Everlasting (20 page)

A soft tap on my bedroom door sent me reeling again. Was Lidia back already? I wouldn’t think she would take the time to knock. I straightened my messy hair and padded to the door, wiping at my red eyes, hoping my pain and fear wouldn’t show in them.

I opened it slow, and only wide enough to take a small peek. My heart jumped to my throat. Aaron stood by my door, naked except for a pair of red silk boxer shorts. He pushed it farther open, forcing his way in.

“Hi, gorgeous, I hope you weren’t sleeping. I’m restless and can’t sleep without you. You’re all I think about now.” He came at me and put his finger into a hole on the neckline of my T-shirt to tear it even bigger.

I stiffened, unsure how to react—my mind still lost in Lidia’s words. “Sure, Aaron, we can talk.” My hands shook. I fought to ignore the hole in my shirt and my suddenly pulsating body.

“I just don’t know what happened to me, Sophia. How, in the span of one day, I could fall so helplessly in love with you. You stole my heart that day in Mom’s room, and I don’t want you ever giving it back.” He brushed his lips over mine for a hesitated moment, then bound them full on. The force took my breath away. My skin grew hot, face flushing. Then he pulled away, caressing his bottom lip with his finger. “This is so unlike me. I can’t believe I fell this hard for you, but…there’s no going back.”

“Aaron, we’re taking this a little fast. I don’t know if I’m ready. I’m still on the rebound from loving someone deeply, just like the way you say you feel for me.” His grasp was firm around my arm, and I shook out of it.

“On the rebound? With a ghost? You’ve got to be kidding me.” He clenched his jaw tight and threw his hands in the air.

“I’m sorry, but yes, for me it’s real.”

“Get this through your head, Sophia, there’s no future in it.” He grabbed me by the shoulders. “You can’t have a dead person. Move on with your life. I can give you a great one. Everything you want is lying right in my hands.” He slapped the back of his hand into the palm of his other. Then he pulled me into him, breathing me in and licking my bare shoulder where my oversized T-shirt had left me exposed and vulnerable.

T
hat night in bed
, I rolled over to face the wall. The hot tears bubbled down my face—their salt leaving a tight burning sensation from the abrasions left by Aaron’s beard stubble from earlier. Maybe Aaron wasn’t so bad. I remember carrying around that junior high crush for him, and I did feel it creeping back again. He had the ability to give me a great life and help me get the career I wanted. Maybe I could even live with his ego, if I knew he was on my side.

I fell asleep with Tate being the last thing on my mind, and I dreamt all night of struggling with him, physically trying to push him out of my head, and yet saving him from evil so he could go to where he belonged. But he belonged with me, didn’t he?

Even for as much as I forced myself to love Aaron, there would no way of getting rid of Tate.

T
he next morning
, my eyes rapidly blinked open. It took me a bit to realize I was back home. I hopped out of bed and escaped to the shower.

Josh’s door across the hall creaked open and Aaron peeked out. “Morning, sunshine. How’d you sleep?”

“Just fine, I’m going to shower now.”

He tiptoed out into the hall, following close behind me.

“Uh-uh. You’re not coming in here.” I shut the door in his face and turned on the water, talking to him behind the door. “I need to run some errands in town this morning. You can use my car to get yourself around, and I’ll use my mom’s. I’m sure you have a lot of old friends you’d like to see.” I squirted shampoo onto my hand and began scrubbing my hair, not hearing a response.

When I stepped out of the shower, I jumped. Aaron stood facing me, a sly smile curving his lips. I scrambled for a towel. “What are you doing in here?”

“Watching you.” He reached for me, trying to peel off the towel. I held on tighter, resisting his pull. He finally lessened his grip, but his hands still groped for me. “I do have some places I want to go today, but I don’t need your car. Just drop me off at Diana’s Diner. I’m meeting Dave Timbers there for breakfast.” Dave was one of his best friends from high school and still lived here in Cascade. His family owned the local lumberyard.

I darted away, resisting his advances, heading back to my room with the towel still wrapped securely around me. “Okay, whatever you say. Oh, and when you go back home, Mandy’s car is still at Charleston. You just as well take it, and either keep it or give it to your parents. Your mom might need it.”

H
alf an hour later
, I parked in front of the bank, my damp hair pulled back into a ponytail. The sunshine was deceiving, making it look warmer, and I was thankful I had thrown my black high school hoodie on over my short-sleeved blouse before I left the house. At least I had been able to sneak the briefcase out to my car without Mom seeing. She would be asking all sorts of unnecessary questions that I couldn’t answer just yet. I hated being this sneaky, but right now, it was my only choice.

Claudia’s little yellow car drove up and parked beside me. She set the park brake and grabbed her box of tissues off the dash before she slammed the door.

A wide smile covered my face, and I hopped out. “Claudia, you look great.” I wrapped my arms around her in a hug. Almost as awkward and clumsy as Dad, she returned the hug with only half the ambition and warmth that came from me.

I knew Claudia liked me, it was just the best way she knew to show affection. Her hair glistened in the sun, and it made it hard to focus my eyes. I brought down my sunglasses from the top of my head to ease the brightness some.

She sneezed and blew her nose. “Nice to see you, too, Sophia. It was a boring summer without you. Let’s go in. I’m hoping my mom’s free.”

“Alright, let’s get this over with.” I sighed and clutched the briefcase against my chest as Claudia opened the glass doors of the bank breezeway.

Alice Bunker smiled and waved when she saw us come in. Her hair was pulled up into a beehive straight from the sixties, a few spiral wisps dangling down around her face. She never wore makeup, and her jewelry, if she wore any, usually just included a simple chain, with small silver dots punctuating her ears.
Mrs. Bunker
was what she preferred to be called.

She was talking to a customer but stepped aside to speak to Claudia and me. “Hi girls. It’s nice to see you again, Sophia. I’m sorry, but I’m kind of busy at the moment. You can work with Stacy. She just started yesterday, and she would be happy to help you. I told her I would be near if she had any questions, but I’m sure she’s capable.”

Mrs. Bunker motioned to the backside of a curvaceous blonde dressed in a dark blue, form-fitting knit dress, complete with white pumps. The blonde filed through a manila folder, intent on her work.

“Thank you, Mrs. Bunker. It’s good to be home again and catch up with all of my friends, especially Claudia.” I gave them both a warm smile. “We can work with Stacy if you’re busy. That’s no problem.”

“Hold on one second, and I’ll grab her for you.” Alice Bunker turned from us to address Stacy. “Stacy, would you mind helping Sophia? She wants to open up an account.”

The soft wave of blond hair sweeping down and grazing her mascaraed, dark brown eyes and the black beauty mark situated just above the left side of her top lip was an instant giveaway when she turned around to face us…Stacy Sheffield. Stacy Sheffield, the prom queen, homecoming queen, and cheerleading captain all rolled into one. She had been the most popular girl in school and had graduated two years ago.

She and Aaron had dated all through high school, both of them were quite a sight to see when you’d meet them walking down the school hallway together. Aaron, the big, muscle-bound star of the football team, and Stacy, the voluptuous, blonde, cheerleading beauty, hanging like an appendage to his side. They were inseparable, and she’d never really dated much again after Aaron moved away halfway through his senior year.

My stomach knotted—a pang of jealousy—when I took in her beauty. Her flawless complexion, her dark, seductive, bedroom eyes, and her tiny upturned nose were a tough pill to swallow. I tucked my hair behind my ears, feeling frumpy and plain. It was no wonder Aaron had dated her and kept her away from all other men.

She turned around. “May I help you?” Her voice floated on the air, but a note of petulance itched there when her gaze caught Claudia and me standing at the counter. Even with its slight irritation, her voice still carried a smooth and sexy tone, and it was obvious why Aaron had been so attracted to her—just the sound of her voice had probably turned him on.

She looked down at us over her raised nose like we were nothing more than a piece of dirt under her fingernail. I’d be surprised if she remembered us; she had no reason to give us the time of day in school, so why would she now?

“Yes, I’d like to open a savings account.” I lodged my own distinct brand of cockiness in my voice knowing I had thirteen million dollars clutched under my arm. Way more, I was sure, than she would ever have.

She sneered, tapping her pen on the counter. “Our bank policy is to open a savings account with at least one hundred dollars. Do you have that much?”

I gave her a brash smile and heaved the briefcase up on the counter, unsnapping the metal-hinged locks with a click, the briefcase bursting open. A gasp escaped Claudia’s throat.

“I think there might be a hundred here.” I fought hard to hold back a taunting snicker.

The look on Stacy’s face made me beam inside as she stared, almost with horror, at the lute inside. Her wide eyes grew black, unable to look away. “Okay.” She swallowed hard and pushed a piece of paper toward me. “Take this over to that counter and fill it out. I’ll get you an account set up.”

Claudia nudged up close when we walked up to the counter behind us, not wanting anyone to hear. “Sophia, where’d you get all that money?” Her eyes large, mouth falling open, she looked around the room, her body rigid. You would have thought I’d just robbed a bank. She concealed me with her body—a look of guilt emanating from her.

It surprised me to see Claudia display this much emotion. In all the years that I’d been friends with her, this was the only time I had ever seen a rise out of her. I snickered. “I’ll tell you all about it later. It’s a long, unbelievable story, but I know I can trust you to not tell anyone.”

She nodded her head while I took the completed paper back to the counter.

C
laudia
and I spent the afternoon driving around in my small, rusty purple car—a rattletrap with peeling paint and loud exhaust, but it always started and couldn’t get better gas mileage if it were a pedal car.

I told her the whole story of my vacation; how Mandy, Matt, and Tate had died and came to me as ghosts; how Tate had left me the money; and most of all, how I had fallen in love with him. She took it all in, letting me talk, airing out my thoughts and feelings, never interrupting or saying a word.

I pulled a picture of Tate from my purse that I had snatched off of his dresser before we left that last day. It was taken the summer before he was a senior, two months before he had gotten killed. His firm, tanned skin glistened in the sun as he knelt in the sand—the aqua-blue ocean a painted canvas behind him. His arm was snuggled tight around Symphony—his best friend—her favorite red plastic disc hanging out of her mouth and her ears perked and ready.

I rubbed my nose. “There is one thing I need to watch out for, though, and I don’t want you freaking out.”

“What’s that?”

I told her about Lidia—what she is and what they do—that she could pop in at any moment. “I’m sure I’m the only one who can see her, but if you see me searching for buckets of ice and water, you’ll know what it’s about, and I might need your help.”

Claudia’s only response to my whole sordid, unbelievable story was, “I don’t blame you for falling in love with Tate. He looks like he loves unconditionally. I believe you were meant for each other.”

F
ive o’clock rattled
my phone when I rolled around the corner, coming up the road to my driveway after dropping Claudia off. A bright red sports car convertible sat in front of the house. I pulled up and stopped, the car sputtering a few times before it shut off. I got out and looked at the new dealer tags in the window. Aaron’s…I should have known.

The screen door creaked when I opened it to go inside the house. “Mom, I’m home. Did you make anything good to eat?”

“Aaron and I are in the living room, dear. There’s chocolate cake in the fridge.”

I opened the fridge and grabbed out the cake pan, giving the door a quick bump with my hip to push it closed. After setting the cake on the table, I dug out a piece of crumbly delight and dumped it out on a small glass plate. I licked my fingers, reveling in the taste of gooey goodness that stuck to them.
See, it is good to be clumsy once in a while.

“So, who got the new car?” I came into the living room carrying my cake—a fork full of chocolate frosting sticking out of my mouth.

“That’s Aaron’s. Isn’t it just beautiful?” Mom jumped up off of the couch so I could have her spot by Aaron. She volunteered at the local hospital and mostly wore polyester pantsuits and multicolored neck scarves. Today she had on a bright purple pantsuit with a red-and-green scarf, her straight hair set and curled, and a splash of color on her cheeks and eyelids.

Aaron had a grin stretching from ear to ear, tossing the keys from one hand to the next. “You ready for a ride in it?”

“You gonna let me drive?”

“Nope. Nobody touches that car but me.”

“See what being a good lawyer can buy you?” Mom snuck a wink to Aaron.

“It isn’t much.” Aaron shrugged his shoulders casually. “And yes, Sophia can have the same things if she sticks with me.”

“Well, if it isn’t much, I can drive then.”

He got up off the couch and came up behind me, enveloping me in his arms. “Sorry, no deal.”

We left the house and went for a drive. Aaron drove fast, showing off. With the top down, my hair blew wild, tangling like fishing line. If I ever got a brush to go through it again, it would be a miracle.

It brought back memories of that first day Mandy picked me up from the airport and had her little car going almost this same speed. I shivered, still unable to believe it had been a ghost driving, and I had entrusted my life to just a boneless, spiritual entity.

“How long do you plan on staying here?” I glanced at Aaron after we had slowed back down to a normal speed.

His phone rang. He glanced down at it, smirking when he saw who the caller was. “Hold that thought, Sophia, I need to take this call.” He winked, then turned his attention to the phone. “Hi…how did everything go? Perfect, now we just sit back and wait…let a little time roll by…. Talk to you soon…bye.” A smile on his face, he stared out the windshield—lost in thought for a brief second before he returned to me. “What was that question, now?”

“Who was that?” I pointed to the phone. A strange look had come over his face after the conversation.

Aaron hesitated. “Uh, just a business associate. We got a hot little mess of a case going on right now, and Scott Newberry, my right-hand man, is keeping me updated on how things are progressing now that I’m out of the office.” He rubbed my chin with his fingers.

“Sounds exciting. Which is what I asked earlier before your phone call…. When do you plan on going back home to take care of your business?”

“In a day or two.” He pulled into a secluded grove of trees alongside a rambling river. The scrunching of the black leather seat gave away his advancement toward me after he shut off the car. “You’re not getting rid of me that easy, though. I want you to be my girlfriend, Sophia. I’ll go home, get my affairs in order, and let you get done with this last year of school, while I decide the best way to go about things.”

He brushed a wisp of hair from my face and rubbed my shoulders, kneading his fingers deep into my muscles.

My stomach tightened, and my mouth went dry. I didn’t know how to answer him. He could give me a place in his law firm, but I still wasn’t sure if that’s what I wanted. “Sure.” I inhaled sharply, surprising myself. “I would love to be your girlfriend.”

The minute I said the words, Tate’s face flashed in my mind, and for a brief second, I captured a small whiff of his shaving cream. I put my hand out, trying to catch the scent, bringing it in close to my nose, but it was gone just as fast as it had come.

Aaron slid in closer, taking me in his arms. His head bent to my chest. “Sophia, you’ve made me so happy. When we were younger, and you would come over to play with Mandy, I used to dream you were my girlfriend. But I knew I couldn’t ask you out. You were way too young, and I knew your parents would never have agreed to it. But, now…now I have you all to myself, and I’m never letting you go.”

He nuzzled his face down deeper and kissed my neck. His lips brushed down to skim the dip in my chest, bringing heat to the surface of my skin.