Page 21 of The Accidental Ghost

“I’m okay, Nina,” she said. “Just taking a minute to…” Ralph stalled, swallowing hard.

To what? Wallow in self-pity? Feel sorry for herself for being murdered?

Shamus sat on his haunches in front of her. “Anything I can do?”

She shook her head, letting it fall to the back of the chair as she braided, unbraided, and re-braided a chunk of her hair. “Seeing Hazel was hard, that’s all. Saying goodbye is hard. Is it okay if I take a minute to just…absorb?”

“Of course it is,” Shamus said with a warm smile.

Ralph stared off into the distance over Shamus’s broad shoulder. “Hazel was like my sister. We’ve been friends for over thirty years…since college. We were both so idealistic. Ready to change the world, you know?” she squeaked, her throat so tight it felt like someone had wrapped a boa constrictor around her neck.

“It was clear she really loved you, too. She seemed determined to find out what the police know about your case.”

Ralph looked down at her fingers, twisting them together, rearranging her rings. “We’re polar opposites. She’s as feisty as I am meek. She helped me learn to love a good adventure. She made me step outside my comfort zone and really taste life.”

“But look at this mess. It looks like you put up a fight, Ralph. You’re not as meek as you think.”

Her smile was wry. “If that’s true, it’s because of Hazel. We took self-defense classes together a few years ago.”

“Hazel sounds like a good friend.”

Her nod was slow. “She was the best. She’s the one who helped me through my breakup with my fiancé, and harder still, my mom’s death. I mean, through her Alzheimer’s. I don’t know what I would have done if she didn’t help me find a safe place to keep my mother in her last months. Hazel’s a social worker, and when Mom became too difficult to manage on my own, she called in all her contacts to get her into a great facility. If it hadn’t been for her, my mother’s social security and retirement wouldn’t have been nearly enough to pay for something like that. I would have had to use my life savings. But somehow, she did it…”

Shamus’s lips went thin as he tucked his thumbs under his arms. “My nana Ramona died of Alzheimer’s, too. My mother and father took care of her. It’s a damn shitty disease.”

“Your nana was mortal?”

“Yep. I’m only half-elf, remember. My father’s human.”

“Did you…did she…?”

“Contact me after she passed?” he asked with a fond smile. “No. But I wish she had. It would have been nice to talk to her just once more…to know if she remembered who I am.”

“Boy, do I ever get that. Though, just a couple of days before Mom passed, we had an amazing afternoon where she was totally lucid.” Ralph swallowed at the memory. “It was a gift—one I’ll always treasure.” One she wanted to keep tucked close to her heart, so the resentment over how her mother had smothered her until she almost couldn’t breathe wouldn’t swallow her whole.

“So you were close?”

“We were. Maybe too close,” she said on an ironic laugh. “My mother was what everyone these days calls a helicopter mom. She tried to be everything all the time. She sheltered me, watched me like a hawk.” Ralph shrugged. “I almost get it. She was a single mom, it was just us, but she forgot to let me breathe in the process.”

“Overprotective?”

“To the point of creating a total wimp who didn’t trust anyone, ever. But Hazel taught me to take chances, as small as they were. Like this store. This was my biggest chance—a huge risk. I sank everything I had into it, but I’m glad I did…however brief my time was to enjoy it.”

Shamus looked around, spreading his arms. “And it’s amazing, Ralph. Look at all you did.”

She gave him a sheepish glance before she looked around the space. Even in a mess, it still made her smile. “I guess there’s no chance I might get to reincarnate or become a werewolf or something, so I could enjoy it for a little longer?”

He looked hesitant, probably due to the fact that she’d spilled her guts and told him she was weak, and now he was afraid to hurt her baby feelings.

Ralph rolled her eyes. “Tell me the truth, Shamus. I’m not that fragile.”

“It’s unlikely, but you never know…”

Ralph closed her eyes and shook her head. “This is all so confusing. Mortal, immortal, paranormal, fairy dust. Ghosts, werewolves, demons, pointy ears. It’s a lot.”

Shamus gripped her fingers, sending that zing of excitement through her that she’d felt when he’d held her hand earlier.

Come on.

---