My jaw dropped and Johnny sucked in a breath. “I… I’m doing well, thank you.”
I tried to keep my voice low. “You can see him?”
She turned to me. “Yes. They look just like regular people to me.”
Whoah. She really can see ghosts. “You actually know him?”
“Yes. Known him for years. And his mother, father, and sister.”
“Are you sure?”
She frowned. “Of course. His mum is a friend of mine.” She lowered her head. “She’ll be sad that he’s passed on.”
Johnny looked pale. The irony of a ghost looking pale wasn’t lost on me. “What’s wrong,” I asked him. “You don’t look too good.”
His eyes locked onto mine. “She called me Jackson.”
“Yeah?” She was probably delusional, but I didn’t want to say that out loud.
“That’s my name. As soon as she said it, I knew.”
My eyes went wide. “Your name really is Jackson?”
“Yes.”
“Wow.”
Jackson. I wasn’t sure I could get used to calling him Jackson after calling him Johnny all this time.
I turned to Jade. “Can you see other spirits?”
“Yes. They’re everywhere. I talk to them all the time.”
No wonder people think you’ve lost your marbles.
She looked at Johnny — Jackson. “This one is different.”
“What do you mean?”
“He feels different. Don’t you feel it too?”
Yes. I had noticed it, but I didn’t know what it meant. “Why—”
I stopped talking when Ruby came in from the office.
She smiled warmly when she saw Jade. “Jade, how are you? You’re looking well today.”
They carried on talking and Ruby served her while Jackson and I were still trying to recover.
Jackson. I would have to cement that into my brain. Somehow.
Jade said goodbye to us and headed out the door and Ruby looked at me with a puzzled expression, but then her smile returned. “She’s always talking to people who aren’t there. Don’t worry about it.” Then she shook her head. “It’s such a shame. She was such a bright, vibrant girl when she first moved here.”
She walked back into her office and closed the door, leaving me speechless.
To find out someone else could see ghosts was kind of surreal. It was like coming home. Like I belonged somewhere. It was like finding a family member.
I had to just sit and let it all sink in. I didn’t know what to say. The fact that she knew Jackson just blew my mind. What were the chances of meeting someone who could see ghosts and knew Jackson and his family?
Jackson rubbed his chin. “I wonder how she knows my mum.”
“You found me while you were wandering around in Katoomba, so maybe you didn’t live in Angel Falls. But maybe your mum lives here.”
He stood a little straighter. “I wish Jade had told us what her name is. Maybe hearing it could trigger some memories.” He tapped the side of his head. “Surely something to do with my mother would shake something loose inside my brain.”
“Yeah, maybe. I still don’t understand why you’re not remembering more things by now. I haven’t been doing this ghost thing for very long, but in my experience, and from what Mrs C told me, some spirits can remember everything straight away, like Mrs Calthorpe, and others take a day or so, maybe as much as a week. How long has it been for you?”
“I don’t know. About two weeks, I think.”
“That’s way longer than normal – if you can call any of this normal. There has to be a reason for it.”
“Maybe Jade knows more about it. Maybe I should go find her and ask her if she knows. I should at least ask her what my mother’s name is. And my father and sister.”
“That’s a great idea. She couldn’t have gone far.”
He said goodbye and walked through the door. I hoped he could get some answers. I’d been wondering about all of those things and why he couldn’t remember them and I had to admit I was curious.
Just as I was looking around to see if any of the displays needed straightening, the door chimed and Blake walked into the store.
He stopped and smiled and that dimple in his cheek appeared. “Hey, Maddelyn. How are you?”
I felt my eyes widen and tried to keep my composure. What’s he doing in here? “Hi.” I didn’t really like being called Maddelyn. It always sounded like I was in trouble. “Um, it’s Maddie.”
“What?”
“I prefer Maddie. Not Maddelyn.”
“Oh. Okay. Sorry. That was just how we were introduced.”
“I know. It’s alright.” This is awkward…
His intense eyes felt like they could see all my secrets. I stared like a total dork, then remembered where I was and that he was a customer. “Um, can I help you?”
He seemed to remember why he was there. “Oh, my mother sent me here to buy some things for her.”
He didn’t make a move to come closer.
Okay, and what are they? “So, what does she need?”
“Oh, um, I have it written down.” He pulled a crumpled piece of paper out of the front pocket of his jeans. “Okay, she wants two pieces of fluorite and a black candle.”
I tried to keep a casual smile on my face as I grabbed the things he wanted and he talked about trivial things like the weather. Why was I nervous? Why was he watching me so intently?
As he was paying with a keycard, he smiled. “Would you like to have lunch with me tomorrow?”
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