End of the Road (Ghost Stories Trilogy #1) (31 page)

Even though I was the one
concerned the most about privacy, this last item made me uncomfortable. “I
trust you guys. This will only apply if anyone else gets involved.” I felt
better for clarifying since it became apparent that we were all working in
uncharted territory and needed to bring in an expert. The best solution was to
talk to a medium.  

“Gavin, can you make the
call and see if this medium is interested?” I asked.

“Sure, I’ll do it this
week.”

“So no DNA?” Eric asked.

“I think you should still
move forward with it. You never know if there’s a match in the database.”

Eric grinned, “This is
pretty exciting, Lena.” I smiled at the use of his nickname for me.

With the decision made
that we’d seek the advice of a medium, we packed up our stuff and hung out.
Gavin produced a pack of cards and we played “asshole”, a game I was horrible
at. Before long I was drunk. Gavin and Eric weren’t too far behind me either. After
three games, I was ready for bed and Eric wasn’t in any condition to drive.
Since Gavin was occupying the couch, there was only one option.

“I can sleep on the
floor, Lena.”

“No, it’s okay. Come on.”
He followed me down the hall to my bedroom. I was very aware of his presence.

I washed my face and
brushed my teeth then, while Eric was in the bathroom, changed into very unsexy
sleep shorts and a t-shirt before crawling into bed. Eric came out of the bathroom,
his body silhouetted in the doorway by the light behind him. He was wearing his
briefs and nothing else. The site of his nakedness stirred something deep
inside me and I closed my eyes, silently praying for willpower because all I
wanted to do was rub my hands over his abs and chest, preferably while he was
hovering over me. He switched the light off and seconds later the mattress shifted
as he climbed in. I slowly exhaled, hoping that would calm my accelerating
heart rate.

To my surprise he didn’t
try anything and minutes later he was asleep. I lay there for a few minutes
feeling slightly disappointed, but the day and the alcohol caught up with me
and I soon drifted off.

The next morning I woke
up with Eric wrapped around me, his arm draped over my side and his legs tucked
behind mine. This was how we used to sleep together. I smiled and snuggled up
against him, enjoying his closeness, waking something of his in the process. At
first I tensed up and started to pull away, but Eric mumbled in his sleep and
drew me closer, his hand cupping my breast. Peggy’s words came back to me:
No
regrets, Elena.
I knew I didn’t want to be alone anymore and despite the
hurt Eric caused me, my stubbornness and actions were as much to blame for our
separation, plus I knew I still loved him. Taking a deep breath, I rolled over
in his arms and kissed him. The last of my resistance crumbled into dust.

He moaned, the vibration
humming across my lips and his free hand slid down my side to grab my ass as he
pressed me closer to his body. My hands skimmed his bare chest, tracing the
muscles that disappeared beneath the waistband of his briefs. 

Suddenly we were both
wide awake and all over each other. My body responded to his, our physical
connection still intact despite a year apart. What little clothes separated us
disappeared and Eric flipped me onto my back, settling between my legs, which
cradled his hips.

“Are you sure?” he asked;
his voice was soft yet rough at the same time. I peered up at his face, taking
in the stubble lining his jaw and the concern in his blue eyes. He was giving
me the control he knew I needed. I could stop if I wanted to, but I didn’t.

“Yes, I’m sure,” I
whispered and pulled him down so I could kiss him, enjoying the feel of his
weight on my body and the warmth of his skin against mine.

With one swift thrust he
was inside me and I let out a gasp followed by a moan, which Eric cut off when
he deepened our kiss. He drew my bottom lip into his mouth and sucked as he
picked up his pace. My hips rose to meet him and I was lost to the long
forgotten sensations that overwhelmed my body.  

Afterwards, we lay
together, a tangle of limbs. Eric brushed a stray hair off of my forehead
before placing a gentle kiss in the space between my eyebrows.

“I missed this, I miss
us,” he whispered.

“Same here.” I nestled
closer to him, my head on his chest.

“I thought I’d be okay
just seeing you at work every day. You know, I thought it would be enough, but
when you disappeared behind the wall of smoke and the idea you could slip away
from me forever, well, that freaked me out. I love you, Lena. Always have and
always will.”

“I love you too, as much
as I wanted to hate you,” I smiled up at him. “I couldn’t. I’m sorry I shut you
out and didn’t let you back in.”

“I want to try again. Do
you?”

I couldn’t answer as my
mouth was suddenly dry and my tongue felt like it was made of a loofah sponge.
My pulse was pounding at the idea of starting over – of opening my heart up to
this man again.
No regrets, Elena
. Peggy’s voice whispered through my
racing thoughts. Since I was incapable of speaking, I nodded instead and hugged
him, breathing in his scent, a heady combination of sex, deodorant and body
wash. We both fell asleep again, wrapped up in each other.

Chapter Sixty-Nine

When we woke for the
second time that morning, I remembered we weren’t alone in my apartment and
wasn’t sure how loud we had been. After throwing on some clothes, I tiptoed
down the hall toward the living room. Peeking around the corner I was relieved
to see Gavin asleep, snoring lightly, with the headphones for his iPod securely
placed in his ears.

I snuck back into the
bedroom, peeled off my clothes and climbed into bed where a naked Eric was waiting
for me.

Eventually we did get up and
after a shower, sauntered into the kitchen where I put coffee on to brew. Gavin
was awake and playing on his computer. If he heard us in the bedroom earlier,
he didn’t act like it. Eric rummaged around in the fridge and brought butter,
cream cheese, peanut butter and strawberry jam over to the dinette table. He
then started toasting bagels. All of the sex made me hungry so I cooked some
scrambled eggs and bacon too.

Gavin complained of being
hungover and didn’t eat much. Eric said he had never been better and wiggled
his eyebrows at me. I stifled a laugh and almost shot coffee out my nose.
Fortunately Gavin didn’t seem to notice.

After breakfast Gavin
started prepping for our usual trip out to the desert, but considering our
decision to bring in a medium, I vetoed it.

“Hey, you’re hungover and
we should probably meet with this medium before we do anything else. Cool?”

“Yeah, I have a test for
my night class so it will be good to get back and study.”

Gavin left soon after
that, leaving Eric and me alone.

Eric crossed the room
then pulled me into an embrace and kissed me; a slow, almost tentative kiss. I
responded by throwing arms around his neck. When we came up for air, I was
pressed up against one of the living room walls.

“You’re not having second
thoughts about us?” Eric asked.

“No, are you?”

“Absolutely not.” He
leaned in for another kiss.

“I do have to talk to you
though,” I said, placing my hands on his chest, gently pushing him off and
giving me enough room to step away from the wall. “Let’s go tell the ghosts
what our plan is and we can talk along the way. Okay?” I was waiting for him to
object or come up with an excuse, but he didn’t. Instead he grabbed the keys to
his Jeep and said, “Whenever you’re ready.”

I brushed my teeth,
pulled my hair back in a ponytail and met Eric in the parking lot. He had the
top down and the seats were pleasantly warm, but not hot like they would have
been just a few weeks earlier. When we were on the road, Eric asked me what I
wanted to talk about.

“I want to acknowledge
that I was to blame too. You know, for us splitting up? I was hurt and shut you
out.”

“It was wrong of me to
act the way I did when you became pregnant. I was such an asshole and I’m
sorry.”

I nodded and blinked back
tears, grateful for the cover my sunglasses provided. “When I miscarried and
you seemed relieved…it was too much…the pain, everything.” I couldn’t hide the
tears anymore and when Eric glanced over at me, his swore and immediately
pulled over on to the shoulder.

“Fuck, Lena, I was in
shock and didn’t even know what to do. I wish we could rewind and start all
over again.”

“But we can’t.”

“No, but we can do things
better this time.” Eric reached over and brushed a tear off my cheek, which
caused me to look at him. “I won’t run away and I won’t let you push me away so
easily either. You’re strong and independent and I love that about you, but
it’s hard to love you when you don’t let me in here.” His placed his hand over
my heart.

I laughed and it was
shaky after the crying. “I know, you sound like my mother. And I promise to be
a better communicator, but I think I’ll always be stubborn, like you.”

“I want to be with you and
always have. I’m sorry for being such a dick, I was hurting too. It might not
have seemed like I cared, but I did. Losing our baby tore me up and I was so
relieved that you survived. The doctor told me you had lost a lot of blood. I
wasn’t relieved about losing the baby. I was relieved that I hadn’t lost you
too…which, ironically, I did anyway. That put me in a dark place. You’re my
light, Lena.” He leaned towards me and I met him halfway. He gently cupped my
face and we kissed.

***

PEGGY

I recognized the Jeep
this time and the hunk driving it. When Elena and Eric walked towards us I
couldn’t help but smile when I saw they were holding hands. I wasn’t useless
after all. Even though I didn’t know Elena all that well, what I had learned
about her is that she was reserved and withdrawn around us, not very trusting.
When she was in the line of duty, she didn’t hesitate to run into a wildfire to
save someone, but when it came to her own life, she had little regard.

Elena seemed different -
livelier somehow. There was a flush to her cheeks and she didn’t carry herself
like she was nursing a stomach ache. Eric was smiling and couldn’t keep his
eyes off of Elena. Seeing them reminded me of how Stanley and I acted when we
fell for each other.  My anger over dying before I was able to get married suddenly
vanished and with that heaviness, I felt lighter. I realized how fortunate I
was to have experienced love in my short life.

Suddenly things grew out
of focus and something tugged at me, almost like a rope was wrapped around my
waist. I was yanked backwards a few feet causing me to yelp.

“Peggy, what’s wrong?” I
heard Georgia ask, but couldn’t see her. I did see Elena running and she came
to a stop in front of me. She said something, but only her lips moved because a
roar filled my head, blocking out all other sound. She tried to grab me even
though I knew she wouldn’t be able to. I moved further away. I wanted this, my
inner voice was telling me I needed this to happen. Next, I was several feet in
the air, suspended with my back facing the ground. I knew this because I could
see the sun. Even though it was blindingly bright, I couldn’t stop staring at
it. Then I was racing toward the sun and the light kept getting brighter and
brighter until it was all around me. The sensation of the rope around my waist
disappeared and I thought since I was untethered, a plummet back to the ground
was next, but that didn’t happen. I continued moving; weightless and afloat,
caught up in an invisible current in the sky.

The air around me changed
and became familiar, filled with an aroma that made me instantly homesick. I
inhaled again and made the connection; it smelled like my home when my mom made
Snicker doodles for me and my sisters after school. The scent of cinnamon,
nutmeg and sugar made my mouth water and my stomach growl. How could I be
hungry?

The brightness faded and after
blinking to adjust, I recognized where I was standing - the kitchen from my
childhood home. It was exactly as I remembered; white cabinets, mint green Formica
countertops with a chrome trim, and the pink and green checkered linoleum floor
my mom always kept spotless. In the breakfast nook the framed picture of the
last supper was still on the wall.

 I caught a whiff of
tobacco smoke and it triggered a flood of memories of my dad sitting in his
recliner working on a crossword while puffing away on a cigar. My senses were being
assaulted from every direction; next I heard the soft murmur of the television
coming from the living room. Further confirming my dad was home and had a game
on. I now had substance to my body and the floor beneath my feet was solid. For
the first time in decades I felt whole. I took a step and moved further into
the kitchen and gasped. Suddenly my mom was in the room; standing by the oven
with her back to me. I froze and pinched myself. She turned to face me with a
tray of fresh baked cookies in her hands.

“Peggy, you’re just in time.
I’m making a fresh batch,” she said and set the tray down on the counter. I didn’t
hesitate and ran into her open arms.

Chapter Seventy

FRANK

Just like that another
one of us was gone without any explanation. How were we supposed to know what
caused it to happen? Peggy was here one moment and seconds later it was like
she was plucked right off the planet.

“What the hell just
happened?” Elena asked.

“Peggy crossed over.”

“What? How? Just like
that for no reason?”

“We don’t know how she
did it. This happened with Juanita and Tobin too. They’ve never come back to
reveal the secret.”

“Maybe they can’t come
back.”

We all stood in a group
staring up at the clear blue sky where Peggy was last seen. A bird flew by and
even further up a plane, leaving white trails in its wake, but Peggy was
definitely gone. 

Eric broke the silence.
“I think I actually saw her. There was a ripple in the air; I saw a face and
red hair. Was that Peggy?”

“Yes, babe.” Elena smiled
at Eric and reached for his hand.

“Wow, unbelievable!”

“For both Juanita and
Tobin, their family members were here when they crossed over, but not for
Peggy. It doesn’t make sense,” I said.

“Something had to have
triggered it,” Elena responded. “But what?”  

We mulled over several
possible ideas, but only one person knew for certain and that person was Peggy.

“What if you bring my son
here and see if it helps me?” I suggested.

“Well, that’s why Eric
and I are here. Gavin knows of a medium who works with a professor at ASU. He
is going to reach out to her and see if she’ll help us.”

“Really? This is great!”
I was pleased. It was progress, not that Elena and Gavin didn’t mean well, but
we all knew we weren’t getting anywhere. Peggy’s crossing over really caught me
off guard, but also opened up the possibilities. “When will you know if she
accepts?”

“Hopefully this week and
I’ll try to drive out here and let you know, but I’m working a full schedule.”

“I’m not sure who you’re
talking to, Elena, but I’m off on Friday and can drive here.”

“Right, sorry Eric, I
forgot you can’t see or hear them. You’re willing to help?”

“Yes, just let me know.”

“Excellent!” Elena beamed
up at Eric and then turned her attention back to me. “So, one of us will keep
you all posted.”

Elena waved goodbye as
she and Eric walked away. We watched as the Jeep pulled onto the highway.

“This has been one fucked
up day,” Bob said. “I’m sure as hell going to miss that redhead. She was a
piece of work.”

“Yeah, she was gone just
like that.” I snapped my fingers and like usual, they didn’t produce a sound.

Lawrence was staring up
at the sky. He was faint and stood very still. I moved to stand next to him. He
briefly glanced at me. “What do you think is on the other side, Frank?”

“I hope my folks and
Faye. What about you?”

“My family, my kids and
Helen. It pains me to think about it because what if there isn’t anything, just
vast emptiness?”

“We might find out soon
enough.”

Lawrence nodded, “Yes, I
think we just might.” He gave me a sad smile and disappeared. A flash of
movement by Juanita’s memorial alerted me to his reappearance. Lawrence was
always thinking ahead. His question got me worried. What was waiting for me on
the other side?

***

LAWRENCE

Juanita had her mesquite
tree and memorial, Peggy and Frank had the rusted remains of their cars as
reminders of where they died. I was here when Bob, Georgia, and Tobin died and
I knew exactly where they breathed their last. I couldn’t remember where I
died. Over the years the landscape had been altered by the elements and the
highway repaved, erasing anything left behind as a reminder, but I did have an
existence here. We saved people and made a difference.

I’d been so focused on
moving on and joining my family, convinced I was in purgatory, that I hadn’t
considered maybe I was supposed to be here. This strip of desert could be my
“other side”.

I squatted in front of Juanita’s
memorial and summoned up some energy to brush dust off the stones. “Juanita,
Tobin, or Peggy can you hear me?” At least once a year I called out like this
and never once received a response; now I added Peggy for good measure. All I
wanted was a guarantee that a better place existed.

Standing up, I turned to watch
the others. They were off doing what they usually did; Bob stood in the middle
of the highway, his arms outstretched and his eyes closed as cars drove through
him. Frank was down by the remains of his car, walking in circles around the
flaking shell. Georgia sat on the boulder near the spot where she was murdered.
Her long hair hung like a blonde curtain, blocking her face. She seemed lost in
her own thoughts and I came to the realization she was the only woman left. The
dynamics of our group had shifted with Peggy’s departure.

Change was upon us and I
braced for more changes to come.