Page 14 of Ghost of a Chance

J asper wasn’t too sure what he expected. That Paul’s haunting would end as quickly as it had begun. But it seemed like his friend wasn’t ready to go. The candles were still burning and the scent of the pine logs in the fire filled the room making this gothic atmosphere almost cozy.

“Well… I guess that didn’t work,” he said after Dan had gone to his room to review the footage and edit it. Gia had gotten a call during the séance and rushed out to return it, leaving him and Kirsty alone.

“Ya think?”

“Sarcasm really isn’t that attractive.” Which was a total lie—sarcasm was a part of her charm. He knew she used it when she was on edge. The séance had to be disappointing for her.

“Did it seem like I was trying to attract you?” This time her voice had an edge, razor-sharp.

“What’s wrong?”

Refusing to answer him, she gathered up the candles, cooled wax droplets peppering their edges. Then she hesitated over the book.

Had Paul talked to her after all? Had Paul indicated that Jasper was the last person he wanted to talk to? Something about haunting him? Jasper didn’t believe for a moment that Paul was petty enough to hold a grudge for five years because of a fight.

Kirsty on the other hand looked wan and unsure. Two things that he didn’t associate with her. His gut signaled something must have happened during the séance.

“You okay?”

Her hands balled into fists and she closed her eyes, hesitation clouding her face. “Uh-huh. That’s a lie. I’m not okay. I told you this isn’t my area of expertise.”

“You did great. I bet it was me. Paul isn’t the type to hold a grudge but this is the first time I’ve actually had an outsider try to help.”

“That’s good to know. Paul sounds like a wonderful guy. Did he ever call you on anything?”

“All the time.”

“Can you give me an example?”

He wasn’t sure how that would help but the color was returning to her face. Relaxing her a bit. “One time I faked that I was sick for a week because I wanted to get to the end of Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order . You get to battle Darth Vadar.”

“That sounds cool. What happened?”

“My boss fired me and I complained and Paul was like I hope fighting Darth Vadar was worth it. Stuff like that.”

“You’re a real Star Wars fan, aren’t you?”

“I thought we established that already.”

“Just didn’t realize how deep your obsession was.”

“Ha. I didn’t write fanfic about it.”

“You’re not a writer.”

“Ouch.”

Staring into the flames of the fire, they sat in silence until she leaned toward him. “I think we should contact a real medium.”

“Uh, no. I don’t trust people who charge for this kind of thing,” he said.

“But you trust me.”

He thought about it for a long minute. Did he trust her? As much as he could trust anyone with this. Plus he didn’t want to talk about Paul to anyone else. The four of them in this house were about all he could handle. “Sure.”

“Took you a minute.”

“Sorry, this entire occult thing…it’s not something I normally believe in.”

Throwing her head back, she laughed hard. “You’re the one with the haunted book.”

“Point taken.” He paused, looking around the room. The house suddenly felt too quiet. “I need a drink,” he said.

“Me too. But not tequila.”

“Why not?”

“Just…listen, I’m not doing that again. This is my career on the line,” she said as she led the way into the kitchen. She opened the fridge and took out a can of Coke. “I think I saw some rum in the pantry.”

He fetched it and they made themselves rum and Cokes before he realized he needed to take Chewie out. The dog was whining impatiently by the door. But he still wanted to talk to her.

“Want to take a walk with me and Chewie?”

“Yes.”

Once they were on the sidewalk, he gave Chewie a bit of the lead and then looked over at her. “What did you mean your career is on the line?”

“Just that if this goes south, then everyone will look at my books differently. Look at me differently,” she said, taking a large gulp of her drink.

“I thought you wrote ghostly murder mysteries.”

“I do. Cozies really. So the murder takes place off the page. I don’t really depict any real violence. And the ghosts are benign.”

“So…how is this going to affect your career?”

She paused, eyebrows furrowed. “Wow, you really aren’t a fan.”

“I told you I hadn’t read any of your books,” he said sheepishly. He was curious now, even thumbed through her latest at the bookstore. He’d heard that authors often put a lot of themselves in their books. Was that what had her worried? “Your heroine is a medium, right?”

“Not by choice. She hates her gift and never uses it publicly. It’s more like the ghosts come to her while she’s working at her little bakery and then she ends up helping them to solve their own murders.”

“Wouldn’t the ghost know who killed them?” This was new ground for him. His only ghost knowledge came from Paul, who seemed to be anything but a normal ghost.

“In my world they can’t remember their death. They only know they can’t move on and that there was something violent about how they died,” she said. “You have to make up the rules for your world. Readers will go on a ride with you, but if you fuck up the rules then they don’t believe anything.”

“Do you think Paul can’t remember and that’s why he’s—”

“I have no idea in the real world. That’s fiction. I do it that way so Eva has to dig around and find clues.”

Interesting . Did that mean her medium skills were even harder to believe? “Why did you start writing?”

“I always liked to read, and my mom suggested I take a creative writing course. I was working full-time at a bakery and took a night course. The teacher was really great and very encouraging…and after I wrote my first book, I got an agent and thought that I was going to be big.” She said the last part sardonically.

“And you are. Lots of readers wrote to ask for tickets when we were going to have you on the show,” he told her.

“That’s nice. But my first manuscript didn’t sell and my agent wanted me to write a bakery mystery instead…then we had a fight and I dumped her.”

“Is this the breakup you mentioned at Dead Boys?”

“Yup. I went home, put on Umbrella Academy because it’s one of my comfort watches and there was Ben aka Number 6.”

“Never seen it.”

“I love it. It’s about these kids with powers who were all born on the same day and a billionaire adopted them all, training them to be a team to save the planet.

Except their powers aren’t easy to control.

Anyway Ben is killed and the only one who can talk to him is Klaus. We can watch it together sometime.”

“I’d like that. So your idea was born from the show?

That’s so cool. I could never do anything like that,” he said, stopping while Chewie did his business.

The feeling of wanting to create something, to be something, seemed so much out of reach for him.

He and Paul had been working together to try to finish a project left undone by his dad.

Paul was doing the science bit and Jasper had been meant to finish writing some pages in a science fiction short story his dad had started.

He’d tried but the words just never really came to him and the pages he’d written felt clichéd and forced. Just another thing he hadn’t followed through on. With effort he shook that failure off.

Kirsty looked beautiful under the illumination of the streetlamp. There was something softer about her out here. Talking about her writing had relaxed her.

The dark lipstick she had on earlier had worn off. His eyes were drawn to her mouth, and then all he could think about was kissing her.

“What?”

“I want to kiss you.” There you go. He’d never had a filter.

“I…sure.”

“Sure?”

“Kiss me, Jasper.”

He didn’t give himself time to overthink it.

He leaned over and bent down. She went up on tiptoe, her hands on his shoulders, and their lips met.

Hers parted under his, a moment of surrender.

Fuck, she tasted better than he remembered.

Faintly of Coke and rum, but mostly something spicy and addicting.

It took all of his willpower to lightly touch her waist and not pull her fully into his arms. She was hesitant, he respected that.

They were working together, even he had his doubts if this was a good idea.

But he felt like he’d combust if he didn’t keep touching her.

Just his hand on her waist was enough…for this moment.

Her lips were swollen. “I’m trying to be smart here.”

That’s right. She was worried about her career. And getting caught fraternizing with the man she’s supposedly helping could make it all seem like a hoax. “Got it. I’m a dumb idea.”

“You’re an idea. Nothing dumb about you, Jasper.”

She nestled her head on his chest. He hugged her with one arm, listening to the steady sound of her breath. Chewie came back and nudged between their legs like he wanted to be part of the hug.

Was this the friend zone?

It felt like it. But somehow he felt better about where the two of them were now than he had earlier.

The more he got to know her, the more he liked her.

* * *

This night had been a ride. The first and probably last séance she’d ever conduct had weirded her out. That voice had been so deep and dark. A warning, and not one she wanted to ever hear again.

While kissing Jasper was a little salve for her battered soul. But one-night stands were for the road and book tours, not for people she had to work with, so a kiss was all she’d allow herself. Too bad that her body didn’t seem to get the message.

Her breath still felt heavy, her entire being still reaching for Jasper.

But her mind was too busy. Monkey mind, they called it.

The chaos of trying to figure out so many things.

Who was the voice? Was Paul still in the book or was he in danger?

Would she get her book written on time? Should she sleep with Jasper like every fiber of her being craved?

Right now that voice she’d heard during the séance was still at the edge of everything.