Page 77 of Shake the Habit

“Aunt Paula!” She was tempting fate. “Maybe she believes that things aren’t finished and maybe she thinks that she left her life incomplete. She definitely didn’t resolve her relationship with her son! She should have told him about his father.”

“She could have been ashamed. She could have been hurt by it, so much so that she couldn’t bring herself to remember,” my aunt added. “The past really can haunt you.”

I looked at her and wondered if she knew those things from personal experience. I sure did, but I also had a strong feeling that the days of hurt and shame were behind me.

“Many people leave issues unresolved but they don’t get a chance to fix them,” she continued. “We should try to resolve those for her now.”

“I thought you just told me that there was no such thing as ghosts.”

Aunt Paula ignored that and cleared her throat. “Lara-Lee, if you’re here, we have something to say,” she announced in a loud voice, and then she looked at me. “Go on,” she prompted.

“Me? What am I supposed to tell her?” I asked, and she lowered her eyebrows. “Fine! I mean, yes, ma’am.” I deepened my tone and tried to speak reverently. “Miss Lara-Lee? Hello? This is Kayleigh McCourt.”

“Wouldn’t she know that?”

“Sorry! This is my first time communicating with the dead. Oh, maybe this is about her peach tree!” I whispered. I cleared my throat. “We found your patent,” I called, looking in the corners of the room. “Caleb talked to an expert from the University of Georgia and he’s going to try to save the orchard and grow your peaches, the Arthur’s Precious Gems.” I waited again, but the feeling in here, that oppressive sadness, seemed the same to me. Aunt Paula shook her head to signal that no, it wasn’t working.

Ok. I also cleared my throat and tried again. “Miss Lara-Lee, I’ve made some ugly remarks about you and that was very rude of me. However, I do think that what I said was correct.”

“That was a terrible apology,” my aunt commented, shaking her head harder.

“I’m not apologizing,” I informed her, and then directed my next remarks to the air around us. “You were not very nice to your son. And I understand that you may have been sad, angry, and disappointed by a lot of things and a lot of people, but that was no reason to mistreat him. Is that why you’re here? You want to say sorry?”

The house was quiet.

“No matter how he grew up, he’s wonderful now. He’s content and I’ll spend my life making sure he stays that way. I’ll give him all the love and happiness that he deserves. So, if you’re still here, you should know that your son is going to be fine. We both will be, because we’ll take care of each other. We’re going to be great.”

Aunt Paula smiled. “I’m glad to hear that,” she said. “I’m very glad.”

“Do you think she heard me?”

We looked around the house, which remained quiet but somehow didn’t feel so still anymore. “It’s brighter in here,” I said, and maybe it was just that the sun had come out from behind a cloud. Maybe.

“Let’s go find that man of yours,” my aunt said, and we walked out onto the porch. Sir ran up the steps, his tail wagging, and the front door closed quietly behind us.

Aunt Paula and I looked at each other. “I didn’t feel a breeze, but that could have happened due to the vortex you mentioned,” I said.

“I don’t know anything about a vortex. Oh, look at them,” she sighed. Sir and I both turned to see Taygen and Marc, who were kissing next to his truck. “I’ll go have a word.”

I went down the steps and right to Caleb, in order to give him some of the love I’d mentioned. “What were you doing in there?” he asked as he hugged me back.

“Just straightening things out. You know, that place doesn’t feel scary, not anymore.”

“Really? I’m glad. After there’s plumbing and heat, we might live there,” he suggested.

Maybe. I wasn’t quite ready for that.

“I was looking at the trees,” he continued. “I hope they can make a comeback like the farmhouse is. She was so disappointed by everything and those were her life’s accomplishment.”

“No,” I told him. “You are. You’re the best thing she could ever have done, and I think she knew that. I’m sure she knew it because she named that peach after you.”

“It’sArthur’sPrecious Gem,” Caleb reminded me. “The man who might be my father.”

“Exactly. You’re the gem that came from him,” I explained.

He smiled. “You’re more precious than any peach.” He kissed me. “You’re more precious than anything.”

“I think that we have something very precious together,” I told him. “It’s real, not ersatz.”

---