Page 9 of Ghostlighted (Ghost Townies #2)

Chapter Six

O nce Sofia got past her initial protests, she was all in, nearly sparkling with excitement.

“Enrique, do you really think Felicia will agree to the trip? What if she were to miss her own graduation? I’m sure one of the cousins would be happy to go with me.”

“Be serious, Tia. If any of the cousins challenged her for the honor, she’d…

well, she wouldn’t do anything physical to them, nor threaten the trip for you, but she’d find a way to make them regret it once they got back.

Besides, her graduation isn’t until mid-June and you told me Harvard’s is May twenty-ninth.

You’ll both head to Cambridge a few days before the ceremony and return a day or two afterward, putting you home just in time for the party.

Which,” he said as she opened her mouth to argue, “Maz and I will arrange along with Papi and Mami, so you don’t have to worry about a thing. ”

She scooted forward in the chair and took my face between her smooth, dry palms. “Thank you, mijo.” She kissed my forehead. “I cannot tell you how much this means to me.”

“You’re very welcome.”

“Oh! I must tell Guillermo. He will be so excited.” She beckoned to Ricky. “Enrique. You have your phone. Could you call him, por favor?”

Ricky hesitated for a moment, but then dug his phone out of the back pocket of his Wranglers. “Sure, Tia.” He keyed in a number and held out the phone.

“No, no. Put on the speaker so we can all hear.”

We heard two rings and then the call connected. “Ricky. What do you want?”

Ricky slid a glance at me and I buried a snort at Liam’s peeved tone. Sofia didn’t clock it—either the glance or the tone—because she was beaming down at the screen.

“Oh, Guillermo. I have such wonderful news!”

“Sofia? I’ve told you, I go by Liam now.”

He calls her Sofia, not abuela or even grandmother?

What the hell? Ricky had told me Liam had changed his name from Guillermo to Liam and taken his stepfather’s name—Frost—in his quest to be less “ethnic.” But even if he couldn’t manage abuela, surely he could find some way to acknowledge the relationship.

“Yes, yes. Perdóneme, but I was so excited that I forgot.”

“What are you doing with Ricky’s phone, anyway? Does he know you lost your last two? He won’t thank you if you lose his as well.”

“Enrique is here with me. I asked him to make the call.”

“Afternoon, Liam.” Ricky’s voice was neutral, with no trace of its usual warmth. “So nice to hear your voice.”

“Ah. You’re on speaker.”

“We are.”

“Then be sure to get your phone back from Sofia. You know her record with cell phones.” He laughed, and a more condescending sound I’d never heard. “You don’t want yours to be her latest victim.”

“I’m touched by your concern, but maybe you should listen to Tia instead. She has news for you.”

“News?” Liam’s voice carried a hint of… something. Maybe suspicion? I couldn’t tell. It was always easier for me to figure out the nuances of people’s voices once I’d actually met them in person and seen how their words interacted with their body language.

“Yes, it is so wonderful. Wait until you hear.”

“Have you finally decided to sell the house, then?”

My eyebrows shot up. Sell the house? What?

But Sofia laughed, almost gaily. “Of course not. Why would I do that?”

“It’s a big place, Sofia. Maybe too big for you to handle on your own. Wouldn’t a smaller place be easier for you to manage now?”

“I have no trouble with my house. Not with Enrique and the rest of the family to help.”

“They have other obligations, Sofia. Their own lives. You can’t expect them to drop everything for you.”

“Oh.” Sofia glanced at her garden and then at me, clearly about to apologize for imposing on us, but Ricky stepped in.

“Don’t worry about us, Liam. We’re fine. Tia’s fine. The house is fine. Everything is fine. Now maybe listen to her instead of jumping to conclusions.”

“Listen, Ricky, you?—”

“Boys, boys. There is no need to fight. Guillermo, I am coming to see you!”

“It’s Lia— What?”

“I am coming for your graduation. To see you receive your diploma.”

Liam cleared his throat. “Now, Sofia. We’ve talked about this before. The travel would be too much for you. With your heart?—”

“My heart is doing much better. My new medicine takes care of it.”

“I’m glad to hear that. You’re sure? The last one seemed to work at first too, but it didn’t last.”

“It is fine.” Sofia was starting to sound uncertain.

“You should think about this seriously, Sofia. Between the ceremony itself, moving to new lodgings, and starting the internship, I won’t have a minute to spare.

You’ll be alone in a strange city. Why go to the trouble, stress, and expense of traveling all the way across the country just to sit in a hotel by yourself? ”

“I know you will be busy, and I do not expect you to babysit me. But you should have someone from your family there to see you graduate. You’ve worked so hard for this.”

“That’s true, but?—”

“It is so like you to worry about me, but you needn’t. I won’t be alone. Felicia will be with me.”

“Felicia?” Liam’s tone sharpened. “You’re paying Felicia’s airfare? Can you afford it? I know my tuition makes it tough for you, and I promise I’ll make it all up to you once I’m practicing law, but?—”

“I am not paying for anything. This is a gift from my wonderful neighbor.” She winked at me, chuckling. “Although I think it is more in honor of Enrique and the good care he took of the house for all these years.”

“Sofia.” I couldn’t mistake the rebuke in Liam’s tone. “You can’t impose on a stranger like that.”

Ricky looked as though the top of his head was about to blow off as the joy in Sofia’s face was replaced by uncertainty, and I’d had enough.

“Hey, Liam. I’m Maz Amani, your abuela’s new neighbor, and I can assure you it’s my pleasure and privilege to gift Sofia with the trip. She’s very proud of you, you know. Talks about you all the time.”

“I… see. Well, I appreciate you stepping in when the rest of the family couldn’t.”

“Look, Liam.” Yep, no doubt about it. Ricky was about to combust. “If you?—”

“I’m sure the rest of the family would have stepped up, no problem, but I got there first, and I insisted.

Sofia and Felicia will be arriving a few days before the ceremony so they can sightsee for a bit.

Do you think you might be able to carve out a little time to have lunch or dinner with them?

Despite how busy you’ll be, you’ll still need to eat. ”

Liam laughed, although it sounded forced. “Yes. Certainly. And I don’t mean to sound ungrateful.”

In a pig’s eye , as Ricky was fond of saying. “Of course not.”

“Sofia, I’ll speak with you later about this. In the meantime, I really must go. I have finals to prepare for.”

“Adios, Guillermo. I love you, mijo.”

“Goodbye.”

Ricky tucked his phone away. “I didn’t realize you’d lost your phone, Tia. I’ll pick up a new one for you this afternoon.”

She waved his words away and stood. “I am in no hurry. I may still find the others. They must be around here somewhere, or perhaps at the restaurant. I go to so few other places.”

I collected all the tea glasses and set them on the tray next to the pitcher. When I rose, Sofia immediately embraced me.

“Gracias, Maz. You have made Guillermo and me so very happy.” She winked at Ricky. “And I imagine Felicia will be happy, too. I must go inside to call her on the kitchen phone and let her know.” She motioned for Ricky to hand her the tray.

He shook his head. “I’ll take it inside for you.”

“Do not be silly. If you get the door for me, I can manage for myself. I am sure you boys have many other things to do today.” She kissed his cheek and then mine. “Gracias for planting my garden.”

Ricky relented, handed her the tray, and made sure to, er, yank the door after she went inside.

“So.” I tucked my thumbs through my belt loops as we left Sofia’s porch and ambled toward my house. “Was it my imagination, or did ol’ Liam seem less than enthused? You’d think he’d be happy that someone from his family would be there to see him graduate.”

Ricky snorted. “I expect he doesn’t want his fancy Ivy League friends to know about his less than fancy—and less white—family. He’s spent most of his life pretending we don’t exist.”

“Except when he’s taking Sofia’s money. What’s the deal with her cell phones?” I knew she’d had one when we first met. She’d used it to call Ricky to clear sawdust out of my door locks.

“She’s misplaced a couple. She doesn’t walk around with them glued to her hand like Felicia does, or always in a pocket or purse.

She’s right in that she doesn’t go to many places anymore.

She’s still got her driver’s license, and she’s got a car.

A 2012 Corolla that belonged to my uncle Ramon, her second husband.

But she doesn’t drive it. Hasn’t for years. ”

I took a left to walk between the houses and Ricky followed me around to my front yard. “Does it still run?”

He nodded as we mounted the porch steps. “I make sure of it. She lets Felicia use it, too, but most of the time it sits in her garage.”

I squinted at Sofia’s house. “She has a garage?”

“It’s detached. The drive opens onto Birch Street.” He pointed toward the road that dead-ended at the Manor grounds, perpendicular to my street, Iris Lane. “Did you notice the building beyond the garden?”

“Um… Not really?” I’d been paying more attention to Ricky’s butt as he’d bent over the plants.

From the quirk of his eyebrow and the tilt of his lips, I figured he was onto me.

“I hope you’re not going to bust my chops about that, too.

Everybody’s on my case today. If it’s not Taryn and you about my car, it’s Avi about my clothes and my stuff. ”

“Stuff? What stuff?”

“A bunch of boxes that are still tucked in the back of my ex’s closet.” I frowned as we mounted the front porch steps, picturing the stack of battered cardboard. “Although now that I think of it, he made me shift everything up to the attic when I moved out.”

Ricky’s eyes narrowed. “You still have things at your old boyfriend’s house?”

“Yeah. Not a lot, but the boxes were bulky and wouldn’t fit in the Civic when Gil and I first drove down here.”

“That is not acceptable.”

I paused with my hand on the doorknob. “Is this about the car again? Because I doubt the Civic would make the two round trips necessary to haul everything back here.”

“No.” His grin held an unfamiliar edge, and it sent a zing from my nape to my heel. “ This is your home now, and you should have all your treasures around you.”

“You sound like Avi. And I’m not sure most of my stuff would count as treasures.”

The edge sharpened. “Also, you should have no more reasons to speak to that cabrón ever again. Lucky for you”—he gestured to the curb—“you have a friend with a pickup. It’s barely noon and only a three-hour drive to Portland. Let’s go.”

“Uh. Wow. Okay. Thanks.” I wiped my hands on my jeans, which only succeeded in transferring residual garden dirt to my palms. To be done with Greg for good?

Yes, please. However… “Could we postpone the trip until tomorrow?” I needed time to gird my mental loins for the confrontation—and probably should give Greg a heads-up that I’d be showing up at his door.

“Tomorrow, then.” He backed up until he was at the top of the steps. “I’ll pick you up at eight.”

Before I could do anything more than nod, he was off the porch and across the lawn.