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He contemplated this over a few seconds. “You wanted to know why I halted the demolition that first day?”
Allie nodded.
“The truth is,” he said sheepishly, “I had that old Beatles song Help stuck inside my head. It was driving me crazy. Then I said I’d stop the demolition and the song stopped, too.”
Allie stilled. “You’re kidding.”
“You think I could make that up?”
“That’s crazy! I had an old Beatles song in my head the other day, too.” She glanced around the empty room and took a deep breath. No warm smell. No lemons. Just musty old building.
“You think your ghost is some demented Beatles fan who gets a kick out of taking over people’s heads?”
“Technically, not just a Beatles fan, since it was a Frankie Valle song I had in my head tonight.”
He offered her his hand, just like he’d done a couple of nights ago. This time she took it. He was right. Her “theory” sounded crazy, even to her. She’d been at Mimi and Zeke’s both times she’d experienced the music in her head phenomena, and according to Tom he’d heard Help during their conversation in the parking lot, which was technically part of the Senior Center, but not in the building itself.
Her face must have showed her frustration because Tom shrugged, then said, “Hey, there’s still tomorrow night’s séance.”
“Speaking of which, we can’t let Phoebe or this Madame Gloria know we um…you know, broke their rules by entering the building.”
“Right. I won’t tell if you don’t,” he said with a straight face. There was no smile at her lame attempt to make a joke. Or any hint of warmth behind his words. He deflated the mattress, picked up the backpack and headed for the door. “I need to lock up now. Get in the truck and I’ll give you a ride to your brother’s.”
She thought about telling him that she could jog back, but something told her not to.
Neither of them said a word the entire way home.
She was afraid Tom would be angry or stand-offish (she didn’t think most men would appreciate being told to shut up in the middle of sex), but he appeared more pensive than anything else.
And that was good, right? After all, he’d given her exactly what she’d asked for. Straight sex with no emotions. It was a relief really, to not have to pretend to feel something they didn’t. Allie turned to stare out the truck window. The weird thing was, she felt more like crying now than she had earlier. Which made absolutely no sense at all.
Tom walked into the offices of Pappas-Hernandez Construction. Stacey, the receptionist, sat at her desk, cradling a phone in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other. She was in her mid-twenties. Cute. Good sense of humor. Killer ass. She’d asked him out once but he’d gently put her off. Not that he hadn’t been tempted, but generally it wasn’t a good idea to date someone from work. Too much potential for disaster.
She quickly ended her phone call. “Well, if it isn’t the prodigal son.”
“I’m in that much trouble?”
“Mister, that building was supposed to come down three days ago.” She pointed to a stack of papers on her cluttered desk. “See those? Those are all the schedule changes I’ve had to make to keep everyone working.”
Tom winced.
She leaned forward. “Can I ask you a question? What are you doing? I mean, I know it’s none of my business but isn’t your bonus tied into the timeline on this project?”
Well I ran into this girl I used to know…
“Long story.” He nodded toward Steve’s office. “He busy?”
“Not for you he isn’t. Go on in.” She smiled in a way that made Tom think she might still be open to going out with him. The trouble was, there was only one woman on his mind right now.
He opened the door to his boss’s office. Steve Pappas was a big guy, in his late thirties with an even kind of temper that suited Tom just fine. Steve glanced up from his laptop. “What’s up?”
“Just wanted to keep you updated on the situation at the senior center.”
“I hear there’s going to be a séance tonight.”
“Word spreads fast,” Tom said. He’d come to tell his boss the details himself but it looked like someone had already beat him to the punch. He didn’t know whether to be relieved or irritated.
“You’re going to be there, right?” Steve asked.
