Love In The Wrong Dimension (Romantic Ghost Story) (14 page)

“
That’s very sweet of you, but I can’t leave. What if Robert comes and I’m not here? No, I’m staying, but I hope you find your way out. I’m Claire, by the way.”

They chatted for a long time, by which time Jemma felt much better. It was so refreshing to talk to someone new, and Claire had listened patiently as Jemma told her about her unfortunate death, her futile attempts to talk to Alice, and her crush on the handsome and troubled ghost who lived in Jack’s house. She didn’t tell her about Max though, there was no need to spoil their pleasant chat.

As she got up to leave, Jemma smiled at her new friend as she said goodbye. “Can I come and see you again?”

“
Of course you can, that would be lovely. You know where I am,” she smiled.

Jemma was in a much better mood when she got back to the house. Meeting Claire had been a pleasant surprise, she found it intriguing that she was content with just sitting in the same place, day in and day out, waiting for her husband, who was probably never going to turn up. She wondered why Claire was in this dimension, whether she wasn’t meant to have died or if she had some sort of mysterious reason for not being able to move on. Claire hadn’t been very keen to talk about herself, and somehow the conversation had mostly been about Jemma.

“
Hello. Where have you been?” Susie looked up from a chair as Jemma appeared in the living room.

“
I went for a walk. Have you ever been to Ashdown Forest?” she asked, as she sat down next to Susie.

“
No. Why?”

“
Just wondering. I’ll take you there one day, it’s lovely.” Jemma reached out and gently brushed a stray strand of Susie’s fringe to the side. It was an affectionate gesture, but one which resulted in Susie bursting into tears. “Hey, Susie, what’s wrong?” Jemma put her arms around the crying child and held her tightly.

“
My mum used to do that,” she sobbed, reminding Jemma that, for all her bravado, she was still only nine.

“
Oh, you poor love,” Jemma felt tears prick her own eyes as she felt Susie’s heartbreak. “We’ve got to get you home, did Tom talk to you about you leaving?”

“
Yes, and I told him not to be so stupid.” Susie’s voice was suddenly uncharacteristically sharp.

“
What? Oh Susie, why did you say that? He’s trying to help,” said Jemma, crossly.

“
Because there’s no way I’m leaving without him.”

“
Will you stop being so bloody saintly. Tom wants you to leave, he wants you to be happy, so what’s the problem? I’ll stay here with him if that’s what’s bothering you.”

“
Yeah right!” glared Susie.

“
I mean it, Susie, if that what it takes to make you agree, then I’ll stay.” Jemma was only too well aware of the enormity of what she was saying.

“
Now you’re the one being saintly,” retorted Susie, “and I wasn’t being saintly
actually
. I was just stating a fact.”

“
What do you mean?”

“
Nothing. It’s complicated. Just leave it.”

“
No. Susie, listen to me, you have a chance to go home, to leave this place and be with your family again. Tom wants you to go, and I’m going to find out how to do it, because I know it’s possible. What’s so complicated about that?”

Susie looked at her friend, her eyes brimming with more tears as she whispered, “I can’t leave without Tom – not ever.”

“
Why not?” demanded Jemma.

“
Because....” Susie paused, choosing her words carefully, “it’s because of Tom that I died.”

“
Did you kill Susie?”

Tom stared at Jemma in amazement. “Why on earth do you ask that?” He looked stunned as he took in the significance of her question.

“
Something I heard. Well? Did you kill her?” Jemma was determined to get an answer from him, whatever it took. She’d had enough of being fobbed off with his excuses and elusiveness. She could sort of understand that he found certain parts of his past painful to talk about, but if he did have anything to do with Susie’s death, it was about time he was straight with her.

“
Of course I didn’t kill her – how could you even think that?” His usually sparkly eyes now looked offended and his voice was incredulous.

“
So why does Susie say you did then?” Jemma’s voice was calm, but there was no mistaking the accusing undertone.

“
What exactly did she say?
”

“
That it’s because of you that she died.”

“
So she didn’t actually say that I killed her then?” he demanded.

“
Well, not in those exact words, no.”

“
Well, perhaps you’d better check your facts before accusing people of murder,” he snapped.

“
How can I? Susie wouldn’t elaborate, and you never talk about what happened. I’m left to draw my own conclusions, Tom. If you had told me what happened we wouldn’t be having this conversation now.”

“
And if you were my friend, you wouldn’t be accusing me of murder.” He shouted angrily, and stormed out of the room.

“
I’m not saying it was murder, and if I really were your friend, you would have told me yourself,” she yelled after him.

Susie had also been evasive, saying that she shouldn’t have said anything, and that it was up to Tom to tell her what happened. She sighed in frustration as she replayed the argument in her head over and over again, pacing furiously back and forth across the room. But the more she thought about it, the more guilty she started to feel. Of course she knew that Tom wouldn’t kill anyone. She had, as usual, stormed in head first and practically accused him of murder, rather than explaining what Susie had said, and asking him calmly and rationally what had happened. Perhaps he would have told her everything and she could have given him her support. Instead, they had, once again, fallen out and this time it was for real. Shit, why did she have to be so bloody tactless? It had always gotten her into trouble when she had been alive, and now it had just lost her a good friend. Would he ever forgive her? She wouldn’t blame him if he never spoke to her again.

She suddenly felt a strong need to get away from the house, so she could work out how she was going to make amends. She really liked Tom. In fact, when she had told Susie that she was willing to stay behind, she had secretly been glad of an excuse to stay with him. And now she had blown it. Shit.

In a split second, she found herself back in Ashdown Forest, thankful for the fact that it was quiet again. She roamed restlessly from one end of the forest to the other, her mind racing with snippets of her argument with Tom. How could she have been so stupid to accuse him of murder, when she knew that he would never hurt anyone. She cursed herself over and over until she felt like screaming.

Eventually she found herself back at her favourite spot, and as she stood staring out across the expanse of trees and gorse, a voice spoke softly behind her.

“
Hello again.”

“
Huh?” Jemma had been so absorbed in her thoughts that she had completely forgotten about Claire, and as she turned around to greet her new friend, she felt comforted by her warm smile and welcoming gesture to sit down.

“
You look like you’ve got the weight of the world on your shoulders,” Claire said, gently. “Are you alright?”

“
Oh Claire, I’ve just done something really stupid, and now I’ve blown it with Tom,” she cried.

“
Surely it can’t be that bad. Just say that you’re sorry and I’m sure he’ll forgive you.”

“
I accused him of killing a child. I more or less called him a murderer.” Jemma felt even worse as she heard herself say the words out loud.

“
And did he?”

“
Oh no, of course not. Tom would never hurt anyone.” Jemma said, fiercely.

“
So why did you accuse him?”

“
Because I’m stupid,” Jemma sighed, sadly. “I always do this. I open my big mouth before I think about what I’m saying. In this case, I was frustrated with Tom for being so secretive, and I suppose I thought that I could force it out of him. Instead I’ve really hurt him, and now he hates me.”

“
You may have hurt him, Jemma, but he won’t hate you. Tom will calm down and when he does, make sure you grovel like hell, and then tell him what you just told me. He’ll understand.”

“
Really?” Jemma wasn’t so sure though. Tom had been really pissed off, in fact, he probably really did hate her now. The thought filled her with panic. Tom’s friendship was more important to her than she had realised, and it was only now that she was beginning to truly understand the depth of her feelings for him. She didn’t just fancy him, she didn’t just want him as a friend. She felt as if he were a part of her, that they were always meant to have found each other. In fact, he was her soulmate, she realised.

“
I’ve got to go.” She jumped up, suddenly desperate to find Tom.

“
Oh.” Claire looked disappointed. “Do you have to go so soon? It’s just that I’d forgotten how nice it is to have a bit of company.”

“
I’m sorry, Claire, but I need to get back to Tom. I have to talk to him, you do understand, don’t you?”

“
Of course. Don’t worry about me. Go and find Tom, but will you let me know how you get on?”

As Jemma looked at Claire’s sad eyes, she felt a pang of sympathy. Although she wanted to find Tom as soon as possible, she didn’t want to leave Claire alone, when she obviously was in desperate need of a bit of companionship.

“
Come with me, Claire. C
ome back to the house and meet Tom and Susie. You’ll really like them, and I know they’ll welcome you.”

“
That’s very sweet of you, Jemma, but I can’t leave here. What if Robert comes?” Claire’s soft brown eyes were full of naive concern that she might miss her beloved husband. Jemma didn’t have the heart to tell her that it was highly unlikely he was ever going to turn up. It was probably the only thing keeping her sane in her lonely existence.

“
Tell you what. Just come for a short while. It’ll only take a split second to get there, and once you know where we are, you can come back whenever you like. If Robert should turn up and you’re not here, he’ll wait. You’ve waited all these years, why shouldn’t he wait for a little while? Come on, Claire, come with me. Please.”

“
I suppose a few minutes wouldn’t hurt.” Claire was clearly torn, but in the end her loneliness won, and she agreed to come back to the house.

“
Tom’s not here obviously, but Susie and Max are so I’ll introduce you to them before I go and find Tom,” said Jemma, as she showed Claire into the kitchen.

“
Max?”

Jemma pulled a face and pointed to the wall separating the kitchen and living room.

“
Yeah, he’s this creepy old spook who just sits in there and hates everything and everyone. We’ll get him over with first and then we’ll go and find Susie.”

“
Max,” called Jemma, as she and Claire walked through the wall into the living room. As usual, Max was sitting in his chair in the corner looking damp and miserable. Jemma forced a smile onto her face. “This is my friend, Claire.”

“
Hello, Max,” smiled Claire.

“
Hmph,” growled Max
.

“
Nice to meet you too,” said Claire, as Jemma hurriedly led her back to the kitchen.

“
Don’t take any notice of him,” grinned Jemma, when they were safely out of his hearing. “He’s like that with everyone. Ah, here’s Susie. Susie, come and meet my friend, Claire.”

After Jemma had hurriedly introduced Claire to Susie, she left them to get to know each other while she went off to find Tom. The most obvious place to start looking was the beach in Norfolk. She was there instantly, and was soon scouring the long, sandy beach, hoping to find him. The sea was rough today, the wind throwing huge waves with high white crests crashing against the shore, creating a noisy and dramatic backdrop. Straining her eyes, she couldn’t see anyone, living or dead, on the beach as she searched for Tom. She was beginning to despair that she wouldn’t find him, when she turned towards the dunes and saw a solitary figure, sitting in the shelter of the long waving grass, the same place that she had sat with him last time they had been there. Her heart flipped when she saw him, shoulders slumped, head bowed and deep in thought.

“
Hi,” she said, nervously, as she approached him.

“
What do you want?” he said, without looking up.

“
I came to find you. To apologise.” She swallowed, not sure exactly what to say. “Can I sit down?”

“
If you must
.”

“
Tom, I’m really, really sorry about what I said to you earlier. I never meant to imply that you would ever deliberately hurt anyone, I know you wouldn’t. I just wanted to ask you about what Susie had said, but it came out all wrong.”

She waited for him to say something, but when he remained silent, she continued shakily.

“
I’m so confused about you, Tom, I thought that maybe you would finally tell me what had happened, but when you didn’t, I got frustrated and I guess I just lashed out. I never meant to accuse you of ....you know....murder....” She hesitated, as she racked her brain for something to say that wouldn’t do any more harm. She was only too well aware of her ability to say the wrong thing, and that was the last thing she wanted to do right now.