Even if she wasn’t, I wasn’t about to ask Bernie’s helper Mateo anything with Ocean still in the house.
This morning, while I scrambled to keep the conversation light and painfully casual over breakfast, Ocean kept looking at me over the top of her cereal bowl. That look on her face said it all. I don’t believe either of you for a second.
Same look she used to give me and Rhys when she walked in on one of our fights and we’d slap on fake smiles like nothing was wrong.
She always knew. Always saw through it.
After Arthur left, I moved into the front room. Ocean stayed in Clare’s sitting room, completely engrossed in the boxes Bernie had dropped off a couple of weeks ago. When I peeked in, she was knee-deep in old postcards, worn paperbacks, vintage movie posters, even notebooks filled with watercolor sketches of gardens and harbor boats. All these little treasures from another time. She looked entranced.
Meanwhile, I was at Clare’s desk and file cabinet, sorting through paperwork, trying to stay focused. Making lists of calls to make, forms to file, decisions to avoid.
But underneath it all, I was restless. Edgy. Just waiting for a moment alone.
I needed to talk to Jo.
To scold her.
To tell her we weren’t staying here long term.
And, most of all, to make it clear she needed to stay away from Ocean.
I was already feeling stressed, just thinking about that conversation. It was bound to be emotional, but I had to tell her. Jo needed to hear it from me, not from the real estate agent who’d be showing up in two days.
That chance didn’t come until Ocean went across to the bookstore at half past two. Bernie had already texted. He and Mateo would be over around three. That didn’t leave me much time.
And Jo—almost like she knew I was waiting for her—appeared in the living room/office/stockroom the moment Ocean shut the front door on her way out.
“All right,” she said, hands on her hips. “I don’t know what you people are teaching your children these days, but what I had to clean up in that room last night? Positively unacceptable. Beyond the pale.”
The skirt swirled around her legs, and the room filled with her familiar lavender scent. Her presence felt as real as any living person. All at once, the weight of what I was about to tell her, about selling the house, crushed me. Jo, in all her ghostly grace, had always been my closest friend.
And I was about to lose her.
“Jo,” I started, my throat tight. “I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to get close to Ocean. There’s no reason for her to know you. To meet you.”
“She’s closer to my age than yours,” she shot back. “And someone needs to save her from that purple eyeshadow. Honestly, hasn’t anyone told her? Less makeup, more mystery.”
“Jo,” I cut in, “she lives in California. We live in California. I just don’t want her to?—”
“What?” Jo asked, cutting me off. “What exactly are you worried about? That she might learn something about finger waves and self-respect?”
“We don’t have ghosts in California. She’ll be terrified.”
Jo perched herself on the edge of Clare’s desk and studied her nails. “Oh, please. Of course, you have ghosts in California. They’re just too starstruck to knock on your door. Probably loitering in the Hollywood Hills, sipping martinis, eternally trying to get discovered. Doll, I blame the studios.”
“I’m talking about Ocean. She doesn’t even believe in ghosts. I don’t want to scare her.”
“She’s handling it just fine, if you ask me. And come on. You know how I am. You were never frightened, were you?”
“That’s debatable.”
“Oh, sweetie,” Jo said, grinning. “I stood in the front window as a headless nun for three Halloweens straight. You’ll know if I’m trying to frighten someone.”
Biting back a smile, I had to admit I’d never been afraid of Jo. Not once. But that didn’t mean I wanted to encourage her either. The truth was harder to say out loud. What was the point of building a relationship if it was destined to vanish? Once the house sold, Ocean would never see Jo again.
And neither would I.
Jo must’ve sensed the shift, because her voice softened, the usual sparkle dimming just a little.
