Page 67 of The Accidental Ghost

Gripping Wanda and Marty’s hands, she pulled them into her, wrapping her arms around their shivering shoulders and pulling them close.

“Thank you! Thank you for coming to get me, for helping me these last several days. I don’t know what I would have done without you.” She kissed them both on the cheek with zeal.

“Heeeey, don’t forget me,” Darnell teased, scooping them all up in a big bear hug, mashing them into one soggy ball of limbs and happiness.

And she felt every squeeze of it, every breath on her cheek, every callus on Darnell’s hand.

She hugged Dex and George, too, thanking them before they went to gather the demons and hurl them back into the portal.

Then she saw Shamus, standing on the fringe of the group, and she disentangled herself from their embraces and shook her finger at him.

“And you,” she said softly as she approached him. “C’mere, you.” Without thought, without fear, she stood on tiptoe, bracketed his dripping-wet face and laid one on him, long and sweet.

When they pulled apart, he looked down at her and smiled. “Whatever Titus did, you definitely don’t taste like demon tail.”

She giggled, nuzzling his cheek. “You made a tsunami for me…”

He grinned that handsome, if not soggy grin. “Just for you. I had to do something. I’m pretty strong, but I’m not OOPS-ladies strong.”

“It was amazing. Thank you,” she whispered against his lips.

Over Shamus’s shoulder, she caught sight of Michael, lying on the ground amongst the broken demons and puddles of water.

“Michael,” she whispered.

“Don’t you worry about a thing, little lady. Titus has got you covered. I’ll ship his rooty-tooty-fresh-and-fruity ass off to Hell and he’ll never trouble you again.”

She looked up at the big man, placing her hand on his robed arm. “Wait, may I ask you a favor?”

He booped her nose with the tip of his finger and a smile. “You can ask me any little ol’ thing you like, lovely lady. I’m all yours.”

“Please don’t take him to Hell.”

“Whaaat?” he said, the surprise in his voice clear. “Listen, Vanilla Wafer, he murdered you. The big guys don’t like that. Murder’s kinda a surefire way to get sent to the bad place.”

She sighed, pushing her wet hair from her face. “He did murder me, but may I explain something to you?”

Titus held out an enormous arm to her with a smile that filled her soul. “Walk with me.”

As they walked away from everyone, Ralph told him about Michael’s life, about how she’d once tried to help him, but his sheer terror and fear of his stepfather had kept him from telling her about the abuse. How his life had been a series of bad choices and drug abuse, and about the night he’d killed her.

When she was done, his look was one of sympathy. “That big heart a yours is a thing of beauty. Even I’m not so forgiving. I’ll tell you what, I won’t haul his sorry ass off to Hell…but he’s not gonna be like the other angels. You understand? He did a bad thing. He can’t just skate into Heaven without repentance.”

She patted his arm. “I understand completely. But if you’ll just give him toilet duty or cleaning floors with a toothbrush or something, he has an eternity to make it up to the Big Guy.”

“He’ll be under lock and key for eternity with only occasional trips to the recess area. You understand that, right?”

“You have a recess area?” She shook her head with a smile. “Doesn’t matter. It has to be a whole lot cooler there than in Hell.” Ralph stood on tiptoe and gave him a kiss on his cheek. “Thank you, Titus. I’ll always be grateful.”

“Bring it in,” he ordered, giving her the best hug she’d had in a long time. “Now, go live your life with your beau and your new friends. I’ll see ya around.” Then he turned to saunter over to Michael, picking him up with his index finger and thumb, glaring into his terrified eyes as he held him up. “C’mon, you rapscallion. Your gilded cage awaits.”

As Titus wandered off into the light, Shamus grabbed her hand with a handsome smile. “You ready?”

“For?” she asked, as they followed George and Dex and the others out of the light.

“For a cheeseburger? Demon fighting and tsunamis make for hungry work.”

She laughed, feeling lighter than she had in days. “You buyin’? Cause I have a feeling my debit card no longer works.” Then she stopped dead in her tracks. “Hold on, if I can stay here on this plane, how am I going to go back to my old life? Everyone thinks I’m dead.”

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