I choked back a lump. "He's going now," I said.
Matty's parents sobbed, and Matt pulled his wife into an embrace. As I watched them hug Matthew appeared with them, his arms wrapped around his parents. I gasped.
"You can see him, can't you, Ang?" Ma said.
I nodded.
"Well what about me? Can you see me?"
I froze, afraid to turn for fear that if I did, she wouldn't be there—that I still couldn't see her. I wasn't sure I could handle that disappointment again.
"Ah Madone," Ma said, and then, in the blue nightgown she died in, my mother appeared in front of me. "Boo."
I covered my mouth with my hand, and nodded as tears fell down my cheeks.
"I'm gonna go now," Matthew said, getting my attention.
I smiled at my mom, and gathered my composure, which was hard because Ma was so pumped, she wouldn't shut up. "Finally, for cyin' out loud! That took forever!"
I didn't let anyone in on my secret, but Matthew knew. He saw me look him in the eye, and smiled. I smiled too. As he held his grandfather's hand, he said his last goodbye, and then he and Charles shimmered away.
"They're gone," I said.
The Clough's both had tears in their eyes, but Matt's face was stern. "We need to get to the police," he said.
Amanda nodded.
I turned to Jake. "We should go."
Jake nodded, and handed Matt Clough the notes he'd taken. "I'm not sure what this will do, but hopefully it helps."
"Thank you," Matt said, and then he approached me. "I'm sorry."
I shook my head, and hugged him. "It's okay. People threaten me with guns on a daily basis."
He nodded. "What you've done for us? I don't know how to thank you."
"It's okay, honest."
"I know you're worried about the police," he said. "I promise you, Amanda and I will do our best to leave you out of it."
"I'm not sure that's gonna be possible, Matt," I said. "You need to be honest with them, or I'm worried they won't pursue Maria."
"They may not if we tell them our son told us information through you."
I nodded. "There is that, but you have to find a way to get them to talk to Maria. My mother assured me she was involved in Matthew's death. She said Maria would confess if they push on her."
Amanda gasped and Matt's eyes light up. He hugged me again. "Thank you, Angela." He turned to Jake, and shook his hand. "And thank you, too. Thank you both so much."
***
"Well I'll be damned, Ang. You did it. Who'd a thunk?" Ma said outside.
"Talk about having no faith, Ma. Thanks."
"Oh, I had faith. I knew it was coming. That's why I had to stay away, on account of I didn't wanna get myself in trouble by blabbing. Sometimes I get a little excited, and I can't keep it in."
"You knew?"
She smirked, and pointed to the top of her head. "Course I knew. Super spirit powers, remember? I knew you'd get your gift back all along, I just wasn't sure when. You had to learn some lessons first, and I was a little worried that would take forever, seeing as you're so hard-headed and all."
I gave her the stink eye.
She spun in circles like a little girl trying on a new dress for the first time. “So, how do I look? Haven't aged a bit have I?"
"I don't know," I said, scrutinizing her slightly transparent face. "I think I see a few more age spots, and a couple more wrinkles around your eyes."
Her mouth dropped open, and I could see the grass behind her through it. "What? You're kidding me, right? That ain't right, agin' in the afterlife. They said it don't happen."
"You can see Fran?" Jake asked.
"Yup," I said, and waved it off. "Just another day in the life of a medium." I clicked the key fob to unlock the door. "You drive," I said. "I've got a lot to tell you."
He smiled. "I can only imagine."
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
I FILLED JAKE IN ON EVERYTHING.
He smiled, and the laugh lines around his eyes spread to his hairline. It was one of the sexiest things about him. "Your dad always had impeccable timing."
"And apparently he still does." I leaned back in the seat, and my body relaxed.
"What about the police?" Jake asked. "You okay with the Cloughs going to them?"
I tensed, and sat up straight. "I don't really have an option, do I?" I ran my hand through my hair. "If they tell them about me, what's gonna happen?"
"I don't know, honey, but get through it. Look at everything else we've been through. We'll just add it to the list." He smiled, but his hands gripped the steering wheel so tight, his knuckles were white. He was scared, too.
But he was right. We'd been through so much together, and we'd always ended up better, stronger. From job layoffs, to medical issues, the deaths of my parents, and of course Emily's drama, we'd been through a lot together. If we could make it through all of that, we could make it through anything. "Emily, Jake. You know this could really screw her up."
"You mean, would really screw her up more."
I pressed my thumbs into my temples. "Oh, God. If this gets out—that I can talk to dead people—Emily's going to end up institutionalized. It'll send her over the top."
"Let's just take this one step at a time, honey. We don't even know if the Cloughs will mention you to the cops. If they do, we'll figure out what to do next. It'll be fine."
***
Josh was sitting at the kitchen counter, holding a shattered frame of a picture of Emily and Chandler. "Mom, Emily's upstairs crying again. I tried to see if she was okay, but she threw this at me, and slammed the door shut," he said.
I pushed the threat of my gift being discovered to the back of my mind, but kept close the possibility of Emily being institutionalized, just for a different reason. "You're a good brother, Josh. Thank you," I said, and took the picture from him. "Wish me luck, I'm going up."
Jake didn't offer to come, scaredy cat.
I knocked on Emily's door. "Go away Josh," she yelled, her voice nasally sounding.
"It's me, honey. Can I come in? Just don't throw anything at me, okay?"
Emily pulled the door open, sighed, then turned, and flung herself onto her bed, crying. I shut the door, grabbed the box of tissues off her desk, and sat next to her. "Here," I said, holding a tissue out. "Blow your nose."
She turned, took the tissue, blew, and handed it back to me, then plopped her face right back into her pillow, and sobbed some more.
I wanted to be patient and understanding, but the drama got old, fast. "Aren't you supposed to be at work?" I checked the clock on her nightstand, unsure of how long we'd been gone. The clock was dark. She'd probably unplugged it, and used the alarm on her cell phone. She hadn't responded. "Emily?"
"He broke up with me. Are you happy? He, like, totally said it was because of you and Dad." Her voice was muffled by the pillow.
"Em, sit up honey, I can't understand you."
She flopped over, her face red and puffy, and her eyes bloodshot, as if she'd been out partying all night.
"I thought your dad had already done that for him," I said. "So I'm a little confused."
She pulled another tissue from the box, and blew her nose again.
"He said you and Dad were too strict, and...and that he, like, tried to love me, but, like, I just wasn't loveable. He said I was still a stupid baby that, like, had to do what her parents said, and he needed a real woman."
Oh boy. Chandler was a tool.
I lay down next to her. "You've got a boogie hangin'," I said. That got a half smile from her. "Come here." I put my arm around her, and pulled her close, her head on my chest. "Honey, I'm sorry. But the truth is, Chandler's an idiot. I know you're going to want to defend him, but hear me out first, okay?"
She nodded into my chest.
"If a man—a boy in this case—truly loves a girl, he doesn't say things like that. He doesn't call you stupid, and he doesn't say you're not loveable. Real love isn't like that, honey."
"But he's right, Mom. You and Dad are too strict. He said it's stupid to, like, get into our business like that. And he's right, Mom. I'm not a kid anymore. I'm not a baby."
Was stupid the only adjective teenagers knew? Everything was always stupid to them. School was stupid. Rules were stupid. Cleaning their rooms was stupid. Personally, I thought they were stupid, but I didn't say that.
"Emily, you're seventeen, so by law, yes, you're still a child. Are you a baby? No, of course not, but let's be honest, sometimes you act like one." I pushed her hair from her eyes. "The other night, what happened? It was wrong. If Chandler loved you like he said, he wouldn't have put you in that position. He wouldn't have parked in a barely lit parking lot, and had sex with you—for the first time mind you, which is a pretty big deal—in the back seat of a car. That's just all sorts of wrong, kiddo. And let's not forget that you were grounded. I'm sure he knew that. If he loved you, he wouldn't have wanted you to get into more trouble by going out."
"But I wanted to Mom, that's not his fault."
"It might not be entirely his fault, but whose idea was it?"
She looked away. "His."
"Uh huh. Emily, you deserve better than him. You're a smart, funny, beautiful girl. Don't aim so low in the boyfriend department. There are plenty of boys out there who would love to call you their girlfriend. Be pickier, and show them you deserve to be treated well, because you do."
"I'm never going to find someone to love me, Mom." She cried into my chest.
"I don't believe that for a minute. And you know what? If Chandler had any balls, he could have come here, apologized to your father and me, talked with us about how we expect our daughter to be treated, and things may have worked out."
"But I didn't know that, so I didn't tell him."
"That's kind of the point. You shouldn't have to tell him. If you meant as much to him as he means to you, he would have done it on his own, but it didn't even come to mind. I'm sorry, sweetie."
"Things are different now, Mom, and you don't know Chandler. Maybe I should tell him."
I leaned back, and grabbed her phone from the nightstand. "I don't think so, honey. I'm gonna keep this for a bit. If Chandler changes his mind, and contacts you, then let me know, and we'll go from there. But for now, I think it's best you back off, give him some space, and try to move on."
"I don't want to. I want to be with him."
I told Emily about my first serious boyfriend, and how hard it was when we broke up. How sad I was, and how much it hurt, but that eventually, a little each day, things got better. And how one day I realized he wasn't the first thing I thought about when I woke up, and he wasn't constantly on my mind. I told her it would happen that way for her, too, but she just needed to give it time.
"I don't think I'll ever forget him," she said.
I nodded. "Probably not, but remembering someone, and still having feelings for him aren't the same thing."
"I should have listened to you. I shouldn't have had sex with him."
I nodded again, but didn't say anything, fearful the dreaded, I told you so would sneak out.
***
I sat on the deck with Jake, and filled him in on the latest Emily crisis. It took a bit of convincing, but he finally changed his mind about finding Chandler, and fulfilling his promise.
Josh escaped the drama, and went to Turner's for a sleepover again. He was pretty good at that escape thing.
Jake picked at the wood in the fire pit, even though there was no fire. "Have you heard from Mel?"
"Nope, and I'm really starting to worry, too." I grabbed my phone from my pocket and sent her a text. "Worried. Please call or text me. XOXO."
"I'm sure she's okay."
"I don't know, Jake. Her husband is having an affair, and the girl is pregnant. That's not an easy thing to be okay with."
"Are we going to talk about my testicles again?"
"Ew. I really hate that word."
"What do you want me to call them?"
"Nuggies."
"That's what we called Josh's balls when he was a baby."
I grimaced. "That word's worse than testicles."
He shook his head, and laughed. "I'm not physically capable of referring to my own balls as nuggies. Sorry."
I got up, and sat on his lap. "Whadda ya mean yours? Those things became mine when we got married."
"Doesn't matter. They're still attached."
"You know what? You can keep them. They've been closed for business for a long time anyway."
He laughed. "Maybe Mel just needs some time, but I hope she's at least called that attorney.”
"Time's the last thing she needs. She needs to be divorced, and get on with her life, or it's gonna go on without her."
"Okay, Fran. Whatever you say."
I laughed. "Good Lord, I'm becoming her, aren't I?"
He pushed me away a little, and his eyes scanned my body. "Your chest is significantly smaller."
I smacked him on the shoulder. "You're a tool."
"But you love me."
"Lucky for you." I leaned my head onto his shoulder, and sighed. "Today was intense. I'm exhausted."
"Me too, and you did all the work. I was just the secretary."
I laughed. "A hot secretary, too. Do you think my dad will come around again?"
"I don't know, babe, but I wouldn't expect him to. It doesn't seem to be his thing."
I took a sip of my wine. "I know." I exhaled.
We sat on the deck, and talked for a long time. Jake brought up burying Chandler again, and I finally convinced him it was a bad idea.
"Seriously. I can see dead people. He'd probably haunt us."
He frowned. "That would be bad, huh?"
"Yes, Jake. That would be bad.”
I limited my wine to only two glasses, but that was still enough to give me a buzz, and I was frisky. "If we don't go to bed now, your window of opportunity might close."
He was up and inside in two steps.
I stumbled upstairs a little slower, and checked on Emily, who was sound asleep in her bed. I pulled the covers over her, and kissed her on the forehead. Jake had jumped in the shower, and by the time he was done, I was undressed, and passed out on the bed. His window had closed, after all.
***
The next morning didn't call for a greasy breakfast, and I was thankful. I checked my messages, but still hadn't received anything from Mel. Jake was up and out, spending the day in Atlanta, visiting clients, and Emily was up, getting ready for work.
"You feeling any better, kiddo?"
"Not really, but I have to work," she said as she pushed on her face, still puffy from crying.
"Actually, working is good. It makes the time go by faster, and keeps you distracted."
"Yeah, I know."
"Well, I'm going for a run," I said. "Call me if you need me, okay?"
"You have my phone."
"Oh, right." I rushed to my room, and grabbed it from my drawer. "Here, but please, don't text him. Just trust me on this, okay?"
She nodded. “Mom?"
I played with her hair in the mirror. "Yeah?"
"Thanks for what you said yesterday."
I wrapped my arms around her, and leaned my head on her shoulder. Our faces were close, and I could see my features in her in the mirror. "You're welcome."
"I'll be home before dinner, okay?"
"Okay, I'll make something yummy," I said. "Love you, Em."
"Love you, too."
I jogged down the stairs, feeling like everything would be okay. As I drove to the park, Mel texted.
"I'm okay. Don't worry. Will call you soon."
I wasn't sure I believed her, but I didn't push.
At the park I ran the same path where Matthew and Charles had first tried to communicate with me. It was where he died. "Oh, Matthew," I said. "I wish I'd have figured it out sooner, little guy. I'm sorry." I picked up my pace, and eased into a run.
"Boo," Ma sai
d, as she appeared in front of me.
I jumped.
She bellowed, snorting at the end. "Ah Madone. I love that."
"You're a pain in my butt," I said, laughing. "You gonna run with me or something?"
"Pfft. Celestial beings don't run, Ang. We float. I'm gonna float while you run, 'cause we gotta talk."
It was never good when someone said, we gotta talk. "Please, let it be about something minor, like Hershey Bars." I slowed my pace to a jog so I could keep talking.
"Don't get me started on my Hershey Bars again. I'm still mad at you about those."
"Ma, it was over thirty years ago. Build a bridge and get over it."
"No. Those were my Hershey Bars. I worked my butt off every day so you could have your Sassoon Jeans, and umpteen bottles of hairspray a week, and treated myself to a little something every now and then, only for you to get your grubby little hands on them."
I flicked my hand. "Good grief."
"It's your father's fault, too, so I'm still mad at him."
"How's it his fault? You were divorced already."
"That's how it's his fault. If we didn't get divorced, I could a used his money to get me my Hershey Bars, and maybe bought a safe to hide them in."
I shook my head. "It's amazing how you do that."
"Do what?"
"Forget it. I'm sure I'm gonna regret this, but tell me what we need to talk about."
"The Cloughs, they told the police about you."
I stopped. "Are you sure?"
She nodded. "Yup. I was there."
"What did they say?" I leaned my back against a tree and dropped the F-bomb.
"And you get on me when I curse."
"Ma, no jokes, please. This is serious. What's gonna happen now? What am I gonna do?" I sunk to the ground. "Oh God, what are people gonna say? This is gonna be bad, Ma. Real bad."
"Angela, you gotta stop worrying about what other people think. It ain't about you anymore, and you don't know what's gonna happen, so don't get all upset and have another one of those anxiety attacks like yesterday."
"I don't care what other people think of me, Ma. This isn't about me. It's about my family."
She threw her hands in the air. "Ah for cryin' out loud, Ang. You're all, I don't want people to think I'm a whack job because I see dead people, and I gotta wear my ear plugs, so people don't think I'm a crazy person talking to myself. Sure, you care about your family, but this here? It's completely about you."
Unbreakable Bonds (An Angela Panther Mystery Book 2) Page 23
