Kiss And Dwell (17 page)

“
Oh,
”
Monique said softly.

“
Oh,
”
Nan repeated, again sarcastically. Obviously, she
’
d woken up this morning
in nowhere near the sated, blissful state as Monique. Maybe Nan needed a
talented ghost to visit her bed at night.

Monique kept that thought to herself.

“
Or perhaps they would be sitting on the front porch drinking coffee and eating
beignets, then you zoom up the driveway in your Mustang and jump out, frantic to
get inside because your skin is on fire and you have to get to that letter,
”
Nan
continued.
“
The way you did last night.
”

“
Right, that definitely wouldn
’
t be good,
”
Monique agreed, grinning.

“
This isn
’
t funny,
”
Nan warned.

“
I know. But you have to admit, the entire picture does sound rather humorous.
”

Nan
’
s eyes widened as if she suddenly remembered something.
“
Did your ghost
show? I
’
m assuming so, since you obviously aren
’
t burning now and you seem so, I
don
’
t know, satisfied?
”

Monique nearly choked on her coffee. Satisfied. What made Nan choose that word?
“
Yes, he came,
”
Monique said, and this time fought the impulse to wince. In
truth, Ryan hadn
’
t come; she had. With gusto.

“
He crossed last night then?
”
Nan asked, apparently expecting Monique
’
s usual
response, Yes, without any problems. But Monique couldn
’
t provide the answer Nan
wanted.

“
No, he didn
’
t. In fact, he doesn
’
t have any intention of crossing—ever,
”

Monique said, as
Dax
entered through the swinging door that separated the
kitchen from what used to be a formal dining room, before the cracks in the
ceiling, holes in the walls and water stains on the threadbare carpet.
“
He
’
s
apparently been in the central realm for fourteen months and enjoys it there.
”

“
Your ghost didn
’
t cross over immediately?
”
Dax
asked, grabbing a beignet out of
the bag then heading toward the coffee. He wore his favorite LSU baseball cap, a
T-shirt that had seen better days, and faded jeans with a hole in one thigh.

“
I thought you left,
”
Nan said.
“
Didn
’
t you have to work things out with the
girl
’
s parents? Convince them to take that trip?
”

“
Whose parents?
”
Monique asked.

“
My ghost
’
s parents. Actually, I had two ghosts visit this time,
”
Dax
answered,
between bites of beignet.
“
A six-
yearold
named Chloe that I
’
m supposed to help
cross, as well as a young woman, Celeste, who evidently stayed behind to help
Chloe through. Both girls were in the same bus accident. Anyway, I was going to
visit Chloe
’
s parents today, but Celeste said they still aren
’
t ready
.

Evidently, the community where they live is having a memorial service for their
daughter this afternoon, so they won
’
t even consider leaving until that
’
s over.
”

He looked toward Monique.
“
You said your ghost didn
’
t cross right after he died?
That
’
s strange, because Celeste and Chloe didn
’
t cross immediately, either
.

That
’
s the first time I
’
ve had that happen. They died three weeks ago, but they
didn
’
t come see me until last night.
”

“
Why not?
”
Nan asked, her brows furrowing at this new glimpse into the realm
beyond the living. As Monique suspected, the family hadn
’
t heard of ghosts who
deliberately chose not to cross. Then again, Gage dealt all the time with
spirits that refused to believe they were dead; maybe this was no different. But
it had never happened to her before, and it obviously had never happened to Nan
or
Dax
, either.

“
It
’
s this trip to the beach.
”
Dax
finished off his beignet, grabbed a plate
from the cabinet and loaded it with more of the square, sugar-coated doughnuts
before carrying the mini tower to the table. He held them toward Nan and
Monique.
“
Want some?
”

“
No thanks,
”
Monique said, amazed at the consumption level of her younger
brother. He was twenty-three now, but still ate the same volume as when he was
seventeen and playing football at St. Charles High.

“
What about the trip to the beach?
”
Nan ignored the beignets
Dax
was waving
under her nose.
“
I thought you told me last night that your assigned ghost
stayed to tell her parents goodbye, and the older girl wanted to make sure the
little one found the light.
”

“
That
’
s what I thought last night,
”
Dax
said.
“
But after talking to them again
this morning, I learned there
’
s more to it than that. If it were that simple,
Chloe would have crossed with Celeste right after the accident, but they stayed
for Chloe to go on this beach trip.
”

“
What beach trip?
”
Monique asked.

“
Chloe never saw the beach when she was living. Her parents had planned to take
her next week, but then they had the bus accident on the Fourth of July and the
parents, naturally, canceled the trip. The girls were headed to a summer camp
.

Chloe was attending the camp; Celeste was a counselor.
”
He shrugged.
“
Anyway,
Chloe doesn
’
t want to cross over until she has seen the beach with her parents,
but the trip has been canceled.
”

“
So what are you going to do?
”
Monique inquired.

“
After the memorial service, I
’
ll meet Chloe
’
s parents and convince them that
their daughter needs their help to cross over,
”
he said matter-of-factly.

“
You received that information with your letter? You know where her parents
live?
”

“
Yeah, I did, so I
’
m supposed to go see them,
”
Dax
said, not containing his
excitement. During most crossings, the assigned medium simply talked to the
ghost, encouraged him or her to visit the loved one, then waited for that
overpowering sense of relief when the spirit completed the goal and found the
light. Monique had never received information on where a ghost had lived. The
only way she
’
d find out is if a ghost told her, which none had ever done, until
last night.

Lower Alabama
.

She smiled at the memory.

“
What
’
s that about?
”
Nan asked, raising her dark brows at Monique
’
s grin.

“
It
’
s just funny that after all this time helping the spirits,
Dax
and I are
both trying to help ghosts that aren
’
t quite ready to cross.
”
True, that wasn
’
t
why she had smiled, but it was an odd occurrence and worth mentioning.

“
I
’
ll tell you what
’
s funny,
”
Tristan said, entering the kitchen and letting the
screen door bounce hard against the frame behind him. He was tall and tan and
athletic, the type of fireman who would typically grace the Louisiana Firemen
calendar, an annual production that unquestionably showcased the fact that
firemen worked out regularly. Tristan, however, wasn
’
t into that kind of blatant
look-at-me mentality.

Gage followed Tristan into the kitchen and Monique couldn
’
t help but smile at
her older brother. On the other hand, if Louisiana ever started a hunky doctors
calendar, Gage would qualify as cover material and would be thrilled at all the
attention. He grinned back at Monique, his white teeth gleaming in the midst of
his rugged tan face.

Nan cocked a brow at Tristan.

“
Watch it,
”
Gage warned,
“
he
’
s fuming.
”

“
You
’
re just lucky you were helping,
”
Tristan said, turning on the water faucet
and scrubbing the brown gunk off his forearms, before moving down to his hands
.

“
Which is more than I can say for the rest of you. Eating beignets and drinking
coffee while we
’
re dragging limbs the size of small tractors across that yard
.

And we could use a tractor, by the way.
”

“
Well, when we run across a boatload of money, we
’
ll buy one,
”
Nan said,
scowling.

“
Hmph
.
”
Tristan continued scrubbing.
“
At least
Jenee
has an excuse. I met her
heading down River Road this morning. Today
’
s her day to volunteer at the
homeless shelter?
”

“
Yes,
”
Monique said, winking at Gage as she added,
“
And we didn
’
t know you
needed help, Tristan.
”

“
Shit.
”
Tristan moved away from the sink so Gage could follow suit, then dried
his hands while eyeing
Dax
’
s
plate of beignets on the table.
“
You know, I
’
d give
you a good talking-to for hogging so many beignets, if I didn
’
t know you fixed
that tarp last night. Damn saved the roof.
”
Tristan smiled.
“
Good job.
”

Dax
’
s
questioning gaze darted from Tristan to Gage to Monique and Nanette.
“
I
spent most of the night right here,
”
he pointed to the table,
“
drinking coffee
while I talked with Chloe and Celeste, the ghosts who came last night. What
happened to the tarp?
”

Gage
’
s head tilted, and he shot a what-the-hell look at Tristan before
answering.
“
It ripped nearly in two. Someone pulled the sides together in spite
of that whipping wind and managed to nail the pieces down to protect the roof
.

We
’
d have lost all of the remaining tiles, I imagine, if it hadn
’
t been fixed
.

As it was, we lost barely a handful. If you didn
’
t fix it, who did?
”

“
Ryan
Chappelle
,
”
Monique answered, instantly remembering him dripping wet when
he entered her bedroom.

“
Who?
”
Nan asked.

“
My current ghost. The one who
’
s been in the middle for fourteen months.
”

“
He hasn
’
t crossed?
”
Tristan asked.
“
In fourteen months?
”

Other than the low hum of the coffeemaker, the kitchen grew intensely quiet,
with her siblings and cousins all waiting for an explanation. Unfortunately,
telling them that Ryan kept a death grip on the land of the living in order to
fulfill women
’
s fantasies seemed an intrusion of his privacy. Plus, Monique
suspected that wasn
’
t entirely true. Ryan had enjoyed fulfilling fantasies, but
he also hadn
’
t crossed because he
’
d never loved, and he was afraid of the
unknown. And if she told them about the women
’
s fantasy thing, it
’
d also make
them wonder whether Monique had received any of his, um, fulfillment. No way
would she be able to face them if they knew she
’
d had an orgasm courtesy of her
ghost. They might actually see that as breaking the rules, which would force her
to explain that she hadn
’
t touched him and, in fact, he hadn
’
t touched her
.