That was a weird feeling because I hadn't acted like a human in what...six months? Had I been in Shipton that long? In some ways, it felt like I’d been there for years, and in others like I’d just gotten there.
Once Hailey entered the house, I closed the door and frowned. "Sorry for the mess. I started packing up things and forgot the time." Packing supplies were spread across the living room and the dining room, just visible through the door, had become a catch-all of donated stuff.
She chuckled and kept looking around. "Oh, no worries. I understand."
Wallie swatted at his father, which to Hailey probably looked like he was batting at the air. Thankfully, she was looking up at the peeling spot in the wallpaper. Damn it.
I almost told him to take his conversation somewhere else, but it wouldn't have done any good since I was giving Hailey a tour of the whole house.
Ignoring my son and dead husband—ugh what was I going to do?!—I motioned for Hailey to follow me. I showed her the kitchen, letting her know that the appliances would all be staying. "Clay and I bought all new stuff about six years ago, and I didn't cook much the last five years." I'd been too depressed and heartbroken to cook after Clay was gone.
Dragging my mind away from the sad thoughts, I focused on Hailey. "The same with most of the furniture. I won't be taking it with me, so you are welcome to have it." I pointed to the yellow Post-It on the dining room table. “Yellow means it’s to be donated.” I pulled a black marker out of the junk drawer. “Put an H on anything you can use.”
She took the pen uncertainly. “Thank you.”
What if she didn’t want it? “Seriously,” I repeated. “All yellow sticky notes mean donate.” I held up one finger and stuck my head into the living room. “You better have everything you want marked,” I hissed at Wallie.
He waved me off. On his head be it if there was something left behind that he’d wanted.
I returned to Hailey. “Yeah, mark as much or as little as you want. Anything you don’t mark will be picked up at the end of the week.”
She relaxed and her grin spread into something more natural. "That would be great. It'll save me some money on buying new stuff right away."
Great. It made me feel good, thinking that this woman, who was starting over herself, might be helped by these furnishings.
Leaving the kitchen, we walked back through the living room. Wallie had his phone put away and now Clay stood from the couch and began following me around.
Wallie stood as well and held his hand out to Hailey. "Hi, I'm Wallie, Ava's son. Sorry, I was talking to my dad when you came in."
Alarm jolted through me. He did not just say that.
Hailey glanced at me. "Oh, your husband couldn't make it?" She smiled politely.
Oh, he was here, all right, but she didn't need to know that. "My husband is dead."
"Wow, that was harsh," Clay said in my ear, chuckling.
Blinking and trying very hard not to show a reaction to his words, I almost elbowed him in the ribs but caught myself. I couldn’t let myself look weird in front of the human.
Wallie shuddered for a moment then said, "Stepdad." A little late for a correction.
Hailey smiled uncertainly. "Is that Drew you mentioned the other day?"
I ignored Clay and gave Wallie my meanest mom look. "Uh, no, Wallie was talking to someone else, and yes, Drew and I just started dating. We're not married, and don't plan on it anytime soon. Do you want to see the rest of the house?"
She looked from me to Wallie and nodded. “Absolutely.”
Why in Hades had thinking of marrying Drew made me panic? It had to be that fact that Clay was hovering so close by. He knew I was seeing someone but that was a far cry from marriage.
As we topped the stairs, I heard movement in the guest bedroom at the end of the hall and figured it was Zoey. We went into the master bedroom first. I’d been through most of it, so it was fairly neat and packed up.
Then we moved down to Wallie's room, and I said a silent prayer it was clean after him being here for two days.
It was. Mostly. Boxes were strewn everywhere, instead of neatly stacked like in my room, but the good news was that most of it was packed, at least. “Each bedroom has its own bathroom,” I pointed out, which she probably already realized. “I was always thankful for that.”
That left the guest room. We strolled down the hall. The door was cracked open, so I didn't think twice about just walking in. Once I did, I froze for a split second, then grabbed the door and pulled it closed as fast as I could.
“Oh,” I squeaked. Zoey had shifted fully into a tiger and laid in the middle of the bed, licking her back thigh with her other leg straight up in the air behind her. Like a dang house cat. Except she was more like three hundred pounds.
I turned to face Hailey and forced a smile. "Sorry. Zoey was dressing." Then, I tapped on the door and spoke through it in a loud, cheery voice. "Zo, we have a guest over."
The sound of a very large animal hopping off the bed echoed from inside the room. Thump, thump.
Hailey stared at the door and arched one eyebrow. "Is she okay? It sounded like she fell."
Laughing nervously, I shook my head and stayed firmly in front of the door. "She's fine. Probably knocked something over."
Then Zoey yanked the door open and grinned. "I'm fine. My books fell on the floor." Hopefully, Hailey wouldn't question the fact that Zo had heard us through the door.
We walked in, and Hailey looked around.
No books in sight. Had Zoey even brought any books? Forcing another grin at Hailey, I said, "See? Fine. Let's move on."
The rest of the tour went on without any craziness. Thank goodness she couldn't see or hear Clay. That man...er, the ghost was determined to make me look like an insane person with ever-increasingly snarky comments. When I showed Hailey my office, Clay had to remind me of the last time we’d had sex on the desk.
In detail.
Hailey went back through the house, writing a big H on each sticky note for the furniture she wanted, then when she was finished, I congratulated her on her new home and shut the door behind her with a huge sigh of relief.
I didn’t know how to be human anymore.
A few hours later, I took a break from packing and decided to call Owen to check on things on the home front.
My mentor and friend answered on the second ring. "Hey, Ava."
It was nice to hear his voice. I’d grown very fond of the tall, awkward-looking man. “How is everything?”
Owen was quiet for a few seconds before answering me. Dread began to build in my gut. I had too much to do here before I could return home. Did they need me? Had something gone wrong?
“Everything is good,” Owen said and paused again. “Did...did you know that Alfred has an Instagram account?”
A what? “No…” That couldn’t be a good thing, could it? Instagram was about pictures, and Alfie was desiccated flesh. “Please tell me he doesn’t take selfies.”
He hissed. “Okay, I won’t tell you.” Owen chuckled then began laughing out loud.
I closed my eyes and practiced breathing, counting up as I inhaled and down as I exhaled. Not that I needed the practice, but it was good to remind my body to do so every once in a while. “Should I ask?”