Page 22 of Chasing Your Ghost

Riley threw her head back and laughed, startling herself with how carefree the sound was. Spending her morning with Noah and Hugh had put her in a surprisingly good mood—a dangerously good mood. A mood that only improved when Edith got home and she, with Hugh in tow, interrupted the ridiculously dumb comedy Riley and Noah were watching later to tell them Olivia had already made plans with one of her friends so she wouldn’t be joining them.

Maybe it was harsh, but Riley knew her half-sister would have made the trip less enjoyable.

“Maybe we should go tomorrow instead,” Hugh suggested.

“Don’t be silly,” Edith argued with a wave of her hand. “Olivia wouldn’t want to come anyway.”

“Olivia loves D.C.,” Hugh reminded his wife, but she was already heading to the staircase and didn’t reply to his comment as she walked up the steps.

Noah cleared his throat. “I think what Edith means is Olivia’s being a bit difficult at the moment and will probably be miserable the whole time.”

Riley shrugged and looked at her stepfather. “If it’s okay with you, I’d still like to go today.”

Hugh seemed to debate with himself before giving in with a nod. “Alright. If you guys don’t mind pausing the movie, we can head out in a few minutes and grab some lunch while we’re there.”

“Please, yes,” Noah begged, already getting off the couch. “This is possibly the worst movie ever made. I don’t think I can watch another second of it.”

Riley nodded in agreement. “Adam Sandler has some good movies, but this is not one of them.”

“Then why on earth were you still watching it?” Hugh asked.

Riley and Noah shared a look and shrugged simultaneously. “Because finding something else would have taken way too long,” she explained.

“I will never understand teenagers,” Hugh muttered.

Once they were all ready to leave and were walking out to the car, Edith explained that since the nearest metro station was a twenty-minute drive away— something Riley thought was obscene given her and her dad’s apartment had been a two-minute walk from the nearest subway station— they’d be driving into D.C. instead.

So, within thirty minutes, Riley had her face pressed against the car window as they passed the Lincoln Memorial, and seconds later, she was peering up at the Washington Monument ahead of them.

Hugh found a public parking garage nearby, and Riley was out of the car in a flash. Hugh and Edith fell behind, but Noah good-naturedly kept up with Riley. She practically jogged to the National Mall and followed the Reflection Pool toward the white Greco-Roman building that held a statue of Lincoln. While they waited for Hugh and Edith to catch up, Noah took goofy selfies of himself and Riley in front of the impressive building with all its columns.

It was after Noah had taken the twentieth or perhaps hundredth photo when Riley felt that tell-tale prickle at the back of her neck. She searched for its source among the crowd, finding it at the base of the white steps leading up to the building. Riley met the gaze of a woman only a few years older than herself, and her excitement instantly died.

Unfortunately, Edith and Hugh chose that moment to arrive. Riley told them and Noah she was going to find a bathroom, urging them to go inside without her.

“I’ll come with you,” her egg donor said.

“No,” Riley replied, probably with far more force than was required. “No,” she repeated in a more normal tone. “Stay with Hugh and Noah. I’ll be back in a minute.”

Edith was looking at her with suspicion, and Noah was frowning at her like she had a few screws loose, but Riley couldn’t care less. She had a job to do.

So, once they’d done as she’d asked and gone inside the memorial, she discreetly gestured for the ghost to follow her. The woman blinked in confusion, forcing Riley to repeat the movement before heading around the back of the memorial, where she found some cover in the form of a cluster of trees.

“You can see me?” the woman asked.

Riley nodded.

The woman looked down at her gray-tinged form. “I’m dead, aren’t I?” she asked in a broken whisper.

“Yes,” Riley replied, her own voice fragile despite the fact that she’d done this countless times.

“It was a car accident,” the ghost explained.

“I’m so sorry.”

The woman looked to the side toward the noise of tourists and day visitors. She looked more thoughtful than sad. “Do you think I’ll get to see my mom? She died five years ago.”

“Yes,” Riley replied. “I think you will.”

---