Chapter 2
Ever since Jesse had joined the Blue and Gray Touring Company, it seemed Remy’s circle of friends had widened considerably. She smiled as she sat at a table with Jesse, Lucy, and Lucy’s best friend, Theresa, at a local pub in Lincoln Square.
“You weren’t kidding about this place. This burger is delicious!
” The huge sandwich tasted especially good since Remy hadn’t had anything to eat since breakfast. Money was tight, and sometimes she had to skip meals to make ends meet.
She’d graduated from Penn State last year with a degree in Recreation, Park, and Tourism Management and, between school loans and paying rent, she was pretty broke.
She was worried about how much this dinner out would cost, but she was lonely and couldn’t bear turning down the invitation to be with her friends.
“Is Sean still on base?” Remy asked Theresa, who nodded as she bit into her own sizable burger.
Theresa’s boyfriend, Sean Stone, was a sergeant in the Air Force and was stationed at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland. Remy hadn’t met him yet, but had heard good things about him not only from Theresa, but also from Lucy and Jesse.
“Let him stay on base!” Jesse declared. “I like being the only guy around you beautiful ladies.”
Remy smiled at him. He’s so sweet, she thought.
He was handsome and chivalrous, and Remy had developed a huge crush on him when he came to work with her.
Then she discovered he had a girlfriend whom he was madly in love with.
Remy had been disappointed at first, but soon became quite fond of Lucy.
Jesse had told Remy his girlfriend was painfully shy when first getting to know strangers, so Remy had been especially gentle with Lucy when they first met. Now they were close friends.
“Sean’ll be back this weekend,” Theresa told her. “Then maybe you can finally meet him.”
“That would be nice,” Remy said.
“Yeah, you gotta meet him. He’s so nice,” Lucy said. “And he’s gorgeous.”
Jesse frowned at Lucy, but then shrugged. “Yeah. I can’t even argue. The guy is, as you ladies would say, ‘hawt,’” he said, making air quotes as he spoke.
All three women laughed.
“Seriously, he’s really big and really cute, and I was afraid to talk to him at first. I know you’re shocked,” Lucy said. “But he’s such a sweetheart.”
“He is. And he’s great in the sack,” Theresa said.
Remy and Lucy giggled. Remy suspected had anyone else said that, Lucy would have blushed fiercely. She seemed to be used to Theresa’s outspokenness by now.
Sean wasn’t the only one Lucy had been afraid to speak to at first. Lucy had confessed to Remy that she'd been terrified of Theresa when she'd first been paired with her as her roommate at Gettysburg College.
However, Theresa was as kind as she was bold, and she had helped draw Lucy out of her shell.
They'd been the best of friends ever since.
Remy checked the time on her cell phone. “Oh, man. I gotta get going. I got two back-to-back ghost tours tonight.” Though she enjoyed the ghost tours because she had fun with the tourists, she was already exhausted after being on her feet all day doing battlefield tours.
“You work too much,” Jesse observed, worry in his voice.
“I work or I don’t eat,” Remy said simply. Things had been especially rough lately, as she’d had to miss a few days of work because she’d been sick.
“Speaking of which, I got this, hon,” Theresa said as she picked up Remy’s dinner bill.
“No way. I can’t let you do that,” Remy said, reaching for the tab.
Theresa triumphantly held the bill above her head. “Ha-ha, I’m taller than you! I’m paying it so quit arguing.”
“Thanks, Theresa. I really appreciate it,” Remy said, relief flooding through her. Theresa picking up the tab was a huge help, and they both knew it. Remy hated being dependent on people, but Theresa came from a wealthy family, and it wouldn’t be a hardship for her to pay for Remy’s meal.
“See you guys later,” Remy said as she got up from the table.
“Don’t let them ghosts getcha!” Jesse called out to her.
Remy giggled and rolled her eyes. “Yeah, okay, Jess.”
* * *
Lucy, Jesse, and Theresa found it amusing that Remy didn’t believe in ghosts. She had just shared a meal with a former one, not to mention there was a certain dead Confederate soldier who was utterly enamored with her.
“Remy’s such a sweet girl,” Theresa said. “Can’t help but think she deserves to know how that guy feels about her.”
“Oh, now, don’t you start,” Lucy said.
“Well, it’s true! She works herself to death, and I know she’s lonely sometimes, and here she’s got this man who’s totally crazy about her and she has no idea.”
Lucy nodded, but still felt torn. Theresa was well aware that Avery was dead and understood Lucy’s reasons for not wanting Remy to know about him.
Theresa had stood by Lucy during her whole relationship with Jesse, and no one had been happier for her than Theresa when Jesse had been able to come back to life.
At the same time, Jesse’s enemy-turned-friend, Joel, had crossed over to finally reunite with his wife and children.
In fact, Theresa had been so inspired by what happened that she’d started putting her psychology schooling to good use and ran a counseling group for some of Gettysburg’s dead soldiers.
And, since her boyfriend Sean suffered from Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome, she held a special place in her heart for soldiers who were suffering.
“I know Avery is lonely, too,” Jesse said.
Lucy sighed deeply. From everything Jesse had told her, Avery sounded like a wonderful man.
She knew he was lonely, and that made her sad.
But Lucy couldn’t help feeling protective of Remy.
She was such a sweet girl, and Lucy didn’t want her going through what she had gone through with Jesse.
They’d talked to spirits who had been around since the great battle, and none of them had ever seen anyone else come back like Jesse did.
Lucy didn’t want Remy getting attached to this man, only to have him cross over and leave her behind.
“I know he is,” Lucy said. “But I just can’t stand the thought of Remy getting hurt. She has enough going on.”
Remy was estranged from her family. Her parents had divorced a long time ago, and her mother was an abusive alcoholic who said terrible things to Remy, often calling her worthless. She’d even called her a mistake. A mistake. How could any mother say such a thing to her child?
“She sure does,” Jesse said. “So don’t you think she could use another friend?”
Lucy fell silent for a moment.
“I just remember how it feels to be like he is. You can’t touch anybody, and people don’t talk to you much.” Jesse took Lucy’s hand in his. “I was so lonely, and I was so much in love with you. I would have given anything just to talk with you, to hear you say my name.”
Lucy squeezed his hand and smiled at him.
She couldn’t imagine what it must be like to exist as a ghost. She felt badly for Avery, all alone and pining for Remy.
But Lucy remembered all too well that day when Joel crossed over and Jesse nearly followed him.
Lucy wanted Jesse to be at peace and had done her best to put his happiness above her own.
When Jesse disappeared into the portal before his last-minute reprieve, Lucy felt like her heart had been torn from her chest. Had he gone, she would have grieved for him for the rest of her life.
“Do you think he’s in love with her?” Lucy asked.
“Yeah. I really do,” Jesse said.
Lucy sighed again. She let go of Jesse’s hand so she could take a sip of her Diet Coke.
“You know that big memorial thing up on Little Round Top?” Jesse asked. “The one that looks like a castle?”
Lucy nodded as she drank her soda.
“Remy went up there today, and Avery said he felt like he was Romeo lookin’ up at Juliet in her balcony.”
“Oh, my God,” Lucy moaned, putting a hand over her heart. Lucy was a hopeless romantic, and Jesse damn well knew it.
Theresa cackled. “You’re wicked, Jesse. Wicked.”
Jesse grinned slyly. “Yeah, I knew that’d do it.”
“He really said that?” Lucy asked.
“Yes, my lovely rose. He sure did.” Jesse called her rose because he always said that, though she was a Yankee, she was his honorary yellow rose of Texas.
Lucy moaned again, and Jesse looked into her eyes.
“Darlin’, they’ll probably just be friends if I introduce them, and there’ll be nothin’ to worry about. I won’t do it if you don’t want me to, but I really want Avery to have a chance to talk with her.”
“Really, Jess? The sad eyes?” Theresa asked. “Go ahead, Luce. Say no. I dare you.”
Lucy slumped back in her chair, resigned to her fate. “I can’t.”
Theresa chuckled as she polished off the rest of her French fries.
Jesse grinned. “Thank you, darlin’! Everything is gonna be jus’ fine. You’ll see.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Lucy said, still unable to look away from that handsome face she loved so dearly. She sat up, gently touched his cheek, and smiled.