Almost You (Sunshine and Happiness)

Chapter 1

ONE

Christopher

The ghost was annoying and in my way.

He hovered in front of me, blocking the trail I needed to take.

“You’re the psychic, right? A human who visits here? I want to hire you. I don’t have money on me, obviously. But if you find my family, they might. Maybe we could figure out a payment plan?”

“Medium, actually, is the preferred term.”

“You look more like a rock ‘n’ roll roadie than a medium.” He glanced at my leather jacket and ripped jeans.

I guessed the roadie part was ’cause of my burly size and the visible neck tattoos, which included a musical note. Or maybe it was my unkempt dark hair that skimmed my shoulders. Abby used to beg me to cut it. Said she wanted to see my blue eyes more.

Abby no longer had a say in my looks. Besides, I dressed for comfort when scouting ghosts for clients. The landscape in this realm was always changing, so being too dressy made no sense. Layers were key.

This ghost was my opposite: slender to my stocky, pretty-eyed and youthful to my street-smart and jaded. He was irritatingly handsome, even in death.

“I don’t remember my name.” He frowned. “But I must have a bank account.”

“Good luck accessing it.” I examined his threadbare T-shirt and scuffed sandals. Who was he to judge my looks?

He followed my gaze. “Yeah, my clothes aren’t the best. If I’d known this was my for-all-eternity outfit, I’d have dressed better.”

He locked eyes with me and smiled.

I didn’t smile back.

I’d had a crap year. Not business-wise—many people were contacting me for séances. I’d done guest spots on talk shows, had a few celebrity clients. Things were good there. No, the crap part was my personal life, which had left me exhausted to the point where escaping the human realm was a massive relief. I’d been hurt by my ex in ways I’d never imagined. Abby, who was so kind and loved everybody and everything, couldn’t love me anymore. What did that say about me?

I moved past him. I needed to go—in the human realm, I currently sat with my distraught client, and I’d yet to complete the job of contacting her dead father.

I doubted the ghost even saw the green path behind him. Ghosts had terrible perception their first days—they had to learn to use their five senses again.

“Wait! Please?” The ghost dogged my steps. “You’re the first to even talk to me here. I need help.” His face was etched with pain.

Fuck . It was a beautiful face.

Most newbie ghosts arrived frail with old age or sickly features, mostly around their tired eyes and saggy skin. Not him. He’d died in the prime of his life. He didn’t have a clue about death-mode versus altered-mode. After a while, the ghosts realized they could change appearance at will and were not stuck in death-mode. Immediately, they’d change to their younger, fitter selves. It was like having the best filter imaginable. No need for plastic surgery when you could make your nose smaller or cheeks sharper. A homely ghost or two would try altering things completely, but it rarely worked.

I couldn’t imagine this ghost improving on his looks, though. His lips were perfectly full. His dark hair and dark eyes, offset by his creamy skin, were the picture of good health.

And shit, why was I focusing on this?

“See ya around,” I said.

He went taut. “I can’t do this.”

“You’ll be okay.”

It might have been only minutes in the human realm, but my time was valuable. Not to mention, I didn’t like all these strange…feelings.

“God.” He ran a hand through his thick hair, ignoring my attempts to leave. “I’m fucking dead .”

“You’ll be okay,” I repeated, but softer.

He stared at me, wordless, scared as hell.

Fuck this. I would not babysit him. This beautiful ghost. I did wonder who he’d been on Earth, though.

Somebody popular, I’d bet.

Not on the fringe of things like me.

That would make it harder, if his life had been a happy one.

I’d dealt with enough ghosts to know that the transition was tough when you first realized not only the being dead part, but also the nothingness. Your past erased. No clichéd people to haunt, not when you couldn’t remember them. No memories of hate or love. Just an absolute blank. You had to accept it; that was the secret. But this newbie ghost had his giant doe eyes on me. And dammit, I caved.

“I can stay with you some more…at least until I spot my client’s father,” I told him with a sigh.

He nodded. I really fucking needed to be as hard on the inside as I appeared on the outside.

I tried to be firm, crossing my arms. “If I see him, I have to leave you.”

“How will you find him?”

“I have pictures of him from different stages of his life, and I know some intimate details about the guy, but my job is still like digging for nuggets of gold in a river of shit.”

He snorted. “Good description. This whole place is colorless shit. What’s your name?” He smiled again, his hopeful warm eyes shining. His body had relaxed since I’d promised to stay with him longer.

What a smile he had.

I’d met hundreds of ghosts, but none that lit up the nothingness like him. I couldn’t hold back this time, and my mouth curved slightly in return.

“Christopher,” I said.