Page 24 of Baking With A Ghost

I know he's calling his insurance and the cops, because he'll want to try to make me suffer for it. I have insurance of my own so it doesn't matter. Let him panic over his precious car. I head to my small desk in the kitchen anyway, and open the drawer to have my policy ready.

My smile couldn't stretch any bigger at what I find left on my kitchen island. In the spilled sugar, a note from Simon, "I got you."

"I know you made that branch drop, Simon. I shouldn't condone it, but that was awesome. Thank you."

When I return to the front and see the lights of the police cruiser, my smile actually does stretch wider.

John

It's a Date

Whydodaysdragas slow as a turtle in molasses when you have something you're looking forward to?

All I wanted was to forget Carl had even bothered to find me, but then I'd have to forget how Simon had my back. I didn't want to do that. What I wanted, more than anything, was to find out if all this stuff I read about could happen for real. And I hated waiting a minute longer to find out.

I needed Mike to tell me I could make Simon mine. I needed to hear it yesterday.

Sipping my coffee, I watch the cafe door for Mike, bouncing my knee and flipping sugar packets around the entire time. Tonight I'm not patient, and I'm also teetering on the edge of disbelief.

I'm here for a new life. Carl was a horrible mistake and I lost a lot of myself while with him. This tiny town, aptly named Hope, was to be my new beginning and it's delivered in spades. The bakery is booming and I need to hire help soon. But the curious thing I never expected to find here was love. Love with someone who is long dead.

I stare into my latte, pausing all the fidgeting and focusing on the hot liquid. I'm falling in love with someone I can't even see, because he's dead. Has been for almost one hundred years. Yet, I've never felt more connected to someone, physically and emotionally, and that's just fucked up. I can't see him or even feel a body, but his steady presence is unmistakable. He's supported me in so many small ways, but they all add up to be big things. Big things I've been craving for many years.

My research led me to articles about sex with spirits and… it was interesting. A whole lot of terms I didn't understand came up, but one thing was certain, it happens. More than you'd think, if the number of accounts I read were real. There's even spirits who only want sex. But honestly, Simon is a simple ghost looking for the male lover he never got to have and for some reason he wants it to be me.

"Ah… you're here. You've had time to think then?"

I lift my head to find Mike standing next to the table with his coffee and muffin, familiar messenger bag across his body.

"Hey, thanks for coming."

I gesture for him to join me. As he settles, I take my time, attempting to find the right words. The words should be on the tip of my tongue, I've thought of them so often. But once they pass my lips, it makes this all more real. More impossibly possible.

"Are you going to say what's on your mind, or are we just gonna stare at each other over our coffee cups all night?"

I laugh softly, "Sorry, I was just wondering how weird it's going to sound once I say it out loud and I wasn't sure if I was ready for it."

Mike chews his muffin, sitting back with an ankle perched on the opposite knee, no evidence of inner nerves and turmoil.

"Sorry, but it seems really odd for me to say this." Mike waits, patiently eating his muffin. "I… I want to meet Simon."

Mike smiles, a small smirk in place like he knew that's what I was going to say. Perhaps he did.

"Okay, I can help you with that. When did you have in mind?"

"Uh, I don't know? What's your schedule? Can we do it Saturday after I close?"

"We could. I'd recommend we wait until later in the evening. It's a quieter time for all the spirit channels, lets me hear Simon better."

"Oh, uh, ya, that would be fine. So… what would I need to do? I mean, I read about summoning spirits and… "

Mike pauses, his bright eyes bore into mine. "That's what you'd like to do, for sure?"

"Well, is there another way? I mean, you're the expert. I just bake stuff. I don't know anything about… talking to ghosts."

I will never get used to saying something like that out loud.

"I'm only asking to make sure you're prepared for it. Lots of people think it's what they want, then, when I actually summon the spirit to communicate, they freak out and it can get rather… awkward. I don't want it to be a bad experience for either of you."

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