Page 38 of The Ghost of You

My phone starts ringing. I guess this is the distraction I’ll take for now.

“Hello?”

“Were you ever going to call me back?”

Shit. I forgot I told my friend Becca that I would call her back at some point last week. She was my best friend growing up. Her, me, and Kyle were inseparable as kids. We drifted apart a bit when Kyle and I went to college and she stayed at home helping her parents with their socializing. But after we graduated from college and moved back home to Hartswell, we all became friends again.

She is one of the only people I talk to from home. After Kyle died, I couldn’t take the sympathy from everyone. My entire town treated me like I was a fragile piece of glass on the verge of shattering. But I wasn’t. I was angry. So angry. And Becca was the only one that understood. My sister and my parents wanted to console me, baby me. Becca was the only one who told me to quit crying and move on with my life. And I did. I moved on and haven’t looked back since.

“Eventually,” I joke.

“I get it. You forgot about your bestie.”

I laugh. “I did not forget about you. I’ve just been busy.”

“Yeah, yeah. Whatever you say. It ain’t that hard to pick up a phone.”

“Says the girl who does nothing but plan parties.”

She huffs into the phone. “I’ll have you know I do more than just plan parties. Why last week I was helping the county hospital collect donations for Thanksgiving.”

“Well, I am glad you were able to do your part to help the community.”

“Just like any southern woman would.”

I pick up a few things around my house as I talk to her, checking the time to make sure I am not late for my yoga class. “And how is your dear husband? I heard he is making a name for himself out there.”

Becca is the daughter of the town mayor. Not a huge deal but in southern towns it is. Her family comes from money dating back two hundred years. She never has to lift a finger to ensure she will never have to worry about money. She married a businessman out of Atlanta. He was in town looking at buying property for something. Her father was there to show him around and of course she and her mother provided a luncheon for the whole thing. According to Becca, it was love at first sight. I’ve never met him. Didn’t attend the wedding. It all happened so soon after Kyle’s death, I couldn’t show my face.

“He is splendid, as always. He should be home this weekend. The kids miss him.”

She couldn’t leave Hartswell, no matter where her husband wanted to move them. So he bought a grand property in Hartswell and they migrate back and forth between there and Atlanta.

“Any news from the hometown?”

She laughs. “Do you really want to hear the gossip?”

“Keeps me young.”

“Rumor has it your sister’s boyfriend is going to propose.”

I stop what I am doing. “Really? Well, it won’t happen soon if there are rumors. She is going to want to be surprised. And he knows that.”

“Only time will tell.” She pauses and I can tell this call isn’t just about catching up. “Have you talked to your sister lately?”

I collapse onto my couch at that. I have been a terrible sister. A terrible daughter. I only call on holidays and birthdays. My family learned years ago that I wasn’t going to call back. So they quit trying to reach out to me, quit trying to be a part of my life. I know enough to feel like they are still my family but not enough to know the details.

“I called her on her birthday.”

“That was four months ago, Anna May.”

I look out the window and watch a few leaves fall from the trees. “And everything was great with her.”

“She wants you to come home for Thanksgiving.”

I groan as I let my head fall back onto the back of the couch. “She should know better than that.”

“Fine, I might not have heard it from her lips directly but I heard her boyfriend talking to his friends at the club the other day and he mentioned it.”

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