’t called me,” Jared said. “By the time I went to bed I was ticked off because you hadn’t bothered to check in and see how my mother was doing. When I woke up the next morning the whole thing started all over again. The truth is … well … I didn’t call you because I flipped myself out. Are you happy?”

Despite herself, Harper couldn’t help the feeling of warmth that rolled over her. “I am. Thank you.”

Jared scowled. “Is that it? Does that mean we’ve made up?”

Harper shook her head, her blond hair glinting as the descending sun bounced off it. “I’m not ready to forgive you yet. You really hurt my feelings.”

“You don’t want to take any responsibility for this?”

“It wasn’t my place to call you,” Harper replied. “Your mother was injured and sick. I would never call in case you were in the hospital and I accidentally woke her … or if you were talking to a doctor and I interrupted. It was your place to call.”

“And this is simply because my mother was sick and not some twisted gender roles thing, right?”

Harper narrowed her eyes into dangerous blue slits. “What are you saying? Are you saying I’m a needy chick who expects you to do all the work in this relationship?”

“Hah!” Jared hopped up and down, pointing. “You just called it a relationship. From now on, when someone calls me your boyfriend, that means you have to admit I’m your boyfriend.”

“No way,” Harper protested. “A boyfriend calls.”

“I’ve apologized for not calling,” Jared growled. “I regret it. If I could go back in time … you know what? If I could go back in time I would get my mother a different rug so she wouldn’t slip and fall and hurt herself. That way we could’ve gone out on a real date and not been separated for ten days. That’s what I would’ve done.”

“Oh, well … .” Harper flapped her hands. “It’s hard to stay angry with you when you’re so hot and sweet. Stop it!”

Jared chuckled. “Fine. If you want to stay angry, stay angry.” He reached out and grabbed Harper’s hand, linking their fingers. “I’m not going to stay angry, so good luck pretending you’re mad at me. I’m going to keep my mouth shut and watch you work. I’ll be right here … holding your hand.”

“That won’t make this difficult or anything,” Harper huffed.

Jared didn’t respond, instead focusing on the high ridges of her cheekbones as they searched the area. Her face was beautiful, her eyes bright and inquisitive. He liked watching her work, even if she was less than thrilled with the manner in which he watched her. He couldn’t help but be fascinated by every little thing she did. He realized Mel was right on several fronts. He was already a goner where she was concerned.

“Did you hear me?”

“Huh?” Jared shifted his attention to Harper. “What?”

“Why do you keep forgetting me?” Harper complained.

“I didn’t forget you. I was thinking.”

“About what?” Harper asked, rolling her neck until it cracked.

“I was thinking you’re probably the most beautiful woman I’ve seen in real life,” Jared responded, guileless.

“I … um … oh … well … .” Harper was at a loss for words. That just made her more adorable in Jared’s book.

“You two are just too cute for school.”

Harper jumped at the new voice, clutching Jared’s hand and causing him to crash back to reality. She swiveled, fixing Derek Thompson with a surprised look. “Derek.”

“He’s here?” Jared asked, moving closer to her.

Harper nodded. “Derek, do you know who I am?”

“You’re the dippy blond chick who thinks she talks to ghosts and hangs around with Mel’s gay nephew,” Derek replied, causing Harper to frown.

“You know you’re dead, right?” Harper asked. “If I’m so dippy, how come I’m talking to you?”

Jared fought the mad urge to laugh as he listened to her hold a conversation with thin air. In his head he knew she was talking to someone, but it bothered him that he couldn’t share the experience with her.

Derek shrugged. “I guess that’s a pretty good question,” he said, glancing around. “Where did everyone go?”

“Everyone who?” Harper asked. “Were you here with other people?”

“When?”

Harper bit her tongue to keep from lashing out. It wasn’t Derek’s fault that he was confused. “Let’s take it from the top,” she suggested. “What’s the last thing you remember?”

“You were about to start groping Mel’s new partner in the park when you were supposed to be finding me,” Derek replied, not missing a beat.

“We were not about to start groping one another!”

This time Jared couldn’t swallow his chuckle in time to keep it from escaping. Harper refused to acknowledge him, or the surreal nature of the situation.

“Oh, puh-leez,” Derek intoned. “I’m not an idiot. You two were two seconds from smooching.”

“Whatever,” Harper muttered. “We weren’t going to smooch.”

“We already did that for ten minutes on the street,” Jared added. Even though he couldn’t see Derek he felt like being involved in the conversation.

“Thanks for that,” Harper said dryly.

“You’re welcome.”

Harper inhaled deeply, calming herself. They were there on a mission and she couldn’t lose track of that. “Do you know what happened to you last night, Derek?”

“I … .” Derek cocked his head to the side, furrowing his brow as he racked his brain. “I can’t remember much of anything,” he admitted after a few seconds. “It’s like my head is mush.” He chuckled harshly at his own joke. “Technically I guess my head did end up being mush, didn’t it?”

“Do you remember leaving your house last night? Your parents didn’t know you were out. Did you sneak out?”

“I didn’t have to sneak out,” Derek replied. “My parents didn’t keep tabs on me. My dad was watching television when I left and Mom was in bed reading a book.”

“Did you go straight to the park?”

“I … don’t know.”

“What do you remember?”

“I just said I don’t know! Are you deaf?”

Derek was frustrated and shaken. Harper didn’t blame him. She held her hands up in a placating manner. “It’s okay, Derek. This is all still new to you. Maybe if you take some time and think about things you’ll remember what happened.”

“Yeah, and then everything will be great,” Derek said, his eyes flashing. “You know what? I was right from the start. You are dippy.”

“I didn’t say things would be great,” Harper clarified. “I just said … .”

Derek cut her off. “I’m out of here. I don’t want to hang around with the strange chick who can talk to ghosts.”

“Derek!” He was already gone.

“What happened?” Jared asked.

“I forgot how much I hated teenagers,” Harper lamented.

“That bad, huh?”

“He’s not coming back tonight,” Harper said. “He’s petulant, pouty, and has attitude.”

Jared reached over and gathered her hand again, squeezing it. “You tried.”

“I don’t think that’s enough,” Harper admitted. “He’s here for a reason. If he died by accident, he probably would’ve already passed over on his own. That means something happened to him.”

“You think he was murdered, don’t you?”

“I don’t know what else to think.”

Jared lifted Harper’s hand and pressed a kiss to her palm. “Come on. I’ll take you home. You need another night to be mad at me so we can make up completely tomorrow. The sooner you go to sleep, the sooner we’ll be happy again.”

Harper arched a challenging eyebrow. “You’re awfully sure of yourself.”

“Just wait until tomorrow,” Jared said, his smile wolfish. “You’re going to be awfully sure of me, too.”