Chapter Eighteen
“What the hell happened to you?” Shawn exclaimed as soon as Ronnie opened the door to let him inside. Ronnie’s heart pounded as she wondered if she looked guilty or starry-eyed, some telltale sign that she spent almost an hour talking to Gavin. Then she realized how silly that was. They had only been talking.
“Why didn’t you call me back?” he continued as he stepped inside, not giving her a moment to answer his first question. “Are you all right? I tried calling all morning and when you didn’t answer, I thought I should just come over here and find out what’s going on.”
He looked at her, his eyes wide with worry. Ronnie smiled as she pulled him into her arms. She needed to calm him down before she could talk to him. She still wasn’t sure he would believe her—not that she was going to tell him any of the really unbelievable stuff. Seeing ghosts seemed like child’s play compared to everything Gavin just told her. She stroked his hair and kissed his lips, her fingers still in his hair when she looked into his eyes.
“Stop worrying; I’m fine,” she told him. He sighed, relief washing over him as he relaxed into her embrace.
“And I didn’t answer your calls because I slept until ten o’clock,” she added.
“That was almost two hours ago. What have you been doing?” He looked around and spotted the empty cereal bowl. Ronnie wished she had turned the TV on again. “Never mind, I can see what you were doing; you were relaxing and I’m acting like an idiot. I’m sorry, Ronnie. I shouldn’t have barged in here like that.”
“You were worried, I understand. Quite frankly, I’m surprised you weren’t here at eight o’clock banging on my door to give you an explanation about last night.”
“I wanted to, so I called instead. Sorry if I was a little annoying.” He sheepishly grinned, making Ronnie laugh.
“You’re allowed to be annoying when you’re worried.” Her smile softened as she reached up to cup his cheek. “But I’m fine now. I’ll tell you all about it if you take me out to lunch.”
His grin became genuine. “I think I can do that.”
“And if you don’t think I’m crazy after I explain everything, I would really like it if you’d take me out again tonight.”
“I think I can do that, too.”
She grinned. “Good. And can you do one more thing for me?”
“Anything.”
“Kiss me.”
He wrapped his arms around her and did as she asked. Ronnie sighed and leaned into him, losing herself in the feel of his lips on hers and his arms around her until he suddenly pulled away.
“Where are your parents?” he asked. She shook her head to clear away the fog his kisses created.
“I don’t know,” she admitted and stepped out of his embrace. She wandered into the kitchen and her cheeks pinked when she saw the note stuck to the refrigerator. If she had actually been the one to eat the bowl of cereal, she would have seen the note. It said her parents were gone for the day and that she could go out again if Shawn asked. She beamed as she returned to him in the living room, the note in her hand.
“They’re gone, down in Chicago for the day,” she announced. He grinned as his arms circled her waist.
“Really. So you’re going to be home alone all day,” he said, a mischievous gleam in his blue eyes. Ronnie blushed and giggled as she slapped his shoulder.
“Don’t get any ideas,” she told him. “There’s still technically the rule of no boys in the house when I’m home alone.” Which she broke twice already today. Oh well, what her parents didn’t know… “But they did say we could go out again tonight.”
“I always have ideas,” he murmured as he nuzzled her neck. He lightly kissed her there, sending a shiver of anticipation through her. With a sigh, he straightened and stepped back, putting some distance between them. “But, rules are rules and your parents would be pissed if you broke a cardinal one. So, let’s go to lunch.”
She laughed. “You’re such a boy,” she teased and turned away to grab her phone off the end table. She also picked up Gavin’s bowl and brought it out to the kitchen. She needed to talk to him about cleaning up after himself if he was going to become a permanent presence here. She giggled at the thought and returned to the living room.
“What’s so funny?” Shawn asked as he held out her purse. She giggled some more.
“You holding my purse is pretty funny,” she joked. He rolled his eyes.
“And what was funny a minute ago, when you went into the kitchen?”
“Don’t worry about it. I was just thinking about something Andi said yesterday while I was getting ready.”
“Speaking of, you might as well invite her to lunch with us. She’s called me six times already asking if I’ve heard from you.”
“My god, you both are crazy.” She pressed the number that speed-dialed her best friend and barely put the phone to her ear when Andi said her name.
“Hi. Yes, it’s me; you can stop freaking out now,” she teased. Andi sighed.
“Thank god. What have you been doing all morning? Or should I ask what were you doing last night that made you sleep so late today?”
Ronnie’s cheeks heated. “We can talk about that later. I’m actually calling to ask you to go to lunch with me and Shawn.” She glanced at Shawn. “There’s something I have to tell both of you.”
“You’re not pregnant, are you?” Andi teased. Ronnie laughed out loud. Leave it to the person who knew her best to make a joke like that.
“Hardly. Haven’t done anything for that to happen,” Ronnie replied and grinned at Shawn.
“She made the pregnant joke, didn’t she,” he guessed. Ronnie nodded.
“He’s there now?” Andi asked.
“Yeah, he’s picking me up for lunch. Come join us.”
“Where are you guys going?”
“I don’t know.” She moved the phone away from her mouth and asked, “Where are we going?”
“The Burger Joint?” he suggested. She asked Andi if that was okay. Andi agreed and they decided to meet there in twenty minutes. She said goodbye to Andi and found herself in Shawn’s arms again.
“I know how much you like the fact that my parents aren’t going to be home all day, but there really will be time for this later,” she told him as he nuzzled her neck again. “We don’t actually have to go on another date tonight.”
He lifted his head to look at her. “What do you mean by that? You don’t want to?”
“What? No. I mean, yes, I want to.” She shook her head and bit her lower lip to keep from saying he might not want to after he heard what she had to say at lunch. She prayed she was wrong.
“Okay,” he agreed and kissed her again before letting her go. She settled her purse on her shoulder, slipped her feet into red flip-flops and took Shawn’s hand as they left the house.
The Burger Joint was located downtown and was a popular hangout on the weekends. Andi, Shawn and Ronnie saw several kids from school as they ordered their food and found a table. This was one of Ronnie’s favorite places to eat. She loved the red vinyl booths, red Formica counters and tabletops and the red and white checkered floor. Vinyl records and retro posters hung on the walls. She settled in next to Shawn and was about to start eating when she realized the other two were staring at her.
“Can’t I eat first?” she asked. They shook their heads, looking at her expectantly. Ronnie sighed. “Okay, here it is. You know when I got struck by lightning last weekend?” she asked. They nodded.
“Oh my god, you got super powers because of it,” Andi excitedly interrupted. Ronnie halfheartedly smiled.
“Actually, it’s not really a super power,” she agreed. “I can see ghosts.” She looked at Shawn. “That’s what freaked me out last night. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you.”
“You can see ghosts? That’s what you thought you couldn’t tell me?” Shawn clarified. She nodded, feeling foolish when he put it like that. He grinned at her. “I thought it was going to be something
serious.”
“This is serious,” she insisted. “They’re after me.”
“According to who?”
“What?” Ronnie shook her head, realizing how close she was to admitting she saw Gavin that morning. “No one. I mean, it just seems like they’re after me with the way they swarm around me.”
“Can you talk to them?” Andi spoke up. Ronnie shook her head again.
“No.”
“Maybe that’s the problem. Maybe they think since you can see them, you should be able to talk to them and try to help them but you can’t so they get mad and attack you.”
“So, if that’s the case, all I have to do is stay inside where it’s well lit and sleep with the light on. Yeah, that should be easy.” Ronnie rolled her eyes.
“I didn’t say it would be easy; I’m just throwing out an explanation.” Andi shrugged. “I don’t know; I’ve never dealt with ghosts before.”
“Neither have I.” Ronnie ran a hand over her hair and started fidgeting with the end of her braid. “That’s why I didn’t want to tell you guys, because I don’t know what I’m doing or why it’s happening. I’m just so freaked out.”
Shawn wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “Don’t worry, babe, I’m here to protect you. No ghost is going to scare you when I’m around.”
“Babe?” She raised an eyebrow at his term of endearment. He grinned at her.
“Yep, babe,” he agreed. Ronnie rolled her eyes.
“You’re such a dork,” she told him. Andi giggled across the table.
“Yes, he is,” Andi agreed and the three of them started eating.