Page 23 of Ghost of a Chance

Buck didn’t deserve to have any influence on her life. She’d been so meaningless to him that letting him have this kind of power pissed her off. What was wrong with her that she couldn’t shove that jackass out of her mind?

“Up here. Want a hand? It’s a bit muddy from all the rain,” Jasper said.

Jasper wasn’t anything like Buck. There were his big silver-blue eyes that watched her with a mixture of desire, and sometimes fear.

He wore his emotions like The Red Badge of Courage and she wanted to meet him halfway.

But hers were buried deep inside, more like Treasure Island if she was comparing childhood classics.

Good luck finding a map that would allow her to finally trust again.

She took his hand; he squeezed her fingers real quick and her heart melted. This man was too soft for her. She was hard in ways that Jasper with his sweet mom, his tender memories of his dad, and his well-paying job wouldn’t understand.

He hadn’t been rejected time and again the way she had. He hadn’t grown up worrying about having enough food to eat or about what would happen if her mom didn’t come home from her overnight job.

He’d always had security. Something Kirsty definitely envied. She was good, she reminded herself. She was no longer that dumb girl who thought a man like Buck would change her life. Now here she was with this man, a slow burn flaring between them, and she was hesitating.

“This is it,” he said. They were on a higher point of the trail near an outcropping overlooking the lake.

She shifted around making sure the poncho was under her butt so she didn’t get cold from the wet ground. “Hope this isn’t too bad,” Jasper noted.

It was the opposite of bad. She sat next to Jasper, ignoring the past and some of the present. It was about enjoying this moment with her tepid coffee, delicious empty calorie treat, and Jasper next to her. Talking quietly about the beach and how he’d always loved the water.

The slow burn kept her warm and safe. Odd that she should feel safer sitting in the rain overlooking Lake Champlain with Jasper by her side than she ever had with any other man.

Or maybe it wasn’t odd at all.

* * *

When they got back to the house, Kirsty claimed she had an idea for a scene, racing up to her room to write it. Chewie playfully growled at him. “Sorry, buddy.”

Normally he had a dog walker who took care of Chewie when he was working. Having Chewie on-site was fun, but unlike Jasper, he was not shy about demanding attention. “Walk?”

Chewie forgave him quickly, trotting to the bench by the front door where Jasper had left the leash. Still wearing his bright poncho, he took the dog out. Gia popped out of the kitchen and offered to join him so they could talk.

“What’s up?” he asked as they started down the street, the neighborhood alight with autumnal color.

“Uh, Bri and the publisher want to see a preview of the film we have so far. Dan doesn’t have anything he thinks is usable other than B-roll. Which we both know isn’t great. I don’t want to put extra pressure on Kirsty.”

But it was okay to pressure him?

“We still have other places to film and experiment with, so why not stall them for now.”

“Good idea. Kirsty’s great at telling a story, even on camera.

I’ll ask her to share what she observed at the apartment and play up anything that could be read as psychic.

I think it would be best if you interview her,” Gia said, looking the most stressed he’d ever seen her.

“I was afraid we were going to have to pull the plug. This is great.”

“It definitely is.”

“I just spent a very tense hour convincing my boss that the money was worth it. Will Bri air this, you think?”

Jasper shrugged. Gia’s face fell. “Probably. I mean there are no guarantees as you know. But I think as long as we keep having things like the candles blowing with no wind…probably.”

What he didn’t mention was that, if Kirsty came across as a fraud, that would still be a story. Just not a good one.

“I think we’ve got maybe another four or five days to produce something for them to convince them it will work,” she said.

“I’ll talk to Dan and we’ll get something together to send to Bri. Though we haven’t captured a poltergeist we have some compelling footage. Also no one expected that Kirsty was going to get rid of Paul in a few days.”

“Phew. That’s what I was hoping for. Do you have any ideas for some dramatic shots we could get that don’t involve the ghost?”

Jasper shoved his hand through his hair and tugged Chewie back onto the path. “I bet Kirsty will have a few. Let’s talk to her.”

“She’s under a lot of pressure. She’s writing one book, promoting another, and this gift of hers isn’t comfortable or reliable. She’s always felt spooky things in places, even if she says otherwise. I’m worried about her.”

“Of course,” he said. Between him and Dan they could probably fake something with their combined knowledge of film techniques. But he didn’t want to do that. Bri would be pissed if they did. And none of it would solve the problem of his good old ghost Paul.

“I don’t think we can fake anything.”

Gia nodded. “Of course. I hope you don’t think I was suggesting that.”

But she totally had been. Granted, her job was on the line too.

At this moment he really didn’t like Paul. Even in the afterlife, Paul could be a dick. He was putting everyone’s jobs at risk now in this impossible position.

They were back at the house; his eyes drew up the battered old Victorian, and he thought he saw a curtain move in Kirsty’s room. Was she done writing? He hoped so.

Their afternoon together had been so nice, and right now he wanted to be with her. When they were together he wasn’t worried about Paul, or the fact that he might spend the rest of his life with Judge Judy blaring on at a moment’s notice.

Dan was waiting for them when they walked into the hall. “Glad you are both back. I think I have something on one of the cameras.”

“Let me get Kirsty. It’s not Chewie again?”

“I don’t think so as he’s sitting in front of the fireplace when the fire comes on by itself.”

“What? How is that possible? That’s a traditional one with logs?” Jasper asked.

“Ghosts, right? We’ll have to get Kirsty.”

He followed Dan to the part of the kitchen table where his laptop and external monitor were set up to edit the film so far. A freeze frame on the monitor showed Chewie laying on the floor near the quiet fireplace.

Kirsty and Gia joined them, and Dan hit play. They all watched as a spark appeared and then small flames blazed in the fireplace.

All of them leaned in closer trying to see what had started the fire. This wasn’t anything at all like what Jasper had experienced up to this point. “When is this from?”

“When we were at the apartment with the book,” Dan said.

“Is this house haunted?” Jasper asked, looking over at Kirsty. “Paul’s never done anything like this before.”

“Is it?” she asked Gia.

“I mean maybe. Who knows for sure if they’re telling the truth when people put that in their Airbnb description.”

“Gia!”

“What? I thought it would be helpful. Give Paul someone else to talk to,” Gia said.

“It’s not helpful,” Kirsty said through clenched teeth. “Now we potentially have two ghosts on our hands, and we don’t know a damn thing about either of them.”