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Her brow furrowed. “Go on.”
“You might not believe this, or maybe you will, but I have a gift, you could say—an ability.” I drew in a deep breath to stop rambling and got to the point. “The reason we found Hannah was because I talked to her ghost.”
Her eyes widened. “You did what?”
“I know it’s totally crazy, but she had a message for you that she wanted me to relay.”
“What did she say to you?” she whispered.
“That she always heard you read to her at nighttime and loved every minute of it.”
A moment passed before Mrs. Reid’s eyes filled with tears and her lip quivered. “How do you know I read to her?”
“I know because she told me.” I took her hand and held it tight. “Don’t try to understand it all, just know that she was with you all these years and she’s in heaven now.”
Tears leaked from her eyes. “I’m not going to pretend to understand how you know I read to Hannah every night in her room since her disappearance, but without y’all, we never would have found her.” She squeezed my hand. “So because of that, I’m merely going to believe what you’re telling me is the truth and thank you for letting me know she has found her peace.”
Mr. Reid approached then and wrapped an arm around his wife’s waist. “We need to go back to the house now—our guests will be waiting.”
“Yes, of course.” Mrs. Reid released my hand and surprised me by hugging me. “You’re special, my dear. Thank you for sharing this with me.”
My breath hitched as I forced myself not to fall to pieces in her arms. She backed away and Mr. Reid led her from the room. I sighed, taking one glance at Kipp before I raised my hands to my face and burst into tears. Maybe my breakdown had been inevitable and possibly even long overdue.
A cold breeze swept across my shoulders. “It kills me that I can’t hug you right now.”
I dropped my hands and looked at Kipp. “It can’t kill you—you’re already dead.”
He frowned. “That’s not funny.”
“Why are you crying?” a sweet voice startled me.
I spun around to see a girl no older than thirteen, of Latino decent. Long dark curls rested against her Taylor Lautner t-shirt.
“Hi. I’m Clara and I’m a ghost. Isn’t that so cool?”
Teens—they were so unbelievable when it came to death. Every single one found it exciting and was always truly thrilled to hear they were beyond the grave. I shook my head at the insanity of such logic. “If you say so, kid.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Clara,” Kipp said.
I could have prolonged this, waited for her to find some resolve to ask the question she needed to, but I wanted to get out of here and go home. My emotions were raw, so I didn’t waste any time there. “Do you remember what made you a ghost?”
Clara’s brow furrowed and a good minute passed before said, “The last thing I can remember was water and screaming.” She paused before her mouth dropped open. “I remember now, I drowned.”
I looked at Kipp then and he studied Clara intently. He saw for the first time what I’d told him. Most ghosts didn’t remember the event that took their lives like he did. I still hadn’t quite figured out how he knew so much, but I planned to, eventually. For now, my only worry was getting out of here and into my comfy bed. “Do you remember how you drowned?” Maybe she needed to reconcile what happened to her. Maybe that’s why she couldn’t cross over and had been stuck here at the church.
She bowed her head as if being scolded by a parent. “My friend Maggie and I were playing near a dam. There were signs warning us to stay out of the water, but we went in anyway.”
“Accidents happen,” Kipp said.
Clara shrugged and glanced up, and despair held strong in her gaze. “When I swam out, a current caught me and pulled me down into the dam. The last thing I remember is hearing Maggie screaming my name.”
“But she never tried to help you?” Kipp asked.
Clara shook her head. “She was scared—I could hear it in her voice. I guess she left me and swam back to shore.” She hesitated for a long moment, then her eyes lit up with excitement. “I think that might be why I’m still here.”
“For Maggie?” I asked.
She nodded. “I’m sure of it. I think it’s because she feels bad about not trying to save me.”
