Joanna’s eyes travel aroundthe space. “It already looks so much better!”shesings.
“Where’s Kennedy?” Aidan asks, the barest hintof a smirk on his face.
I rub myspectralhands together in a rhythmic motion.“She’sbeen going into townevery day. She found her sister.”
I’mnot sure ifit’ssupposed to be a secret, but given the size of Shadow Hills, Idon’tthink it would stay that way even if Kennedy wanted it to.
“I couldn’t believe it when Kiki told me,” Joanna gushes. “I mean, they look so much alike.”
So, everyonedoesknow.
Aidan catches my annoyed expression and changes the subject. “What are you working on today?”
I point up. “I’malmost done with the bedroom. The library is next.”
It actually makes me feel better knowing I’ll have help with that room.Going through it alone isprobably notthe best idea. Who knows what memories it willtrigger.
“Well,let’s get started then,” Aidan suggests, rolling up his sleeves.
It’sbeen about nine months since he last stepped footinthat library. At the time, he was searching for information that would confirm Joanna was his mate. Since then, his cheeks have gained coloring, and I can only assume having unlimited access to his mate’s blood is the reason his temples now have streaks of gray andthere’sa new light behind his steel-colored eyes.
I used to spend a lot of time going through the same books Aidan used for his research. I scoured all the pages of my father’s records and the journalscontainingfirsthandaccounts of Shadow Hills’ history. But over the past three days,I’vewantedto revisit those pagesless and less. For the first time in ages, I find myself wanting to focus on the present—on the womanwhoquiteliterally raisedme from the dead.
Joanna jogs up the stairs, kicking up dust with her boots.
More to clean, I guess.
Aidan gestures for me to go ahead of him. “Shall we?”
In the library, I give Joannathe duty of cleaning off the bookshelves while Aidan assesses any damage to the house. Seeing the titles will only tempt me to open them, so I concentrate on dusting—the task I seem to have become proficient in over the past twenty-four hours.
We keep busy, and for the most part, we’re able to work in silence, but occasionally she asks me questions, mostly about Kennedy. Do I like living with another ghost? Does she plan to stick around? Things that are both difficult and simple to answer.
Igive hervague, open-ended responses. Living with Kennedy has been the best thingthat’shappened to me since I died—hell,probably evensince I was alive—but Idon’tknow how to put that into words. Especially to them.
I know they would understand.They’refatedmates,after all. Out of anyone,I’mpretty surethey would know exactly how those small moments of electricity between us feel. ButI’mnot ready to face those feelings just yet, andI’mdefinitely notready to know what they mean.
Idon’tknow ifshe’splanning to stay. Her comment about painting the walls has been floating around in my head since she said it. What if she just wants to help like Aidan and Jo, then move on with her life? She hasfamilyhere.There’sno reason to stick around just because I was her first contact in Shadow Hills.
Her first friend.
Yesterday was the most amount of time we’ve spent together, and I don’t know if that can be replicated again.Our chemistry may have beena fluke, andI could be getting my hopes up for nothing.
But something keeps urging me forward. Ican’tseem to stop myself from wanting to be near her. I keep pushing the boundaries of our friendship, if I can even call it that, but I desperately want her to know me. I want to know her.
I open the top drawer of my father’s desk and find the pocket watch I stowed away decades ago. The gears have stopped turning, and the gold finish needs to be polished, but it looks just as it did dangling from my father’s waistcoat. He passed it on to me on his deathbed. Little did he know, I’d die only a few short years later with no children to continue the tradition. I put it away so as not to drive myself insane watching the hands tick by, but now, time doesn’t feel so scary anymore. For ages, it reminded me of the world continuing to move on without me. Now, time passing means time spent with Kennedy.
I place the watch in my pocket for later.
Even with Joannaand Aidan here as a distraction, every inch of this house makes me think of Kennedy.She’salready left her marklike a brand, and no matter how deeply I try to clean, Idon’tthinkit’llever go away.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
KENNEDY
The buildings on Main Street whizz by as Casey takes us to the other side of town. We weave through the side streets and come around the back side of Shadow Hills Elementary School.I’mimmediatelybrought back to a simpler time in my life. A new awning has been built over the pathway that leads to the front door, and I believethere’sbeen an extension to the back side of the building that looks like a gymnasium.
I enjoyed goingto school backthen. I had a favorite teacher, Mr. Davis, and I had friends I looked forward to seeing every day. Back then, Ididn’tstand out. I was just like all the other kids, learning and experiencing life together.
