“Oh yes, that woman and the two boys,” Carolina said. “I like her. Strong-willed and assertive.”
Joseph laughed.
“Melissa. My wife’s sister. I owe her a lot.”
“She’s right you know,” Carolina said, wagging a finger in his direction. “You should get out more. St. Augustine is a wonderful town. Well, it used to be anyway.”
“Were you spying on our conversation?”
Carolina felt her silhouette dim with embarrassment. Yes,of courseshe had been spying on the man. Not just at that moment, but all the time. It’s not like she had anything better to do. Joseph looked over at her incredulously and her shame depened.
“Yes, but I won’t do it again,” she admitted, offering a look of regret. “I’m sorry if I violated your privacy in any way.”
Joseph rolled his shoulders and looked to the cooler. His second bottle of beer was now sitting empty on the kitchen counter and she could tell that he was tempted to reach for a third. Joseph stopped himself and reached for a bottle of water instead.
“I think we’re going to have to set some ground rules until River and I move out,” he said, shaking his head. “I can’t believe I’m trying to reason with a ghost...”
“Well!” Carolina said, her form brightening and her eyes open wide. “Just because I’m— aspirit—doesn’t mean that I can’t be reasonable!”
Joseph took a sip of his water and shook his head.
“This is all still too unbelievable. Maybe there’s some undetected asbestos in the wall that I missed in my inspections. That’s it. You’re just an asbestos hallucination.”
“I am most certainlynota hallucination!”
Carolina waved her arms emphatically in Joseph’s direction, and as if to prove her point, swept an empty beer bottle from the kitchen counter sailing into the air. They both gasped and watched as the glass bottle toppled to the floor and clanged noisily onto the hardwood, echoing against the cavernous kitchen walls. Boomer raised his head at the sound from his lazy sleeping position in the hallway and barked. Their eyes met as Joseph’s mouth opened in a wide “O” and Carolina forced her own lips back together in surprise.
“That’s never happened before.”
Joseph reached down and picked up the still-intact glass bottle. He examined it and placed it back up on the counter where it once was. His wide eyes glanced up to meet Carolina’s gaze.
“Okay. So you’re real,” he said.
“I told you so,” she said, staring at the bottle in disbelief. For all these years she had been trapped in her crumbling family home, Carolina hadn’t been able to so much as wipe away particles of dust. Now, for whatever reason, she was able to make contact with a solid object and send it flying. The prospect of what that meant terrified her and exhilarated her all at once.
“Listen,” he said, his eyes now also fixed on the empty bottle. “I’ll make you a deal. I’ll be quieter and respect your boundaries, if you respect mine.”
“That’s fair,” she said. “No more loud, screaming music.”
“No more spying on people,” he said, waving a finger.
“I’ll stay in the attic and only come around if you call me,” she said, intending to make good on her promise. “Although if you’re not here, I’ll roam around as I please.”
“Fine. I’ll make myself known if I need to come up to the attic,” he said. “I’ll have to renovate that space eventually before I sell though.”
Carolina paused, with her expression set in thought for a moment. The proper thing to do would have been to seal their agreement with a handshake, though she was very doubtful that she and Joseph would be able to. Still, connecting with the beer bottle was something of a revelation. Perhaps she could give it a try.
“I believe we have an agreement,” she said, extending her reach.
Joseph looked down at her semi-translucent hand with one heavy eyebrow arched. He walked over to where she was still resting and gingerly extended his own large, rough-looking hand. To her disappointment, his fingers and hers failed to meet, as though Joseph were trying to grasp at the air. The situation left them both awkwardly hanging in a moment of shared embarrassed and confused silence. Joseph flexed his hand into a fist and let his arm fall to his side and nodded.
“We have an agreement.”
Carolina lowered her own hand and nodded back.
“Good. I’ll start right now then, and leave you to your work.”
Joseph brushed his hands on his jeans and reached into the cooler for another beer. Carolina shook her head as she exited the kitchen wishing that she could find a way to help Joseph make the renovation of her home easier. She dreamily ran a translucent hand up the banister as she traveled, remembering the way that her beloved Jacaranda Manor used to be.
