Page 22 of The Accidental Ghost

How could she have all these stupid feelings if she was dead? Why weren’t her nerve endings as dead as the rest of her? And why would this happen now, after five years of a nearly flatlined love life?

After she and her fiancé Will amicably parted ways, and then her mother’s passing, her interest in dating had gone belly up.

So now that she was a corpse, she suddenly wanted to hit the dating world and join Tinder? What was happening to her?

“I can’t even imagine how weird this is for you,” he sympathized. “But I’m committed to figuring out how to get you where you need to be.”

Nina came up behind Shamus, sitting on her haunches as well, her face eerily pale in the moonlight, shining and oddly sympathetic. “Hey, Glow Stick. You okay?”

Ralph put on her best smile—the one she often used for her former students when she had to make them believe everything was fine when she really had her period and godawful cramps. “I’m okay. I’m just…reminiscing, I guess. I won’t take long, promise.”

Nina’s eyes scanned the landscape of the store, and she smiled. “You really fucking did this right, didn’t you? It’s a pretty cool place, Ralph, even torn up. Well done.”

She smiled back, but her joy at seeing the store was muted by her death. Still, she’d put her heart and soul into it. “It really kinda is, isn’t it? I wanted this so bad.” She sighed longingly. “I even took early retirement for it.”

“Carl would love this place. He digs a book—all kinds of books. When we get back to the castle, I’ll introduce you. He’ll love the shit outta you.”

Ralph had seen Nina with Carl. She was gentle and sweet as a mother, and her children obviously adored her. “Your son, right? The pale-green boy?”

Nina nodded with a fond smile. “I’m not really his mother, but I love him like he’s my own.”

Ralph smiled at her, even in her sorrow, marveling at how gorgeous the woman was. “It shows, Nina. You’re a terrific mother.”

“Quit reminding me that you were creepy stalking me, weirdo,” Nina said, but she laughed when she said it.

“I didn’t mean to. I swear. I didn’t know I could leave the castle. Correction, I was afraid to leave the castle. Terrified, actually. How did I know if there wasn’t a big vortex out there, just waiting to sweep me into its black maw?”

Nina scratched her head. “I never fucking thought about that. But look, some crazy shit’s happened since I became a paranormal. Who knew dragons really GD existed? So I guess there could have been a vortex.”

“Dragons?” There were dragons? Like GoT dragons? Or Puff the Magic dragons? There was a distinct difference.

Don’t panic, Chicken Little. Think about how cool that could be…

Shamus rose and stood tall, nudging Nina. “Maybe we shouldn’t muddy the paranormal waters right this minute?”

Nina popped her lips. “Fine. No fucking dragons. Sorry if I muddied your waters,” she said sarcastically.

“Anyway, because I’m the biggest chicken you’ll ever meet, I hung around. I apparently no longer sleep. I couldn’t pick anything up.” She shrugged. “There wasn’t much to do but watch you guys and wonder what happened to me.”

“So you really don’t remember shit about the night you were whacked? Nothing?”

Ralph slid out of the chair and rose to float to the spot where her body had been reduced to a chalk outline and shook her head. “I don’t remember anything. I only remember waking up in your castle from what felt like complete darkness.”

“The transition,” Shamus murmured, coming to stand beside her.

“The what?” Nina asked, echoing her thoughts.

“The state of darkness. Many entities tell me they’ve experienced it. It’s when your soul leaves your physical body and finds its new path in the afterlife.”

“And my path was to roam around in a castle forever? Go figure.”

Shamus shook his head. “I don’t believe that. I think trauma is keeping you here. Whatever happened the night you died traumatized you.”

Nina knocked Shamus’s shoulder with a light fist. “Duh, she’s traumatized, Serpico. She was shot. You know anyone who was murdered that’s not traumatized?”

Shamus chuckled. “That’s fair. Still, that isn’t necessarily what’s keeping Ralph here…”

“I hear a but in there,” Ralph said. She looked down at her chalk outline, disgusted. Someone had taken liberties with the outline of her hips, thank you very much. They weren’t nearly that full.

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