Out of necessity, of course—either he’d have to sit on someone’s lap or it’d be hard to explain a seat was occupied because a ghost sat there. Although there were a couple ghosts in the church—an elderly gentleman stood next to the casket and watched Mrs. Reid intently, while a middle-aged woman admired the flowers.
“We’ll continue to miss you, my sweet Hannah. Every day I hope wherever you are, you’re happy.”
A man in front of me sobbed as his wife consoled him. The sight made my light tears fall heavy. Not only because of how sad the moment had been, but because I knew Hannah had found her peace. Her killer had faced the worst type of justice—by my hand, no less—and I held no doubt he’d burn in hell forever.
The ceremony ended with a beautiful rendition of Amazing Grace and the crowd began to leave the room. I stood and exited the pew, following Kipp as we proceeded to the front door. But just as I reached outside, I remembered I needed to do something. I spun around and banged into Zach’s chest, who didn’t move an inch while I bounced off him. “Oops, sorry.”
With his uninjured hand, he grabbed my arm and steadied me. “What’s wrong?”
“I forgot I have to talk with Hannah’s mother.” He looked at me curiously, but I just waved him off. “Give me a minute. I’ll be right out.”
“What are you going to say to her?”
I stared at Kipp and gave him a look to inform him, “Hello, I cannot answer you.” The crowd still filed out and I wouldn’t say something random that’d have people gawking at me. Yes, I’d come a long way in how many people were aware of my ability, but I didn’t want to share it with the world.
I made my way back toward the altar and saw that Mrs. Reid had just hugged the priest. I waited a few feet away, not wanting to interrupt. The priest whispered words to her I didn’t hear, but I could tell by the way Mrs. Reid sank into him that he comforted her.
As Mrs. Reid turned away from him, she caught me waiting and offered a kind smile, but sadness stole any happiness on her face. “Y’all from the police department are welcome to our house. We’re having some lunch and continuing with the memorial service for Hannah.”
“Thank you. I appreciate that, but we need to go to the hospital to check in on Eddie.”
Concern touched her gaze. “How are the officer’s injuries?”
“From what I’ve heard, he should have a full recovery and be back on the job in no time.”
“I’m pleased to hear such news.” She smiled.
We were getting off track. I shook my head to focus myself for the conversation I suspected wasn’t going to be easy. “That’s not what I came to tell you.”
“What is it then, dear?”
“Well…” I glanced at Kipp, who nodded me on, and I looked back at her. “I know how insane this is going to sound and I hate to even do this today since you’ve already been through so much. But I’m afraid if I don’t do it now, I might not see you again.”
Her brow furrowed. “Go on.”
“You might not believe this, or maybe you will, but I have a gift, you could say—an ability.” I drew in a deep breath to stop rambling and got to the point. “The reason we found Hannah was because I talked to her ghost.”
Her eyes widened. “You did what?”
“I know it’s totally crazy, but she had a message for you that she wanted me to relay.”
“What did she say to you?” she whispered.
“That she always heard you read to her at nighttime and loved every minute of it.”
A moment passed before Mrs. Reid’s eyes filled with tears and her lip quivered. “How do you know I read to her?”
“I know because she told me.” I took her hand and held it tight. “Don’t try to understand it all, just know that she was with you all these years and she’s in heaven now.”
Tears leaked from her eyes. “I’m not going to pretend to understand how you know I read to Hannah every night in her room since her disappearance, but without y’all, we never would have found her.” She squeezed my hand. “So because of that, I’m merely going to believe what you’re telling me is the truth and thank you for letting me know she has found her peace.”
Mr. Reid approached then and wrapped an arm around his wife’s waist. “We need to go back to the house now—our guests will be waiting.”
“Yes, of course.” Mrs. Reid released my hand and surprised me by hugging me. “You’re special, my dear. Thank you for sharing this with me.”
My breath hitched as I forced myself not to fall to pieces in her arms. She backed away and Mr. Reid led her from the room. I sighed, taking one glance at Kipp before I raised my hands to my face and burst into tears. Maybe my breakdown had been inevitable and possibly even long overdue.
A cold breeze swept across my shoulders. “It kills me that I can’t hug you right now.”
I dropped my hands and looked at Kipp. “It can’t kill you—you’re already dead.”
He frowned. “That’s not funny.”
“Why are you crying?” a sweet voice startled me.
I spun around to see a girl no older than thirteen, of Latino decent. Long dark curls rested against her Taylor Lautner t-shirt.
“Hi. I’m Clara and I’m a ghost. Isn’t that so cool?”
Teens—they were so unbelievable when it came to death. Every single one found it exciting and was always truly thrilled to hear they were beyond the grave. I shook my head at the insanity of such logic. “If you say so, kid.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Clara,” Kipp said.
I could have prolonged this, waited for her to find some resolve to ask the question she needed to, but I wanted to get out of here and go home. My emotions were raw, so I didn’t waste any time there. “Do you remember what made you a ghost?”
Clara’s brow furrowed and a good minute passed before said, “The last thing I can remember was water and screaming.” She paused before her mouth dropped open. “I remember now, I drowned.”
I looked at Kipp then and he studied Clara intently. He saw for the first time what I’d told him. Most ghosts didn’t remember the event that took their lives like he did. I still hadn’t quite figured out how he knew so much, but I planned to, eventually. For now, my only worry was getting out of here and into my comfy bed. “Do you remember how you drowned?” Maybe she needed to reconcile what happened to her. Maybe that’s why she couldn’t cross over and had been stuck here at the church.
She bowed her head as if being scolded by a parent. “My friend Maggie and I were playing near a dam. There were signs warning us to stay out of the water, but we went in anyway.”
“Accidents happen,” Kipp said.
Clara shrugged and glanced up, and despair held strong in her gaze. “When I swam out, a current caught me and pulled me down into the dam. The last thing I remember is hearing Maggie screaming my name.”
“But she never tried to help you?” Kipp asked.
Clara shook her head. “She was scared—I could hear it in her voice. I guess she left me and swam back to shore.” She hesitated for a long moment, then her eyes lit up with excitement. “I think that might be why I’m still here.”
“For Maggie?” I asked.
She nodded. “I’m sure of it. I think it’s because she feels bad about not trying to save me.”
Okay, maybe this wouldn’t be so hard after all. “So you think if you tell her it wasn’t her fault, then you’ll be able to cross over to heaven?”
“It’s gotta be.”
I sighed, realizing that my dream of going home remained out of reach. I glanced at Kipp. “And so it begins—again.”
“If it’s never stopped,” he replied with the arrogance that was his way. “You’re just finally accepting it.”
“What begins?” Max asked.
I looked over my shoulder to see him and Zach approaching. “Oh, just another ghost needs saving.”
“Here? In the church?” At my nod, Max’s gaze turned probing. “And do you plan o
n helping this ghost?”
Did I? Even if the girl wasn’t so young, which would make my guilt force me to help her, I realized that Kipp had been right. My gift had been my life since the accident and I couldn’t deny it any longer. Maybe I had even more of an investment in it all now. How could I ignore ghosts when I loved one?
I waved Clara forward. “Come on. Let’s go find Maggie and make her feel better about it all.”
She bounced up and down. “Goodie.”
“Does that mean we’ll see you at the station tomorrow morning?” Zach asked.
Every pair of eyes zeroed in on me. Is this my life now? The ghost staring at me with adoration in his gaze confirmed it was. “Yes, I’ll be there. Well, after Dylan Cobb hands me my ass for quitting, that is.”
Kipp grinned. “Not to worry. If anyone is to issue a punishment, I’ll order you to do it so I can watch you spank that sexy ass of yours.”
Ah, dirty talk!
Life had finally returned to normal. Well, my totally messed-up normal.
About the Author
Stacey Kennedy’s novels are lighthearted fantasy with heart-squeezing, thigh-clenching romance, and they even give you a good chuckle every now and again. But within the stories you’ll also find fast-paced action, life-threatening moments and a big bad villain who needs to be destroyed. Her urban fantasy/paranormal and erotic romance series have hit Amazon Kindle and All Romance eBooks bestseller lists.
Stacey welcomes comments from readers. You can find her website and email address on her author bio page at www.ellorascave.com.
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Supernaturally Kissed (Frostbite, Book One) Page 18
