Page 78 of Ghostlighted
To be honest, I was feeling a little fragile at the moment too, because Gil still hadn’t shown up. I spent almost as much time walking the streets of Ghost calling his name as Sofia spent in her rocking chair, gazing out at her garden.
I gestured toward her with my tea, the glass cold against my palm. “How’s she doing?”
“Not great. She says it’s not necessary for me to stay with her now that she’s recovered from the surgery, but when I promised not to hover, she didn’t object. I think she was relieved not to be alone.”
“You can hardly blame her. She’s got to be heartbroken after finding out that Liam’s been lying to her and stealing from her for all these years. She’s lavished all that love on a completely undeserving asshole.”
He shrugged. “She hasn’t stopped, you know. She says he needs that love now more than ever. She doesn’t hold it against the rest of us that we aren’t as forgiving, though.”
I watched Sofia rocking, rocking, rocking, and a drop of condensation trickled over my fingers. “You know, I vetted a book for this social worker once. She was the director of a mental health clinic, so she had to deal with staffing issues across all the programs they offered. She told me about this mid-level manager who she wasn’t sure was up to the job, but she said,‘I just pretended he could do it.’”
“What good would that do? If he was incompetent, shouldn’t she just get rid of him?”
I smiled down at him, wanting to smooth the crease between his brows, but after his confession about his ex, I resisted. “It wasn’t as critical as that. He was capable, just… rough-edged. With that mindset, though, she interacted with him from a place of perceived success, not expected failure.”
“Did it work?”
“She said so. Client care stayed at a high level, which was her goal. But I think the effect on her own well-being—coming from a positive rather than a negative place—was the bigger win.”
“That’s Tia. She always believes the best of everyone.” He sighed. “She wanted to pay his lawyer fees, did you know?” When I shook my head, he continued. “But Taryn’s friend is handling it pro bono.”
“Sure he is,” I muttered.
He turned his head sharply, his eyes wide with shock. “What do you mean?”
Oops. Taryn would probably kick my butt for letting that slip out. “Not a thing, other than everybody in town thinks Sofia’s footed Liam’s bills for way too long.”
His brows snapped together. “Do you thinkTaryn’spaying him? That’s not right. I should?—”
“Hey.” I took his untouched glass and set it on the table along with my own similarly undrunk tea. “I’m not sure of anything, but if you want my opinion? You should justpretendthat it’s true.”
“But—”
“Ricky.” I held his gaze. “Let it go. Let her do this for Sofia. Let her do it for you.”
For a moment, I thought he’d protest, but then he just exhaled slowly and turned back to the window. “That’s a hard ask. Tia’s so good at taking care of other people. Awesome at it, in fact. But not so great at letting other people take care of her.”
“Acts of service,” I murmured.
“What?”
“That’s her love language. Same as yours.”
He gazed at me, an unreadable expression on his face. “Acts of service. Do you think I should… well… pull back a little? Let her take care of me more? Would that make her feel better?”
“Do you think you’re capable of that? Stepping back? Because personally, I can’t see it.”
He sank into a chair, shoulders slumping. “Then what can I do? I hate seeing her like this.”
“Maybe the answer is finding somebody other than you for her to focus on.” I widened my eyes in mock astonishment, as though something had just occurred to me. “A cousin! Surely there’s a cousin somewhere in the Vargas clan who needs some TLC.”
He gave me aseriously?look. “Vargases are opposed to helplessness on principle. We all know how to get the job done.”
“Yes,” I drawled. “I’d noticed.”
I collected the glasses and ferried them to the sink. As I emptied the tea down the drain, accompanied by the tinkle of unmelted ice, I heard a noise from behind me. I glanced over my shoulder. Ricky was looking down at something in his lap.
“Did you say something?”
