Page 48 of Ghostlighted
I frowned, patting my pocket as I trudged up the porch steps. The ring was still there, but Avi hadn’t returned after the Vlahoses had arrived. That might give me my answer right there.
I sighed and slipped in the front door. Gil wasn’t lurking in the vestibule in an attempt to dart outside. He could just be off napping somewhere or plotting his next stealth attack on some innocent, unsuspecting knickknack, but I hoped it meant he was with Avi.
“Avi?” I called. “You around?”
At first there was no response, but then I heard a soft, “In the library.”
When I walked through the french doors, I didn’t spot him at first. He was sitting on the window seat, gazing out into the yard, with Gil purring next to him, but he was even more see-through than usual.
“Hey.” I stopped next to the desk. “I think I owe you an apology.”
He looked up at me. “Why?”
“I just invited three strangers to dinner.”
“Three str— You mean those people you were talking to just now?”
“Yes. Bernadette, Dominik, and Jillie Vlahos. Bernadette’s a chef. She’s going to cook here tomorrow. At six.”
Avi’s pensive expression relaxed into a smile. “Maz, you don’t need to get permission from me to invite people to your house.”
“Ourhouse. It’s only polite. Especially with these people.”
He cocked his head. “Why them in particular?”
“They’re the new owners of Jenkins House. They, um, want to see this place because Oren remodeled it, too.”
“Oh.” He turned away, his throat working. “I’d… like to see Jenkins House again. Do you think…” He looked up at me, his expression hopeful. “Do you think they’d give you a reciprocal tour sometime? And you could bring me with you?”
“Of course.” I sat on the opposite curve of the window seat. “They seem really nice, so I’m sure they’d agree. You’re sure you’re not upset? When you didn’t come back outside earlier?—”
“It wasn’t them,” he said hurriedly. “To be honest, I hadn’t even noticed them. It was Felicia.”
“Felicia?”
He rubbed the back of his neck, not meeting my gaze. “There’s something about standing right next to somebody I used to know and having them look right through me.” He chuckled. “Not that people didn’t look right through me before.” He cut a quick glance at my face. “Almost everybody except?—”
“Except Oren.”
He nodded. “And now you.” He rubbed his chest, right over his heart. “I don’t think it hit me before how long I’ve been… gone. Everyone I’ve seen here at the house so far were adults when I was alive. Once you hit that benchmark, inhabiting your… your mature container, I guess, and you don’t have the artificial yardstick of school years, you kind of assumeeveryone’s your age. But Felicia… The last time I saw her, she was about four feet tall, wore her hair in pigtails but had recently given herself an unfortunate crooked fringe, and was missing both front teeth.” He took a breath. “It was a definite wake-up call. Despite everything we’ve been through in the last month, I don’t think I really believed it until now.”
“I get it. You don’t have to ever apologize to me for taking time to process things.” I pulled one leg up to my chest and rested my chin on my kneecap. “I’m a little envious that you’re able to exit uncomfortable situations so effortlessly. No awkward goodbyes or lies about getting in touch later. You can justgoand nobody will be any the wiser. I can’t tell you how many times I wished for that kind of instant escape.”
“I don’t recommend my method of achieving it,” he said dryly.
I grimaced. “Sorry.”
“It’s all right.”
“It’s not.” I really wished I could grip his shoulders, but I settled for locking my gaze with his. “We may not have all the answers about your situation, butyouare the one who gets to decide what’s right for you, and that includes other clueless people”—I jerked both thumbs toward my chest—“making thoughtless comments or stupid jokes at your expense. So if I do it and I don’t catch myself? Call me on it, okay?”
He drew his lower lip between his teeth for a moment, then nodded. “Okay.”
“Good. Now. I need to change into drier clothes and water the garden.” I paused, remembering my less than successful interactions with the garden hose. “Strike that. Reverse it. Garden first, then dry clothes, andthenwe can head for the Manor.”
He angled his head, a smile quirking the corner of his mouth. “Can’t wait for the first official Take Your Ghost to Work Day?”
I held my hands up. “Hey, you said it, not me.”
