She slipped the necklace over her head and placed it in the circle, speaking the same incantations as the first time. I wasn’t sure how it all worked, and honestly, I didn’t want to, but it was clear the necklace was the key that opened the window to the other side.
The lights glowed, forming the circle. Gwen and Hayward gasped and recoiled to the wall, going as far as they could without slipping through into the adjoining room.
“Relax, you two,” Flapjack said. Glancing at me, he added, “I told you we should have left them at home.”
I shushed him and nudged my chin at Karla. Her eyes were closed and she spoke Sabrina’s name and the date of her crossing. Some kind of Otherworld ID system, apparently.
The lights pulsed and Sabrina’s faded form came to stand in the center of the circle. Ghosts didn’t age the way humans did, but there was something strained in her eyes that made it appear as if she’d aged ten years since the first time Karla summoned her forth.
Guilt pricked at me as I approached her. “Hello, Sabrina.”
“Please, tell me you’ve come to set me free,” she said, her voice strained. “I can’t do this much longer.”
“I’m so sorry, Sabrina. Listen, we don’t have long, but I wanted to let you know that we’ve solved your murder. The man who did this to you is in jail now, and he won’t be getting out again.”
Sabrina looked startled by the news. Her gaze ping-ponged between Karla and me. “Who—who was it?”
I drew in a breath. “It was Barry Wentsworth.”
Sabrina frowned. “Barry? You’re sure?”
“He confessed to the whole thing, and the police found enough evidence to make the case a slam dunk. Chief Lincoln thinks he’ll plead guilty and skip the trial altogether.”
“Why?” Sabrina demanded, anger edging her tone. “Why would he kill me? I was never anything but nice to him!”
Karla shot me a concerned look.
“It appears he harbored feelings—um, romantic, feelings, for you. And when it became clear that you didn’t share those feelings, he decided either he was going to have you or no one would.”
Sabrina’s expression relaxed, recognition dawning in her haunted eyes. “My date! That’s what this is about?”
“Barry said he saw you with a man,” I confirmed.
“A few months ago, I started online dating. I hadn’t dated since college, when I met Russell. I was being cautious. But the night before, well … Miranda was staying with her father and I had the house to myself. I went out on the fourth date with this man I’d been seeing and when it was over, I invited him home. He was the first man since—well, since the divorce.” She paused her story and gave an irritated toss of her head. “That’s what this was about? He had a crush?”
Her pain was palpable, surging through me as she connected all the pieces together. “I’m sorry, Sabrina. It’s senseless and horrible.”
She chewed her lower lip. “I still can’t remember that night.”
“It’s likely for the best,” I told her. “You don’t need to. What matters now is that the man responsible will be put away for the rest of his life, and when his time comes, he won’t find the same peace that’s waiting for you.”
The thought seemed to comfort her slightly. She nodded and wrapped her arms around herself. “I can leave this place, now? I don’t like it here. I’m alone and all I can do is think.”
Karla looked at me expectantly and then glanced at her watch.
I held up a finger. “There is one more thing,” I interjected, aware we were running out of time. Lucas’s number was already queued up on my phone. I pulled it from my back pocket and with a single tap, called him. I let it ring twice before hanging up.
“What’s going on?” Karla asked, her eyes narrowing. “Is someone here?”
I drew in a breath. “Sabrina’s daughter.”
Karla’s eyes snapped wide again. She looked at the ghost penned in the circle.
“My daughter?” Sabrina asked, her voice cracking.
“Is it okay?” I asked Karla.
She didn’t look overjoyed, but she dropped her chin, giving a single nod.
I stepped into the hall and waved Lucas and Miranda inside the viewing room. They’d been waiting outside the front doors of the funeral home until I gave the signal by calling Lucas’s phone and hanging up.
“Are you sure you’re ready?” I asked Miranda.
The teen nodded, wisdom beyond her years reflecting in her eyes.
Lucas inclined his head. “She’s ready.”
“Okay. Remember, we don’t have a lot of time.” I stepped aside and ushered them into the room.
Sabrina sobbed at the sight of her daughter. “Miranda!”
The teen cautiously entered the room, taking tiny steps closer to the summoning circle. “Mom?” she whispered. “It’s really … you?”
Sabrina nodded fervently. “It’s me, baby girl.”
Miranda leaned forward, not quite a foot from the circle. For a moment, I thought she might inch closer, but she remained in place, as though an invisible hook held the back of her shirt.
Sabrina’s eyes shone with silver tears. “You look so beautiful. How are you?”
“How—how is this real?” Miranda asked, her eyes darting to Karla and me.
“I’ll explain later,” I told her. “Remember, we can’t hold the connection for too long.”
Miranda looked back at her mother. “I miss you.”
Sabrina wiped at her eyes. “I miss you, too. I’d give anything to be there with you again. But, you’re going to be all right. You’re strong, and I know you’re going to do great things with your life.”
A tiny smile pulled at Miranda’s lips.
“You listen to your father. He’s going to drive you crazy, but he loves you, and he only wants the best. Try to remember that. I’m sorry for the things I said about him. That wasn’t fair of me to put you in between us.”
“It’s okay, Mom.”
Sabrina sniffled. “Do your best in school. You’re so smart, baby girl. Don’t ever let anyone tell you otherwise. And never, ever give up on your dreams. Life is so short. Treasure the little things. It’s not always going to be fireworks and butterflies. But there’s something in each day worth celebrating, so look for it. Okay?”
Miranda nodded, swiping her own tears away.
“And remember, I’ll always be there, watching over you from this side. This isn’t goodbye. It’s a see you later.”
Sabrina smiled at her daughter, her eyes still glossy, but they’d lost the haunted quality they’d had when she’d first appeared. She looked … restful.
Almost happy.
Her silvery form flickered and she surged upright and a bright light flashed. When it faded, Sabrina was gone.
“Did we run out of time?” Miranda asked, whipping around to look at me and Karla.
I smiled sadly and shook my head. “She moved on. She’s at peace now.”
Karla shot me a surprised look. Without a word, she closed her eyes, whispered a spell and waited. When her eyes reopened, she looked at me. “How did you know?”
“I’ve seen it before. This time felt different.”
A sob slipped from Miranda’s lips and she crumpled. I rushed to her side and gathered the girl in my arms, holding her as she cried.
For all my time working with ghosts and those they’d left behind, I still wasn’t good at knowing the right words to say. So, I remained quiet as I held the teen until she quieted.
“Thank you,” she whispered when she pulled out of my arms. She sniffled and wiped her eyes, smearing her mascara and too-thick eyeliner. “I’m glad I got to see her again. Really. It means a lot.”
Even as more unshed tears glistened in her eyes, I could feel her release some of the pain she’d been carrying. She’d never fully get over losing her mother—no one ever did—but she had some semblance of closure and got the rare opportunity to hear her mother’s parting words of w
isdom, something many must yearn for.
“You’re welcome, Miranda. If you ever need someone to talk to, please call me. You have my number.”
She nodded and gave me a quick hug before thanking Karla.
Lucas placed a hand on Miranda’s shoulder and escorted her outside. He’d take her home and then meet me back at the shop. When the front door of the home fell closed, I exhaled slowly and pivoted back to Karla. “Thank you for helping me.”
“I’m glad it all worked out.” She sniffed and started gathering the items from the circle, starting with the necklace. “I’m also glad you learned your lesson before you could do too much damage. Imagine what would have happened if you’d sent more than one ghost on before they were ready!”
“Believe me, the thought has kept me awake more than once this weekend,” I said sourly.
Karla placed the last item into her canvas satchel and tucked it under one arm. She considered me for a long moment.
“What?” I asked defensively. “I swear, I’m not going to do it again! You don’t have to worry about me.”
“No,” she said, “it’s not that. I was just wondering how you do it.”
“Do what?”
“This,” she replied, gesturing around the room. “Dealing with ghosts, taking on their pain and problems. It must be exhausting.”
“It has its moments,” I agreed. “But, I figure I was given this gift, by whatever power or force in the universe, and I should use it for good.”
“I used to,” Karla said quietly. “When I first realized what I could do. It became my obsession, my whole world. I opened my home to anyone wanting to speak with their dead relatives. Once word got out, there were people who’d travel from all over the country, then the world, to meet with me. The demand was relentless and eventually, I was forced into being a prisoner in my own home, afraid that the moment I poked my head out, someone would be begging for help.”
“What happened?” I asked.
“I ran away in the middle of the night. I packed up my car in the dead of night, put a note on my front door, and drove away. I lost everything. My job, my friends. Most of my family members think I’m insane.” Pain flickered across Karla’s face. “It was horrible. I kept driving until I hit the coast, found Beechwood Harbor, and decided this was as good a place as any to start over.”
“What led you to working here? Of all the places, this seems risky. I mean, if you’re trying to avoid the dead altogether, a funeral home seems an odd choice.”
Karla’s lips formed a wistful smile. “I suppose it is. It happened somewhat by accident. There was an opening for a receptionist and I took it. I had enough money to last a lifetime, thanks to the years spent hosting seances, but I needed a reason to get out of the house every day. I was afraid of turning back into a hermit, I guess.”
“Maybe there’s a reason you chose this place,” I suggested. “You’re still drawn to the work of helping those mourning a loss. But now, you do it without overextending yourself and your power.”
Karla considered it and then shrugged. “Maybe. The owner always said I had a knack for the bereaved. That’s why she promoted me to manager and now leaves the place in my hands while she’s off enjoying her retirement.”
“Well, for what it’s worth, I’ve seen you in action, and I’d have to agree.”
Karla inclined her head. “Thank you.”
I sighed. “I’m envious of your ability to draw boundaries, in a way. I do my best to keep my involvement contained to a single evening, but somehow it always seems to get away from me and turn into an all-encompassing disaster.”
Karla looked past me, and I didn’t have to turn around to know she was searching the faces of Hayward, Gwen, and Flapjack. “I don’t have advice for you, Scarlet. If you can find a balance, I wish you well, but personally, I’ve found it too difficult to live with one foot set in the world of the living while the other remains planted in the world of the dead.”
And only one of those worlds was one I could leave.
Chapter 19
Karla’s words tugged at me long after we left the funeral home and returned to Lily Pond. I tried to tamp them down, but they proved resilient to my efforts at banishment. The trio of ghosts kept me company as I puttered around the shop, watering the potted plants, sorting out the cards and gift displays that had gotten out of order during the frenzied week.
Eventually, Hayward and Flapjack went upstairs, bickering about what to watch on TV later that night. Gwen lingered behind and glanced at me. “They’re so impossible sometimes.”
I arched a brow. “Sometimes?”
She laughed quietly.
“You and Hayward seem quite cozy these days,” I said, smiling at her. “Things getting serious?”
Gwen fidgeted with one of her feather earrings, peeking up at the ceiling. “Nothing official, but I think he’s getting ready to ask me to be his girlfriend, or whatever Old English term he’ll use.” She smiled. “And when he does, I think I’ll say yes.”
“That’s great! And also, it’s about time,” I said, winking at her.
“He’s something special,” Gwen said. “That’s for sure.”
“He is.”
Karla’s words needled at me again. It wasn’t possible for me to walk away and leave Gwen and Hayward and Flapjack behind. If someone came to me and told me they could remove my magic, ridding me of ghosts altogether, the offer wouldn’t hold a drop of temptation. Not anymore.
“You know, there’s something I still don’t understand about Sabrina,” Gwen said, floating up to sit on the front counter while I dusted and wiped down the credit card machine and computer keyboard.
“What’s that?” I asked her.
“Was it that we solved the case or that she got to see her daughter that helped her move on?”
“I’m not sure,” I replied, stilling my duster to consider it. “Maybe a little of both?”
Gwen nodded slowly. “It doesn’t really matter in the end, I suppose. Sabrina can now rest in peace, and I’d say her daughter can move forward a little easier, too.”
I ran the duster over a stack of impulse-buy items in front of the register. “I hope so.”
“You made it happen, Scarlet. You gave them the best gift imaginable, all things considered.”
“I know. Though, I can’t help but wonder what might have become of Sabrina if she’d stayed as a ghost. Maybe she would have come to love it in time. Then she could have watched first hand while Miranda grew up.”
Gwen wrapped a strand of her shiny hair around her finger. “No one can say for sure, of course, but I’ve been a ghost for over forty years now. I’ve met dozens, maybe even a hundred other ghosts in that amount of time. Some just seem ready to go. They don’t want to stay here, and to them, each day is a long slog. Keeping her here when she didn’t want to be, well, in my opinion that would be worse. In my opinion, anyway.”
“What does it feel like for you then?” I asked.
“I think of myself like a humming bird,” she said with a smile. “I buzz through every day and when the sun goes down, I’m always surprised that another day is gone so soon.”
I smiled at her. The analogy was quite fitting. Gwen flitted from place to place, like a happy hummingbird on a busy summer day. She wasn’t to be pitied or hurried along. She was thriving. Maybe someday that would change. And if it did, I hoped I would be there to usher her into whatever waited on the other side. Though, I had a feeling she’d outlast the rest of us by a long shot.
“What about Hayward?” I asked. “Somehow, I can’t picture him as a hummingbird.”
Gwen laughed softly. “He tries to keep up with me sometimes, but we know we’re different types of ghosts at the end of the day. Between you and me, I think he’s afraid to move on. He’s grown quite stodgy hasn’t he? Or maybe he was always that way.”
“I don’t know,” I replied thoughtfully. “I mean, when we met, he begged me to let him tag along because he wanted
to travel and see the United States. That’s a pretty big leap.”
“That’s true.” Gwen nodded. “Sometimes it’s hard for me to picture him like that. I think maybe he just didn’t want to be alone anymore.”
My heart squeezed at her earnest assessment. It rang true.
“He saw something in you, something he could trust.” Gwen paused, her smile widening. “Although, he knew you were a package deal with Flapjack. So … maybe I’m way off.”
My head dropped back as a belly laugh bubbled up. “To be fair, Flapjack took it a lot easier on him in the beginning.”
Gwen laughed. “That’s even harder to imagine!”
“Tell me about it. If only I knew then what I know now!” I teased.
“You’d still do it all the same, wouldn’t you?” Gwen asked. Something about the look in her eyes told me she already knew the answer.
I nodded. “I would. You three are my family.”
“That means a lot, Scarlet.” Gwen’s eyes shone silver. “Thank you.”
Something stirred within me and I opened my arms to her. Gwen’s eyebrows lifted. I leaned forward, and ever so gently placed my arms around her neck. She gasped and then embraced me back, tighter than I would have anticipated based on her slight frame.
“How is this happening?” she breathed.
I didn’t answer. I didn’t know how it all worked, and now more than ever, I was convinced I never would, but I’d reached the place where the answers no longer mattered.
All that mattered was what was there, in front of me, and that was love.
Logic or explanations were secondary.
* * *
Things settled back into a steady groove. Business was slower than during the peaks of tourist season, but I enjoyed the less frantic pace, especially as it afforded me the ability to take most Saturdays off to either drive to Seattle or host Lucas when he drove into town. His new job was going well, and he’d even started looking at houses a little ways outside the city limits. Seattle was still too far for my taste, but we were making the long-distance work as best we could.
I still held my weekly ghost meetings, but each time the familiar faces gathered in the shop, I couldn’t help but hear Karla’s parting words echo through my head. We hadn’t seen each other since the night Sabrina crossed over. I’d sent Lizzie to do the deliveries to the funeral home the last few times. I didn’t have ill feelings toward Karla, but thinking about the encounter only reminded me that I had a decision to make. I couldn’t live forever torn between two worlds. My new powers opened the door into the spirit world even wider and it was up to me whether I wanted to step through it or not.
Big Ghosts Don’t Cry Page 14
