A Most Excellent Midlife Crisis - Robyn Peterman Page 0,31
at all?”
“No.”
My relief was visceral. It meant something else. What? That’s what I needed to figure out.
“Okay,” I said, wondering why in the heck she was all over Missy if she had no clue who she was.
Wait.
My stomach cramped and a headache developed over my left eye. Right now, I was my own worst enemy. If my mind kept creating farked-up scenarios, I’d be sporting a migraine soon. The direction of my thoughts sucked, but I had to take a stab at it. The chance of Birdie being able to communicate much longer was slim. I could barely hear her now
“Here goes nothing,” I muttered, pressing the throbbing spot on my forehead.
My theory was a long shot and ridiculous, but no more ridiculous than the fact that I was using a game board to talk to a dead woman who referred to me as a hooker… or that I had repaired thirty ghosts yesterday with superglue… or that I’d ripped a car door off a moving vehicle.
Sucking in a deep breath and hoping like hell I was on the wrong track I asked a question I wasn’t sure I wanted her to answer. “Did you know of Missy once you were dead?”
Birdie nodded.
My theory wasn’t as much of a long shot anymore.
“Is there someone inside of Missy who you know? Is that why you were so obsessed with her?”
Birdie hissed and her eyes grew huge in the hollowed-out sockets.
Involuntarily, I stood and jumped back. My chair crashed to the floor. The Ouija board flew off the table as a cold wind blasted through the farmhouse. Birdie’s scrawny body jettisoned to the ceiling and she wailed like a banshee, sending chills skittering up my spine.
“Yausssss,” she screeched. “Yausssss, yooouah. Piiieeece yooouah.”
Slapping my hands over my ears, I was sure I’d just lost fifty percent of my hearing. Birdie whipped around the kitchen like she’d eaten a vat of sugar and topped it off with ten gallons of coffee. The house literally shook on its foundation.
Her behavior was terrifying and her words baffling. I was definitely not inside Missy—nor was any piece of me. As far as I knew, I was physically in one piece. Mentally, I was a hot mess, but physically I was in one piece. Glancing down at myself, I counted my arms, legs and fingers just in case Birdie was correct and I was missing an appendage that had somehow hitched a ride inside my best friend.
I was not.
I almost laughed that I’d actually checked, but I wasn’t above disbelieving anything at this point.
Of course, there was a fine chance Birdie was confused. I’d noticed it with some of the other dead who’d stuck around for a while. Birdie had been hanging around as a ghost for over thirty years. I wasn’t sure how she’d stayed that long and I doubted she had her timing correct. The exact years didn’t matter. Even if she’d been dead on this plane for ten years, her mind had to be muddled. However, her bewilderment was not going to leave me homeless.
“Stop,” I shouted. “Stop right now.”
Birdie froze midair and trembled violently. The cold wind disappeared as quickly as it had arrived and the house settled. Her small frame wafted back down to the floor and her face was a dark ashen gray. It was the worst I’d seen her look. Birdie’s body had been semi-transparent since the first day I’d met her, but I could see through almost all of her now.
“Shit. What have I done?” I whispered with tears pooling in my eyes. “Birdie, are you okay?”
She nodded slowly and gave me a small smile. With a large part of her jaw missing it was macabre, but I’d never seen anything so beautiful. The ghost drove me nuts, but I secretly adored her.
It was time for the secret part to be revealed. Gram had taught me if you have something nice to say, you should darn well say it.
Reaching out and gently stroking her papery cheek, I leaned in and kissed her forehead. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t know how much that would upset you. You’re important to me, Birdie. As much as I’ve wanted to smack you upside your dead head, I also love you.”
Birdie tilted her head and moved her mouth. Not a word came out. Never had I missed being called a hooker so much in my life. Her sunken eyes darkened with confusion when she realized she couldn’t make a sound.