A Rocky Path (18 page)

“There’s nothing sexier than a sweaty
woman.”

She turned and saw Sam standing there looking
at her in amusement.

“You think all women are sexy, Sam.”

“Not true!” he protested.

She laughed and threw her towel at him.

“You are getting good at throwing things at
me. First a roll, then a towel.”

“You just bring out the athlete in me. So,
Sam, to what do I owe the pleasure of your company? You rarely
venture down here. It amazes me how fit you seem to be when I never
see you do a thing to cause it.”

“Good genes,” he said with a grin. “The
reason I’m down here is because Rebecca told me to come down and
tell you that she and I are both supposed to speak at a Reader’s
Guild meeting tonight. She said the whole family is expected to be
there and that includes you.”

Emily had a moment of panic. She was supposed
to see Patrick tonight! How was she going to do both?

“That sure is short notice. What time is this
meeting?”

“Well, there will be a dinner at 7:00. Then I
will speak at 8:30 and Rebecca will speak at about 9:00. After
that, there will be a little socializing. It will probably be a
late night.”

“I guess I have to go, don’t I?”

Jamie grinned. “If you want to stay in good
standing with your boss, I suggest you go.”

“Ok, what time will we be leaving?”

“We’ll leave at 6:30. You certainly don’t
want to miss my lecture. I’m so good, I can’t stand myself.”

“I can’t stand you either.”

Sam threw the towel back at her and went up
the stairs. Emily sighed. She had planned to spend time with
Patrick tonight. She would have to let him know she wouldn’t be
able to see him tonight. She was disappointed, but she realized
that even though Patrick was a big part of her life, he wasn’t the
only thing in her life. Although, right now, it felt that way.

* * *

Emily went into town and did a little
shopping. She decided, since she was out, that she would go see
Sarah Stone for a little while. She noticed when she arrived at her
house that Jarrod’s blue Chevy was parked in the driveway. She
smiled. Maybe she shouldn’t stop by right now.

Right at the moment that Emily was about to
drive by, Sarah opened the door and waved for her to stop. She
stopped in time to pull into the driveway.

“I saw you about to drive by. Why don’t you
come in and have lunch with us?” said Sarah.

“I was actually coming to see you. But I saw
Jarrod’s car and didn’t want to intrude.”

“Nonsense!” said Sarah firmly. “We would love
to have you join us.”

Emily decided to stay and went into the house
with Sarah.

“Well, hello there!” said Jarrod. “It’s nice
to see you again, Emily.”

“It’s good to see you, too. How have you
been?”

“Good, thank you. Here, have a seat. Sarah
has been filling me in on the events of late. A lot has happened
since we talked.”

“That’s for sure. Actually, a lot has
happened since Sarah and I have talked, too.”

She filled them in on her meetings with
Patrick and the things that the two of them had been talking about.
They continued to talk over lunch.

“I can’t believe that Patrick’s fiancée
cheated on him with his own father! That had to be devastating for
him,” said Sarah.

“That would have been quite a shock for him
to find that out. To walk in on it…well, that had to be an awful
situation,” said Jarrod.

“I know,” said Emily. “It was awful hearing
him tell about it. He felt so betrayed! But the really terrible
thing is that he has no idea how he died. He doesn’t know if she
killed him by accident or if she murdered him. Until he finds out,
he’s stuck here in this world as a ghost.”

“Are you thinking about trying to help him
figure it out? How do you propose to do that?” asked Sarah.

“Well, I thought maybe since you were able to
see John’s killer that I could see what happened with Patrick.”

Sarah looked thoughtful. “That might work.
But I wouldn’t get my hopes up. There’s no way to know for sure
whether or not you will be able to see what happened. I was lucky
to see John’s murder and then to read the account of the arrest of
the killer. Although it didn’t seem lucky for me at the time.”

“I want to try. I haven’t told Patrick my
idea yet. I wonder if he will be able to even show me the past like
John did for you. Is it a power that all spirits have, or is it
just among a select few?”

“I wish I knew the answers. But all you can
do is try. Talk it over with Patrick and see what he thinks.”

Jarrod looked at her thoughtfully. “Now that
he’s met you and has fallen in love with you, do you think he
really wants to leave?”

Emily said, sadly, “He does want to leave.
But I think the biggest reason is not for his own happiness, but
mine. He has told me that since we can’t ever have a normal life
together, that I should let him go so I can get on with my life. He
can never leave the place that he roams, and we can never….” She
blushed.

“Emily, you know in your heart that it will
be better for both of you for him to leave. I know it will hurt you
both, but in the long run, you’ll both be happier,” said
Jarrod.

“That’s true,” agreed Sarah. “You’ll both be
better off. You’ll be able to find happiness with a real flesh and
blood man, and Patrick will be happy in Heaven.”

“I know it’s all true. It’s just hard to
believe right now.”

They continued to talk as they finished
eating lunch. Afterwards, Emily helped Sarah with the dishes. Then
they all sat down and relaxed with coffee. Emily left feeling lucky
that she had made two friends that she could actually talk to about
a subject that most people wouldn’t even believe.

When Emily got back to the house, she went
down to the cave and looked for Patrick. She didn’t really expect
to find him. She had never seen him before late afternoon. She
thought maybe she should ask him why he never appeared early in the
day.

She took the pen and paper out that she had
put in her pocket before coming here. She wrote Patrick a note
telling him that she had an obligation to go to the Reader’s Guild
meeting tonight, since Sam and Rebecca were speaking. She told him
how disappointed she was and pretty soon she had written a whole
letter. She smiled. Love like she felt for Patrick and that he felt
for her was something that didn’t come along every day, and she
treasured every moment spent with him. She knew their time was
short and that they were both going to be hurt, but she wouldn’t
trade a single moment for anything in the world.

She placed the note on the blanket that they
had spent so much time on, and weighed it down with a small rock.
She touched the blanket and the pillows that they had lain on. Her
heartbeat quickened as she remembered every minute of time they had
spent together. She would treasure these memories as long as she
lived.

Chapter Twenty Seven

She dressed for the club dinner meeting with
care. She wanted to reflect well on Rebecca and her family. She had
been told that this was a dressy dinner, so she picked out one of
her new dresses that she hadn’t worn yet. It was a green silk with
straps that tied in bows at the top of her shoulders. It was almost
ankle length, with slits up the side that reached about two inches
above her knees. The silk clung to her slender, muscular body in a
flattering way, and she was pleased with how she looked. She put
her hair up with loose tendrils that curled around her face. As she
looked in the mirror, she wished that Patrick could see her. Except
for the party where he had beaten up Jamie, he had never seen her
in anything but bulky sweaters; that is, except for the time he had
undressed her while she was unconscious. She blushed at the
thought.

The whole family rode together in one of
Rebecca’s larger cars, a silver Bentley. Everyone looked great. Sam
and Jamie were both very handsome in their tuxedos. Rebecca was
wearing a clingy black dress, and Sally had decided on a modest,
elegant midnight blue dress.

“We look so fine!” said Sam with a grin.

“You are so stuck on yourself,” replied
Emily.

The dinner was great with good food and a
local band playing 60’s music in the background. Sam and Rebecca
were great speakers, holding their audience captive with humor and
passion for their art. The night was fun, but Emily really missed
Patrick. She knew that she was supposed to be with him right now
and she hoped he wasn’t upset with her for having to do something
else. She hoped he had read the note and understood why she had to
go with Rebecca to this meeting.

“Hello there, Emily. It’s nice to see you
here,” said Sarah as she walked up to them.

“Well, hello. I didn’t know if you would be
here tonight or not,” said Emily.

“I am one of the founding members of the
Reading Guild. So is Jarrod.”

“Where is he? Is he here?”

Jarrod chose that time to make an
appearance.

Emily smiled at him. “So there you are. I was
just asking about you. Sarah said you two have been members of the
club since its conception.”

“We sure have. We have had a lot of famous
writers come here and speak to us. But Sam and Rebecca are two of
our own. So we are partial to them. Although we haven’t had Stephen
King yet,” he added slyly.

Emily met several other people, although many
of them had been at Rebecca’s party. She really liked the people in
this small, easy going town. But she really wished Patrick were
here. She wondered what he would look like in a tuxedo. She bet he
would be hot. Her skin felt flushed when she thought of Patrick
being here, looking better than any other man in the room. Sam and
Jamie were by far the most handsome men here now, but they couldn’t
hold a candle to Patrick.

On the ride home, everyone was quiet. It was
getting late, almost eleven o’clock, and they were tired. There had
been a lot of socializing after the speeches and Emily’s feet were
tired from wearing high heels all night.

Back at the house, Emily went up to her room
and changed into her t-shirt for the night. She got into bed and
read for awhile, but then she started getting restless. She got up
and pulled back the curtains, almost hoping to see the raven with a
note for her. But there was no bird. Should she have gone down to
the rocks after she got back? That was absurd. Patrick wouldn’t
have expected her to come down, knowing that she had been out all
night and would be tired. Would he? Emily went back to bed and
slept fitfully for the rest of the night, dreaming of the man she
loved.

* * *

In a dark cave, two rats found a piece of
paper stuck under a rock. They tugged on it until it slipped out
from under the rock. This would make good nesting material. The two
rodents each grabbed a side of the paper and it ripped in half.
Both rats ended up with half of the paper. They scurried away with
their treasures, lucky to have found something to help with the
nest that their babies would soon inhabit.

Later that night, Patrick came into the cave
alone, wondering where Emily could possibly be. He looked for her,
but couldn’t find her anywhere. He went up to the house, but no one
seemed to be at home. He frowned. He couldn’t believe that she
would just not show up when she promised that she would meet him
tonight. What could be wrong? He was beginning to worry.

After awhile, Patrick started realizing that
maybe Emily had started having second thoughts about their
relationship. After all, he was a ghost and there were two good
looking men living in the house with her. He was pretty sure she
wouldn’t have anything to do with the one who attacked her, but he
had seen the blond man several times. He was attractive and Patrick
couldn’t blame Emily if she decided she would rather have some fun
with him than be tied down to the cave by the water. Maybe she
needed a man to hold her and make love to her in the night. Since
Patrick couldn’t love her in that way, maybe she just couldn’t
resist if another man had offered her love and passion. All he
could offer her was affection. No, he couldn’t blame her.

He felt sick at the thought of another man
touching her and loving her. His imagination was running wild now
and he was starting to get angry.

Soon, he had convinced himself that she
really had abandoned him. She was with another man, he was sure of
it. She had hurt him, just like Bridgett had hurt him. He knew that
Emily would have to go on with her life if he left this world, but
he never believed she would do this before he was gone!

Suddenly, his rage was more than he could
contain. He grabbed up the blanket that they had spent so many
hours on and ripped it apart. Then he took the pillows and tore
them to shreds. He swept away the candles that they had burned and
that made the cave seem so romantic. Everything he could find in
the cave, he destroyed. Finally, his anger spent, he sat down on
the floor of the cave and put his head in his hands. He sat there
and wept as he had never wept before, not even for Bridgett. His
heart was breaking. He had never thought that Emily would cast him
off like this, as if he was nothing but a piece of driftwood that
she had found on the beach and decided wasn’t worth keeping. He
wanted to die…but the irony of that was that he was already dead
and would have to live like this for an eternity. Maybe this was
what hell was like.

Patrick let himself drift away into that
place between this world and the beyond. There, he could just exist
without ever letting anyone see him or hear him…or feel him. Maybe
this is where he would stay.

Chapter Twenty Eight

The next day was another day off for Emily.
She got up early and went to church, then came home and had lunch
with the rest of the family. She went to her room and read for
awhile, just biding her time, waiting for the evening when she
could go down and see Patrick. She couldn’t wait!