Page 66 of Ghostridden
I held out my hand and Gil bounded out. Instead of heading for me, though, he trotted over to Avi, looked up at his face, and mewed.
Avi shared a wide-eyed glance with me as Gil stepped over Avi’s crossed ankles as though they were perfectly visible and settled into the cradle made by his legs. Avi lifted a tentative hand and stroked along Gil’s spine. He looked up at me, smile filled with wonder. “I can feel his fur. It’s so soft.”
Indeed, Gil’s ginger fur lifted behind Avi’s hand, just as it did when I petted him on especially dry days.
“He likes you.” I chuckled and scratched behind Gil’s ears. “I’ve always said he’s a better judge of character than I am.” I looked up at Ricky. “Avi foiled Carson’s attack with sawdust until you could get here with the cavalry. Impeccable timing, by theway. Thank you.” I glanced back at Avi, whose attention was still focused on Gil. “Thank you both. You’ll always be heroes in my book.”
“Ah. Well. Sure.” Ricky looked away and scratched the back of his head. “So, are you hungry? You probably don’t want to go out for dinner right now, but I can run over to the taqueria and get some takeout.”
I couldn’t help the sigh that escaped me, because I really didn’t want to leave the house. In fact, I might not be able to move from this spot in the foreseeable future.
Like I said. Hero.
“That would be wonderful.”
His smile was still edged with that adorable bashfulness. “Trust me on the menu options?”
“Absolutely.”
“Excellent. I won’t let you down.” He raised a hand in Avi’s direction and then headed down the hall.
“He’s a really nice guy. Always was, even as a kid.” Avi’s words were nearly drowned by Gil’s purr. “You picked a good one.”
“Yeah,” I sighed again, and this time I sounded more like a moony teenager. “I’m lucky he’s willing to give me a chance.”
Avi snorted a laugh. “You have no idea, Maz.”
I frowned at him. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Nothing, nothing.” He waved a hand, earning him a bat of Gil’s paw, which… didn’t pass right through him.
Huh. Too bad Gil couldn’t talk, because he seemed to have a better handle on this ghost business than either of us. Clearly we needed to test Avi’s… powers? Abilities? Phantasmagorical talents? I sensed a montage opportunity in our future.
When I realized I was still holdingAll In, I figured this might be a good start. I set it on the floor in front of him. “Can you pick this up?”
He stared down at the manuscript, biting his lip. “I’m almost afraid to try.” But he reached out anyway. Unfortunately, his hand passed through it without even budging the Post-it. “Guess not.”
“Hmmm.” So much for my theory that he could hold things that belonged to him, like his own wedding band, but not Oren’s. Gil didn’t belong to him, but do cats ever belong to anybody? “Try manipulating the individual pages, the way you did in the library with the deconstructedBorderline. That might be harder to do with the spiral binding, but I can cut that off if it would make things easier.”
He cut me a startled glance, but then his jaw firmed and his eyes took on a determined glint.
At first, nothing happened. Then the corner of the blue cover quivered. The next instant, it whipped to the side, the top third tearing away from the binding. I whooped, but he just laughed a little breathlessly.
“Clearly I lack finesse.”
“Sure, but this is great! I bet with a little practice, you can nail it. Look at your control over sawdust.” I gazed down at the title page.All In by Jake Fields. “Your fans are going to go ballistic when they find out there’s a lastrealHarcourt and Corchran book.”
Avi’s hand stilled on Gil’s back and he gazed at me, expression troubled. “I don’t understand, Maz. Why didn’t Oren turn the book in to my agent? She could have handled everything with the publisher. The deal for the TV rights hadn’t been finalized either because it was contingent on this book.”
“I think I know.” I stroked between Gil’s ears in the place he liked best. “It was his last link to you. His last chance to hear your voice.”
“But he missed out on all those royalties.” Horror filled his eyes. “Oh god. The publisher’s advance. Since I didn’t deliver the book, he’d have had to pay it back.”
Maybe that’s why Oren’s estate was asset rich but cash poor. I decided not to lay that on Avi right now.
“I suspect the money didn’t matter to him.” I met Avi’s gaze. “You know where I found it? In a box labeledLeft Nightstand. He kept it there, at his bedside, where he could reach out and touch it in the dark. Keeping you close. Even after all those years.”
Tears glittered in Avi’s eyes and he sucked in a sharp breath before turning away. “I yelled at him, Maz,” he said, voice hoarse. “Almost the last time we talked, I accused him of not prioritizing our relationship.”
“But he did.” I cursed the fact I couldn’t at least pat Avi’s shoulder. “And your last words to him weren’t angry, remember? They were a promise. You promised you’d wait, and you kept that promise.”
“And he promised that he’d prove that I was wrong, that he’d show me our relationship was the most important thing—thatIwas the most important thing in the world to him.” Avi glanced down atAll Inand then held out his left hand, where the wedding band glowed in transparent gold. “He kept that promise, didn’t he?”
“I’d say so, yeah. Big time.”
Avi met my gaze, eyes bright with hope. “Would you… That is, would it bother you if I stuck around? He also promised he’d come back, so if I keep waiting, maybe he’ll make good on that promise, too.”
“Wait as long as you want.” I smiled, and although his return smile was a little watery, it was still sweet. “We like the company.”
Gil, always one to get the last word, mewed.
