It's A Wonderful Midlife Crisis (Good To The Last Death #1) - Robyn Peterman Page 0,68
honey. Bye now.”
Hanging up, I realized I wasn’t hungry or tired at all. Although, I did have to pee. What I wanted to do was run. I felt so energized. Maybe helping people, even dead people, was good for me. I felt younger than I had in a long time. The past year had been difficult. Missing Steve and trying to reenter the world of the living without crying at the drop of a hat had taken a huge toll.
The only thing that made missing Steve more tolerable was time. Time marched at its own slow pace no matter how badly I had wanted it to go faster. The pain never completely went away, but it was a duller ache now than it was in the beginning.
“Okay, I’m closing up shop for the day,” I called out to the remaining guests.
They were no longer freaks to me. They were my guests. I would always affectionately refer to them as squatters, but I would treat them with the kindness and respect they deserved.
I was wildly relieved that every single person I’d helped today had gone onto the light. Unsure how I would feel if I knew someone was going to the darkness, I was happy it didn’t happen. I was sure it would eventually, and I wasn’t looking forward to it.
At one point, John had come in just to chat. It was nice. The conversation was far more stilted than when I was inside his mind, but he reassured me that if it was possible, he wanted his estate to go to the Humane Society—but only after we’d had an argument of sorts. He truly wanted to give me all his money so I could basically be a stay-at-home mom to Donna, Karen and the squatters.
While the sentiment was lovely, I convinced him that it wouldn’t work for me. It had taken me months to leave the house after Steve died. I couldn’t go back to the life of a hermit. He understood and let it go. I was going to miss him when he left even though I didn’t know when his time would come.
“We’re down to ten squatters,” I told Donna and Karen, who were doing the I have to pee dance in the kitchen. “I’m sorry, guys,” I told them, opening the back door so they could go out.
It was gorgeous outside. The late-day sun shone bright on the red and orange leaves and a chilly breeze blew. A few puffy clouds danced across the sky and cast shadows on the soon-to-be-naked trees. It sounded like the maples and oaks in my yard were whispering secrets in the wind. I paused and listened. Honestly, I would have freaked out if I’d understood a single word. It was more than enough to accept that dead people hung around. If trees could talk, I was in trouble.
“I’m peeing and going for a long run,” I announced to my dogs and the ten remaining ghosts.
Donna and Karen had done their business and came back in to watch The Voice with the squatters in the family room.
“Home sweet home,” I said with a laugh as I took the stairs two at a time to pee and get changed.
My life was bizarre, but it was mine. Parts of it were completely out of control, but I didn’t want to think about those parts—or Gideon. I would focus on what I could handle, and I could handle life much better after a run. Maybe I’d go for fifteen miles today.
“Are you done with the exam?” I asked into the phone as I stretched my hamstrings and pulled on a fleece hoodie.
“I’m done,” Heather said with a huge sigh of relief. “Do you want to come over now? I could use a friend to hang out with.”
“Absolutely,” I replied, and then had a great idea. “I’m going to run to your house, so it might take a bit.”
Heather was silent on the other end of the call for a few seconds.
“Daisy, I live about twelve miles away from you. Is your car not working? I can come to you.”
“Car’s fine,” I reassured her. “I need some air and to move my legs. I worked the entire day. I’m almost cross-eyed.”
“Great. You can pick up another pile in the morning. With both you and me out, the backup is terrible, according to Jennifer,” Heather said and then laughed. “Of course, Jennifer always thinks the backup is bad, but she’s probably correct this time.”