Reborn Yesterday - Tessa Bailey Page 0,17

Ginny nodded.

Jonas waited, watching, obviously hoping there would be some quid pro quo for what he’d told her about an apparent underworld that operated without human knowledge. When she said nothing, he rose and walked to the door. “I’ll be right outside the door while you work.”

“Okay.”

The room felt empty without Jonas’s intense presence and it was hard to concentrate on anything knowing he was mere yards away, but she managed to answer all of her client emails and even make some adjustments to the AdWords she was using to court clients through Google. Larissa wouldn’t be happy knowing she kept a budget set aside for advertising, but it was impossible these days to run a business without marketing in some form. Her father had been a huge believer in word of mouth, and truthfully, that’s why most people darkened their door, but there was no reason Ginny couldn’t add a few modern touches.

Would her father be proud of how she’d been running the business?

It was something she wondered every day. Sometimes she’d even look up from her desk and expect to see him fussing with the catalogues or trimming stray strings on the carpet out in the lobby. Sometimes he’d even used a magnifying glass and would get so lost in the activity, clients would have to step over his crawling form while Ginny greeted and ushered them into the back office.

With a sigh, she put her laptop back in the drawer and stood, confident that tomorrow would be a better day for the business. Yes, that meant that people had to die, but as long as they were doing it anyway, her wish wouldn’t do any harm, would it?

Opening the office door and finding Jonas leaning against the opposite wall knocked the wind clear out of her sails. He looked like he’d been counting the seconds until she appeared again. Or was she reading way too much into the way his fist clenched while his shoulders relaxed at the same time?

“How old are you, Jonas?”

“Twenty-five.”

The grandfather clock ticked out in the lobby. “How old are you really?”

She only caught a glimpse of the haunted quality that spun through his eyes before he transferred his attention to the ground. “I’ve been twenty-five since nineteen fifty-six.”

“Ohh,” she wheezed, wishing for a calculator.

He looked and up at her. Waiting for an official reaction?

Possibly even nervous about it?

“A lot of good movies came out that year,” she said finally, wetting her dry lips. “Do you want to go watch one?”

He seemed surprised by his own jerky nod.

“I shouldn’t be here,” Jonas muttered, taking Ginny’s hand and walking by her side back to her bedroom. “You won’t remember this.”

This time, his tone held far less conviction.

CHAPTER FIVE

“You really haven’t seen this movie?” Ginny counted on her fingers. “You would have been twenty-one when it came out.”

Jonas settled onto the opposite side of the couch from Ginny—and it still seemed too close for his comfort. “No, I don’t think I have.”

“Maybe it’s for the best if you haven’t.” She punched a series of buttons on her remote. “I’d be jealous if you’d gotten to see The Quiet Man in a theater.”

His eyes ticked to the black and white movie poster hanging on her wall. “Why do you have such a fascination with movies from before your time?”

Ginny shrugged. “I don’t know. My father found it odd, too. That I favored the Turner Classic Movies channel over Disney. But I eventually converted him. After that, we watched them together all the time.”

A beat passed. “What happened to him, Ginny?”

“Heart attack.” She said the words simply, but an invisible bolt twisted in her neck, like it always did. “He was working downstairs at night and I was sleeping, so I didn’t know. I always think, if it had just been a different time of day, he’d still be here. I’d have called the paramedic to save him. He’d be on a strict diet now, but totally cheating on it behind my back.” She shook her head. “Useless thoughts.”

“They’re impossible not to have.”

“Do you have them about anyone?”

In lieu of answering, he nodded at the television. “What’s the movie about?”

“Oh, it’s wonderful. It’s about a man who travels to Ireland to buy the cottage where his mother grew up. He falls in love with Maureen O’Hara—at first sight. She lives next door. I’m just going to fast forward to the part. I’m too excited.” Ginny pressed the proper button, trying not to bounce up and down on