Jack ran a hand through his medium-brown hair that hung just past his ears and then put his hands in his front pockets. “Caught that slip of the tongue, did you?”
“Yes,” I returned. “About the dying bit. More than once I take it?”
“Yes,” he supplied. “More than once.”
“How old are you?”
“How old do I look?” he returned.
“Like you’re a bit younger than me. Side note, I’ve never dated a man who was younger than me. I should consider it.”
He chuckled. “Looks can be deceiving, love.”
“So, you’re not younger than me?” I asked.
“No,” he breathed. “I’m not.”
I just sat there, unsure what else I could offer.
“Marcy?”
“Yes?” I asked.
“To answer your other question, I’ve died more than once, and I’ve taken more than one life in my time,” he said, his voice just barely at a level I could hear.
I wasn’t sure if the statement was meant to be a confession of his sins or if it was his version of merely stating a fact. A niggle in my gut said he wanted to warn me. “You don’t feel like you were a bad person, Jack. I don’t sense any evil in you.”
“If only that were true,” he whispered, making me wonder what sins he felt he had committed.
Neither of us said anything for several long minutes before I gave in and put my head back on the lip of the tub again. The past week had been emotionally draining on me, leaving me catching the briefest of naps. I was desperate for rest. Enough time to refill my personal energy coffers. Hence the bath, the candles, the bubbles, the face mask, and the soothing aromatherapy.
“Get some rest, Marcy,” said Jack softly. “I won’t leave. I’ll do what I can to keep the dreams away. And I won’t let you fall in and drown.”
The toll of doing my best to avoid sleeping for the past several nights picked then to show itself. One second, I was at peace in the bubble bath, teetering on the edge of sleep, and the next, I was kicking awake, feeling as if I was falling. As my legs jerked up and then down once more in the tub, water splashed up and out.
Jack glanced back fast and closed his eyes a second later. “Marcy?”
“I’m fine,” I said. “Was almost asleep and then felt like I was falling.”
“Ah,” he returned with a nod, his eyes still closed. “A hypnogogic jerk. Stress and lack of sleep can bring them on.”
Jack never mentioned what he did for a living when he’d been alive, but he seemed to have a lot of knowledge when it came to medical things. It made me wonder if he’d been in that field or something close to it. I didn’t pry. He was entitled to his secrets.
Everyone was.
“Did your friend get the message you sent him this morning?”
He let out a long breath. “I think so. I pinned it where he was sure to see it.”
“I can call him if you want,” I offered. “I can give him any message you need to be sure he has.”
“I’ll use you to send a message to him when the time is right,” he returned. “Now isn’t that time.”
“What is it your friend does?” I asked.
“I want to tell you, I do, but I can’t,” he said, sadness filling his deep voice.
“The offer still stands, Jack,” I said. “I’ll look for your friend and try to contact him for you. It’s the least I could do since you’ve been such a supportive friend to me since we met.”
He nearly turned around to face me but stopped at the last second, facing the wall abruptly once more. “There is so much you need to know,” he said, sounding pained. “So much that I’m not able to tell you.”
“Why can’t you tell me?” I asked. “Or is that a secret too?”
His shoulders slumped and his demeanor changed, making him look almost defeated. “If I could tell you, I would. Things will sort themselves out soon enough.”
“You talk in circles worse than I do,” I said with a small grin. “Impressive.”
He laughed. “Thank you.”
Unlike normal spirits that I’d interacted with a great deal over the course of my life, Jack wasn’t able to see or hear others like him—others who had crossed over. What was even stranger was that the spirits I knew to be fully aware couldn’t see or hear him either. It was almost as if he was operating on an independent plane of existence from them. One I could still see and hear. It made me wonder what type of supernatural he was or had been prior to passing. It was painfully obvious that he wasn’t human.
It was also clear he was upset.
In an effort to make him smile, I began to sing the Prince song I’d been singing prior to his arrival.
Jack laughed softly, his mood lightening.
Chapter Four
Marcy
There was a knock on the door. “Babes, I love ya like a sister, but can you tone down your Julia-Roberts-in-the-bathtub Pretty Woman reenactment?” Dana asked in a voice that sounded sweet and innocent. That only meant she was working hard to avoid shouting at me.
I made kissing noises and lifted bubbles, blowing them out of my hands. The bubbles formed a shape, and I smiled at the sight of it. “Neat. The bubbles morphed into a butterfly shape. That, or a bat. I can’t really tell.”
“Rorschach moment?” asked Jack with a laugh.
I smiled at his inkblot joke. “Possibly.”
“Can I get something firmer than possibly?” asked Dana. “I’m not sure how much more Prince I can listen to you sing.”
“Want me to move to Steely Dan?” I questioned, already knowing what her response would be.
“Bite your tongue, devil woman,” she said loudly from the other side of the door.
I lifted more bubbles and blew on them as well. They formed something that looked like a squirrel. My eyes widened with delight. “That’s a new one. The bubbles formed a squirrel. Look.”
“I’d rather not,” said Dana.
Jack laughed more. “I would, but then I’d see you naked. He’s already going to take exception with this as it is. Though it would serve him right.”
“He being?” I asked.
He didn’t respond.
With a shrug, I returned to playing with the bubbles. This time, they formed a dragon. It floated up and for a second looked as if it might actually breathe bubble fire—if that was even a thing. It vanished then.
“Okay, so we’re off Prince songs now?” asked Dana, a hopeful note to her voice.
“Yes,” I responded. “I can pick another movie and a different song. How about something from the Grateful Dead or John Denver?”
“God, no. Please don’t,” said Dana, this time louder. “I have a ton of work to go over from the office and need to focus. I swear, getting my replacement up to speed will be the death of me.”
“You can join me in the tub if you need to relax. I’ll make room,” I said. “There are bubbles!”
“Best day ever,” said Jack from the corner.
Silence greeted me for a few moments from Dana’s side of the door. “Uh, thank you, but I’m going to pass on communal baths.”