Page 21 of Ghost Girl

But Chance had never cared for her games, nor did he play them. ‘Now’s not a good time, Mother. I’m working.’

‘Don’t you speak to your mother that way,’ Calvin chastised when Mallory’s lip began to wobble. I kept my expression neutral, but it was difficult when I was so desperate to roll my eyes at her blatant crocodile tears. ‘We have decided that a short family vacation will bring the family together. You will join us.’

‘I will repeat myself until you hear me, Mr. Dodd. I am working. I do not have time to vacation. I do not interrupt you when you’re at work, I expect the same courtesy.’

Calvin’s face turned bright red, then purple as the vein on his forehead pulsed dangerously. He took a step forward, threat in every line of his ageing skin. ‘Now, you listen here,boy…’

‘All right, that’s enough posturing for one day, I think,’ Blake stepped between them, cutting the argument short before it could escalate further. Ashe and Gloria chose that moment to join Chance outside, though Mikey stayed within the safety ofthe van. I didn’t blame him. I wish I could hide in there, too. ‘Dad, why don’t you take Mom and Florence to get settled in. I’ll talk to Chance.’

Calvin’s displeasure would have been clear to a blind man, but he battled his demons back down to where they simmered just beneath the surface, his mask of composure back in place. Flicking an imaginary piece of lint from the shoulder of his jacket as if he were dusting Chance off of him instead, he turned back to face Mallory and the vapid bitch they’d brought with them, his expression softening immediately. ‘Come, darling. I will need help setting up the tent.’

By ‘help’ he meant ‘sit back and watch while I do all the work’, but the three of them sauntered away regardless. It would be interesting to see what they considered ‘camping’, and I was fully expecting some sort of elaborate glamping set up. I knew Blake was the outdoorsy type, constantly going on weekend fishing trips to decompress after a long, hard case at work, and I was also aware that he got his love for the outdoors from his father, but I had never seen it myself. At least beyond our skiing trips. We did that quite a bit.

‘Are you okay, bro?’ Blake asked Chance, who visibly sagged as the others retreated out of sight.

‘Just wasn’t expecting to deal with this shit right now. I’m sorry, Blake. I’ve just got a lot going on with this case.’

‘I’ll say,’ Ashe muttered under her breath, but we all heard it. Blake’s ears perked up at the prospect of gossip. He wasn’t as into the paranormal as Chance was, but he was still more interested the most. He would always pick Chance’s brain whenever he came back from a case.

‘What’s going on?’

Chance sighed, his shoulders drooping even further like he was being weighed down by the world. ‘We ran into a problem. There have been a series of drownings up and down the highway.We believe they’re intentional murders committed by an entity for reasons unknown. Unfortunately, we came across one of the drowned victims today when we almost ran through some police tape.’

Blake frowned, concerned, and I stroked his arm soothingly. He shot me a loving smile that I returned before turning back to his brother. ‘Things get dicey when the police are involved.’

‘Forget the police,’ I said, wondering why that was what he chose to focus on out of what we were just told. ‘I’m more worried about you, Chance. If people are being killed, you could be putting yourselves in danger.’

‘That’s what I said,’ Gloria chimed in, vindication colouring her tone. ‘After what I sensed from this entity and the screams from the newly deceased spirit, I don’t like the idea of continuing. We should let the police deal with the situation.’

‘The police can’t arrest a ghost, Gloria,’ Chance argued. ‘If we leave it up to the professionals, it’s still us dealing with it.We’rethe professionals, here.’

‘Okay!’ Ashe stepped between them, much like Blake had stepped between Calvin and Chance. ‘We have a lot to mull over. Let’s just sleep on it and come together in the morning for a team meeting. Yes? Okay. Let us know if you need us, Chance.’ And then she was dragging Gloria away to their RV, leaving the three of us alone.

Mikey stuck his head out, saw that the area was clearing up, and made a dash for his own RV. His was the biggest, likely to make room for his computer set-up, if I remembered their jobs correctly. Tech guys had big computers, right?

‘I’m sorry, Chance,’ Blake apologised. ‘I didn’t think it would be a big deal. I thought you might like it if Mom finally showed an interest. I should’ve asked.’

Chance released a heaving sigh and ran a hand through his hair, mussing the brown strands that seemed to be pepperedwith more and more grey each time I saw him. ‘No, it’s fine. I just… need a minute to decompress.’

My husband nodded in understanding, his expression open and compassionate, one of the reasons I’d fallen in love with him in the first place. He wore his heart on his sleeve and was the kindest man I had ever met, always looking out for others above himself. That’s why I thought his actions the past couple of days were so strange, but now I could see it for what it truly was. Just a little brother wanting to spend time with and support his big brother. A brother who was very clearly struggling.

‘Why don’t you join us for dinner tonight?’ I offered. ‘We were thinking of checking out the café.’

Though he didn’t smile, the muscles around Chance’s eyes softened, smoothing out some of the wrinkles there and making him look younger. ‘I… Sure. I’d like that. Let me just get my head screwed on right and sort through some of the data we got today, and I’ll meet you out front at six?’

‘Six it is,’ Blake said, brightening immensely. I knew how much he looked up to his big brother and how much he missed him. I hadn’t known Chance before Blake’s previous wife went missing, but I’d heard he was a lot more fun and easy-going. There was something more to his grief that went over everyone else’s heads, but I knew a man in love when I saw one. He had loved Kali with everything he had, which added an immense strain to his relationship with Blake, and my dear, sweet, innocent husband was so oblivious it was kind of ridiculous. I never said anything. That was so not my place, but I definitely wanted to help them rekindle their brotherhood. They both deserved that, at the very least, despite the gaping wound Chance’s secret created.

Every time I thought about it, about her and what she must have been like to have garnered such unwavering and unconditional devotion from both brothers, I could onlyconclude that she was one hell of a woman. I found myself daydreaming about meeting her, even though I knew that she was most likely gone from this world. Sometimes, I would imagine her waltzing right back into Blake’s life, into the home we shared that she had picked out, and demand I give him up, but something always switched up the daydream. From what I’d heard about Kali, she was kind and sweet, the perfect woman for a man like Blake. The image of her I created wanted to be mean and cruel, but I just couldn’t bring myself to keep it up.

If what I’d heard was true, in another life, we might have been friends.

As Chance trudged away to his van, I turned to Blake. I didn’t have to say anything because he was already giving me a sheepish look.

‘Yeah, I know. You were right, honey. I’m sorry, I should have listened to you,’ he said, pulling me close and resting his forehead against mine in a tender moment that made my heart melt for him even more. I didn’t think it was possible to love this much any more than I already did, but he continuously proved me wrong time and again. Every day, I woke up next to this wonderful human being, and he would give me another reason to fall a little more.

‘You’re heart was in the right place, babe. He knows that,’ I assured him.

His breath ruffled my hair and ghosted over my face in a sweet-scented caress. He’d always had a sweet tooth, and I loved that every time I kissed him, he tasted like sugar. Sweet in every possible way.

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