Chapter 19
Remy was looking forward to seeing Ellis now that he’d said he was willing to let Theresa and Lucy help him, too. She just hoped he hadn’t changed his mind. His moods had a tendency to change quickly.
Ellis glowered at Remy upon her approach, and her heart sank. He hadn’t looked at her like that in a long time. He was still a little grumpy sometimes, but he was rarely mean to her anymore. Sometimes he was downright friendly. Not today.
“You all right?” Remy asked.
“Fine.”
“You haven’t changed your mind about meeting with us, have you?”
After a long pause, he finally said, “No, I didn’t change my mind. I’ll meet with them two harlots. Promised I would, didn’t I?”
“Ellis,” Remy began gently. She waited until he looked at her before she continued speaking. “Theresa and Lucy are my friends, and they really want to help you, but you have to be nice to them.”
Ellis rolled his eyes.
“I mean it!” Remy said sternly. “I understand this must be hard for you, and I know you’re angry about lots of things.
” And defensive, she knew better than to add.
She realized he must be feeling vulnerable and afraid at the prospect of sharing his personal problems with relative strangers.
“Look, I can deal with your insults about me, but you have to promise not to hurt my friends.”
“Fine. I promise,” Ellis said testily.
“Please,” Remy begged, anxiety welling up in her stomach. It would be just like him to get angry and lash out at Theresa and Lucy, saying horrible things he couldn’t take back. “I’m trusting you.”
Ellis whipped his head and said furiously, “And I’m trusting you!”
It had been a long time since she felt afraid of him, but the angry look in his eyes scared her.
“Ellis, I know it’s hard for you to trust anyone, but I hope you know you really can trust me. I’m your friend, and I just want to help you,” Remy said tenderly, doing her best to understand why he was so angry. He’s scared, she told herself. Be patient with him. He needs you.
His expression softened, and the sorrowful look in his eyes stunned her. He looked so lost, so alone.
“Where do you want to meet with us? Pick a place where you’ll be comfortable. Just not on a battlefield.”
Ellis nodded slowly. “Somewhere outta the main part of town. Not in front of everybody on the street.”
“Of course not, Ellis. We’ll go somewhere private where we can all talk.”
“How ’bout the Railroad Depot. The one that’s across the street from that Lincoln Diner. Behind the depot so nobody’ll be around to hear us. Saturday. Six o’clock at night.”
Remy nodded, knowing just the place he was talking about. It was on the bus tour, but the bus didn’t stop there. She and Jesse just explained the history of the Railroad Depot building as they drove by.
“Yeah, that should work. That building is a museum now, but it’ll be closed then, and nobody should be around. Good idea!”
Ellis smiled and nodded.
* * *
Theresa, Lucy, and Remy met up in Lincoln Square, which was just a short walk from where they were to meet Ellis.
They wouldn’t be alone, however. Once Jesse found out what they were up to, he made sure Sean and Avery were aware of the situation.
Jesse stood with the women now, eyes narrowed.
As Remy had predicted, he was not happy that Lucy would be in close proximity with Ellis.
In fact, Jesse didn’t want any of them to have anything to do with the guy, but he knew better than to try to talk them out of it.
Avery showed up next, looking worried. He stood next to Jesse, and they both looked mad. Remy stifled a giggle. They were kind of cute, the way they stood there ready to draw their proverbial swords to protect their women from Ellis.
Remy’s eyes opened wide as she saw a tall, incredibly handsome man walking toward them. She knew right away it must be Sean. Remy turned to Lucy and mouthed, Oh, my God.
Lucy mouthed back, I know, right?
“I saw that, little lady,” Jesse said with a wry smirk. Lucy smiled and blew him a kiss.
Theresa had not exaggerated when she had described her sexy boyfriend.
Sean was a Staff Sergeant in the Air Force, and the guy was huge, with bulging muscles everywhere.
He was dressed head to toe in camouflage and looked incredibly handsome.
Theresa got a running start and literally leapt onto him, locking her legs around his waist. Sean laughed heartily as he wrapped his arms around her.
He seemed amused but not the least bit surprised at how she had greeted him.
Yeah, Remy thought. She’s definitely getting laid tonight. She probably pounces on him like that in bed, too.
Theresa pressed her lips to his, and he eagerly kissed her back.
It was obvious how much they missed each other when he was stuck on base and couldn’t make it home for the weekend.
It made Remy smile to see her so happy with him.
Theresa finally disentangled herself from him and got back on her feet.
“Come meet Remy!” Theresa said, pulling him by the shirt.
Sean walked toward Remy with a friendly smile. He was so gorgeous that Remy felt a little shy in his presence.
“So nice to finally meet you!” Remy said warmly.
“Nice to meet you, too!” Sean said, bowing slightly instead of shaking her hand. She found it odd at first, but then she recalled Theresa telling her that he had lost several fingers in the line of duty and was self-conscious about his hands.
Remy drew in a deep breath, feeling nervous about her friends meeting with Ellis. “Thank you so much for your help with Ellis, guys,” she said to Theresa and Lucy.
“We’re glad to do it, Rem. I’m just happy he finally agreed to let us help him, ” Theresa said.
“Me too, but,” Remy said. “I just hope he behaves himself. He was in an especially bad mood yesterday. I know he’s nervous about talking about all his personal stuff…
and-and…Theresa, I want to tell you… Look, I swear to God I didn’t tell him, but he knows…
well, he knows what your ex-boyfriend tried to do to you. ”
Theresa went slightly pale, then nodded.
“You know, since he’s a ghost, he can go wherever he wants, so he sees and hears lots of stuff.”
“Tell me about it,” Lucy muttered.
“He has such a bad temper, and he can get really defensive sometimes. He lashes out when he’s mad, and I can just see him saying something horrible like…
like you deserved to be raped or something.
” Remy winced, hating to have to say those awful words out loud, but she wanted to be sure Theresa was prepared for anything.
“If he does, I swear to God,” Sean said, his voice nearly a growl. His muscles tensed, and he looked pretty scary.
“Easy, tiger,” Theresa said to him, then she turned to Remy.
“It’s okay. It’s part of the psychiatry gig.
You can’t expect to work with stable patients all the time.
At least in this case, the patient is dead so there’s only so much damage he can do.
The worst he can do is say hurtful stuff, and in the end, it’s just words.
It was good you warned me, though. It’ll be easier to keep my composure if I’m expecting him to say something like that.
” Theresa nodded, thinking. “Yeah, I know his type. He’ll probably feel the need to test me a few times to see if I’ll break. ”
“Yes, that’s exactly what he does!” Remy said, marveling at Theresa’s professionalism. She was going be a great psychiatrist. “God, I just hope this isn’t a horrible mistake. He just…he’s so lonely, and he needs help.”
“I know, Rem, and it’s real swell of ya to want to help,” Theresa said, punching her gently on the cheek.
Remy laughed and felt slightly better. “We’re gonna do everything we can to help him.
I promise. Just think how amazing it would be if we could actually help him cross over.
He’s had a rough life and afterlife, and he deserves to finally find peace. ”
“Exactly,” Remy said. “Thank you.”
Lucy looked a little nervous.
“You okay?” Remy asked her.
“Yeah, it’s just that Ellis knows some personal stuff about me, and I guess I’m kind of afraid that he’ll use it against me if he gets mad,” Lucy said.
“Darlin’, you don’t have to do this,” Jesse said, eyes blazing.
“He’s right, Lucy,” Remy said firmly. “I mean it. The guy’s been horrible to you, and I wouldn’t blame you one bit if you didn’t want anything to do with him.”
“No, it’s okay,” Lucy said, nodding with determination. “I know he’s had a really hard time of it. Sometimes it’s the meanest, angriest people who are suffering the most. He’s obviously in terrible pain and I want to do what I can to help him.”
Remy smiled at Lucy with admiration. Ellis clearly knew something about her that she didn’t want to be public knowledge, and it just might be once they were done with his session.
Even though Lucy was the soft, sensitive type whose feelings were easily hurt, she was plowing forward anyway.
That was the definition of bravery as far as Remy was concerned.
Theresa pulled out her cell phone from her pocket and glanced at the time.
“Okay, it’s almost six. He should be along any minute.
” She turned and faced Sean, Jesse, and Avery.
“Listen, you boys need to behave. You can be nearby if you insist, but you can’t be listening in on Ellis’s private session.
He’s not gonna be an easy patient, but then neither were you as I recall.
” She looked directly at Sean, who smiled at her with affection and admiration.
Theresa had fallen in love with him while counseling him for his struggles with PTSD.