Page 51 of Haunted Ever After

“Hooked on what?” That was a new one. Or was it? Was Elmer looking over Nick’s shoulder when he watched TV alone at night? He probably wasn’t as alone as he thought he was.

Cassie didn’t answer at first, an embarrassed flush coming over her cheeks that he could see even in the dark. “I’m not going to apologize for watching reality television,” she finally said.

“Nor should you.” He kept his voice even. Calm. Free of judgment.

“It’s excellent brain candy after a long day of work.”

“I’m sure it is.” It had never been Nick’s thing. Something about women fighting each other, and roses? And flipping tables?

“But Sarah is getting a little too into it. I try to ask her if she likes the cabinet handles I picked out, and she’s all, When are we watching Romance Resort? I told her: all that TV is gonna rot her brain.” She paused. “Do ghosts have brains left to rot?”

“I try not to think too hard about stuff like that.” He had, once upon a time. But the logistics of ghosts and how they existed gave him a headache.

“Probably wise.”

“If I can help at all…I dunno, about talking to spirits, how to communicate, how to feel about what they say…” He tried to make his shrug as casual as his tone. “You know where to find me.”

“You make it sound so easy. Talking to the dead. Getting firsthand accounts of things that happened a century ago.”

“Like I said, try not to think about it.” A smile tugged at his lips. “Going with the flow is the key to sanity around here.”

A laugh spilled from her, and she bumped his arm with her shoulder. “I missed you.”

Oh. Nick wasn’t prepared for how that simple statement rushed through his blood, made everything inside him feel a little more urgent, a little more…more. “I missed you too. It had become the best part of my day, seeing you walk through the door.”

“I’ll have to start coming by the café again, then. But only if you start putting the cinnamon back in the banana bread.”

“Done.” They started walking again, her arm wrapped around his, and of course the footsteps behind them started up again too. Nick spared a fleeting thought for the Beach Bum, hanging around all this time while they talked.

Cassie did too. “Was he just standing behind us, waiting for us to start walking again?”

“Maybe.”

She gave him a sideways glance. “You really don’t think about this stuff too hard, do you?”

“I try not to,” he said. Was he wrong for thinking that way? Should he be more like Cassie, questioning everything and trying to learn all the whys for every spirit that lingered here in town?

She was quiet for a minute. “I want to think about what to ask Elmer,” she finally said. “Do you think I could come by in a day or two? Is that okay?”

“Come by anytime you want,” Nick said, and he meant it. The morning rush, the lunchtime crowd, three in the morning. He would welcome her anytime. “I can’t text him right this second, anyway. He only manifests at the café. Or the apartment over the café. The building itself seems to be his domain. Anywhere else is out of range for him.”

“Out of range? So, like, the café is the only place he gets any bars?”

Nick had to chuckle. “Something like that. That place was his life. His afterlife too, I guess.”

“And he’s okay as a roommate? No bumps in the night?”

“Nah. The only thing I have to do is make coffee for him sometimes.”

“Do I want to know how a ghost drinks coffee?”

“He doesn’t drink it. He just likes the smell. You know, when you grind beans fresh, and then brew a new pot? He loves that.”

“He’s not wrong; that’s the best smell in the world.”

Nick had to agree. “Yeah. So I don’t mind too much.”

“You must drink a lot of coffee, then.”

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