Chapter 13 Tomorrow #2
“When Johnny lost the race on Scotty’s Curve, she was riding shotgun with him. She was the one who he was with when he died.” Still clutching her phone, she points to a spot a little to the right of where I’m kneeling in the dirt. “Look. She has a marker right there. Cassandra Miller. 1930-1953.”
I don’t want to see.
“He told me that he didn’t want to lose me.” I peer up at Em instead. “I insisted he let me ride with him, and he did. During the race last night.”
Her face shadows over. “And the crash.”
Crash? “We didn’t crash.”
“He crashes every year. The same way he did the night he died. It’s part of his curse.”
That’s nice. All I know is that, unless the wreck happened after he left me at my apartment, he didn’t crash with me.
But since Em seems to know everything else about my ghostly lover…
“Does he take a different girl out of the diner every Halloween?”
An unsuspecting girl wearing the poodle skirt getup, the perfect 1950s dream to his greaser ghost?
“No. You were the first one.”
Jeez. If I can really believe what she’s saying, then he hasn’t gotten laid in at least that long. Shit. Seventy-plus years of celibacy… no wonder he reacted the way he did when I let him bend me over the hood of his car.
Can I believe it?
Can I believe any of this?
“Em, I don’t know—”
“He was waiting for his true love to come back to him.” Emily taps the screen, then pockets her phone. “He was waiting for you.”
No. Not me.
“I’m not that girl,” I say, pointing out the obvious.
“Oh, I know you’re not. And Johnny does, too. I can…” She shudders out a breath. “This is going to sound ridiculous.”
Despite how stunned I am at her revelations, I bark out a short laugh. “Really? You just told me that I went on a date with”—and, you know, had sex with—“a real 1950s greaser ghost. If I can buy that, nothing you can say will sound crazy to me.”
A small nod, like she’s agreeing with me. “Right. Okay. Johnny is my great-uncle. My grandfather was his younger brother. I’m his family.”
My tongue darts out, nervously licking my bottom lip. “Okay…”
“I can…” She closes her eyes. The same blue eyes that Johnny has… “I can sense when he’s near. If I focus, he can sometimes tell me what he wants. And I know that, from the moment you walked into the diner, he wanted you.”
She has no idea how badly I want to believe that. And it’s way too embarrassing to admit that, so I don’t.
Instead, I think about what she just said.
“Wait a sec… does it feel like the air is thick? That the shadows are suffocating? Like someone’s always watching you?
” I remember how often I felt like I wasn’t alone these past few months.
When Johnny said that I knew him, I thought he was full of shit.
I’m certainly not this Cassie chick, but is that what he means?
Has he really been my Casper all along? “Like you can hear his voice, not with your ears, but with your soul?”
Emily opens her eyes. “Actually… yes. All of that.”
So we’ve both been haunted by Johnny Gray, huh?
And all because I look like a woman who died forty years before I was born…
That just makes it so much worse that I’m kneeling beside the grave of the man I had kissed, the man who had touched me like I belonged to him, and I don’t know what I’m supposed to do next.
It was one day. One day. Not even. You don’t fall in love in less than a day, but I… I think I did.
I fell in love with a ghost. Or I thought I did.
Now I don’t know what to think, either.
At least, I finally know what to do now. Giving the mossy stone one last look, I get back to my feet and search for Em.
She’s right there.
“You ready to head back, sugar?”
I nod.
Em puts her arm around my shoulder. “Home or the diner?”
She can’t honestly believe I want to be alone with my thoughts—or the ghost I fucked who might or might not be haunting my apartment—right now. “If I go back to the diner and finish my shift, will I get paid for it?”
“Of course.”
“Then the diner, if that’s okay.”
She squeezes my bicep. “More than okay.”
It’s a shame that I spent so many years getting my Masters in Social Work. I loved helping people, but I missed my calling on the stage.
I never thought of myself as a good actress. I guess I didn’t give myself enough credit because, despite the bomb that Em just dropped on me, I managed to get through the rest of my shift without anyone having any idea that I just found out that: a) ghosts are real, and b) I fucked one.
Yeah. I’m not getting over that part of it any time soon, am I?
The rest of it I could fake, and if I say so myself, I did a pretty amazing job.
Not even Derek picked up on how weirded out I was when I first returned to the Shadowvale Diner with Em.
True, it could be because we had another rush earlier than usual, but I’m gonna take credit for how I pushed the idea that Johnny’s dead, that he could be here now, that he could be watching me at any time…
I pushed that right out of my head, pulling a smile to face, and giving such great customer service that I beat my tip record in a fraction of the time.
Or maybe all my customers could tell I was a second way from losing it, I suck at lying, and my face gives away what I’m thinking every fucking time.
Eh. Po-ta-to, po-tah-to.
Em does a pretty good job of keeping upbeat. She relieved Gloria as soon as we returned, letting Lee head out an hour before close. Once again, that left Derek, me, Em, and Cookie to close up and shut down for the night.
As soon as we were given the go-ahead to head on out, I gather my stuff along with Derek, following him outside.
He has his car back, a low-rider, shiny black two-seater, and it might not be as striking as Johnny’s Mustang—wherever a dead man could get a car like that from—but it catches my attention.
I turn to Derek. “Hey. Um… you know how you always offer me a ride and I always say ‘no’?”
Derek nods. “Yeah.”
“So… I was wondering… you think you could give me a lift tonight?”
He presses the button on the keys in his pocket. The car beeps, the door unlocking.
He grins at me, a perfectly friendly grin. “Hell, yeah, Cass. Get on in.”
Derek’s grin is short-lived.
He coasts over to the edge of the curved road, eyeing the dark woods to our right with a frown. “You sure this is where you want me to take you? Scotty’s Curve?”
Yes.
My purse is on my lap. I nervously knead the strap. “Yup.”
“And you don’t want me to stick around, right?”
I shake my head. “No, thanks.”
“Service is shit up here, Cass. If you’re gonna call a ride back into town, you might not be able to get anyone on the line. Same with the internet. The apps don’t always work.”
He’s so cute, worrying about me. “I’ll be okay, Derek. Promise.”
I just want to sit here a little longer. I don’t know why I thought it was a great idea to come back here after Em already brought me to the spot where Johnny died all those years ago, but it seemed… I guess ‘right’ is the best word for it. It seems right to be up here tonight.
Besides, it’s barely six-thirty. I could take the path down, head toward the old stone quarry, and probably manage to order a ride-share car to bring me back to my apartment before eight.
It’s not like I plan on sitting up here all night.
Just a little longer to get my head on straight before I head home and confront Casper.
Oh, sorry.
Not Casper.
Johnny fucking Gray.
Giving Derek a thin-lipped smile, I reach for the door handle. “Thanks again. I really appreciate it.”
“Cass—”
Nope. It’s sweet that he’s worried, but I’m okay. I slide off of the seat, hurriedly exiting his car. It’s not easy, but I manage, and I give him a quick wave before pushing the door closed.
For a moment, Derek idles on the side of the road. I take a step back. He gives me a half-hearted wave, then guns it.
Phew. I really thought he’d press harder to stick around. He’s a good kid, but I’m just his co-worker and he had plans to meet up with his girlfriend. I’m just grateful he agreed to take me here instead of insisting on bringing me to my apartment.
Let him think something’s up with me. Let him think I’m strange for hiding my address.
He’s not wrong, is he?
I wait until he’s vanished down the curved road, out of sight, before I tromp through the woods again, taking the same path as Emily.
Only when I find the scattered flowers and the hidden stone with Johnny’s name on it do I pause.
Cupping my hands around my mouth, I call out, “Johnny? Are you here?”
I don’t know why I expected him to answer. That’s insane. I’ve gone insane. Only, if I am, so is my boss, and probably half of Shadowvale at this rate.
Where is he? I didn’t sense him at the diner, and when I woke up this morning, there was no doubt in my mind that I was alone. Did he get what he wanted?
What does he want?
I don’t know, but determined to find out, I sink down on the grass, sitting beside the stone bearing his name, and wait.
It isn’t long before I get the strangest sensation that someone is staring at my back. It’s not the same as the all-consuming attention I’m used to when I’m in the apartment, but I’m outside. It has to be Johnny—
It isn’t.
Staring up at the man who had crept up behind me, looming in the not-too-far distance, I nearly choke.
It can’t be…
“Ryan?”
He smiles.
My obsessed stalker has the audacity to smile.
“Surprise, Cass. Miss me, baby?”