Free 44 Book Four by Jools Sinclair Page A

look at my face.”
    It took me a moment to realize who it was.
    “Conner?” I said. “Wow, it’s really been a long time.”
    He came out from behind the register and gave me a hug before going back to ring up my things.
    “So, you’re back playing soccer,” he said. “That’s good, Abby. I’m glad.”
    I smiled, not really sure what to say. The last time I had talked to him he told me he was breaking up with me so he could date a cheerleader.
    “It’s been forever,” he said, a little nervous. “Like we live in different cities or something. How have you been?”
    He flipped back his hair like he always used to do when we were dating in high school. It felt like a lifetime ago. It was strange not seeing him for all these years. But that’s how things were around here sometimes.
    “Fine,” I said. “How about you? What are you up to these days?”
    “Just working and going to school part time. I’ve been here at Dick’s for about a year. You know, the economy. But I’m taking classes over at the community college and I’ll be transferring to U of O next year.”
    “That’s great,” I said.
    “And you?” he asked, putting my stuff into a plastic bag.
    I was quiet as I slid my debit card through the machine and punched in my pin number, thinking of something to say. I looked behind me, hoping a customer would come up, but the store was pretty empty.
    “I work over at Back Street Coffee for now. Still trying to figure out the next move, I guess.”
    He nodded, his hair falling into his eyes and making him blink.
    “Well, it was nice seeing you,” I said, grabbing the bag and taking a few steps.
    “Yeah,” he said. “Hey, Abby, wait.”
    I stopped and turned back around facing him.
    “Do you think we could meet up sometime? I mean, just as friends. For coffee or a beer. You know. I always felt bad about how we ended.”
    You should , I thought. Conner had acted like a total loser, the way he broke up with me, and at the time it broke my heart. But now, looking at him, that all seemed so long ago and unimportant. It was almost like it hadn’t even happened.
    “We’ll see,” I said.
    I walked out of the store. As I put my bag in the back of the Jeep, I realized that Conner had actually helped me without even knowing it. When we were dating back in high school, I thought that I was in love with him. But after loving Jesse, I knew that it wasn’t even close. And if Conner hadn’t broken up with me, I might never have had that time with Jesse before the accident.
    Really, it had worked out.
    I headed to Back Street. Tonight was the night that I would tell Mo that there was a ghost who wanted to talk to her.
     

 
    CHAPTER 16
     
    It was dead at Back Street from seven o’clock on and we were already talking about closing early. David left at eight, although he lingered for a while, practicing some of his lines in front of me. But when he got a phone call, he took off.
    “Bye, you two,” he said. “And remember, stop talking so much and get to work.”
    The bells on the door chimed after he left and I stood by the window, watching his Camaro tear out of the lot.
    I took a deep breath. It wasn’t something I was looking forward to, but I glanced back down at the table where the ghost was the other night and knew that I didn’t have a choice.
    “Hey, Mo,” I said, walking up to her.
    My voice was too high and I was nervous but I hoped she hadn’t noticed. She was cleaning out one of the machines.
    “Yeah?” she said, not looking up.
    I thought about waiting to talk to her until we officially closed up because I didn’t want to be interrupted if a customer came in. But it had been really quiet tonight.
    “I need to talk to you,” I said.  She still didn’t look at me. “About something important. Could we close up a few minutes early and talk then?”
    She looked up finally, her dark eyes curious.
    “Yeah, sure,” she said slowly. “What about?”
    Her energy darkened a little