Page 25 of Ghost of a Chance
There was a part of her that wanted to fix him.Not that he was broken.
She’d always felt like she was thirtysomething.Her mom blamed herself, saying that Kirsty had to grow up too quickly.The reasons weren’t that important to her now.
The truth was she was comfortable in her skin.Even when she hadn’t fit in, she’d burrowed deeper into her own psyche and found a nice comfortable way of dealing with the world.
Her black clothing, heavy eyeliner and dark lipstick were enough to make most people give her a wide berth.Which gave her the option of deciding who she wanted to engage with.
Jasper was different because she’d met him at that damn concert.The one place where she didn’t carry the worries that usually plagued her and just let herself be.He’d wormed his way into her life before she had time to determine what that would mean.
Taking a deep breath she let the smell of aging paper wrap around her.She was home.The world awaited her in the volumes housed in this bookstore.All those characters and stories waiting to carry her away from life.It still gave her a thrill of excitement to think she was an author.
That she was offering escape to others just like the ones she’d found growing up.She was fully present in a way she felt nowhere else.Except sex.She’d blamethatmental detour on Jasper as well.
Skimming the signs above the shelves, she looked for mystery first and found it toward the back on the left.There were some armchairs and tables that looked as if they’d come from a secondhand shop.Worn, probably comfortable, they beckoned her to sit and curl up and read.
Yes.This was what she needed.Time to get in her head and out of this place of semi-panic she’d been in since this morning.Faking being a medium with the ability to awaken her third eye and communicate with those on the other side was a lot of pressure.
She slowly walked down the main aisle, aware that Jasper had fallen behind, but she was anxious to see if they had her new book and if any of her previous titles were there.Her name was steadily growing in the field, but each book was like starting over again, a reintroduction to convince new readers that she could be trusted with their entertainment.
Her newest book was face out and they had one copy of each of the previous four titles, which made her grin.She took out her phone and snapped a picture of them.
“Want me to take one of you?”Jasper asked.
“If they let me sign them, then yes,” she said.She went to find the manager while Jasper picked up her newest book and started skimming it.
It totally didn’t matter if he liked her book… Okay, even she couldn’t convince herself of that lie.She wanted him to like it and be impressed.Her editor thought this book was her best yet, but inside, Kirsty wasn’t sure.All of her books felt so unfinished even when they ended up in print.
She always thought of something that could be different later.Or worse, something that could have been improved on.One of her writing buddies offered that it was the best book Kirsty could write at the time which was totally true.
Was that why Paul was still hanging around?A lack of satisfaction with his life?She jotted that down on the notes app on her phone.Dying young had to mean there was unfinished business.And from what Jasper said, Paul was the type to push himself hard to perfection.
A guy about her age with a buzz cut and thick horn-rimmed glasses wearing jeans and a sweater with “Books are essential.”knitted on it walked over to her.
“Hi, I’m Tim the manager.Can I help you find anything?”
“I’m K.L.Henson, the author ofRoses for the Dead.I noticed you had some of my books in stock and wondered if I could sign them,” she said.Deep breaths, Kirsty.Some things about the job never got easier.
“Of course.Nice to meet you.We’ve sold a lot of copies of it,” he said.“Let’s get you set up to sign them.Are you local?”
“I’m here for a few weeks with some friends.Doing research for my next book.”Liar.
“Great.We have a local readers’ group that meets on the second Tuesday of the month.Would you like to come back and talk to them?”he asked.“That’s next week.”
“Sure, if you think they’d enjoy it,” she said.A room full of her readers sounded like a dream come true—or a nightmare, if they hated the book.
“Definitely.”Tim led the way back to the mystery section where Jasper waited.“Jasper Cotton?Dude, I didn’t know you were back in town.”In an instant Tim’s demeanor changed from mousy clerk to full-on bro.
“Just for a few weeks,” he said.
“You two friends?”Tim asked.
Oh no.If Jasper started talking about Paul and her amateur ghost whispering, then Kirsty was going to walk straight out of this shop.Even though she was getting filmed trying to live out this fantasy gone wrong, something about saying it out loud to a stranger made her feel ridiculous.
“She’s helping me with a project for work,” Jasper said.“I didn’t realize you lived here.”
“Decided to stay after graduation.My girlfriend and I leased this space and opened the bookstore.We’ve been making a go of it since.”
While they caught up, Kirsty signed the books and put her promotional stickers and bookmarks in them.Noticing when she opened her bag that the physics book was in there.Something she shoved to one side until she could speak to Jasper.Her joy at signing the books dimmed slightly.She truly didn’t believe in ghosts but how else could she explain the book being here and the music on Jasper’s phone?
