“Well, you and your beloved certainly gave this old lady quite an eyeful.”
I chuckled. “You couldn’t look away?”
“Why would I do that? You’re a striking couple. Very handsome indeed.” She sighed and stood. “As sorry as I am to interrupt you, I must. Reapers seem to be in short supply. There are souls in Hollowbrook collecting dust, but thankfully, I found you. If you hadn’t woken up, I might have told the others where you were hiding.” She’d had quite a long journey. She hadn’t died in Hollowbrook but somewhere in New Jersey near the shore. Her body was in the morgue. A neighbor had found her.
“Please don’t do that.” The last thing I needed was souls haunting my morning-after.
“I’ve been lingering for ten days, young man. As much fun as haunting Stella Greer and her grouchy husband is, I am ready to go to the afterlife.” Stella and her husband weren’t the neighborswho found Mary. They were the neighbors across the street. She didn’t like them much.
I smiled more at her calling me a young man than at her haunting her shitty neighbors, though the latter was a little funny and very on-brand for her.
“If you wouldn’t mind looking away, I’ll cover my beloved and escort you to the door.”
She couldn’t enter the Between on her own. She needed me to take her to where the door to the afterlife would be. The door never appeared anywhere else.
As soon as I moved, she giggled like a schoolgirl and straightened from her crouched position.
Phin stirred. He blinked his pretty brown eyes open, then smiled when he saw me. “Is it morning yet?”
“Not quite, love.” I brushed a strand of hair from Phin’s forehead.
“Nearly?” Phin sat up, then clutched my robe when he saw the woman smiling at him. His eyes widened.
“This is Mary. She needs an escort.” I cupped his cheek and kissed him.
“How did you find us?” That was a good question. I hadn’t thought to ask.
“I followed George Stanley to the farmhouse, where another reaper was kind enough to escort him. Believe me, he was not happy about waiting. He made that clear to the other reaper. The dressing-down was rather uncomfortable, so I left them to it. I haunted the field until George was in the afterlife.” She cupped her hand around her mouth as if she were telling Phin a secret. “I’m sure George is destined for hell.”
“He shouldn’t be in that much of a hurry to cross over, huh?” Phin smiled. He liked her.
She chuckled. “Not that I wish it on him, mind you, but it would serve him right.”
“Are you ready, Mary?”
Instead of answering, she turned.
I kissed Phin, then gently took the cloak from him. I wiggled my eyebrows as he lay down again. “I’ll be right back.”
Phin nodded, and I covered him with the blanket. I straightened and took Mary’s hand.
Her hands shook. Her grip was tight enough to hurt. At first, I thought she was afraid, or at the very least, nervous. But then she squeaked when we entered the Between. “I’ve been ready to see Edward again for twelve years.”
The Between was just a dark space. Nothing was there. Only emptiness. Devoid of everything. Mary’s door was dark purple. It appeared before us, and she met my gaze.
When Mary opened the door, a big man in his seventies stood next to a very decked-out RV. He wore some sort of fishing hat with lures on it and a brown vest.
Behind him lay a lake. There might have been a boat and a dock, but the RV blocked my view. I saw a picnic table with a book and a mug that readJust One More Chapterin bold letters.
The man’s blue eyes sparkled when he saw her. Mary let out a little squeal and ran toward him. As soon as she stepped over the threshold, the door disappeared.
I walked back into the field, where three more souls waited for me to reap them and escort them into the afterlife.
Phin smirked as he stood, the blanket wrapped around him, and waved away the apology before I even spoke the words.
“Fifteen more minutes?” It wouldn’t take me that long, but I wanted to give each soul the attention it deserved.
Phin nodded, then kissed me. “Reapers gotta reap.”
