“Thank you! What are you going to do now about the parts and the job?”
“Since the restaurant is closed tomorrow too, I think I’m going to drive to the next town and see if they have something to offer in terms of work,” I reply, shrugging nonchalantly.
“That’s a good idea,” she approves, and I stand, reaching for my wallet in the back of my jeans. But Tally places a hand over mine.
“Don’t. It’s on the house. An apology for having pushed you into Satan’s arms.” She smiles mischievously, and I burst into laughter. Tim shoots her a disapproving look. “What? I need to get creative if I can’t curse him with his real name.” She shrugs.
“I want to pay you for the best cake I’ve ever eaten,” I protest, feeling uncertain about whether I should accept her offer.
Although, I should think twice about every penny I spend.
“Oh, hush. You just come back often now to drink tea and chat with me as long as there isn’t another job,” Tally insists.
“Deal,” I agree, leaning down to give her a quick hug.
The radio plays,and the fairy lights twinkle inside the van as I sit on my bed, folding my laundry. I spent the rest of the day washing all my clothes at the campground’s laundromat. The laundry trip was more than necessary. I had run out of clean socks, and it’s damn cold in this town without them.
“Do you believe in love at first sight?” Saylor asks suddenly from beside me, making me jump. Out of reflex, I grab the first thing next to me and throw it at him.
He looks behind him at the white lace panties on the bed, which passed right through him. Then his gaze returns to me, his face filled with amusement as he mutters, “Sexy.”
I close my eyes and take a deep breath. “What do you want?”
“Oh, come on. You looked like you were bored, so I thought I’d give you another one of my amazing pick-up lines. So tell me, do you believe in love at first sight?”
“I believe in annoyed at first sight,” I mumble, folding a shirt on my lap.
“You ruined it.” He pouts at me.
“Sorry.” I shrug, but his charming demeanor is wearing me down, which I can’t let happen.
I can’t do this.
I can’t let myself get entangled in this.
Ghosts are not my friends.
He needs to go.
“Anyway, if you didn’t believe in love at first sight, I would just walk past again,” he finishes. I look up at him with raised eyebrows, and a grin spreads across his face.
“What’s your unfinished business?” I ask him, ignoring his silliness and scanning the area around me for the sock that matches the one I’m holding.
“What is it with you and my unfinished business?” he asks me, his brow furrowing. “Maybe I like being here.”
No one likes being left behind.
I pause in my task and look at him seriously. “There is something holding you back from going into the light, from finding peace. Don’t you want to find that peace? To be in a place where you can be with your loved ones who passed, where you can talk and be seen again?”
“I can talk and be seen by you,” he mumbles, avoiding eye contact.
My heart.
“No, we’re not going to do that,” I assert, pointing a finger at him while still holding a sock. “I’ll help you find peace, find the light, and then you’ll be where you’re supposed to be, no longer alone. And I’ll have my peace and quiet back.”
I can do this one last time.
“But you’ll be alone again then,” he states, and his words cut me deep in the chest. I look up at him, and his blue eyes hold a sense of sadness.
