The Messenger

8

A week later, Ron was home. Or at least, in his former home.

He was still weak, but continued to improve. Amanda learned that Tyler Hawthorne had arranged around-the-clock private nursing care for him. After consulting with Ron, Tyler had left instructions that Amanda be allowed to visit Ron at any hour. Ron was refusing all other visitors. Amanda had not seen Tyler himself since the night she had met him at the hospice.

“He travels a lot,” Ron explained. “He’s home now, though. Want me to ask him to join us?”

“No thanks.”

“What’s bothering you about him?”

“I don’t know. I’m so happy that you’ve recovered-”

“I know you are, but I hear a ‘but’ in there. But what…?”

“But I’m worried that you’ll end up in debt to him,” she admitted.

“No, I’ve got Derek’s proceeds from the house, and I can also sell some of the things Derek took with him when he moved out-paintings and rare books, although I’d rather not part with them. Besides, I’ve got some news.” He grinned. “Maybe this will convince you that Tyler’s not all bad.”

“I don’t think he’s bad!”

“You mistrust him.”

“No, not exactly.” She couldn’t bring herself to tell Ron that the last time she had seen Tyler, she had argued with him. About Ron. “Let’s just say I don’t know him well enough to trust him yet.”

Ron studied her for a moment, then said, “Fair enough. Anyway, he needs help cataloging his library, and he’s hiring me to do it. He’s not in a rush, so I can work at my own pace, just when I feel up to it.” He was grinning, and she could see the light of excitement in his eyes. “He has some wonderful rare books, Amanda. I think that’s how he met Derek.”

Bookish Ron. It was an ideal job for him. “Ron, I’m happy for you. I really am. But don’t you wonder why he’s-I don’t know how to put this-”

“Showing such an interest in me?”

“Well, yes.”

“I told you. He and Derek knew each other. And he likes me. And not for my hot but frail body, if that’s what you’re thinking.”

She blushed. “I’m not.”

“Oh, you were, or you wouldn’t be blushing. Nope. Doesn’t even think of me like a brother, the way you do. We’re friends. He’s not trying to get anything from me-I don’t have a damned thing to offer him but my friendship.”

She fell silent. She kept thinking of how close she had come to losing Ron, though, and how vulnerable he still was-and not just to illness. She couldn’t think of a reason why Tyler would do so much for Ron, and found that between Tyler’s avoidance of her and his extreme generosity to Ron, she grew more and more suspicious-even as Ron grew more and more grateful to him.

“Amanda…”

“Did you ever hear Derek talk about him?”

“No, but Derek rarely talked about anyone other than himself. You know that.”

“True.”

He waited for her to say more. When she didn’t, he said, “Remember about the safe-deposit key?”

“Yes. You said Tyler thought it might have been what the burglars were looking for.”

“He found the key and gave it to me. Now is that the act of a dishonest man?”

“It takes more than a key to get into a safe-deposit box. You may not be able to get into it. Do you even know which bank it’s at?” She could hear the pettishness in her own voice, and hated it.

“I know where the box is, of course,” he answered in a steady, quiet voice, one that she knew as a signal of his anger. It was a tone he very rarely used when speaking to her. “Derek added me to the signature card a long time ago. So as soon as I’m well enough to go out, Tyler will take me there. Tyler said that just before Derek died, he mentioned that he wanted me to have whatever is in that safe-deposit box. It was on his mind.”

“Tyler was with Derek just before he died? I don’t ever remember seeing him at the hospital.”

“Oh, were you in charge of the guest book there?”

She sat silently for a moment, looking away from him. Clearly, he thought she was being overly protective. Was she? Maybe, she thought, we need a breather.

“Speaking of guests,” she said, “for a change, I’ll be one. I’ve been meaning to tell you that I’ll be gone this weekend. I’m going out to Rebecca and Brad’s house. Rebecca’s throwing a party.”

“Rudebecca’s? You know Tyler will be there, too?”

“Yes, so you can see I’m not trying to make an enemy of him. He’s my new neighbor, and he’s helping you, so please don’t think I have anything against him.” She folded her arms across her chest. “Who knows? Maybe Rebecca will sink her claws into him and I’ll have her for a neighbor, too.”

“I don’t think you should get your hopes up. He tells me the only reason he’s going is that he has a small property of his own out there and needs to check on it. Doesn’t exactly sound like he’s a man in love, if you ask me. But watch out, Amanda, with all this hanging around Rudebecca-for the first time, you’re starting to act like her.”

She told herself that it was natural for someone who had been so very ill to be a little cranky as he recovered. She should see it as a sign of his returning strength, remember what it was like when he didn’t seem to have any fight left in him, and be glad. She discovered she felt hurt anyway.

“I guess I’ll be going,” she said, and moved to the door.

She opened it, then heard Ron say, “Mandy-Mandy, don’t.”

He hadn’t called her by that childhood name for years. She turned and saw the look of contrition on his face. He was holding a hand out to her. She went back to his bedside and took his hand. He drew her into a hug. “Don’t be angry with me,” he said. “I’m not myself these days, you know I’m not.”

“Shhh. I’m not angry with you. Really I’m not. I’m not myself, either-not getting enough sleep lately.”

They heard the sound of footsteps, and Tyler stepped into the room, saying, “Ron, I wondered if-”

He saw the two of them embracing and quickly said, “Forgive me, I didn’t realize you had company.” He withdrew, apparently not hearing Ron call after him.

Ron looked at Amanda and shrugged. “Stay a little while, okay?”

“Sure,” she said, returning to her chair.

“You said you haven’t had much sleep,” Ron said. “Ghosts bothering you?”

She glanced at the door, making sure it was closed. Ron was the only one she ever talked to about the ghosts. “They seem to be agitated by something. Maybe because I moved into my parents’ bedroom. Although-”

“Although what?”

“They don’t seem unhappy when I’m in there. I mean-they never look happy, but they seem at ease. They don’t linger. Actually, they’re more likely to hang around when I’m outside, or in the car-they show up in the car every time I’m on the way up here.”

“You’ve seen them here?” he asked curiously.

“No, not yet. They vanish before I’m through the front gate.”

“I keep thinking they’ll reveal themselves to me one of these days.”

“I don’t blame you for not believing in them. I’m pretty sure I’ll get over the guilt at some point in my life-”

“You did not cause the car accident that killed your parents and your aunt and uncle!”

“No, I didn’t,” she agreed, not wanting to revive an old argument. “Anyway, like you, I’m not completely sure they’re real. I see them more often in times of stress, after all.”

“Well, you’re not exactly right about my not believing in them. I keep an open mind. Besides, I know that at least in the moments you’re seeing them, they’re real to you. That’s real enough. They don’t threaten you or try to harm you, right?”

“No, never. They startle me, they make me uneasy, but other than the ‘boo!’ factor-you know, after eight years, they don’t really scare me.”

“There’s some purpose to their appearances,” Ron said. “Whether it’s in your imagination or not.”

“I wish they’d get around to telling me what it is so they could go on to wherever they’re going.”

They talked for a while longer, until she saw that he was tiring. So she left, telling him she’d be back to see him soon.

She didn’t see Tyler Hawthorne again that day, or on any of the other occasions when she visited before leaving for the desert.

Ron’s health continued to improve.

The four ghosts came to her room every night, but she was convinced she had made a good choice in relocating. She had never kept the room as a shrine to her dead parents, but until now, she hadn’t made it her own. It was much larger and sunnier than her old one. She could see Tyler Hawthorne’s house from the room’s small balcony.

Despite their increased attention, it wasn’t the ghosts who scared her or robbed her of sleep. Every night, even from upstairs, she heard a dog prowling near the house in the hours after midnight. She tried watching from the balcony, to see if she could catch a glimpse of it, but it remained hidden in the shadows below.

She didn’t tell anyone about it, not even Ron, knowing he was quite worried enough about her seeing ghosts. There wouldn’t be anything he could do about the dog anyway.

She began to look forward to the weekend. Her cousins would be snide, the ghosts would follow her, but she could get away from the dog.