My bottom lip trembles and tears well in my eyes. I’m not sure if it’s because my life has truly gone to hell in a handbasket or because of the lack of sleep I’m getting.
“Alyssa,” Lanie coos, walking around the island to my side. Her hand lands on my shoulder and I shrug it off.
“Don’t even,” I snap. “No backpedaling because you hurt my feelings.”
She runs her hand down my hair and talks to me in a tone I haven’t heard since Garrett died. She’s preparing to handle me with kid gloves, and I resent it already.
“You haven’t been taking care of yourself lately. You’re beautiful inside and out. Don’t let a grumpy wannabe medium and a fright of ghosts keep you down.” She whispers the words, but clearly not quietly enough.
“Do you meana fraid?” Nina asks, with one eyebrow raised. “The term isa fraid of ghosts.”
Lanie rolls her eyes. “Whatever. Nobody cares, Nagging Nina.”
I have to smother my laugh, because I’m not quite ready to forgive her.
“Fight for yourself. Join the living,” Lanie says. I squirm at the idea of walking among the likes of Billy Garet. “You’re forty and should be thriving. Make it happen.”
“How do I do that?” I whisper the words, sounding insecure and hopeless.
She takes a deep breath, and I just know I’m not going to like whatever comes out of her mouth. “Allow Nick to help you help them.”
I groan. “Who says he even will?”
“You won’t know unless you try,” Nina chimes in.
“Great. Now you two are siding with the ghosts.”
“We’re Team Alyssa. And Team Alyssa wants a spirit-free home for you.”
Lanie nods. “So you can get back to normal.”
I think about what normal has looked like for me since the accident, and I internally cringe. There was nothing normal about my life. I’ve given up a career I loved to live off my husband’s life insurance. I’ve stopped playing tennis—a sport I excelled at—with a team of women who were uplifting and fun. I pushed aside everything that made meme, and I’m still doing it two years later.
I sniff. “I don’t want normal. At least not the normal I’ve been living these past two years.” My head moves back and forth between my friends. “I want a fresh start.”
The smiles I get in response to my declaration are nothing short of encouraging. They are smiles I haven’t seen in far too long. It gives me hope that my words aren’t just empty platitudes. They’re a spoken promise of that new beginning. I’m sharing it with the world, or at least with my friends, so that it can manifest into being.
Yuck... I sound like Corinne.
“I can always talk to Richard. He can get the police toinvestigate. Billy is his best friend’s kid. He’ll do whatever he can to help.”
For as smart as Nina is, she’s so very naive.
“Are you insane? Richard would finally have a reason to have you committed if you breathed a word of this,” Lanie practically shouts.
“She’s not wrong,” I agree. “We’d be the Gilded Glindas no more.”
Lanie grunts. “That might be the only witty thing Dick Dunbar has ever said.”
Nina’s nose crinkles and I snort in response.
“Good one, Lane. Dick Dunbar.” I wipe at a stray tear. “I hate that man.”
We don’t typically disparage spouses, but Nina’s ran away with the award for the worst years ago. He’s a smooth talker who managed to dupe her into thinking he was a stand-up—single—guy. Next thing you know, she’s put up in a swanky condo in town, believing she hit the lotto of boyfriends. Fast-forward to three months later, and wife number two—whom nobody knew about—shows up serving divorce papers.
Nina didn’t manage to escape him. His reputation was on the line right as he was up for reelection. He blackmailed her into staying and made her wife number three. It kills Lanie and me.
We don’t keep secrets from each other. Lanie and Nina know everything about me and vice versa. The only exception is what Richard is holding over Nina’s head. Every time it gets brought up, she changes the subject. We don’t push because she’s made it clear that it’s the one thing she has no intention of sharing and she won’t budge. She claims it’s in our best interest not to know, which has always been my biggest concern. So, we do what we can to help her make him as miserable as he’s made her. One day we will help her find a way out.
