Unfinished Business An Angela Panther Novel (A Chick-lit Paranormal book) (The Angela Panther Series) (13 page)

The ghost interrupted me. “I had to ask her for it. She didn’t actually return it. And we got in an argument about it.”

I repeated his words to his daughter.

“He’s here? Like, right now? Where is he?” She scanned the area.

I tilted my head to my left. “Right here.”

“How come you can see and hear him and I can’t?”

I sighed heavily. “I don’t know. Believe me, this is all new to me and honestly, I don’t really understand it. My mother died recently and since then strange things have been happening and really, I don’t know what the hell...oh, I’m sorry. I don’t know what is going on. All I can tell you is I was running and I came over to watch the soccer game and your father was running up and down the other side of the fence over there and screaming at the refs and I didn’t even know he was...he was a ghost at first because he looks different than my mother, so when I asked him to stop, he couldn’t believe I could see him and he asked me to talk to you. He said he had a message for you. At first I didn’t want to hear it and I told him no and left.” I breathed in deeply after saying all of that so fast.

“She came home and told me about it and I told her she had to come back and give you the message.” Jake said.

Carly wiped the tears from her cheeks. “Oh.”

“Carly, believe me, this freaks me out as much as it does you, but I have to give you his message. Whether you believe it or not is up to you.”

“Okay.”

I twisted toward the ghost. “Well, now’s the time Jeff. What am I supposed to tell her?”

“Oh. Oh! Sorry. Yeah, the message. Um, tell her that it wasn’t what she thinks. I wasn’t using again. I only went there to see if I could help Jim Keller. She’ll remember Jim. Tell her I was trying to find him, not trying to buy drugs.”

“Carly, I don’t really know what happened to your father, but he wants me to tell you that it’s not what you think. He said he was there to help Jim Keller? He wasn’t trying to buy drugs.”

Carly’s eyes widened and within seconds she was bawling. She believed me. I couldn’t help but pull her into a hug and squeeze tightly, even though hugging strangers was a big Angela no-no. She sobbed harder. “I’m so sorry honey. I’m so sorry.”

“Please...please tell her I’m sorry, too. Tell her it was just a terrible accident. I was in the wrong place at the wrong time, but I kept my promise to her. I really did. I’ve failed her in so many ways, but I did not break that promise. Please tell her that.”

I broke off the hug, wiped my own eyes and snuck a peek at Jake, whose eyes were glassy, too and I fell in love with him more.

“Carly, he wants you to know he did not break his promise. He said he knows he’s done that in the past but he didn’t this time. It was an accident. He was in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

She rubbed her nose on her arm.

“Jake, can you go to the car and get the Kleenex box, please?”

He did.

“Are you okay?” She rubbed her eyes with the palms of her hands and sniffled. “Yeah. Is my daddy still here?”

I nodded.

“Can you tell him something for me?”

“He can hear you, honey.”

She glanced around, and shifted her feet. “Daddy? Daddy. I love you. I miss you so much, Daddy. I’m sorry for being mad at you. I understand now. Please forgive me, Daddy.”

The ghost stared at me with both relief and sadness in his eyes. “Tell her it’s okay. Tell her I love her too and I will always be with her. Always.”

So I did.

###

C
arly and I sat on the grass as she cried. Jake arrived with the tissues and we all took one to wipe our tears. It was unbelievably emotional, and whether I wanted to admit it or not, I felt good about what I did. “Well, this has been the most amazing and emotional thing I’ve done in a long time. Maybe ever, actually.”

Carly smiled. “Thank you. You really helped me.”

I put my arm around the girl and pulled her into me. “Actually, sweetheart, thank you. You helped me. Like I told you before, I lost my mother recently too, and I know it’s hard. You’re so young and have so much life ahead of you. It probably seems like forever without your father, but I promise you it will get easier, and you will be okay. That’s what your dad wants, too.”

“Is he still here?”

I circled around but didn't see the ghost. “He was here a minute ago, but he’s gone now. He told me to tell you he was okay now and could move on but he wanted me to wait until you were more calm to tell you.”

“Where do you think he went?”

“You know, I don’t know. I think he’s okay, though. I think he’s been here trying to find a way to talk to you, but I think he’s going to be okay now. Don’t worry about him. Just take care of yourself and that will make him happy. I promise. And I think he will be with you always, like he said.”

“Yeah, that’s what my mom said, too.”

I smiled, because as a mom, it’s what I would have said. “Yeah, us moms. We say a lot of stuff like that, don’t we?”

“Yeah.”

I took a pen and my checkbook out of my purse and wrote my name and email down for Carly. “Here’s my email. If you ever need to get in touch with me, contact me here, okay?”

“Okay, thanks.”

Carly and I stood and hugged one more time. “Thank you again.” She walked back to the soccer game.

“Holy shit! That was amazing, Ang!” Jake said on the way back to the car. He was practically skipping, he was so high from the excitement.

I inhaled and exhaled deeply. “I am never,
ever
doing that again, Jake.”

He stopped, but I kept walking. “Ang. Wait. What do you mean, you’ll never do that again? It was incredible.”

I gritted my teeth. "Jake, this isn’t me. This isn’t my life. I am
not
going to be that person that walks around giving messages from dead people. I won’t do it.” I turned and race-walked back to the car.

We drove home in silence. The thing I admired most about my husband is his ability to zip it. He knows when I need my space and willingly gives it to me. Most of the time, that is. Me? I’m usually the opposite. If he’s upset, I tend to keep talking until he’s not upset anymore, but my talking usually has the opposite effect.

J
ake sat at the kitchen counter while I busied myself with dirty dishes.

“You okay? I can make dinner if you want."

“No, I can do it, but thanks.”

“Do you need any help? I can run to the store and pick up some burgers or something.”

I walked over to my husband, leaned my head into his chest and quietly cried. He wrapped his arms around me and I cried harder.

“Angela, it’s okay. We’ll figure this out, I promise.” He wiped the tears off my cheeks and kissed me gently. “Let’s make dinner together.”

So we did.

“Can I sleep over at Taylor’s?” Emily asked as she chewed a mouthful of broccoli.

I grimaced at the smashed green mush protruding from her mouth. “Please don’t talk with your mouth full.”

She closed her mouth and chewed some more. “You didn’t answer my question.” Her mouth was open and still full of partially chewed broccoli.

“Please finish chewing your food, then ask again, and I will answer.”

For that I got the famous Emily eye roll and I was surprisingly able to resist the urge to reach across the table and pull her eyes out of their sockets. Instead, I gently placed my fork on the table, picked up the napkin on my lap, wiped my mouth, and with all of the patience and calmness I could muster, said, “And if you roll your eyes at me one more time, you’ll not only stay home tonight, but you won’t see Taylor or any of your friends for that matter, for at least two weeks.”

It must have worked because Emily didn’t say another word the rest of dinner. Josh cleaned up the dishes without my asking. His compassion never ceased to amaze me.

“I’m going to take Em over to Taylor’s house. ” Jake grabbed his keys from the key box. “I figured it was a good idea she go.”

“Probably.”

“Do you want to talk when I get back?”

“Nope. I’m going to call Mel and fill her in. Then I want to forget it all happened.”

“Okay.” He hugged me. “Love you.”

“Love you, too.”

Jake yelled for Emily to hurry up and as she walked through the kitchen she put her head down, trying to become invisible. “Em,” I stopped her before she got to the door. “Have fun. I love you.”

She smiled at me. “I love you too. Sorry about the broccoli.”

“Me, too.”

“Holy sheet,” Mel said when told her about Jeff Jacobsen. “So he died trying to help someone get into rehab? Wow. That’s so sad.”

“Aren’t you sort of missing the point here?”

“What? That you saw a ghost? Pfft. That’s old news. You’ve been doing that forever. Tell me more about what he said to his daughter, or what you said to his daughter for him, I mean.”

“You’re funny,” I said, and then filled her in on everything.

“Wow. So how do you feel? Was it amazing for you? I totally want to be there next time.”

“There isn’t going to be a next time. I’m not doing that again.”

Mel sounded stunned. “What? What do you mean?”

“I’m...I’m not doing it. I don’t want to be that person, you know?”

“No, I don’t know. What person? That person who helps people realize there is an afterlife? That person that helps people find closure? What do you mean by
that person
?”

I sighed and walked to the den to close the door. “That person who everyone thinks is a nut case because she thinks she can see dead people.”

“But you
can
see dead people.”

“You know that and I know that but not everyone believes in this stuff, you know? I don’t want to deal with that. Besides, I’ve got enough going on in my own life right now. I don’t have time for other people’s stuff.” I realized the selfishness in my comment, but I didn’t care. “I didn’t ask for this, Mel.”

“I know you didn’t, Ang, and I know you’re freaking out right now, but that’s because it’s still new. You haven’t had a chance to adjust yet. Give it some time and see what happens. We don’t even know how much it will happen, you know? So it may not even be as big of a deal as you think.”

I hadn’t really considered that. “Yeah, you’re right, but still. I’m not sure it’s something I can deal with. And honestly, I’m so pissed at my mother for not telling me about this years ago. I could have found a way to deal with it by now or at least had a better understanding of it all, you know?”

“Here’s what I think. I think that your mother was probably just as freaked out then as you are now. I think she probably thought she was protecting you and planned to tell you eventually, but since it wasn’t an issue again, life went on and she forgot about it. I don’t think she knowingly kept it from you, Ang, and I don’t think you really think that either.”

Damn her and her being right crap. “I hate it when you’re right.”

“Humph. It’s a curse, trust me.”

We made plans to go for a walk the next morning to make plans for the rest of my life and hung up. After Jake got back, he and I discussed the points Mel made, and I silently cursed him for agreeing with her.

“Why is it you’ll listen to her but not me?”

“I listen to you.” I snuggled up next to him on the couch. “You were there though. You saw what happened, but she didn’t. I wanted to see what she thought about it from that angle.”

He pulled me close to him. “Makes sense, but you know you can talk to me about this any time. It’s pretty amazing, what you did, Ang. I wouldn’t have believed it if it weren’t you, and I wasn’t standing there watching it all. I’m proud of you.”

“Yeah, I know, and that’s what worries me about this. I don’t want some stranger...I mean, some ghost, coming up to me and convincing me to tell their spouse something and the spouse think I’m some crazy woman. I mean, seriously, I really don’t want to deal with this. I just want things to go back to the way they were before.” I laid my head on his shoulder and he kissed my forehead.

“Yeah, I know, but we’ll figure this out. Have you talked with Fran any more about it?”

“I haven’t seen her since I made her get out of the car. I feel bad about that too. Amazing that she’s dead yet she can still make me feel guilty, isn’t it?”

“Not, really. Fran isn’t one to keep quiet for long so I’m sure you’ll hear from her soon.”

“Yeah, me too.” We chatted and snuggled on the couch a bit longer, and then decided to take it upstairs for something more...well, naked.

Seconds after what could only be described as
absolutely freaking amazing sex,
Jake was out for the count, and I was wide awake. It seems that he can always fall asleep seconds after sex, but I was so awake I could start my day all over again. Mel and I blamed this, periods, pregnancy, labor, and teenage daughters on the fact that Eve bit the apple first. If it weren’t for her, we’d be the ones snoring loudly and continuing the sex with some hot movie star in our dreams. Damn Eve.

Thirty minutes later, eyes still wide opened, I realized sleep wasn’t an option and shuffled downstairs to the kitchen to make a pot of coffee. Ma was floating in the far corner of the kitchen and I pretended not to see her. I knew I owed her an apology, but I wasn’t ready to give it just yet.

“Stop pretending you don’t see me, Angela.”

Busted. “I’m not pretending I don’t see you, Ma. I’m ignoring you. There’s a difference.”

“Humph. Well, stop ignoring your mother. It’s rude.”

I grabbed my favorite Starbucks coffee cup from the cabinet, dropped in a splash of French vanilla creamer, and poured in what the pot had already brewed. I couldn’t decide if I wanted to sit in the kitchen or the family room and stood there for a minute, dumbfounded at the absurdity of my confusion. Ma floated out of the corner and stared at me.

“What?”

“What, what?”

“Why are you staring at me, Ma?”

“I’m not staring at you. I’m waiting.”

Oh boy. I knew what she was waiting for, the apology. “Well, you’re just going to have to wait a little longer because I’m not ready yet. Besides, you owe me one first, so I’m not apologizing until you do.” I resisted the urge to stick my tongue out at her like a five-year-old, but I imagined it anyway, and it made me feel good. I sipped from my coffee and gave Ma the stare down. She shrugged her shoulders, floated up to the ceiling, which for me was still totally cool and floated back down, right next to me.