Free Granny Apples 05 - Ghost in the Guacamole by Sue Ann Jaffarian

way off track here?” asked Granny, moving to stand near Emma. Granny cocked a thumb in the direction of Felix Ricardo. “He’s looking kind of hazy again. He might have used up all his juice taking that stroll down memory lane this morning.”
    One look at the other ghost and Emma knew Granny was right about Felix starting to fade. His shoulders sagged and his mustache drooped. His authoritative posture of before had dissolved into sadness. Maybe it was from low energy, as Granny suggested, or maybe it was despair upon hearing how his daughters were battling. Next Emma looked at Phil. He shrugged, letting her know the next step was her call.
    â€œRikki,” Emma began as she turned to face her. “The last thing I want is to be caught in the middle of a family drama, but forgetting for a minute about Lucy and T.J., tell me, what do you believe?”
    Rikki turned her face toward the spot where Emma had said the spirit of Felix stood. She stared at it almost a full minute before saying, “I don’t know what I believe, but I know what I want to believe.” She held out a hand, palm outward, to the empty space. Felix placed his palm against hers and smiled, although neither could feel the other. “But I have no way to prove it,” Rikki said with sadness.
    Emma shifted in her seat, then said, “Every morning your father walked up and down Olvera Street greeting his friends and neighbors, isn’t that true?”
    With knitted brows, Rikki turned to Emma. “That’s right, but how would you know that?” Before Emma could say, Rikki added, “But that’s something Lucy could have told you. Anyone who knew my father knew he did that.”
    â€œHe still does it, Rikki,” Emma told her. “Even in death, he still checks on his friends on the street.”
    Rikki brightened considerably, then her face fell just as fast. “It is something he might do, but you saying it doesn’t mean anything.” She rested her elbows on her knees and leaned forward until her hands held her chin. The position made her look like a young girl instead of an adult business owner responsible for employees.
    â€œShe always sat like that when she was trying to figure something out,” Felix told Emma with a small smile, even as he started to fade more.
    â€œYou father just said you always sit like that when you need to think deeply about something,” Emma told Rikki.
    Rikki snapped her head up and stared at Emma, then turned away. “Easy guess about a habit.”
    Felix floated closer to Emma. “Ask her about the time she ran away,” he said. “She was about eight and had a big fight with Lucy over something.”
    â€œFelix just told me that you had a fight with Lucy when you were eight and ran away,” Emma relayed.
    Rikki’s gaze returned to Emma’s face, eyes large with wonder.
    â€œMrs. Chan who ran the dry cleaners in Chinatown just a few blocks from here,” continued Felix, “found her hiding in the back of her store, soaked and cold from the rain. We took our cleaning there for years, so she knew Rikki and called me.”
    Emma relayed the story. Rikki’s brown eyes got rounder and larger with each word.
    â€œI took her for sweet and sour soup to warm her up and to talk.” Felix moved closer to his daughter. “Ricarda loved sweet and sour soup, even as a child. She begged me not to tell her mother or Lucy, and I never did. I never told anyone.”
    Emma nodded to the ghost, then looked at Rikki. “After picking you up from Mrs. Chan’s, your father took you out for sweet and sour soup and promised he’d never tell anyone. He says he never has.”
    Rikki broke down and began sobbing softly. “Oh, Daddy. You are here.”
    Granny sniffed and wiped a hand across her tearless face. “Poor child.”
    â€œI must go,” Felix said to Rikki. “But I’ll come back. I