A Ghost of a Chance (18 page)

She grinned. He had no idea how strange. How would he respond just now if she told him that she’d fallen in love with a ghost? He’d probably take it as a confirmation of all his past condemnations of her. She said nothing, content to let him stew in his own anxiety.

“
So I was wondering. Do you think dreams mean anything?”

She considered carefully, feeling a trap nearby just waiting for her to topple in. “No, I don’t.”

“
Nothing at all?”

“
No. I think there merely a reflection of what you’ve had for dinner.”

He blanched a bit, which was no easy feat considering his natural complexion. “I’m surprised.” Did she note a disappointment in his voice? Did she care?

“
Anything else?”

“
I was just going to tell you about a dream that I had, but if you don’t think it means anything.”

“
No, not a thing,” she fired back quickly.

“
Well, frankly because I was very drawn to you in the dream, and I thought it might mean.” Then he stopped, and she was grateful.

“
It means nothing, Edward. Don’t over think it. Let it go.” She glanced up at him for a second. He seemed completely befuddled, as though the woman before him was a complete stranger. To him, perhaps she was.

“
Then you’re happy, apart I mean?”

She picked up her purse. She couldn’t wait, couldn’t wait to tear out of here. “Perfectly happy, Edward,” she stood up, “Good-bye, have to run.” And she forced her anxious feet to slow their pace out of the restaurant.

He watched her the rest of the evening, somewhat perplexed. Her thoughts were not with him at the moment. They were somewhere else. Slaying dragons of her own, he suspected.

He was gratified in some measure by the way the evening had gone with Edward but disturbed at the same time. Yes, he was jealous. Not of Edward as a man, from what he’d seen he was pretty worthless, but of Edward as a living breathing man existing in the same physical space as Hallie. That was something insurmountable that he could not compete with. But he couldn’t deal with that reality at the moment. There was another matter.

Hallie pulled a light blue afghan that she had wrapped around her shoulders more tightly around her. It was perceptible. The cold spots in the house were growing. Edward’s sudden appearance at this time was no coincidence. He was influenced. “It” was getting desperate to somehow pull her away from him. He was a threat. “It” was getting reckless, and that alarmed him greatly. Now he struggled with the dilemma of whether or not it was the time to make Hallie aware of the other presence in the house.

She settled in the rocking chair with a tablet that she was scribbling notes on and slowly began to doze into a light sleep.

It was what he’d been waiting for. He closed his own eyes, intent on catching her in between.

Hallie’s eyes flickered open. She was still in the den. Everything appeared the same, except for one small thing. Jack was standing across the room near the fireplace. Funny, how natural it seemed to see him standing there. It hadn’t startled her at all. “I must be dreaming,” she whispered.

At the sound of her voice, he turned to her. He was dressed casually in a blue shirt and khaki pants. The blue shirt just emphasized the clear blueness of his eyes. He looked so absolutely gorgeous and vibrant to her. How could he not be alive? But he didn’t seem happy. “You’re somewhere in between. That place between dreaming and wakefulness.”

She smiled straightening up. “Why come here? We have such interesting dreams together.” He didn’t seem amused or even enticed. Something definitely was bothering him. “It’s safer this way.”

“
Safer? Why?”

He came near, sitting in the recliner next to her. Instinctively, she reached out her hand to touch him, but he pulled back. “Better not. This is a very tenuous state.”

“
What’s the matter? You look so grim.”

He frowned more explicitly, “Did you enjoy your dinner?”

Ah, he seemed a little upset with her, about Edward perhaps. “Were you there?” She rubbed her eyes. It truly felt as though she was awake. Jack was so near. She swore she could feel warmth emanating from him.

“
I tag along at most places you go.” She’d never seen him so out of sorts, even when he’d stood on his New York City balcony explaining to her that he was really a ghost.

“
Well the food wasn’t very good, and the company was worse.”

He nodded, “I was a little surprised that you went at all.”

She rubbed her arms. It was so chilly in here now, and his intensity was making her uncomfortable. He was possessive of her, for someone who wasn’t even alive very possessive, or was it protective? “Yes, I was surprised too. I guess I had to prove some things to myself.”

He rubbed his hands together thoughtfully. He had such nice hands, nice big strong hands that looked like they could build a house or sculpt a great work of art. “Did you?”

She smiled sadly, “Who knows? Somehow I think closure is a myth. But I feel better about things, some things.” She looked away struck again by the enormity of their particular dilemma.

He grimaced, not yet willing to let it go. “Edward has caused you a lot of pain in the past. I think it would be best for you to stay away from him.”

She smiled a little bemused. “Is that an order Jack?”

“
No, let’s just say it’s a deep desire of mine. It’s my experience not to trust a snake once it’s bitten you. And you’re very trusting.”

“
I never said I trusted him Jack. I just had to set some things straight in my own mind. Maybe prove that I had changed,” she paused, “at least to myself.”

With a tangible sigh, “I understand.”

“
Do you?”

“
No, but I’ll put it aside if you say so.” He had to admit that he did feel a difference in her. It was not something that would be perceptible to everyone, but there was a quality, a greater assurance. Much as he’d hated her going, perhaps she had gained something during her meeting with Edward. Maybe she wasn’t as vulnerable as he thought she was. Grimly, he wondered if he was really someone she needed now. “It’s not as though I can really have any kind of claim on you.”

Now she was getting disgruntled. “First of all, I’m not that trusting.” He smiled at her. Evidently, he wasn’t buying it, “and second, I’ll decide who has and hasn’t a claim on me.”

His eyebrow raised, “Really?”

“
Yes, and I care about you,” and then she tacked on, “a lot.”

“
I know that.”

“
Do you Jack? Do you have any idea how ridiculously tormenting this situation is?”

His eyes on her were unflinching. “Yes Hallie, you’re not the only tormented one.” She looked away for a moment, wondering if she was blushing. The intonation of his voice reminded her of things like his kisses and the feel of his arms around her.

Another wave of palpable cold hit her, and she pulled the afghan tighter around her shoulders. Jack looked around almost angrily. “What is it Jack? “

He shook his head. “It’s complicated.”

“
Is there anything about this situation that isn’t complicated?”

“
I think you should push to finish your book. This house may not be the best place for you right now.”

“
Why? What is it?”

“
I don’t want to worry you Hallie.”

“
Too late,” she quipped.

Again, he looked to her intently. She knew and felt there was more he wasn’t saying. “Can you just trust me for a little while Hallie?”

She sighed dissatisfied, “I don’t seem to have a lot of choice here.”

He nodded, “There is something I need to ask you about though.”

“
What is it?”

“
It’s about Sebastian Winters.”

CHAPTER TWELVE

He patiently waited in the den for Hallie’s Aunt Marie. Hallie had gone to bed hours ago. He had been beside her, watching her sleep for some time. On some level, he supposed, he had delayed taking action on this front. His purpose in being here had been clear to him for some time, although fully acknowledging it was another matter. He was to free Hallie from whatever this thing was that had insinuated itself into her life.

But in doing so, he also knew that his reason for being here would no longer exist. Even contemplating not being with or just near Hallie left him with a sense of hopelessness that seemed intolerable. This ongoing struggle had only been exacerbated by a recent awareness. An anxiousness had set in, as though time were running out and an inevitability was becoming clear.

A clock was ticking somewhere; there wasn’t any more room for his selfishness. It was far past time to put himself behind her needs.

Aunt Marie stood in the shadows across the room, her expression grave. “I see you’ve gotten down to business.”

“
I need a few questions answered.”

She moved toward him, looking somewhat different. A little younger he thought. Her hair was blondish now and only sprinkled with grey. “What’s happening with you?”

“
I’m changing a bit, to a younger version of myself. My time here, helping you, is reaching its conclusion, and the physical self you see is reverting into a proper reflection of my spirit.”

He nodded, “I don’t really follow.”

“
I know,” that warming grin, “but it’s not very important right now. Let’s just say it’s the natural course of things. What do you want to know?”

As was his custom with Aunt Marie, directness seemed to be the best avenue. “I spoke to Hallie tonight. And she told me about her first inspiration for Sebastian Winters.”

The smile turned grim, “Don’t you mean appearance?” He could see that she was on the same page, so to speak, as he was, “Yes, perhaps I do. She said that it was not long after her divorce from Edward.”

“
Yes, I remember that.” Her voice became distant as though she were flipping through a scrapbook from long ago. “She’d gone back to spend some time at her mother’s house in North Carolina. Hallie was in very bad shape back then Jack. I could venture to say the lowest point of her life. You see, she’d lost a baby earlier that year.”

“
Yes, and she said it was her intention just to begin writing her thoughts down when. . .when something guided her to begin the first Samory novel.”

She clicked her tongue in agreement. It was a little affirmative noise that he’d noticed she was apt to do at odd moments. “Channeling.”

“
What was that?”

“
Of course, it must be. When another spirit uses your body for its purposes, in this case for self-expression.”

“
A little grisly for self-expression.”

She shrugged, “Well I suppose you have to consider the source.”

“
So then you’re saying Sebastian Winters is actually,”

“
That’s right my boy, someone else entirely.”

“
But that can’t be right because I’ve seen Hallie writing and much of it comes from her.”

“
Except the part that comes from you.” Her eyes sparkled impishly. She hadn’t missed anything. Maybe she had a point. Perhaps he wasn’t the only influence here, and he had cut in on “its” turf. No wonder it was so damn angry.

“
I had the idea that there might be some clue in that first piece that Hallie wrote.”

“
Maybe at least in the world she created.”

“
What do you mean the world?”

Her soft, light voice had taken on a steely quality. “What I mean to say is that I think you might need to take a little trip Jack, into the reality of Sebastian Winters.”

That elusive feeling of urgency swept up through him again. “That sounds a bit unsettling.”

“
Yes, “ she said solemnly, “I imagine it will be.”

The house lay silenced by the darkness of the night. He had visited Hallie again. Silently he watched her, being so horribly tempted to throw caution to the wind and enter her dreams where she could be his. But he knew it was too risky; he couldn’t leave her unprotected again, no matter how much the possibilities beckoned and tantalized him.

He left her under the guard of the hound bearing his name and headed into the study. There was work,
wild work
, to be done. He’d spotted it standing on her bookshelf amongst a collection of other volumes. It was in paperback. None of her books had made it into hardback. They’d gone straight to paper.