Chapter Thirty-Two

Three weeks later Being busy was like having a flotation device to help me keep my head above water. Jake and I tried to have a meal together once a week, but he’d had to cancel the last two because of work. Eliza was on a mission and couldn’t get away, and Magnolia and I had gone to the movies twice, but we had vastly different taste, which made me just miss Carma more. I started hanging out in the lobby of my building just to have something to do.

Finding my new routine had kept me from spiraling more than I already had, but I was still trying to figure out what I wanted to do career-wise. Amber was trying to teach me how to cook, with mixed results. Reggie ran alongside me in the mornings, which was a habit that was growing on me. Even Doris had waved at me the other day. Waved. At me.

The nights were the hardest. I flipped endlessly through books, shows, and movies that didn’t hold my interest. Now that I was finally allowed to have social media, since I no longer worked undercover, I found most of it pointless. I even tried a paint-by-number picture but spilled my brown paint and threw the whole thing away.

As the sun dipped down in the sky, I sighed. Another night was here. In good news, with Mom and Isaac’s small but beautiful wedding swiftly approaching, I had plenty of things to occupy me. Today, I was handwriting the place cards. There were only going to be about twenty-five people there, but I also had to teach myself calligraphy.

Reggie and Clint were locked in a fierce chess battle, although they were so busy making heart eyes at each other, the game had been going on for two days. I would be disgusted if I wasn’t so happy for them. They hadn’t found true love while they were alive, and it was inspiring to know there was a chance for them now.

Belphegor moseyed in with Amber on his arm. The demon held out a chair for her before sitting next to her. She had taken to visiting whenever George fell asleep in front of the television after dinner. We sat in companionable silence as she counted her stitches. Belphegor untangled her yarn and wrapped it around his large hand.

I smiled. It may be a weird group of friends—these ghosts, a grandma who liked to knit for demons, and an actual demon—but they had been my rock as I found the new me again. My found family, reminding me I wasn’t as alone as I used to feel. When I finished the place cards, I reached over and snagged a real estate magazine that had been dropped off on one of the chairs.

“Thinking about moving?” Amber asked.

I shook my head. “Nah. I just like to look at houses I can’t afford.”

“Used to do that all the time,” Reggie added. “Now I just haunt them.”

I rolled my eyes. I admit I’d expected Reggie to search for Sebastian high and low since he left, but after the first week he seemed to lose interest. I wanted to ask him about it, but I chickened out every time. I wasn’t ready to deal with that loss yet.

As I turned the page in the magazine, I froze. I looked up at my companions, then back at the photo. There’s no way.

“What’s wrong, dear?” Amber asked. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

“The Blackburn House is for sale.” Memories of Carma in my arms, telling me how she’d redecorate the outside if it was her bed and breakfast sliced through the peaceful facade I had created.

“Oh yes, Doris was talking about them downsizing and moving to Florida.”

I took a picture of the page before remembering I didn’t have Carma’s number in my phone. I had replaced it with Eliza’s number in case I tried to drunk dial Carma. I could send it by postal mail, but it’d take her a few days to get it. I moved to delete the picture when I remembered Carma had sent me a fundraiser to-do list from her personal email.

Scanning my inbox, I found her address.

Thought you might like to see this. Hope you’re doing well. Mina I attached the picture and hit send before I could chicken out. The back of my neck and my underarms were damp, as if I had just run a marathon. So much for being over her.

We all looked over when the front door opened, and I shot straight out of my chair when Jake walked in, looking exhausted. His tie was loose, and exhaustion lined his face. He lifted up a paper bag and gave me a half smile. “Dinner? I know I’m like…two weeks late.”

I smiled wide. I had missed my best friend. “Dinner sounds perfect.”

I gathered the cards and the magazine, then followed him to the elevator Belphegor somehow managed to fix. While my instincts told me never to trust a demon or his handiwork, I knew he wouldn’t put Amber or George in danger. I grudgingly respected him, and his love for the Andrews.

When we walked into my apartment, Jake stilled. “You got new furniture!”

I looked at the gray couch and yellow chair, the new additions to my living room. I shouldn’t have been spending money without a steady income, but the small change helped make this place feel a little more like the new me. “I did.”

“I like it.” He set the bag on the new glass top coffee table while I moved to get plates and utensils. He set up the Lebanese spread, as if we had just dined together last week, and we began to eat.

“How goes the research?” I finally asked, unable to stand the silence.

He set down his salad. “It comes in waves. Somedays we’re really lucky, then others we find nothing. I’m sorry I had to disappear. It’s all…overwhelming.”

“I get it.”

He looked at the door. “Hey, there’s something I wanted to talk to you about. It took me awhile to get things situated, but I got a new roommate. Lost the bet, after all.”

“Bet?”

“You won fair and square. You got the food sample first, remember?”

Ghost bumps ran down my left arm, and I spun around and shot up from my chair, trying to blink the tears out of my eyes so they wouldn’t blur my vision. Sebastian appeared, took off his top hat, and bowed. “Miss Mina. I’m ecstatic to see you finally resorted to sense and got rid of that godforsaken chair.”

My hands flew to my face on a gasp. Sebastian leaned as close as he could, and I wished I could wrap my arms around him in a tight hug. Two tears streamed down my face, and he startled. “You’re crying, love.”

I laughed and sniffed. “I do that now, apparently.”

Noise from behind him announced Reggie’s arrival. The two ran at each other and hugged, speaking quickly in low tones. I turned to Jake and tried to form words, but no sound came out.

“It’s weird, I’ll give you that. But I convinced the board how vital Sebastian was to the case, and his residency was approved.”

I moved to Jake and wrapped my arms around him in a tight hug. “Thank you,” I whispered into his shoulder.

He put his arms around my waist and squeezed. “You ready for your mom’s wedding?”

I released him and took a step back and smiled. “You know what? I’m actually excited.”

“Good. Isaac is a good man.”

“He is.”

“You bringing a date?”

I rolled my eyes and went back to the armchair. Sebastian moved to his spot on the couch, Reggie next to him. “Nope, unless you count one of these guys.” I gestured to my ghosts. “Carma’s not interested in continuing our relationship.”

Jake picked up his salad and speared a tomato. “Never knew you to be a chicken, Summers.”

I threw a piece of pita bread at him. “Watch it, Robinson. I know all your secrets.”

He just winked at me.