Both of my hands quickly moved behind me to cover my ass, thereby allowing the towel to fall, and when I bent to pick it up,whoosh!
“Oh, hello little pink pucker. How cute are you? Winking at me like a star in the sky. I like that you manscape back there. It’s like an invitation for a rim job. Guys like—look who I’m talking to. You know what guys like as much as me. Damn, I wish I was still alive. We’d have been BFFs for sure.” I was sure she was wrong about that.
I reached into my dresser and grabbed a pair of pajama pants to pull on, hoping they didn’t catch fire from the embarrassed heat pouring off me. I was sure my whole body was glowing bright red.
Once I was covered, I turned to Happy, who sat on my desk. “I don’t appreciate your surprise visits. Look, what are you trying to accomplish here?” I reached for the hoodie on my unmade bed and pulled it on, but she didn’t say a word.
“I’m hungry and tired right now. For whatever reason you’ve decided to follow me around and push your brother at me as ifhe’s just going to fall at my feet in love with me. What do you want from me, Happy?” I was going to have a breakdown.
“You still don’t get it, do you? You have my literal heart, Avery. That thing in your chest that beats to keep you alive belonged to me first, and it’s my right to ensure you treat it with the utmost care and respect.” How could I argue with that?
Oh, but she wasn’t done. “Do you understand that the gift you’ve been given was at the sacrifice of my future? I plan to make sure you get the most of this second chance whether you like it or not. I didn’t get the opportunity to fall in love and have a family, but I’m going to make damn sure you do.”
“What if I don’t—”
She interrupted, putting her hand up to stop me from saying anything. “Holden is one of the greatest men I know—maybe even better than my father. I want to see my brother happy with you. He was right when he told our mother the time for mourning is over. I can’t do what I need to do until I know my family is going to be okay. You’re going to help me with that unless you never want to get rid of me.”
I suddenly had a revelation. “Did that accident happen to me because of somethingyoudid? I could have beenkilled!”
“The car accident?” Her face filled with shock. “Of course not, Avery. The last thing I want is for you to be dead. I don’t have the power to do anything like that anyway! It was exactly that—an accident.”Happy’s voice was laced with irritation.
I got it. I’d been accusatory when I said I could have been killed, and with Happy already dead, she couldn’t have done anything like send that truck into Brooke’s car, right?
“Okay, okay. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to insinuate anything. I’m trying to figure out what the hell you want me to do.”
She had a sweet smile on her face. “Forgiven.”
“So, the guy, Hal? What can be done about him?”
Happy put her index finger on her chin. “That’s a good question. There’s a lot I can’t tell you about what happens next because I’m still figuring it out. I mean, afteruh. Every case is different, really.”Happy laughed, using my ridiculous reference to her death when we first met.
“I’m sorry I referred to your death that way. What can I do to get this killer off your back?”
She gave me a sweet smile. “It’s not anything you need to worry about, doll. Just make it up to Holden. He’s the guy who needs you. He just doesn’t know it yet.”
“He just doesn’t knowwhatyet? What the heck does that mean, Happy?” Hell, was any of this real? I was in my pajama pants talking to a spirit.
“It means that it might take a little time for Holden to see that he needs you. Take a breath, and reach out to him, okay?”
“Reach out to him? Why?”
Happy sighed, sounding exasperated.“Because I asked you to?” She patted her right hand over her heart—guilt intended.
I slouched in defeat. I wanted to reach out to Holden Rose more than I was letting on because I was fascinated with the man. He was gorgeous and kind. He’d helped me when he didn’t need to. In all honesty, did Holden need my crappy baggage? I’d sayhell no.
“Look, Happy, your brother misses you a lot, and he’s trying to find a way to move beyond your death. He’s trying to get your parents to move beyond your death, too, and there’s nothing I can add to that. They’re all in pain, and I feel horrible for them. I don’t know what meeting me could do to help with their grief.”
Seriously, I wasn’t the most empathetic person on the planet. Besides, I hadn’t lost anyone I loved, so I couldn’t really sympathize with the Rose family.
“You don’t know that, Avery. I really want my family to meet you. They’ll love you, but they’ll really love you once they learnyou are the person who received my heart. This way, they’ll see that I’ll always be with them, even if I’m not there in person.”
Sadly, her logic made some sense. If they knew her heart was alive and well, beating in someone’s chest, maybe it would give them comfort and help them accept their loss so they could grieve and begin to heal.
“Okay, but what proof can I give them that we’re connected?”
Happy tapped her index finger to her chin again. “Let me see…”
Finally, she snapped her fingers. “Get Holden to contact the surgeon who transplanted my heart into you or the transplant coordinator. When they confirm you’re the recipient, he can take you to meet Mom and Dad on the anniversary of my birthday. I was born on Valentine’s Day, and every year, Holden listens to the last message I left him at Christmas the year I died. This year, he can finally delete it knowing I’m still with him…inside you.”
