Page 73 of Ghost

“I am not stopping you.”Francis said, one eyebrow raised.

“Could you move, please?”

“Why?”Francis leered.

Mason took a deep breath and walked through the ghost.He could feel his breath hitch.It felt as if his entire body was tingling with erotic sensations, his dick going hard again.He reached out to steady himself against the wall.“What are you doing to me?”

“I am not doing anything, Mason.”Francis chortled.He was clearly amused.

Mason took a deep breath before turning on the water.“Let me...have a shower first and I’ll tell you everything.”

“Alright, I will try and be patient.”Francis had turned and watched Mason before he pulled the shower curtain closed, blocking his view.

“And you’re going to wait right there?”Mason asked as he grabbed a bar of soap.

“Yes, I will remain right here.”

“Great,” Mason mumbled.“At this rate, I’ll need another shower before I even get out of the bathroom.”

Francis laughed heartily.

* * * * *

Mason sat in bed withonly a sheet covering him.Francis was sitting on the foot of the bed absorbing everything that Mason had recounted from the evening.

After a few moments, Francis said, “I never met Ellen’s husband, obviously.She was but a mere child when I died.He sounds like a true gentleman.”

“I think so.”Mason yawned.“He loves...or loved...or whatever, his wife.Adores her actually and she, him.”

“That makes me very happy,” Francis said wistfully.“I am glad that she has had a good life and that she was loved.”

Mason studied Francis for a long moment.“Is it alright if we have you buried at the plantation?I feel so strange even asking that question.”He looked down at his hands lying in his lap.“I’m having a hard time dealing with...well, you being here and yet you’re really not.”

“Mason, please do not be distressed.If it is any consolation, it is awkward for me as well.”

Mason looked up at Francis.“I wish you weren’t dead.”

Francis roared with laughter.

“What’s so funny?”Mason asked, annoyed.

“That is a phrase that is not spoken often, I would say.”Francis continued to laugh.Soon Mason was laughing as well.

When they had both finished laughing, Mason holding his stomach, tears streaming down his face, he looked at Francis again.“But I do.”

Francis smiled.“I wish so as well.”

A few moments passed.“What would you like for me to do with all the furniture and stuff?”

Francis thought for a moment.“I have no real attachment to anything, I suppose, so do what you wish.”

A few more moments passed.“I think I’ll sort through all of it as I work on the house and see how things work.”

“As you wish,” Francis said again.“There were, however, a few pieces of art that I would like to see returned.One was a painting of Hobonny.It hung in the dining room.My father had it commissioned, and I think it would be nice to have it back where it once was.”

“I’ll ask Ellen about it then.”

“If you would, could you please ask her about all the books that were in the library?”Francis looked away.“I think I treasured those the most.”