“Oh, that’s quite a story! I’m so sorry that all of that happened to you. And thank you for your service, by the way. Were you married? Have kids? Any of that?” The questions just spilled out, right past my filter.
Seriously? Word vomit much?
“Thank you. No, and . . . no! I think.”
The thought of what he’d do to the guy when he found him made me shiver a little bit. A Ranger? They’re supposed to be really tough. And strong. For a second, I felt a flush of warmth. I hoped it was because I was sitting next to an attractive guy, er, ghost, and not just a hot flash.
“So, what about you? Have you always had the Sight? I’m guessing not, since you said you’re new at this?”
Fair question, I suppose. And it’s been more than a minute now, right?
“I suffered a head injury recently. It started right after that.”
“Car accident?”
“I wish. No, more like domestic violence.”
“I’m sorry. Are you safe now?”
“Yes, I am. I’m staying with my best friend, unwinding my marriage, and starting over with weird ghost vision. I’m taking it a day at a time, just trying to deal with my new normal, I guess.”
I stopped myself before I spilled too much personal information. I really didn’t want to scare him off with an emotional outburst. He started to say something, but stopped, looking over my head. He looked concerned, but not with me, I thought.
Jake came bounding over with a threatening woof, placing himself between Rand and I. I moved over quickly to avoid getting frostbite. I laughed to show him things were good. “It’s okay boy, this is Rand. He’s a friend, but thank you for looking out for me!” And then it hit me, “Hey! You can see him! Rand, Jake can see you!”
“Yes Ma’am, it seems he can,” Rand agreed, looking puzzled. With me.
“We’re both spirits Ma’am. All spirits can see all other spirits.”
“Hey, knock it off with the ma’am stuff. Call me Roxie, or Roxanne if you’re feeling formal.” He did have a point, though. Jake could see Elmer and vice versa. It made sense that Rand and Jake would be able to see each other, too.
“Okay . . . Roxie!” he laughed. “That is one big protector you have there! I want to check something out. Toby! To me,” he yelled.
My eyes scanned for Toby, finding him right where he was the last time I’d seen him. He stopped instantly, and came running full-speed to Rand. Jake protested with a deep woof and a growl. Toby bravely stopped with his body in front of Rand, but did nothing to challenge the huge beast in front of him.
“Well, look at that! I think Toby can see Jake too,” Rand exclaimed.
“You’re right, he can. It’s okay, Jake. Hey, Toby, good boy. We’re all friends here,” I said in a soothing voice.
“Toby can see me, but I didn’t know if he could see other spirits,” he explained.
Canine posturing now dispensed with, the two dogs began checking each other out. Jake was obviously surprised that Toby could see him, and he seemed overjoyed by the fact. Toby looked confused when he tried to sniff Jake’s face and his snout went right through him. Sitting back on his haunches, he sneezed a couple of times, cocking his head in confusion as he wiped at his nose with his paw. Jake chuffed and dropped his front end to the ground, his furry butt in the air, tail wagging wildly. I had never had a dog, but even I knew this was dogspeak for ‘let’s play’. And play they did—it became immediately apparent that Jake had found a new friend. They raced around playing the most odd game of tag I had ever seen.
“I bet people think Toby’s ‘not quite right’ after watching him jumping around and chasing nothing like that!” Rand laughed.
“You seem to be pretty in tune with the people around us. Is that a military thing? Being careful not to be noticed?” I asked.
“Yes, ma—I mean Roxie. We observe and we never quit training. Not even when it becomes automatic and part of who we are.”
“Oh, I’m not complaining. I just noticed, is all. That’s kind of what I do. Notice things. Pay attention to the details more than most folks.”
“That’s probably because of your Sight. It would definitely affect who you are, like that.”
“Elmer said lots of kids can See when they’re young, but most grow out of it believing what their parents told them about it just being an overactive imagination. He thinks I was one of those.” I laughed ruefully. “My mother always said I used to see scary things where nobody else did when I was really little. I hardly remember it now, it's like it’s at the very edge of my memory. When it went away or maybe I outgrew it, nobody gave it another thought.”
Toby’s new owner must have taken her nose out of her phone and looked for him because she called him, and was giving us the stink eye. “Let’s go Toby,” Rand said, turning that way.
It was hard to admit, but it bothered me for a minute when he ran off. Just for a minute. But when he turned and yelled, “Hope to see you tomorrow Roxie!”? I did have to admit, I felt relieved. Maybe even a little more than relieved.
Are you kidding me? I’m not even divorced yet. And he’s a ghost or spirit or—whatever!
Chapter 16
“Elmer! You’ll never guess what happened today!” I called out as soon as I was sure Sam wasn’t home yet. For once, he appeared right where I was looking without scaring the crap out of me.
“Roxanne, you seem rather excited. Is everything alright?”
“Yes, well, at least I think so.”
The whole story came spilling out about how I’d met Rand and Toby. By the time I was done telling Elmer everything, his expression had completely changed. He seemed excited that Toby could not only see Jake, but play with him too.
“That’s wonderful, Roxanne! I assume these new friends must live around here somewhere? Do you think you’ll see them there again?”
“I’m not exactly sure but I would think so—the last thing Rand said to me was that he hoped to see me there again tomorrow.”
“Well then, dear girl, I suppose we’d all better be prepared to make a day of it there tomorrow then, shall we?”
“I think that sounds like a plan,” I agreed. Elmer looked pleased. Almost like a picture-perfect grandfather type of pleased. I was relieved to see him almost back to his original self. Well, his ghost self, anyway.
Jake woofed softly to get our attention, and then disappeared. That didn’t even seem odd to me now.
“Looks like all that playing has made my old friend tired,” Elmer said. “He’s probably out for the night now. Thank you for making my Jake so very happy, Roxanne.” He almost teared up at that. “I think I’ll go cuddle up with him and rest. It appears that you may have fulfilled one of my promises for me.” With that, he was gone too.
“Wait. What?” Did that mean he was ready to cross over? Huh. Maybe convincing him it was time wouldn’t be as difficult as I thought.
***
The next day almost felt like a ‘meet-the-parents’ day with a new boyfriend kind of thing to me. Talk about strange. I ended up spending quite a bit of extra time in front of the mirror, and had changed my clothes three times before heading downstairs. The last thing I wanted was to be too obvious with the way I looked, but I wanted to look good at the same time. It had been a long time since I’d felt these feelings and I wasn’t sure how I even felt about any of it, yet.
“Well, don’t you look pretty today,” Elmer told me from the bar stool at which he sat when I arrived in the kitchen. Jake stood by the sliding glass door, looking eagerly outside. Not laying—standing! “Is that a new ring?” he asked, noticing the ring on my left hand. “I think I recognize the one on your other hand from the box. You must be getting more comfortable with everything, I take it?”
“Yes, kind of. I’ll tell you all about it when we get back. And you are certainly looking pretty spiffy yourself there, Elmer. Looking to make a good impression today, are you?” I smiled, tucking both hands behind my back. It felt weird still,
wearing these rings, but I wasn’t going to turn down any extra help I could get.
“Of course!”
I wanted to ask Elmer what he’d meant about me fulfilling one of his promises last night, but something told me to just wait for now. I needed to talk to him about everything else that had happened since I found this ring. I took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. It would all work out, right? It’s not all about you Roxie, the promise he mentioned probably has something to do with Jake. Elmer has a lot of love for him.
“Ready?” I asked. Things would work out, I repeated to myself.
***
Jake didn’t even wait for me to open the gate into the park. He saw Toby playing with some others and with a mighty woof, ran right through it—ghost style. As I opened it for Elmer and myself, I noticed the beaming smile on his face. His eyes were locked on Jake, who was greeting his new friend Toby. The German Shepherd immediately stopped what he’d been doing at the sight of his gigantic friend.
“Can you tell they like one another?” I chuckled.
“That makes me so happy to see,” Elmer answered.
We headed toward my favorite out-of-the-way bench, where Rand already sat waving. As we walked up to him he stood and introduced himself. “Hello sir. My name is Randall James. Rand for short, sir.”
“Hello Rand. Elmer Jenkins. Pleased to meet you.” His eyes went to where the dogs ran some imaginary obstacle course. “Seems our pups have become fast friends, eh?”
“Yes, sir! Toby can’t get enough of your big ole boy Jake. That’s the biggest dog I’ve ever laid eyes on. What does—did—he weigh in at?”
“Over a buck fifty last time he was at the vet. Are you ex-military? Don’t hear too much of the ‘sir’ stuff these days.”
“Army, sir. Ranger.”
“Well, that’s enough ‘sirs’, okay?” Elmer said, smiling.
Rand just smiled back at him. “Good morning, Roxanne,” he greeted me.
Raising a brow, I looked at him questioningly. Why is he using my formal name in front of Elmer?
I heard someone holler, “Hey! What about your dog?” and looked up. Toby’s—or Rocco’s as she called him—human was outside the gate walking towards her van.
“Oh, he’ll be alright. I’m just going to a restaurant for breakfast. I can’t very well take him there, can I? I’ll be right back.”
Elmer looked angry. It was the first time I’d seen that expression on him. Rand mumbled something I’m sure I didn’t want to hear under his breath, and the person hollering at her was just shaking her head. I had never owned a dog before, but even I knew that was a dangerous situation to put Toby in. Thank goodness we were here.
“She does that all the time,” Rand told Elmer. “Cruella lives out of her van, and thinks this park is her own personal doggie day-care center for my Toby. She doesn’t deserve him.”
Elmer looked slightly confused, so Rand told him the story of how she’d wound up with Toby. I took out a ball I’d picked up along the path on the way here, called Toby, and threw it. The person who’d been hollering smiled and waved at me, seeing I was looking out for him. I gave her a wave back as both Toby and Jake took off like a shot after the ball, wrestling over it—as best they could since they couldn’t actually touch one another—until finally Toby brought it back for me to throw again.
While I threw the ball for the dogs, Elmer and Rand traded stories about them. Toby had at one time been in training to be a cadaver dog for the Michigan State Police. He’d been passed over for being too easily distracted, according to his official record.
“I know now that what they thought was him being an air-head, was really his Sight,” Rand told Elmer. “He was Seeing and reacting to the spirit of the dead body, which in many cases had not yet crossed over. When my buddy there told me that Toby would be available for adoption, I jumped at the chance. He was without a doubt, the smartest dog I’d ever met, and I had pretty much come to the decision that I was pushing my luck by accepting any more deployments. I was ninety-nine percent that I was going to position myself for a State-side assignment from now on, and he would be the perfect companion dog for me. He was, too, until that punk at the convenience store got lucky.” He proceeded to tell Elmer the whole story of what happened to him.
Elmer said he totally understood why Rand had passed over his chances at the light so far while looking for a better opportunity for Toby. He also counseled him that spending too much effort on getting even with the thug who’d killed him was not only a waste, but it was bad karma to boot.
“I have been torn daily, for years, between crossing through to be with my Birdie when the light beckons and staying here with Jake so he wasn’t lonely, afraid, or miserable. I guess you could say I’ve been looking for a better opportunity for him, as well. I don’t have control of my house since I died. My children sold it to a single woman who has no idea we’re even there. Otherwise, I’d take Toby home in a heartbeat if I had someone to care for him.”
“Yeah, it’s too bad. Those boys really seem to get along,” Rand agreed. “I guess an arrangement like that would just about take care of my worries for him and take away my excuse for not crossing over, but the longer I’m here as a spirit, the less sure I am that I want to. Have you ever thought about that Elmer?”
Rand wasn’t talking to me, but I was right here. It wasn’t like I was eavesdropping or anything. I almost groaned. I needed to convince Elmer to go, not stay. And Rand? Does he really want revenge that bad on the person who killed him, or does he maybe have another reason to consider sticking around on this side? That thought gave me tingles that I hadn’t felt in a very long time. Surely I wasn’t an influence on his wanting to stay here?
I blew out a small sigh of relief when Elmer responded. “No. I love my children and my grandchildren, but they showed little interest in having an old man around even when I was alive. I think about going to be with my Birdie every day, but I keep telling myself that when I do we’ll have forever together, at least as far as I know we will. I can’t let myself risk Jake’s existence here becoming an unhappy one, just because of my being in a hurry.” He snuck a look in my direction, thinking I hadn’t noticed. “I take my responsibility to him very seriously, but I think right now, he’s happier than he’s been in his whole life. If I thought things would stay this way for him, I think I could allow myself to go over.”
Now Rand snuck a peek my way. “Roxie has as much told me that she owes her life to you two, and that she’s already offered to keep him company and look after him in your place. You should take her up on it!” He caught me when my head snapped back his way, but he didn’t let on to Elmer.
“Something’s about to change,” Elmer told him. “I can sense it. Now if I could just figure out a way to have it both ways, I think I’d go.”
“What? What do you mean by that,” Rand asked.
“I haven’t got it all figured out yet, my boy, but I’ll get there,” Elmer told him.
Both dogs came racing up to the three of us, exhausted from all the running they’d been doing. That signalled the end of the guys talking “in private.” I had a pretty good idea of what Elmer was thinking now. If he knew there was a way that I could call him back from the other side periodically to see Jake and check on him . . . and then Elmer locked eyes with me, and he smiled! He’d known that I was listening in the entire time.
What a sly fox!
About two hours after she’d left, Cruella came back. She had her arms full as she struggled to get through the gate. A folding lawn chair, a book bag, a McDonald’s bag, a Starbucks coffee, and, of course, her ever-present phone. We watched her openly, along with everyone else in the park as she set up camp under the closest tree to the gate. “Rocco!” she called. “Rocco! Come here!” she repeated, aggravated. Seeing Toby at my side once again, she gave me a suspicious look.
Toby whined his displeasure, but dutifully trotted over to her. She reached into the McDonald’s bag, unwrapped a ham
burger, and tossed it at his feet. Then, without a word, or giving him anything to drink, she opened her book. Toby wolfed it down and whined again as he licked up errant crumbs off the ground. He was obviously hungry. Then, as he’d probably done before, he trotted over to another person with a water dish and water bottle they’d brought along, drinking deeply before running back to where Jake waited.
“She has no business having a dog,” Rand said absently under his breath.
“No. She certainly does not,” Elmer agreed.
“I know one thing for sure,” I said to them both, “I’ll be packing some proper dog food, water, and a dish for Toby from now on when I come. I’ll feed him when she leaves him here alone. Eating hamburgers just can’t be healthy for a beautiful dog like him.”
“Thank you,” Rand said. “You don’t know how much I would appreciate your doing that.”
I could tell by the look in his eyes that he meant every word. I hadn’t said it for attention. I considered it basic decency and respect for any creature, especially one as great as Toby. It was clear that Cruella Deville, as we called her, was the wrong human for him.
We need to figure out a way to help Toby.
Chapter 17
I was surprised to see Elmer sitting at the snack bar when I came downstairs the next morning. “Good morning!” I greeted him. At the sound of my voice, Jake appeared beside him.
SEEING DEAD THINGS: A Paranormal Women’s Fiction Novel (Roxie’s Midlife Adventures Book 1) Page 12
