Kiss And Dwell (25 page)

“
Well, I
’
m here for the day,
”
Monique said.
“
What do you want to do?
”

“
As soon as I
’
ve got enough coffee in me,
”
Nan said,
“
and that
’
s liable to take
a pot or two, then I say we gather the tiles that we salvaged during the last
couple of storms and see how many more we need to complete the job.
”

“
I thought we put those on yesterday,
”
Monique said.

“
Not all of them. There are some in the shed out back that weren
’
t in the best
shape, but I
’
m thinking that they
’
re better than nothing, even if we have to
overlap them generously to cover the broken spots.
”

“
Then what are we going to do? We
’
ll have to get more tiles somewhere, and
they
’
re really pricey.
”

“
Gage said he was working on it and to give him until next Saturday, so I
’
m
going to let him worry about that for a while.
”
Nan leaned toward Monique and
eyed the yellow ruled paper.
“
What
’
s that?
”
She read the single line on the
page.
“
Learn to love?
”

“
I
’
ve got to come up with a game plan for getting my ghost to cross,
”
Monique
said.
“
But so far, I can
’
t even define the first step.
”

“
First step?
”
Nan questioned, finishing off her coffee then rising to pour
another cup.

“
The first step in learning how to love,
”
Monique explained.

“
I didn
’
t realize there were steps involved,
”
Nan said, grinning.
“
And that
’
s
what he has to accomplish to cross? Learn to love?
”

“
Pretty amazing, isn
’
t it?
”
Monique asked, now doodling flowers and hearts at
the top right corner of the page.
“
Me, trying to teach someone how to love. I
’
ve
never been in love, but if I don
’
t figure out how to make it happen for Ryan, in
merely seven days, no less, then he
’
ll be stuck in the middle forever.
”

“
And you
’
re wanting to list the steps because…
”

“
Because we
’
re going to talk about it again tonight, after he spends the day
with Celeste.
”

“
Celeste,
”
Nan repeated, trying to remember where she
’
d heard that name.

“
The ghost who stayed behind to help
Dax
’
s
spirit cross,
”
Monique said.

Nan nodded, remembering. Then she put her cup on the table.
“
You
’
re playing
matchmaker to two ghosts?
”

Monique lifted her bright-yellow mug, emblazoned with a smiley face, peered
inside and frowned.
“
I don
’
t even remember drinking it,
”
she mumbled, standing
to pour more coffee in her cup.
“
And yes, I
’
m playing matchmaker. He has to
learn to love before next Sunday. Can you think of a better way for me to get
that to happen?
”
She walked slowly back to the table.

Nan thought about that. She
’
d never been assigned a ghost who had to learn how
to love, so she didn
’
t know how she
’
d handle it.
“
I guess introducing him to
another spirit would be as good a way as any, if the two of them hit it off
.

Have they met yet?
”

“
By now, they probably have. I
’
ll find out if they clicked when he comes back
tonight. But even if they did, I
’
d like to give him a game plan for making sure
it all happens by next Sunday.
”

“
Isn
’
t this the ghost who didn
’
t want to cross?
”
Nan asked.

“
Yeah, but he made a compromise with me. He
’
s going to at least try whatever I
come up with.
”

“
A compromise?
”
Nan asked, focusing on the oddest part of this scenario.
“
What
kind of compromise exactly?
”
To Nan
’
s surprise, Monique
’
s cheeks turned pink
.

“
Monique?
”

“
I
’
d really rather not say.
”

Then Nan thought back to last night. She
’
d slept soundly for most of the night,
but there had been that one time that she could have sworn she heard something
.

“
You know, I thought I dreamed it.
”

“
Dreamed what?
”
Monique asked.

“
In my dreams, I heard a man,
”
Nan said.

“
A man?
”
Monique questioned, but she looked guilty. Very guilty.
“
What was he
doing—uh—saying?
”

“
He didn
’
t say anything,
”
Nan affirmed.
“
But I think he was doing something. No,
I know he was doing something. He was yelling, or rather, growling, through what
seemed to be a colossal orgasm.
”
While Monique paid rapt attention to the
flowers and hearts, which now tripped all the way across the top of the page and
down the side, Nan pressed on.
“
Tell me I imagined it, Monique. Tell me that
your ghost wasn
’
t somehow having an orgasm with you in your room. And for
goodness sakes, tell me that isn
’
t possible. It shouldn
’
t be, if you
’
re keeping
to the rules, because you cannot touch a spirit. You know that.
”
Nan preached in
full teacher mode.

“
We didn
’
t touch,
”
Monique whispered.
“
Not physically.
”

“
What does that mean?
”
Nan asked, horrified at the possibilities. What had her
wildest cousin done? And how would Monique
’
s recklessness affect the family
business?

“
Apparently, because of the bonding with the spirits, we can touch, in a way. We
can do it in our minds.
”

Flabbergasted, Nan pressed her palms against her warm mug and drank as she
contemplated what Monique had said. Do it in their minds? What the hell?

“
He was in the chair; I was in the bed,
”
Monique continued.

“
Yet he came?
”
Nan asked, her bewilderment evident.

“
Oh yeah.
”
This time, Monique set a smile free.
“
Powerfully.
”

Nan didn
’
t want to touch that one.
“
And he
’
s coming back tonight so you can
teach him how to love someone else, and in the meantime, the two of you can have
another go at this—brain sex.
”

“
Brain sex. I like that,
”
Monique said.
“
I called it telepathic sex, but brain
sex would work.
”

“
What exactly did you do? What can you do?
”

“
You really want to know?
”
Monique asked, her eyes wide with surprise.

“
No,
”
Nan blurted, making that decision rather easily. She did not want to know
the details of what went on in Monique
’
s bedroom last night. Sex with a spirit,
no less. And she
’
d thought Monique couldn
’
t get any wilder.

She
’
d obviously thought wrong.

“
Okay, okay.
”
Nan tried to come to grips with this situation. She
’
d had a hell
of a week, and was about to have another one unless somebody happened to drop
off a truckload of free slate tiles at their front door, but she didn
’
t need to
make it worse by trying to decipher why in the world her cousin had gotten
involved with a ghost. A ghost that she had to teach to love, in seven days!
“
Let
’
s don
’
t talk about the no-touching sex right now,
”
Nan decided aloud.
“
I
’
m
going to have to think about that a little more first. But you
’
re right. You do
need a plan of action for teaching him how to love. At least you
’
ve got a
prospect in mind for the female.
”

“
From what
Dax
says about Celeste, she
’
s beautiful, smart and sweet. He said any
guy would fall for her, and to be honest, I think he
’
s fallen for her a bit,
too,
”
Monique said.

“
Super. I have two cousins making it with ghosts. Nothing like making our family
even more outrageous. And I thought being mediums was enough.
”
Nan shrugged
.

“
Who knew? We can
‘
do
’
ghosts.
”

“
This isn
’
t funny,
”
Monique said.

“
You
’
re right,
”
Nan agreed.
“
It isn
’
t.
”
She looked at the pad.
“
Okay, I
’
d say
number one is for two people to meet, and they should accomplish that today,
right?
”

Monique wrote it down and nodded.
“
That
’
s a good start. Number two should be
attraction. They have to be attracted to each other.
”

“
So you told me
Dax
said Celeste was beautiful. Is your ghost good-looking?
”
Nan
asked.

Monique closed her eyes and sighed.

“
Fine,
”
Nan said.
“
So an attraction shouldn
’
t be too big of a problem. Then they
need to get along. Chat, get to know each other. Then spend time together, you
know, talking about the big stuff—their pasts, where they see themselves in the
future. And then, if things progress right, the natural next step will be…
”

Monique
’
s eyes popped back open.
“
Nanette?
”

Nan snapped to attention.
“
Yeah?
”

“
You sound like you
’
re talking from experience.
”
Monique scribbled furiously,
apparently trying to remember everything her oldest cousin had said and recap it
on the page.

Unfortunately, Nan couldn
’
t stop the stinging sensation that told her
her
face
was flushing.
“
We
’
re not talking about me.
”

“
Want to?
”
Monique questioned.

“
No.
”
Nan pulled the pad from Monique and read the list aloud.
“
One, meet. Two,
attraction. Three, chat. Four, talk about past, present and future. Five,
intimacy.
”
She nodded.
“
That
’
s a pretty cut-and-dried version, but that
’
s
basically it, from how I envision it.
”

Monique eyed her speculatively, but didn
’
t say anything else, which was good,
since Nanette had no intention of talking about her personal history with love
with Monique, or anyone else. Besides, she didn
’
t have time for the emotion. And
the two of them didn
’
t have time for this conversation, truth be told.

“
Ready to start on those tiles?
”
She finished off her coffee as she moved across
the kitchen, then placed the cup in the sink.