Page 15 of You'll Be the Death of Me

Dell watched Jason pull out his phone and start thumbing it while Mariana fixed coffees. They were completely unaware of her presence. She leaned over Jason’s shoulder to see what had drawn the smile on his lips, and caught a glimpse of an email:

Dear Mr. Marshall, we are happy to accept your application...

She didn’t get any further or wonder what he had applied for before Tommy came down the stairs looking ashen and ill. He tried to wipe the look from his face with little success.

“Uh, hey, guys,” he said. “Dell’s not feeling well this morning.”

Dell flinched.Not feeling well?Despite her confusion about whatever the hell was going on, she was fairly certain that was a serious understatement.

“What? She was fine last night. What’s wrong with her?” Jason said, and started for the stairs. Hell or high water, he’d come to her aid.

Tommy stepped in front of him and blocked his path. “I don’t know. I think I need to call a doctor.”

“A doctor?”Jason said.

Mariana’s head popped up from her focused work in the kitchen. “Dell never gets sick.”

Jason moved to step around Tommy again, but Tommy held his ground.

“She’s not well, Jason. I can take care of her.”

Jason paused for the briefest moment, perhaps realizing his reign as Dell’sin sickness and healthpartner had come to an end. The moment passed, and his eyes narrowed. “What did you do to her, you asshole?”

“Jason!” Dell blurted, though no one could hear her.

Tommy puffed out his chest and stood taller despite being a few inches shorter than Jason. “What did you say to me?”

“You heard me,” Jason said with his jaw locked, and Dell thought they might actually get in a fight.

Tommy folded his formidable arms over his chest. He’d pulled on a T-shirt that morning, and the gray fabric straining over his muscles only made him look bigger. “I think you need to leave.”

Jason didn’t back down. A swell of affection hit the place in Dell’s chest where her heart should have been beating. “I’m not leaving until you let me see Dell.”

Tommy kept his cool for about ten more seconds. “All right, that’s enough. Everyone out. I know Dell lets you two come and go like you live here, but this ismyhouse, and mywifeisn’t well. She won’t be jogging today, and she doesn’t need coffee, so you don’t need to be here.”

Dell blinked at how he was treating them. She knew he wasn’tthe fondest of them, but she wondered if he always spoke to them in such a manner in her absence.

Jason folded his own arms over his chest, though it didn’t have quite the same effect with him being tall but of a slight, willowy build. “Last I checked, this is Dell’s house, and she’s not your wife yet.”

A dark laugh popped from Tommy’s lips. He shook his head. “I asked nicely, but you’re giving me no choice.” He marched across the living room to the entryway and yanked open the front door. “Get. Out.”

Dell startled at the sight of a tall man with disheveled dark hair standing in the doorway. He wore a button-down with rolled sleeves and a crooked tie and had a concerned look on his face. A satchel hung from his shoulder, and he held a book in his hand.

Tommy didn’t react to him standing there, and when the man’s eyes shot straight to Dell barefoot in her nightgown, instead of the urge to cover herself up in front of a stranger, she felt a rush of hope.

“Can you see me?” she called to him, and marched toward the door.

A flush filled his face. She noted as his ears turned pink that he was rather handsome. A strong jaw, sharp nose, and dark eyes. He was easily as tall as Jason, if not taller, and wore his pants cuffed at the ankles and suede oxfords with argyle socks peeking out.

He glanced at his book and cleared his throat. “Um, yes. Good morning, Ms. Rodgers. I’m Cole Lewis with the After—”

“What’s going on? Why can’t anyone see or hear me? Who are you?” she demanded as she reached for his arm and yanked him inside. Her hand didn’t pass through him but insteadlanded on the sturdy girth of his forearm. He felt warm to her, like a person should.

He stumbled and caught himself mere inches from her. When his lips parted to suck in a sharp breath, Dell noted the scent of mint accompanied by a crisp, light fragrance emanating from his body, which was suddenly towering over hers. As he gazed down at her, his dark eyes blown wide in surprise, she felt like he could see into her very soul. A glinting spark came and went in the deep brown faster than she could figure out what it meant; a light snapping on and off as if someone realized they flipped the wrong switch. The sight of it stirred something deep inside Dell. Cole shook himself and blinked, as if it had stirred him too and he wanted to bring the spark back to figure out why.

The rest of the room was oblivious to them. Jason had managed to get around Tommy and was heading for the stairs with Tommy on his heels. Swear words bounced off the walls as they argued, but Dell tuned it out and focused on Cole.

When he recovered from being wrenched inside and their near collision, he cast her a shy glance. He cleared his throat and started again. “Ms. Rodgers, I’m Cole Lewis with the Afterlife Administration. I’m here to inform you there has been an unfortunate mix-up and—”