Unfinished Business An Angela Panther Novel (A Chick-lit Paranormal book) (The Angela Panther Series) (29 page)

“Please, it’s my son. He’s just a little boy.”

Crap. She played the kid card. I bowed my head in defeat. I turned around and went back to the side of the bridge, away from other early risers. “Fine. I’ll help you, but only if you promise to tell whomever told you about me to stop spreading the word. I’m not doing this anymore, okay?” I hadn’t actually realized I’d made that decision until the words came out of my mouth. Honestly, I was a bit surprised and even a little ashamed at my behavior but part of me felt good to say it.

The ghost was confused. “Okay, but you’ll help me with my son?”

“Yes, fine. What do you want me to do? Tell him you love him? Tell him you’re watching over him? Tell him where you hid the expensive jewelry?” I winced at that last sentence; it was rough, even for me. I shook my head and gave her a half smile. “I’m sorry. Please, tell me what you need. I’ll do what I can, but then I really need you to tell them to not send ghosts to me anymore. Okay?”

She nodded. “My son is eight months old. He’s sick, but no one knows it yet. He’s in pain, but my husband is grieving so much, he doesn’t understand. He can’t see it. He thinks Channing cries because he’s hungry or tired or needs a diaper change, but he’s sick and he needs medical attention. Please, can you help him?”

I pulled out my ponytail and gathered my hair up again to redo it. “What do you mean, he’s sick? What does he have? Colic or something?”

“No, it’s not colic. It’s called Krabbe Disease. He got it from Stan, my husband, and from me. We both have the gene.”

I didn’t understand what she said. “I’m sorry, I don’t know what that is. Is it life threatening? Does he need to get to a hospital or something right away?”

She nodded. “He’s not going to live much longer. It’s a terrible disease that causes the protection around nerve fibers to break down, and it kills brain cells, so the nerves around the body stop working. It’s extremely painful, and that’s why he’s crying so much. But my husband, he doesn’t know we have the gene, and he’s too upset about me to see something is really wrong. I need you to tell him.”

Oh boy. This wasn’t going to be easy, I knew that much. “How do you expect me to tell him something like that? Why would he believe me? I’m a complete stranger.” I started walking in circles again, but this time it was to ward off the headache I knew was coming. “I don’t know if I can do this, Heidi. I’m sorry.”

“You have to. Please. My son is hurting. They can give him pain medicine. He doesn’t have much time left. Please, you have to tell Stan.”

I realized that no matter how hard I wished for this to stop, until I figured out how to meditate and focus, it wasn’t going to. Ghosts were going to find me, especially now that the word was apparently out, so I needed to suck it up and make the best of it. “Okay. Let’s do this. Where is your husband now?”

“He’s at home with the baby. My mother-in-law is helping, but she’s at the grocery, so you should go now, before she gets back.”

“Where is home?”

“The Cambridge subdivision. I’ll take you there.”

We got back on the path and I ran at a good clip so I’d get to the car quickly. While running Heidi talked to me and I talked back by holding the mic on my iPhone ear buds to my mouth, acting like I was talking on the phone. I’d only run about a mile before Heidi found me, but I would pay later for running back to the car in a near sprint. I’m not a runner, I’m a jogger, and there’s a big difference between the two. I knew the next day’s recovery would be brutal.

I did a few quick stretches at the car and guzzled a bottle of water. I started the car and rolled down all of the windows to let out the hot air. “I know where Cambridge is, but you’ll have to direct me to your house.”

“Okay.” She seemed nervous and I felt bad for being nasty to her. She was a mother and regardless of the fact that she was dead, she wanted to help her child. I felt like a piece of crap for trying to find a way out of helping.

We talked while I drove. “What do you want me to say to your husband...what’s his name again?”

“Stan.”

“Stan. Right. I’m gonna need something from you so he’ll believe it’s really you.”

“I know. I’ve been thinking about that.”

I waited, but she didn’t say anything else. “Well? What’d you come up with?”

“Nothing.”

“Great. This will be fun.”

“I’ll think of something, I promise.”

“I hope so. I don’t want your husband throwing me out, or better yet, calling the police.”

“He won’t. I’ll think of something.”

“Just please, please tell them, whomever
they
are, to stop sending people to me. Please. I’m not ready for this yet.”

“I will, but it won’t stop, Angela. You have a gift.”

“Yeah, I’ve heard that before, but it doesn’t feel like much of a gift. I’d prefer something like a diamond bracelet or maybe thinner thighs. This isn’t a gift. It’s more like a curse.”

The ghost smiled at me. “You’ll change your mind about it soon enough.”

“Yeah, that’s what my ma told me, but I don’t see that happening any time soon.”

“It will.”

“How do you know? Ma said the same thing, but she won’t explain it to me. Will you?”

She frowned at me. “I can’t. I don’t really understand it all myself. I just know that eventually you’ll get used to doing this, and you’ll find you’re doing it more and more, and you’ll feel good about it, too. It’s just going to take time, like an adjustment period. Turn left at the stop sign.”

“Yeah, well, I wish the adjustment period would hurry up and finish already.”

###

H
er house was a nice sage green, hardy plank two-story with a front porch. It was pretty, with flowers sprouting from three beds in the front yard and a cherry tree next to the mailbox.

“Nice flowers.”

“Stan has an incredible green thumb. I killed everything I tried to grow, but he can grow anything.”

“My thumb is black, too.”

We headed up to the front door, and I took three long, relaxing breaths before I rang the bell. Heidi told me to stay calm, that she knew this would be okay. I felt like I was going to puke.

Stan answered the door with the baby crying in his arms. I could tell he was flustered. “Yes?”

“Mr. uh,” I didn’t know his freaking last name. Sonofabitch!

“Merritt,” Heidi said.

“Mr. Merritt,” I blurted out.

“Yes, who are you?”

“Oh, I’m sorry. My name is Angela. Um, I’m a...a friend of Heidi’s.”

“You were? You don’t look familiar to me. Were you at the funeral?”

“No, I’m sorry. I wasn’t. I didn’t know your wife very well, actually, but I’m sorry for your loss. I’d like to talk with you if you don’t mind. May I come in? I won’t take up too much of your time.”

The baby continued to cry, and his head drooped backward. I glanced at Heidi, who just stared at her son.

“Um, sure, I guess. What did you say your name was again?”

“Angela.”

“Okay. Come on in.” He held the door open for me. “I’m sorry, my son is really tired. I don’t think he’s sleeping well, and I’m not sure what to do anymore. He’s crying a lot lately. Do you think maybe he senses that his mother is...is gone?”

I smiled sadly. “I think babies sense a lot of things we don’t understand, so I think he knows something. He may not be able to understand it, but I think he knows.”

We walked into a great room that was clearly decorated by a professional. Wood beams stretched the length of the two-story ceiling and a stacked stone fireplace I’d kill for centered the space. White couches sat perpendicular to the fireplace, with beige and burgundy pillows resting on them, adding a touch of color. Pictures in all shapes and sizes filled the walls, each in glass frames. It was incredibly beautiful and my mouth gaped open in awe.

“I was an interior decorator,” Heidi said.

“This is stunning. Heidi told me she was a decorator but I didn’t know how good she was.” Hmm. I was getting kind of good at this.

“Yes, she had a gift. She’s decorated several homes for the Atlanta Braves and was on a celebrity special on HGTV a few years ago. She was finally getting paid what she deserved and then she died.”

I realized then I didn’t know how Heidi died. I felt my heart start to beat faster, nervous that I’d screw this up. “I’m so sorry.”

“Yeah, well, at least she didn’t suffer. That’s what I have to keep telling myself. It was quick, and she didn’t even know.”

“I had a brain aneurysm. I was at a client’s house showing her paint samples and the next thing I knew, I was floating into a bright light. I didn’t feel a thing.”

“I understand that aneurysms are quick, and I guess that’s a blessing of sorts."

“Yes.” We both stood there for a minute, the baby crying and me looking around, trying to act casual. “May I ask why you’re here?”

“Oh, yes. Yes, I’m sorry. I know this is odd, but I wanted to talk with you about Heidi and the baby.”

“The baby?”

I breathed another deep breath in and out. Okay, two more, actually. “Yes, the baby. Oh boy. I don’t really know how to say this, so I’m just going to say it straight out. You’re gonna think I’m crazy.”

He interrupted me, and I saw his back stiffen. He put the baby, still crying, in the bassinet next to the couch. “What’s going on? What are you talking about?”

“Mr. Merritt, your baby is sick. He’s got something called Krabbe Disease and he’s in a lot of pain. That’s why he’s crying so much.”

The man looked at me, then at his baby, crying in the bassinet, then back at me again. “I don’t understand. He’s sick? How do you know that?”

“Heidi told me.”

“Heidi told you? When? Before she died? Why would she tell you and not me? I don’t understand.”

“She didn’t tell me before she died. She just told me about an hour ago.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, but I want you to leave, now.” He walked toward the front door.

I whispered to Heidi. “I could use some help here.”

“Tell him it’s in the yellow shoe box in the closet, the one with the blue top.”

I was confused. “What’s in the yellow shoe box in the closet? What are you talking about?”

“The book. Tell him.”

“The book is in the yellow shoe box in the closet. The one with the blue top.”

“Not the one with the white top. It’s the one behind it,” she said.

“Not the one with the white top, but the one behind it.”

He stopped, turned around and stared at me. The baby cried louder. “How do you know that?”

“Heidi told me. She’s here. Mr. Merritt, your wife is here and I can see her.”

I was getting used to the look of surprise on people’s faces when I told them this stuff.

“Tell him to go look. He’ll believe you then.”

“She said to go look, and that you’ll believe me.”

“She’s here, right now? In this room?”

I nodded.

Stan Merritt shook his head, walked over to the baby, who was still crying, then turned and went upstairs. I heard him moving things around and swearing.

“Don’t worry. Once he sees the book, he’ll believe you. I promise.”

“What’s the book?”

“It’s a notebook of wedding vows we wrote before our wedding. We couldn’t decide what to say, so we each wrote ideas in a notebook, but after the wedding, I put it away and couldn’t remember where. He spent most of the day looking for it yesterday and was so upset. I know when he finds it, he’ll believe you, because we’ve tried to find it for the almost five years.”

“You weren’t married five years?”

“It would be five years next month. Our life had really just started.”

“That’s sad.”

“I know, but he’s young, and he’ll find love again. It’s going to be hard, with the baby being sick and all, but he’ll be okay. His future is full of good things.”

“You can see that? His future?”

“I can see bits and pieces of it, yes, not the whole thing, but what I do see is good and I know he’ll have another family again and he’ll be happy.”

Wow. I couldn’t help but wonder what it was like for the ghosts who didn’t see good futures for their loved ones.

“Do you want me to tell him that?”

“I don’t know. Maybe.”

“Okay. When you decide, let me know.”

“I will.”

He came down with the box in hand. “The book. It was there. We’ve looked for this book since we got back from our honeymoon. Almost five years. How did you know where it was?”

“I told you, Heidi told me. Mr. Merritt, I have this...this gift, and I can see your wife. She’s here with us now, and it's really important to her that you understand your son is very sick. He needs to get to the hospital right away. That’s why he’s crying so much. He’s in a lot of pain.”

His eyes searched the room, I’m sure for a glimpse of his wife. “She’s here, now?”

“Yes. She’s standing next to the baby, on the left side of the bassinet.”

He stared that direction but his eyes never settled on Heidi. “I can’t see her.”

“I know. I’m sorry. Not everyone can see them, but they’re here with us.”

“Are there others here, too? Here? Now?”

“No, just Heidi. Please, Mr. Merritt, you have to understand how important this is. This Krabbe Disease is brutal and painful. Your son needs help.”

I think he was going into shock, because he stood there, mumbling what I’d just said.

“Tell him to buck up and focus,” Heidi said.

“Heidi said to buck up and focus.”

He shook his head. “Holy shit.”

“I knew that would get his attention."

“She knew that would get your attention."

“That’s what I always said to her when she couldn’t get a feel for a home she was decorating. Buck up and focus. Wow. She really is here.”

“That’s what I’m saying. Now do you understand about your son?”

He nodded. “Krabbe Disease. He’s sick. Pain. Hospital.”

“Yes, he needs to get to a hospital. Do you want me to drive you?”

“You have to tell him to tell the doctor that we have the gene and didn’t know it. Tell him they have to test him to make sure.”

“Heidi said you both have a gene that causes this disease and that you didn’t know it. Tell them they have test you.”