Page 30 of Ghost of a Chance

Losing Paul had been a blow. Then the haunting, slowly making him think he was losing touch with reality, until he was so angry that he couldn’t remember any of the good things about Paul.

“I have an idea how I might help Paul move on.”

Kirsty gave him a pointed look. “And what if it’s not him?”

For now he’d ignore that. “No idea.”

“What’s your idea?” she asked.

“Retrace the night he died. There might be something that I didn’t realize he was hanging around for. If it’s not Paul, then I have no other suggestions and I really don’t want to think some rando has been in my life.”

Sighing. “Yeah I’d be creeped out by that too. Talking worked last night…want to do it again?”

“Fine, let’s try that. Talk to the book.”

“We’re in public. He never acts up when we are out.”

“Except that day in your studio,” he pointed out.

“Yeah you’re right.”

“What was special about that day?” she asked him.

Not a clue.

“You were getting flustered. I was secondhand embarrassed for you and then…the lights exploded…like he was determined to make sure you were believed.”

That had been it. He’d wanted to melt into the floor and then boom. He was emotionally connected to the book. Made sense as he’d been dragging it around for five years. “So Paul, right?”

“Did anyone else from your frat die?” she asked.

“No. Just Paul,” he said. “When we get back to the house I’ll talk to him again.”

Whatever logic she was following via Sherlock Holmes didn’t work. That dude was super old and the book was ancient so it made sense that new logic needed to be applied. Paul was the ghost in the book. He was sure of it.

* * *

It was dark and stormy as they left the diner.

Jasper’s insistence that the book contained Paul’s spirit was proving difficult.

He kept thinking that they could retread old ground, that somehow they could magically free Paul out of will alone. But she knew that it couldn’t be. That voice from the séance must have been a warning.

While Jasper drove, she reflected on the open questions that still remained.

Why had the book returned to Jasper every time he got rid of it?

And why would the book fixate on Paul’s favorite TV show, Judge Judy ?

Whoever was trapped in the book would have to be someone who knew the pair of them well enough to mimic Paul’s behavior.

“Did you guys have another roommate or a close friend who hung with you all the time?”

“Just Victor. I didn’t date anyone seriously. No other roommates,” Jasper said. “See, you think it could still be Paul too.”

“It’s a possibility.”

“That doesn’t sound believable at all, you know that, right?”

“Neither does having a dead roommate trapped in a textbook,” she said succinctly.

“You’re right.”

She sensed a hint of resigned desperation in his voice.

This was more than she’d signed on for. She was pretty sure that her publisher would back her up if she asked to leave. They had enough for a segment, even if it wasn’t as explosive as they’d hoped.

But she wasn’t going to do that. She wasn’t going to walk away from this, from him. Not yet.

“Are you going to tell Dan and Gia?”

“Yes.”

“What if they…what do you think they’ll say?”

“That this entire situation has gotten crazier. But Dan will probably back you up. He’s loyal, and after that wild footage he’s as much a believer as the rest of us,” Kirsty said.

“Gia will do whatever you want. She’ll love that it could be someone else if it means we get more hijinks.”

He wasn’t wrong there. If it garnered publicity for her and her books, then Gia would back it. Plus her friend was genuinely invested. “We’ll figure it out. I’m not ruling out Paul yet. Even if I think you need to come to terms with the possibility it’s not.”

“Thanks for pretending.”

He pulled into the driveway and turned off the car. “Rationally, I know you’re right.”

“Then why are you fighting it.”

He turned to face her, his arm resting against the back of her seat. This close even in twilight she could see the flecks of silver in his blue eyes. The lines at the edges of his mouth, honed by a man prone to smiling. Despite being haunted, he was a pretty upbeat dude most of the time.

But not now. Now he watched her like he had almost no hope left.

Despite her exterior, she was naturally upbeat to an extent. She didn’t run around all sunshine and daisies but she believed that if she put her mind to anything, she could work it out.

“I’m afraid you’ll leave if it’s not Paul,” he said.

Part of her wanted to because this was hard. Being open to Jasper made her vulnerable. His happiness was on the line here, and he was placing his fate in her hands.

“I’m not going to leave until we figure this out,” she admitted. “I’m sticking around.”

“For the fame and the PR stunt of it all?” he asked.

It wasn’t just this new information that had him worried. She couldn’t blame him. She’d resisted him from the beginning, using her job as an excuse. They had no hold on each other beyond this ghost hunt.

Nothing else bound them together except for the tenuous strands of emotion knitting between them.

“Yes, and for you.”

Jasper’s lips thinned for a second and then he leaned forward to kiss her. Something moved inside of her. A sense of safety and comfort. That elusive emotion that she had only started to feel in his arms was back again.