Page 16 of Ghostlighted (Ghost Townies #2)

Chapter Twelve

W hile I waited on the scarlet rug bordered with a spiky geometric pattern in deep blue and green in the entry, Avi stood frozen in the doorway, eyes wide and lips slightly parted.

I cleared my throat. “Want to step inside?”

He startled. “Oh. Sorry. It’s just… I remember now.” He glanced at my hand holding the edge of the door. “You could probably just close that through me, you know.”

“Maybe. But that seems rude.”

He stepped out of the way and drifted toward the living room. Once he’d cleared the door, I shut it and made sure it was fully latched and that the deadbolt was thrown. Ricky had told me about the timer, and I didn’t want to screw up the schedule, so I didn’t switch off the porch light.

When I joined Avi, he was standing in the middle of the living room, his eyes closed, his chest rising and falling in a slow, deliberate rhythm. “Her house always smelled so good,” he murmured. “She loved to cook for family and friends.”

“Loves,” I said.

He opened his eyes, brow furrowed. “What?”

“She loves to cook for family and friends,” I said through gritted teeth.

Avi grimaced. “Yes. Sorry.”

“And the house still smells amazing.”

“Maz. Please.” He lifted a hand toward me, but stopped, his fingers curling as though he’d just remembered that he couldn’t actually touch me.

“I didn’t mean to upset you. And I certainly didn’t mean to imply that Sofia won’t be perfectly fine.

But understand, from my perspective, this house, her cooking, the times Oren and I sat around her table—all of that is in the past.” He glanced away. “Just like me.”

I told the storm around my heart to settle down. Sofia would be fine , and I could scarcely blame Avi for seeing things through a decade-old lens.

“Um… Can you smell anything now?”

He shook his head. “No more than I can at our house, which is to say, not at all.” He turned to me, hope flickering in his expression. “Could we… That is, I know you’re only here to lock up, but would you mind if we walked around a little in here?”

“Weeelll.” I shifted from foot to foot, clenching the keys in my fist. “I don’t want to creep around in here like a, well, creeper. Or snoop like?—”

“A snooper?” he said with a half-smile. “I don’t want to snoop .

I just want to discover the memories . If you recall, I couldn’t even remember what should have been in my own house until I saw it.

If I can…” He made a helpless gesture. “I don’t know how to explain it.

It’s not exactly priming the pump. I mean, I can look at that picture—” He pointed to yet another framed photo of Liam that hung right next to an icon of the Virgin Mary and squinted.

“Hunh. When did Liam start dying his hair?”

“I don’t kn?—”

“Never mind. But see, that’s what I’m talking about.

Until I saw that, I didn’t remember that Liam used to have hair as black as Ricky’s.

But that photo… It’s like it filled in a blank spot on my mental gallery wall, and now I remember what Liam looked like when he was a surly nineteen-year-old, the last time he visited Sofia before I, well, wasn’t around to see him anymore. ”

“That may have been the last time he was here. Ricky told me he doesn’t visit much, especially after he started college.”

Avi snorted. “I’m shocked he managed to find a college he deemed worthy of his valuable matriculation.”

“Harvard,” I said, deadpan.

“Eh.” Avi waved a dismissive hand. “If you can’t manage Oxford, I suppose it’s adequate .”

“Says the guy who went to the University of Oregon.”

He didn’t rise to the bait. “Actually, it was my first choice. I landed my agent with a story I wrote in my junior year and paid off all my student loans with the royalties from the first Harcourt and Corchran book.”

“Hey.” I held up my hands. “I’ve never graduated from anywhere, so all respect, man.”

He tilted his head, the lift of his eyebrows like a question mark. “Never? I’m surprised, considering how advanced your writing skills are.”

I shrugged. “I left U Conn when my parents were killed. I tried to get back into student mode a couple of times—PSU was the last attempt, which is how I ended up in Portland. My folks didn’t leave me much money, though, and student loans are the worst, so my academic career just kind of”—I made a rolling motion with one hand—“folded. Inertia. What can I say?”

“You don’t need to justify yourself to me, Maz. I was just surprised, that’s all.” He turned toward the kitchen, his expression wistful. “Could we go in there next?”

“Let’s leave that for last, since that’s the best route to the back door and we’ll have to lock up. Come on.” I jerked my thumb toward the stairs. “I don’t remember leaving lights on upstairs, but I wasn’t actually firing on all synapses at the time, so I need to retrace my steps.”

In case Ricky tried to contact me, I kept my phone in my hand as we meandered at Avi-discovery pace through Sofia’s house.

We didn’t spend much time upstairs, although he did snort and mutter, “Typical,” when he peeked into Liam’s man-suite.

Downstairs, while he was fascinated by Sofia’s meticulously organized crafting room, it was the kitchen where he lingered the longest. I gave up trying to read the expressions on his face, because he was clearly going through some things.

Hanging more memories in his mental gallery walls.

I didn’t rush him, just leaned against the counter and stared at my phone, but I wasn’t able to conjure up a message from Ricky with the power of my glare.

“All right,” Avi said softly. “We can go now.”

We walked onto the back porch, its light illuminating the yard enough that I could make out the crushed tomato plants and the hollow in the soil where Sofia had lain.

It took me three tries to get the door to latch because my hand slipped off the doorknob twice.

When I caught up with Avi, he was standing on the lawn, halfway down the slope between the house and the garden, gazing up at the night sky.

“I can see stars from the attic windows, but it looks different from out here.”

I looked up, spotting Ursa Major right away. Ghost didn’t have the kind of light pollution that Portland or even McMinnville or Hillsboro did, and since the moon wasn’t up, the sky was pretty glorious. “Yeah. It does.”

We walked slowly toward our house, but when I started up the back porch steps, Avi didn’t follow me. I turned to look down at him. His shoulders were hunched under his shapeless cardigan and his hands were shoved deep in its front pockets.

“You okay?”

“Do you mind…” He swallowed. “That is, I’d like to stay out here for a while longer, if that’s okay.”

I stepped back onto the grass. “Avi. We started out as involuntary housemates, but I like to think we’re finding our way to mutually agreeable cohabitation.

That doesn’t mean we don’t need our own space now and then.

Take all the time you want.” I smiled and tried not to let my gaze drift to Sofia’s garden. “I won’t even give you a curfew.”

He laughed softly. “I appreciate it.”

I turned and mounted the steps, but when my hand was on the doorknob, I heard him murmur, “Thank you. For everything.”

I pretended I didn’t hear and stepped inside, closing the door softly behind me. “I’m pretty sure I’m the one who should be thanking you for everything.”

If it wasn’t for Avi and Uncle Oren—okay, third cousin Oren, and I still had some feelings about him not contacting me during his lifetime, considering he’d put me in his freaking will —I wouldn’t have this house.

I wouldn’t have a home . I wouldn’t have enough disposable income to send my neighbor on the trip of her dreams. I wouldn’t have a fascinating job or raft of new friends or a potential boyfriend.

A potential boyfriend who still hadn’t?—

My cell phone vibrated, and I inhaled slowly when I checked the screen because it was a text from Ricky at last. Although it hadn’t been much more than an hour since the ambulance pulled away. Maybe I should cut potential boyfriend a little slack.

R: Tia in with doctor now. Waiting with family so can’t call.

M: Will she be okay?

R: They’re keeping her overnight at least, but they think so. I’ll call tomorrow.

M: Okay. If they let you see her, give her my love.

R: Will do.

I sighed, briefly considering making myself a cup of tea, but couldn’t rustle up the effort. I wandered through the kitchen and family room. When I got to the vestibule, Avi suddenly popped into view next to me.

I staggered back a step, grabbing the newel post to regain my balance. “I thought you wanted to stay outside.”

He looked down at himself and then over his shoulder at the front door. “I did. I was. And then I was here.”

“Maybe you ran out of ghost juice or something? The longest I’ve ever seen you manifest is about an hour, but that’s only within my sightlines. Can you hang around for longer than that?”

He scowled at me. “I don’t exactly set a timer on myself.”

I sighed. “Look, Avi. I get that it hasn’t been a great day for either of us, but I’m trying to help, all right?”

He clenched his eyes shut and rubbed one hand across his forehead. “Sorry. I know. But it’s so frustrating . I don’t know anything about my… my condition , and I don’t even know what I don’t know.”

I heard a muffled meow from behind me and turned to find Gil prancing down the stairs with one of my tube socks in his mouth. He dropped it at my feet and looked up, expecting his due of praise. I complied.

“Yes.” I knelt down and skritched his ears and under his chin. “You are the mightiest hunter in all the land.”

Avi hunkered down next to me and because he never missed a chance with one of the only things he could touch, he stroked along Gil’s back, lifting the fur there as usual. “Has he ever actually caught something?”

“Oh, trust me. He’s got moves. The only reason Greg didn’t have a mouse problem at his condo is because Gil caught them and I disposed of them before Greg got home from work.

” In fact, I suspected he’d discovered a “problem” since then—I’d spotted the fancy electronic mousetraps in the corners of the great room and bedroom when Ricky and I had been there to pick up my stuff.

“When Taryn first contacted me and told me I’d inherited a house, I was afraid we’d arrive at some rat-infested hovel.

So if you’re responsible for rodent control as well as dust control, thank you for that. ”

“You’re welcome.” Avi might have used the absent dust to dry out his tone. “I’d be more impressed with myself if I knew how I did it.”

“I think Gil was disappointed in their absence, but if we don’t let on you’re the culprit, I suspect he’ll forgive you.

” I picked up the sock. “Although it hurts his pride that he’s reduced to capturing my laundry.

Oh, and this.” I dug Oren’s ring out of my pocket.

“I think he probably knocked that bowl where you keep it off its shelf. He was batting this around when Ricky and I got in. Sorry. I’ll put it?—”

“No!” Avi clutched at my wrist, his hand passing through my arm and leaving the ache of remembered cold behind it. “Wait.”

I fought the urge to shove my hand in my pocket to warm it up. “Okay. What’s up?”

“This is it, Maz. This is what we’ve been looking for.” He lifted his gaze to my face, his eyes shining. “This is the answer.”