A Most Excellent Midlife Crisis - Robyn Peterman Page 0,72
of a lot going on right now,” I reminded her. “A few details might be helpful.”
Gram laughed, floated down to the floor and sat herself next to me. She held Jimmy Joe’s head in her lap and patted it lovingly. “Can I ask you a question?”
“Do I have a choice?” I shot back.
“Nope.”
“Ask away,” I replied as Gideon chuckled, grabbed a ripped-up pillow and got more comfortable.
“Who’d you and Steve buy this house from?” she asked.
I looked down at my hands for a moment and sighed. Was Gram losing it? “The bank,” I said, humoring her. If she got too off track, I’d pull her back. “The owner had passed away and the bank sold the house for the out-of-state relatives.”
“Correct! And do you recall who actually owned the house?”
“Nope,” I replied with a shrug. “Is that important?”
“Sure is, darlin’,” she said with a wink.
My mouth fell open and I stared at the head in her lap. “Jimmy Joe Johnson? He was the owner of my house?”
“Bingo,” Gram yelled, tossing Jimmy Joe’s head in the air, catching it and kissing the top of his head.
“He died a long freaking time ago,” I said. “He stuck around forever.”
Gram nodded. “For a real long time, he was terrified of leaving the house—cried like a baby and got lost every time he tried. That’s why I never ended up meeting up with him when I was the Death Counselor. My man had no balls.”
The temptation to bring up Gideon’s junk was strong. However, the timing was way, way off. I stuck with the matter at hand. “So, he lived here with me and Steve the entire time?”
“Darn tootin’. He just loves y’all and was ready to get counseled by you, but…”
“But?” I pressed, still blown away by the story.
“But then I kicked the bucket and he wasn’t in such a hurry to leave,” she explained.
“Unreal,” Gideon said with a laugh. “The briefcase is in the crawlspace?”
“Yep,” Gram said. “He showed it to me yesterday when we were cheerin’ up Birdie. Kind of dusty, but right where he left it.”
Shit. Birdie… She needed me, and I hadn’t been there for her. Even with everything going on, I shouldn’t have left her hanging. No time like the present to fix that. I now had two excellent reasons to get filthy and check out my crawlspace.
“I am really glad I didn’t knock my house down when Clarissa was here,” I muttered, standing up and extending my hand to Gideon to help him to his feet.
“You were going to do that?” he asked, raising a brow.
“Considered it,” I told him. “Thought it would be a good distraction to give me a head start in getting away from her.”
“Why didn’t you?” he asked, brushing pieces of glass off of my pants.
“It could have killed my dogs,” I replied.
“You’re serious,” Gideon said flatly.
“Totally.”
“If I ever get another life, I’m coming back as one of your dogs,” he said with a laugh.
“Crap,” I muttered. “Speaking of… they’re still outside.”
Moving quickly to the front door, I let my furballs back in. Donna barked and wagged her tail. Karen simply chased hers. Life was a mess, but it still had lots of little silver linings.
“Who’s coming to the crawlspace?” I asked.
“Wouldn’t miss it,” Gideon said.
Taking his hand in mine, we walked out of my trashed house and around to the crawlspace door.
“The credit card check is over a decade old,” I said, unlatching the door. “Is it still good?”
“Probably not,” Gideon said. “However, I don’t think it matters. Jimmy Joe will be at peace as long as it’s sent.”
“I can do that,” I said. “But I didn’t put him back together. Can he move on without all his parts?”
“Would it insult you if we worked as a team on this one?”
“Explain, please,” I said.
Gideon leaned on the side of the house and crossed his arms over his chest. “Clarissa broke another sacred law by destroying one of the dead.”
“One of many,” I said.
“True,” he agreed. “However, something like this falls into my territory. I can make the call of where to send a broken one who was unjustly harmed.”
“And the call you would make for Jimmy Joe Johnson?” I asked.
“The light. I call the light.”
My smile was so wide it hurt my face. “I would be honored to work with you, Grim Reaper.”
“The honor would be all mine, Death Counselor. You ready to find a very old credit card payment?”