Free The Ex Who Wouldn't Die by Sally Berneathy Page B

sitting cross-legged on the floor in her line of sight. "Hi."
     
    Amanda shot out of the chair. "I need more wine." She sank back down. "Or less wine."
     
    "Hey, I'm not thrilled about this deal, either, but I'm stuck with it. That white light everybody sees when they die? It got yanked away from me before I could reach it, and suddenly I'm watching you go tumbling down that mountain. I took care of you , didn't I, got you back to the highway, saved your life? I thought maybe that would be it and I'd get to move on, but I 'm still here . At least you can see me now. When I talked to you at your mother's house, you acted like you didn't hear me. Your mother never did like me. "
     
    " With good reason. Go away."
     
    "I can't. I tried. I can go inside the dark like I did just now when those cops came, but other than that, I'm stuck with you ."
     
    Amanda rose, deliberately averting her eyes from the illusion of Charley. "I'm going to bed now, and when I wake up in the morning, I'm going to be completely normal again…no Charley, no little green men."
     
    "You need to cut back on the wine, Amanda. There aren't any little green men here, just me. And I'll probably still be here when you wake up."
     
    Amanda crossed the room and yanked open the bottom drawer of her dresser. Selecting a nightshirt, she clutched it to her chest and turned around.
     
    Charley's grin widened. "Go ahead. Change clothes. If I'm not really here, getting naked in front of me won't bother you."
     
    Amanda hesitated, then, determined not to give in to her own delusions, laid the nightshirt on her bed and lifted the bottom of her T -shirt.
     
    Charley whistled and clapped. "Take it off! Take it all off!"
     
    Amanda spun around, turning her back to him. Charley's grinning image reflected in the beveled mirror of her antique dresser. Did hallucinations reflect in mirrors? Vampires didn't, but she wasn't sure about the protocol for hallucinations.
     
    "Gotcha!" Charley exclaimed triumphantly. "If you didn't believe I'm here, you wouldn't be embarrassed to undress."
     
    "I don't believe you're here . I believe I'm losing my mind, but I'm not going to undress in front of you anyway."
     
    "Like I've never seen you—"
     
    Amanda whirled on him. "That's enough! We're getting a divorce. You do not have the right to talk to me that way!" She lifted her hand to her head. "Oh, lordy! I'm t alking to my hallucination again !"
     
    "It's a start. Sit down. We've got a lot to talk about."
     
    Amanda shook her head but followed his directions an d sat in the rocking chair . "If I listen to you, will you go away?"
     
    "Maybe." He sighed. "To tell you the truth…and I'm afraid that's all I can do anymore…I'm not sure. This death thing, I don't have any experience with it. I don't really know what I'm supposed to do. "
     
    "So you're dead. You're a ghost."
     
    Charley flinched. "You don't have to be rude."
     
    "You're dead, but you're not a ghost?" If he was her hallucination, shouldn't he be more agreeable?
     
    " Ghost just sounds so…hazy and insubstantial ."
     
    "Fine, you're dead, but you're not a ghost."
     
    "I'm still Charley. I just don't have a body. At least, not the same kind of body I used to have. I'm not very solid anymore. "
     
    Like a ghost, she thought. But arguing with Ch arley had always been pointless. H is hallucination wasn't likel y to be any more open to logic.
     
    "Whatever. It's late. I'm tired. What is it you want to talk about?"
     
    "I guess we have to start with Kimball and that gun."
     
    "Can you sit down? I don't feel comfortable having a conversation with someone who's standing while I'm sitting." Standing and hovering a few inches off the floor.
     
    "Sure." He perched on the side of the bed, about an inch above the colorful spread.
     
    Amanda motioned with her hand, indicating he should lower himself a little more.
     
    "Huh?"
     
    "You're floating. That doesn't make me feel comfortable."
     
    Charley lowered