Page 59 of Leafpoint Lighthouse

Without another word, I slipped past him and headed to the living room. I heard his heavy boots stamping behind me, but I reached Avery first.

“Are you enjoying the film?” I inquired. I couldn’t help but smile.

“Miss Lyra, Mum, this is amazing! Is there more?”

“Yes, but only one a night. Now I’m not sure if ghosts sleep or rest; do you?” I questioned.

“We don’t sleep, but we like a safe spot to relax and fade to restore our strength,” William answered.

“Right, come with me,” I stated. Avery glanced at the TV, and I laughed and showed him how to pause and restart the movie.

Avery followed me up the stairs and to the first bedroom above my own. “This will be yours,” I said.

Avery dematerialised so quickly that if I had blinked, I would have missed it.

“Avery?” I exclaimed.

“This is mine? My own room?” Avery’s voice came from over my shoulder. I turned but couldn’t see him.

“Yes.”

“I’ve never had my own quarters, Mum.”

“You do now. You can watch the end of the movie before bed. Do you hear me? Tomorrow we’ll begin teaching you to read and write.”

Avery flickered into view and then disappeared again.

“I’m so happy, Mum. I am glad I scared you,” he whispered. Swallowing my own tears, I managed a nod.

“Me too, Avery.” With that, I headed for my bedroom.

William

I stared at Lyra as she slept. My head was still spinning from earlier. What type of woman basically adopted a ghost child? This one. My heart swelled with emotion, and I felt I was going to burst. Where had Lyra been when I’d been alive? Stupid question; even if she’d lived back then, she wouldn’t have been for me. Her class would have set Lyra apart.

There weren’t many things I regretted. Never falling in love had been one of them. My parents had yearned for grandchildren, and they’d not got them from me. There had been my sister, but after my death, I didn’t know what happened to her. I hoped Jane had a happy, full life.

Lyra shifted in her sleep, and I smiled. She was curled up in a ball, her hands tucked under her pillow.

“William.” I straightened. Was Lyra aware that I was watching her? What would she think?

“Don’t leave me.”

That hit my heart hard, and I swallowed. This woman was worming her way into my emotions. Lyra was stubborn, determined, hated being wrong, and was certainly not obedient and quiet. And she was what I wanted. How did a dead man date a living woman? It couldn’t happen even if I had to leave after ending the Master. Lyra had at least fifty more years ahead of her. She deserved happiness. Not a dead man who couldn’t give her everything.

Then again. There was Avery. And that gave me a glimmer of hope I didn’t deserve.

Chapter Thirteen.

Lyra

Avery poked his tongue out as he scowled at the letter G. “That’s J.”

“G.”

“It looks like J,” Avery argued, and I laughed.

“It does, in the same way that P and Q are similar.”