I spoke. “For being angry with you when you died, for giving Dad such a hard time like it was his fault, and for resenting Chase.” After Mom had died, I’d hated the world: Dad for getting Mom pregnant, Mom for not being strong enough to survive childbirth, Chase for being born. I had even been angry with my friends for trying to comfort me. It had taken me a long time to realize the hatred that burned inside me was grief and that the same people I had been pushing away were the ones who were making sure Mom’s memory didn’t die along with her. I swiped at a tear. “I was pretty hard to live with when you left.”
“But you got past that, and you’ve grown into a wonderful young lady that I’m so very proud of.” Her ghostly hand came to rest on my knee. I couldn’t feel it. “Madison, it’s how a person comes out of a difficult time that counts.”
I smiled. It was amazing to have Mom there. I rambled on about the last few years, absentmindedly rubbing the orchid charm. I told her about school, how Dad’s handyman business had grown, and how Chase had her eyes. “Chase possesses the powers too.”
Mom laughed so hard when I told her about the presents bobbing their way into the kitchen during Chase’s birthday party, and I found myself laughing right along with her. “I made him promise not to wish anything into becoming real. Isaac said it should be enough to keep his powers locked down, for now.”
“You’re father has an open mind. When you’re ready to tell him what you and Chase are, he’ll be able to accept it.”
“I know.” Dad had always been supportive of Chase and me.
“So…” Mom’s eyes grew to the size of golf balls. “Tell me about Isaac.”
A smile stretched across my face. “He’s caring and fun, and he gets this sly sort of smirk when he looks at me.” I scrunched my nose. “It makes my heart skip a beat.” I paused. “I like who I am when I’m with him. I think you’d like him.”
“I’ve seen you with him. He’s a good guy, Madison.” Her gaze dropped to my hand. “If you’re not careful, you’re going to lose him.”
Just like Dad had said. I palmed the charm, holding it hidden in my grip. “Caden’s just a friend.” Whom I happened to have a complicated relationship with.
Mom ran a hand over the grass. Her fingers passed through the blades as if they weren’t there. “Did I ever tell you about Danny Ireland?”
I shook my head.
“I was a sophomore in college.”
“That was the year you met Dad.”
She nodded. “Danny was the DJ for the college radio station. He was sweet—” She giggled. “No, he was charming, handsome, and came from money. All the girls at school wanted to be his girlfriend because he had access to some of the finer things in life: fancy charity events, tickets to sporting events, dinner at the best restaurants. They hated that we hung out.”
It was weird to hear Mom talk about another guy. “Were you dating him?”
“No. But I wasn’t blind, either. Our friendship could have grown into more.” I could tell from her smile that she and Danny’d had a good relationship. “But I was a realist. He and I were from two different worlds, and I knew I wouldn’t be happy in his, yet I couldn’t ask him to give up the big house and lavish lifestyle he was accustomed to for me.”
That was the hidden message in her story: I needed to decide what I wanted in life, and I needed to make choices that helped me to achieve those goals. I didn’t belong in Caden’s world. Heck, he wasn’t even human.
“Plus,” Mom said, “I had a crush on this guy in my art class. He had the most amazing candy-brown eyes. He was easygoing, spontaneous, and thought cheesy fries were one of life’s delicacies.”
I smiled. “That guy was Dad.”
“Yeah. We started dating later that year.”
“What happened to Danny?”
“We remained friends. Even went to each other’s weddings. Last I heard, he was living in New York.”
Mom was never one to lecture. She’d give me her advice in a roundabout way and let me decide what to do. She didn’t ask me about Caden, nor did she say anything else about Danny, but I knew her Danny was my Caden.
We talked awhile longer, and when it came time to say good-bye, I