Page 166 of A Dead Girl's Guide to Living
“Jesus,” I told her with a snort. “You don’t make it very romantic, Liv.”
“Fine,” Liv said exasperatedly. “I’ll turn around.”
She pivoted on her dangerous heels and folded her arms, staring out at the horizon. I laughed before looking at Ellis—at her perfect face and dancing green eyes, her cheeks flushed from the sun, her skin almost golden from all the time spent with the roof down in the car.
Her hand came up to cup my jaw, her thumb brushing my cheekbone just lightly enough to make my stomach giddy. Then she pressed her lips to mine, soft and warm. She took the lead, which was new, but I liked it. The kiss was short and sweet, but filled with so much I couldn’t even put words to.
When she pulled back, she gave me a small smile. The car jerked again as the wheel began to move once more.
“This trip is complete,” Liv sighed. “A kiss at the top of the wheel.”
“Come on,” I told her with a laugh. “You expect us to believe you’ve never been on this wheel before or kissed someone at the top?”
“I have,” Liv said bluntly as she sat back on the bench. “But Ellis hasn’t. Neither have you.”
I glanced at Ellis, who was smiling softly at Liv. I couldn’t remember when the tension between the two of them had ended, only that this new warmth and understanding had blossomed. And I was glad it had.
We spun all the way back down again when Liv demanded one more go-around, and I wondered if she was now putting off seeing Jedd as long as possible. She’d said she was ready, but she kept finding ways to stall. Ellis seemed happy enough to go again, so I let it be, nodding at the attendant.
“Can you two ladies fit another pair in there?” the attendant asked as he unclipped our door. “The cars are full, and we have two who’d like to get on.”
“Sure,” Ellis said brightly. Liv shot to her feet, even though no one could see her—I guessed she didn’t want her ghost self sat on.
An older couple climbed inside, laughing under their breath. They wedged themselves onto the bench across from us, shoulder to shoulder, their tanned faces creased from years of sun exposure.
“Beautiful day, isn’t it?” the man said with a grin, clapping his wife’s thigh gently.
“It is,” Ellis said, her voice bright and genuine.
We rose once more, and my stomach swam. The sounds of the amusement park faded again as we climbed higher. The wheel jerked to a stop halfway, either to let people off or on, and I turned to say something to Ellis. But I caught her eyes instead—laser-focused on the woman across from us—and I followed her gaze.
My breath caught.
She was wearing a very low-cut top, but I knew that wasn’t what Ellis was gaping at. The woman was attractive for her age—late fifties, I guessed—but I doubted Ellis had a thing for older women. No, she was gazing at the unmistakable scar that ran across the woman’s sternum—long, faded to a soft pearl color.
The physical record that your body had once been opened and put back together again.
The woman noticed after a moment. I watched as she squeezed her husband’s hand and cleared her throat. She didn’t tug at her shirt or flush; she simply followed Ellis’s gaze, then met her eyes and smiled.
“Heart transplant,” the woman said, running her finger absentmindedly across the scar. “Thirty years this month. MyBernie and I are on an around-the-country trip to celebrate. Every day is a gift.”
Thirty years.
The words rang in my head as loudly as they must have in Ellis’s.
Liv watched with wide eyes.
“That’s amazing,” I said, because someone had to say something to this woman who had just revealed something so personal. We couldn’t juststareat her.
“I’m a year on from mine,” Ellis whispered, her voice shaking as she ran her finger down her chest, covered by a high halter-neck top.
The woman smiled, something flickering in her eyes, as though greeting a familiar old pain that was still so raw and fresh for Ellis. She surprised me by leaning forward and taking Ellis’s hands, giving them a squeeze, her gold bracelets jingling.
“Don’t think about how it could all go wrong, love,” she said gently, holding Ellis’s gaze with her firm brown eyes. “Live every day like a gift. It’s all you can do. Make plans. Let the world know you’re here to stay.” She pressed her lips together as Ellis’s eyes filled with tears. “I’m going to tell you something I wish someone had told me after my surgery. Don’t give yourself a deadline for death. Don’t put that out there. Whether you live or die is never up to you anyway. We’re not bigger than the world, and bad things happen to good people all the time. Good things happen to bad people. You have a second chance, and you’re young enough to make the most of it. So do that, okay?”
Ellis nodded slowly, a lone tear spilling over her cheek. I watched as the man rubbed his wife’s back, his cheeks puffed as if he were swallowing down his own emotions.
“Did you ever find out who gave you your heart?” Ellis asked, her voice cracking a little.
