Haunted Ever After (27 page)

We laughed, our mouths still close, enjoying one last kiss before Ty released the handbrake and moved forward.

I redid my ponytail. ‘I think I’ll start the whole ‘giving myself time’ thing tomorrow,’ I said. Today was different. Today was for us. And for Nancy. Tomorrow my challenging reality would rise with me in the morning. I glanced back at Nancy in the seat, her eyes still closed, still humming. Just before I turned back to the front, she opened her eyes slightly and smiled, giving me a thumbs-up sign.

I tried to erase my big goofy smile, but it wouldn’t budge. And anyway, why would I want it to?

As we drove through Barron Springs and neared Wattle Falls, Nancy straightened up in the back seat, her eyes wide. She seemed to be looking out for something.

‘What is it, Nancy?’ I asked.

‘I’m getting a strong feeling. Umm…’ she turned this way and that, looking about in all directions. Then she closed her eyes and focused intently, before snapping them open. ‘Quick, turn right up here!’ She pointed to the street up ahead. ‘It’s Chris. He’s not at home. He’s at the cemetery. At my grave.’

Ty chucked a right and followed Nancy’s directions to the cemetery. He drove through the iron gates and down a driveway lined with small shrubs, which looked newly planted. We parked and got out of the car. The cemetery was deserted, apart from a tall figure in the distance. We walked to Nancy’s grave, where Chris stood holding his young daughter. He turned at the sound of our footsteps.

He rolled his eyes and sighed. ‘Oh, great. You two again.’

‘Three, actually,’ I said.

‘Look, I’m having a private moment with my daughter at her mother’s grave, so if you don’t mind, I’d appreciate being left alone.’

I glanced at the headstone:

Nancy Silverton
.

We’ll never forget you
.

We stayed put. Chris faced us again. ‘Fair enough, then
we’ll
go.’ He turned away to walk off.

‘Wait!’ I called. ‘I have your wife’s wedding ring.’ I quickly opened my bag and took out the zip-lock plastic bag, then removed the ring. ‘Here. Here it is!’ I held it up to the low afternoon sun creeping through the surrounding trees.

He walked closer, brows furrowed. Curiosity enticed him forward. ‘That could be any old ring. How do you know it’s hers?’

‘We got it from The Renshaw. Room 814. She showed us where she dropped it. It was still there, outside the balcony!’

‘Give me a look at that.’ He yanked it from my hand, turning the ring around and holding it up to read the inscription. ‘Oh my God. It’s hers. How did, where did…’

‘I already told you.’

‘But — ’

‘She’s telling the truth, mate,’ Ty said. ‘We drove to the city today to get it and bring it back for you. Thought you might want it.’

Chris looked confused. ‘So you found it, and I’m thankful, but do you really expect me to believe that my wife’s spirit is here?’

‘Expect, no. Hope, yes.’ I offered a smile. ‘She’s still here. She can’t go until you know and believe the truth.’ I glanced at Nancy, whose face held grief and fatigue, but at the same time joy at being able to see her family.

‘So you’re telling me you’re some kind of psychic medium, is that it?’

‘No. I’ve never had anything like this happen to me before. Nancy showed up a week ago at my house, then followed me to Barron Springs where I was having a weekend away. She was able to show me things in my life I’d been blind to. Made me realise a mistake I was about to make. I owe her everything.’

‘And you, what was your name again?’ He looked at Ty.

‘Tyler. Call me Ty.’

‘Ty, you said you see her too?’

‘Yes. And like you, I was disbelieving at first. But pretty soon I realised the truth. She’s here. She wants you to know what really happened to her.’

Ruby smiled and giggled in his arms, seemingly unaware of the drama unfolding.

‘Look, thanks for finding the ring. But I think we’ll head home now.’ He turned away again.

Nancy raced after him. ‘Chris! Remember how you used to kiss the heart-shaped birthmark on my lower back? I miss that! I miss you!’

‘Her birthmark!’ I exclaimed. ‘Nancy had a birthmark on her lower back. In the shape of a heart.’ Chris turned around, his mouth hanging open, though his eyes still held uncertainty. ‘She loved how you used to kiss it. She misses that.’

He took a few steps forward, then stopped and shook his head. ‘You were her nurse. Chances are you saw it or something. That doesn’t prove anything.’ He turned, and I urged Nancy to think of something else.

‘She said that on your honeymoon you missed out on half the champagne in your hotel suite because you’d dropped the bottle before opening it. When you popped the cork it fizzed up and spilled all over the floor!’ I repeated what she told me.

He turned around and tested me with his eyes. ‘She could have told you that herself.’

‘Well, she did, but only just now. She also used to joke that she only married you because you were tall and she thought it would be handy to have someone around to change light globes and turn off the smoke alarm when her disastrous attempts at cooking filled the kitchen with smoke.’

He stepped closer. ‘Keep going.’

‘When you found out you were having a baby girl and came up with the name Ruby, she asked what to do if there’d been a mistake and it was really a boy. You said you’d call him “Rudy”,’ I said, after Nancy relayed her memories to me. ‘And she didn’t like that name. You had her convinced you were serious, until you agreed that it wasn’t your name of choice for a boy either.’

‘Oh yeah, then what name did we agree upon if our baby was indeed a boy?’

I raised my eyebrows at Nancy.

‘Benjamin Bradley Silverton,’ I spoke with confidence. Ty had his hand on my back in a show of support.

Chris’ mouth gaped and he shook his head, running his hand through his hair, the other cradling Ruby. ‘No, it can’t be possible. This still doesn’t prove it. I can’t, I just…’

‘Chris, all you have to do is consider it’s possible. You only have to open yourself up to the fact that it could be true. Start there.’

Nancy approached her husband, her eyes ranging all over him and absorbing every detail. Then she smiled lovingly at her daughter, who giggled. Ruby’s eyes looked straight at Nancy, as though she could see her too. She reached out her hand towards Nancy’s face. Nancy smiled and blew a kiss at Ruby, then turned to me. ‘She can see me! Ruby can see me!’

Oh wow. It took all my effort not to break down in tears then and there. It was the most beautiful sight.

‘Chris, Nancy is with you right now. She’s standing there. Ruby can see her.’

He stiffened, unsure and uncomfortable, and watched his daughter giggling and pointing right in front of her.

‘Mama.’ The sweet, soft sound of a baby’s voice floated from Ruby’s mouth.

Nancy gasped and covered her mouth. ‘Oh. Oh my God. Oh, Ruby! My baby, you said Mama!’ She looked at me and Ty, then back again at her daughter. Chris’ face was frozen in awe.

‘She’s never said that before. She can say Dada, but never Mama. How? What just happened?’

I came close to them. ‘She saw her mother.’ I smiled softly, reassuringly. ‘Nancy’s right here.’ I draped my arm carefully around Nancy’s figure, my arm tingling with her energy. ‘Right here.’ Nancy draped her arm around me too, and I closed my eyes for a moment and breathed in the pure love emanating from her in this moment.

A slight sheen covered Chris’ eyes, his body started to tremble. Ty held out his arms to take Ruby off him and he allowed it. Chris brought his hands to his head, his eyes not knowing where to look. ‘If this is true, then how come I can’t see her?’

‘Because you’ve been closed up. Not receptive. But if you concentrate, I’m sure you could feel her presence.’

Nancy placed her hand over her husband’s cheek.

‘Can you feel her?’ I asked. His eyes searched for confirmation, and I said, ‘Close your eyes. Feel her with you.’

He did, and after a few moments he lifted his hand to his cheek.

Nancy tipped her head back in delight. ‘I’m here, baby, I’m here.’

He opened his eyes. ‘Was I imagining that?’

I shook my head.

‘And you say she didn’t take her own life? Are you absolutely sure?’

‘One hundred percent.’

‘She dropped the ring and tried to get it?’

‘Yes. She wanted so much to come back to you, fresh and renewed, ready to get back to her usual self. She sneezed, and that’s what caused her to drop the ring.’

‘So she didn’t think to ask for help? Wait. Don’t answer that. She never was one to ask for help, she liked to think she could handle everything herself.’

‘She was a strong woman,’ I said, while Ty amused Ruby with funny faces.

‘It still feels so strange, I don’t know how to believe. It belies everything I’ve been taught.’

‘I didn’t believe in the afterlife either, before this,’ I said.

‘I need to be sure. I need to know… What was the last thing she said to me, before the taxi took her to the hotel on the day she died? I never told anyone.’

I looked at Nancy and my eyes asked her for the answer, hoping she could remember.

Nancy’s eyes lit up, knowing she had the proof he so desperately needed. ‘I said: “I don’t know what will happen after this weekend, but I know that I’ll never regret becoming your wife. You’ve been a wonderful husband to me and father to Ruby. I only wish I believed that I deserved you.”’ Nancy’s eyes became shiny. ‘I stepped off the front verandah and walked towards the taxi. He called out to me, as if he wanted to respond to what I’d said, but I just waved, got into the car, and that was the last time he saw me.’

I took a deep breath, then relayed her words.

Chris gasped, held his hand over his heart, and crumpled to his knees in tears. Nancy sat beside him, her hand on his back, telling him everything would be alright. I left them together like that, then placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, until he had the strength to stand. He took my hand as he got to his feet, and sandwiched it between both of his. ‘Thank you,’ he whispered. ‘Thank you.’

In all my years as a nurse I had never been so overcome by pure, beautiful emotion. Had never felt such clear, wonderful, amazing purpose; that I was here to help people, in whatever way, shape, or form required. Ghost accomplices optional.

When Chris took Ruby from Ty’s hands and embraced her with the strength and support that only a parent could provide, Nancy stood in front of me. ‘I have to go now,’ she said calmly. ‘I feel it.’ She looked beyond my shoulder and pointed. ‘I see it too. That’s where I have to be.’

I turned around, but all that greeted me was the emptiness of the graveyard; grey headstones sheltered by trees, mosaic-like patches of shade and sun, and flowers in various stages of bloom and degradation. Whatever she could see was beyond my perception, beyond my physical body. One day I’d find out, but first, I had a long, wonderful life to live.

Nancy turned to Chris. ‘Goodbye, my love.’

I told him she was saying goodbye, and relayed her words of love and admiration for the gift he’d been in her life. I told him how Nancy knew things would get easier, and how Ruby would be the new light of his life, and she would watch over them.

He gratefully accepted each word, his eyes appearing so deep and open now to his new understanding of the world and of his wife, and he touched his face again when she placed her hand on his cheek.

Nancy caressed Ruby’s hair and her daughter smiled and cooed, her eyes wandering over her mother’s features. I stole a glance at Ty, who wiped at the inner corners of his eyes.

‘Be good,’ Nancy said to Ty after leaving her family’s side. ‘And sorry for freaking you out.’

‘It’s okay,’ he chuckled. ‘I’m glad you did. Take care, gorgeous.’ He offered a small wave.

Then Nancy came back to me, her face soft and thankful, her curly red hair glowing under the afternoon sun like a rich sunset. ‘Please forgive me for being so cheeky,’ she said.

‘I already have.’

She smiled. ‘I had fun. Thank you for that. And words can never express how grateful I am for what you and Ty did for me.’

‘It was an experience, that’s for sure! And I had fun too, even though I probably didn’t think so at the time!’ We laughed, and I wished I could hug her. Properly.

‘The look on your face when you got stuck in the loo. Priceless!’ she said.

‘Yeah, yeah, enough with the toilet jokes, girl.’ I winked.

‘And as for the Greg situation… You’ll look back on it one day and feel only gratitude that his mistake led you to a much better life. Trust me.’

‘I trust you.’

‘And remember what I said about you-know-who,’ she whispered. ‘Don’t let him get away. Take some time, sure, but when it feels right, follow your heart and grab every opportunity with both hands. Promise?’

‘I promise.’ I nodded, holding back tears.

‘Good. Now go forth and live your life, girlfriend!’ She gestured into the distance, and walked forwards, towards a new realm that awaited her.

‘Bye, Red.’ I waved.

She turned and fluffed her red curls with the palm of her hand and gave a cute pout. ‘Oh, and Sally?’

‘Yes?’

‘Go out and buy yourself a goddamn dress!’

And in a swirl of sparkling colours, she was gone.

* * *

I exchanged phone numbers with Chris and promised to keep in touch, and he apologised for throwing us out of his house initially. I apologised myself, explaining that we hadn’t been completely truthful with him, and that Nancy had wanted Ty and I to pretend we were engaged and that I’d nursed Nancy’s broken arm. We decided we were even and wouldn’t say anything further on the matter. I promised to visit Ruby for every one of her birthday parties, the first being in two months time.

I walked back to the car with Ty, our arms around each other’s waists. It was only for today, we knew, but it felt nice and natural and comfortable. As we walked, I sniffled, a few remaining tears escaping from my eyes. I would miss Nancy, but most importantly, I looked forward to living life with a renewed enthusiasm, in honour of her memory and to make the most of the gifts I’d been given.