As they rushed to each other, Trixie gaped at me. “Is that her brother?”
My pops pulled on his pants as he took a seat, and I bit back a grin. It was so funny how many mannerisms the spirits brought into death with them. The more in tune they were, and the more able they were to manifest and use the abilities that they had as part of the spirit realm, the more normal actions manifested.
“It is,” he said. “Her twin.”
My heart felt like it jumped into my throat, clogging it. After all these years—at least fifty at my count—the siblings had been reunited. I couldn’t believe it. I wouldn’t say I doubted her unwavering belief that her twin would find her here, but I’d worried. I’d been so scared that she’d eventually be sad and disappointed and choose to cross over to whatever waited for her beyond without him.
On the other side of their embrace, an old man’s ghost appeared. He’d been as standoffish with me as he was Trixie when Chance’s gift first gave me the ability to see the spirits out here. Over time, I’d found him to be a wise and compassionate man.
It was the amount of time he’d been out here, the number of spirits he’d seen come and go, the number of friends that he’d now lost in death, not just the ones he’d lost in life, that made him act grumpy and cantankerous. He had it in his head that he wouldn’t get attached to anyone else, but his heart was large, and he couldn’t help but bond with others. The tears streamingdown his face as he watched his old friend’s dream come true was proof of that.
Bessie pulled back, holding her brother’s biceps as she transformed. Her wrinkly features became smooth as glass, and the hands gnarled with age strengthened as they straightened and gripped him tighter.
I saw the old ghost’s eyes widen, and his cheeks went rosy. He caught me watching him and blinked back out of sight. I glanced around to see if anyone else caught that, and Pops winked at me. Yeah, I wasn’t the only one who noticed his reaction. I couldn’t wait until the next time we were alone to tease him about being a dirty old man.
Bessie hugged her brother again, then turned to us and made introductions. Beau smiled politely, but he really only had eyes for his sister. It was beautiful. The two of them talked over each other, wanting to know where the other had been, wondering why they’d been separated, and when we tried to excuse ourselves to give them some time together, they insisted we stay and began sharing stories of their past with us.
After about twenty minutes, I heard Sky’s voice and turned around to see him and Chance skipping across the grounds toward us from the manor. Sky waved, and I raised a hand in greeting.
All of my concerns about our future and the unfairness to him, being bound to me without freewill, evaporated at the way his eyes lit up as I stood to greet him. He launched himself onto my chest, and I wrapped my arms around him, holding him tight.
He squeezed me around the middle, and just like he did in the Dream-veil, he burrowed in closer. “I’ve missed you,” he mumbled into my chest.
“Weren’t you here this morning?” I asked. I’d seen him sitting next to Chance in the window of the manor while Jetty and I worked out. “Plus, we were together in the veil last night.”
As he leaned back, he frowned. “I keep telling you, it’s not the same. Yeah, we’re together and we talk and snuggle and get to see Patchy, but I don’t know…” He shrugged. “It’s different than spooning while we fall asleep and sharing our morning routine.”
Staring down into his face, I finally acknowledged what the look in his eyes really was.Disappointment.
Not in being stuck with me, but in how I’d been shutting him out. The last thing I wanted to do was hurt him, but was I doing that by not sharing my thoughts and fears with him? Sky was a full-grown man with his own business. Sure, he was fun and bubbly and spontaneous, but he wasn’t a child.
Maybe Bessie was right. Maybe I needed to stop treating him like one. Give him the chance to help me make sense out of what was happening in my head instead of deciding how to handle my fears that concerned him without him.
Now, how to get him to ask me to spend the night after I’d continually blown him off? I started with, “Have you had a nice day?”
He frowned. “I was, then I kinda wasn’t because I think I’m in trouble with Elyse and Gran, but then it was cool because…” He gestured toward Bessie and Beau. “We found Beau in Witch’s Brew when Chance somehow made all the spirits who were there visible like they are here.”
Startled, I glanced in Chance’s direction. “How’d he do that?”
I didn’t realize he could hear us, so I was surprised when Chance looked over his shoulder and said, “I’m not sure. Mom and Gran insinuated that Sky and I weren’t developing our abilities to the fullest, and some goddess used Carli as her spokesperson, and Pops wasn’t visible to Sky or Carli or Cassi,and it was like a match sparked inside of me, and I knew that I could do something about it.”
“Well, that’s cool.”
“Cool?” Sky beamed. “It was freakin’ epic. I’d have had him do that everywhere we go if I knew that he could make spirits appear like that. Like”—he clutched my bicep with both hands—“can you imagine how many dead people there must be at the boardwalk?”
Chance moved closer and lowered his voice. “There are so many. You guys remember the first time I went with Jetty? We both left there a little freaked out.”
I remembered well. Jetty had actually held it together pretty well in front of his boyfriend, who was just realizing his abilities, but he had a full meltdown when it was just the two of us. Much like me, he wanted to keep his new man safe. The drive to protect had reared in a way I’d never seen it from him, and how did you bubble wrap someone who saw things you couldn’t see yourself?
I had more compassion for him now than ever. At least Sky and I were in this together. Each new problem he faced, I’d be right by his side, taking it on, too. Bessie was right. I’d definitely been looking at this all wrong. I needed to do better by Sky. He deserved better.Wedeserved better.
As if I’d conjured him, Jetty strode across the yard, and Chance ran to meet him. They’d have plenty to talk about, I was sure. As they embraced, Sky’s face lit up watching them—damn, he was such a good guy—but the longer they clung to each other, his face fell. When he cut me a quick glance out of the corner of his eye, I knew that was my fault. I wasn’t supporting him the way our friends supported each other.
In my quest to make sure our new relationship wasn’t one-sided, that this wasn’t just about him tethering me to the natural world, I’d dropped the ball massively. Time to pull up my big boy pants.
“As much as I’d like to stick around and celebrate Bessie and Beau’s reunion, I’d kind of like to spend some time alone with you more.”
“Yeah?” Sky asked, sounding and looking so damn hopeful.
