Page 58 of October
“You were supposed to protect me!” Molly exclaimed in a high-pitched, really cute voice Finley hadn’t heard her use before.
“Iamprotecting you. I poked you myself so that the old woman would leave you alone.”
“What? That makes no sense.”
“Makes perfect sense in ghost logic,” she reasoned.
“My heart is racing right now. Jesus.”
Finley smiled softly and met Molly’s eyes. When Molly dropped her own hand, Finley moved hers to Molly’s chest, pressing it in the same spot, feeling the beat of her heart, and they stood like that for what felt like several minutes. When Finley finally looked away from Molly’s eyes, she noticed that no one else was upstairs with them.
“You two about ready there?” Melinda asked from the base of the stairs.
“Uh… Yeah,” Finley said and cleared her throat.
Then, she dropped her hand and let Molly walk down the stairs toward Melinda first. They skipped the rest of the house, which was really fine with Finley because when they got outside, Molly moved in front of her and pulled Finley’s arms around her waist while they talked to Melinda and waited for a few of the stragglers to rejoin them. Finley rested her chin on Molly’s shoulder and pressed her front to Molly’s back, loving this closeness between them and not wanting to let go to continue the tour. She looked past Melinda, who was talking about Kyle’s,her fiancée’s, family and how Kyle’s sister was still looking for a date for their wedding, and she spotted an old woman staring at her; or, at least, it felt like to Finley that she was staring at her.
When Finley tilted her head into Molly’s ever so slightly in confusion, Molly read that as Finley wanting to be even closer, and her arms moved on top of Finley’s over her stomach. Finley smiled a little at that, and the old woman smiled back, directly ather. There was no mistaking it now. Then, the woman nodded and placed a hand over her own chest in the exact same way Finley had just touched Molly’s chest while inside the house, and Finley’s eyes went wide.
“You okay?” Melinda asked her.
“What? Yeah, I’m great.”
Finley didn’t take her eyes off the old woman, though, so Melinda turned to see what she was looking at. When Melinda turned back around, she had a wide smile on her face. She took Finley and Molly in and turned back to the woman, giving her a thumbs-up before the woman laughed a little and walked on as if nothing had ever happened.
“What was that?” Molly asked Melinda.
“Oh, nothing.” Melinda chuckled. “One more stop, and we’re heading back to NOLA Guides. Everyone, ready?”
They walked to the final stop, which was the cemetery, and Melinda talked them through some of the haunting stories and some of the rituals that had been seen happening late at night, where people, presumably, had been trying to raise the dead. Finley held Molly from behind again as Melinda talked, and she decided that whenever she got a chance to hold her like this, she would. It was perfect. She could smell Molly’s hair and skin as she held her tightly. She could even kiss Molly’s neck or whisper into her ear. She could slide a hand up ever so slightly to touch Molly’s stomach and feel her warmth. Yes, this was definitelythe way to hold Molly, and she would be doing it as much as possible.
“Hey, about that old woman,” Melinda said to her when they were walking back to the office.
Molly was behind them, talking to a couple and their teenage girl about the tour, and therefore, out of earshot.
“Yeah. What was that about?” Finley asked.
“She’s pretty well-known among my friends. Ask any of them, and they’ve met her.”
“Who is she?”
“A psychic who sometimes works in the Square,” Melinda said. “But she seems to have a real gift, and I know she’s convinced people who’s never even believed in stuff like that because she’s been right every single time.”
“Right about what?”
“Well, Kyle and me, for starters. But then, there’s Bridgette, my best friend, and her fiancée, Monica. There’s Bryce and Sophie.”
“Oh, I met them,” Finley blurted out. “Sort of.”
“Well, that old woman got them right. There’s my wedding planner and her girlfriend. Also, Logan and Rory.”
“Logan and Rory? From the bar?”
“Ah, you’ve been to Candace’s place,” Melinda said.
Finley nodded.
“And yes,” Melinda replied with a nod. “Then, there’s Enid and Caroline, Jill and Willa, and now, there’s Myra and Elisa.”
