Page 5 of Worth the Fall

Nate looks irritated that I’m not reacting. “Sure. Yes. Sorry.”

“Who was the woman?”

“Someone I haven’t seen in a while.”

“An old girlfriend?”

“Nah. We’re talking third grade here.”

“It’s you, Malone. You probably had the girls lined up to play four square with you back then.” He chuckles, and I roll my eyes. “Why’d she bail?”

“I’m not quite sure.” I look down to where I’m turning the card over in my hand and stare at Desi’s name but think of Emmy instead.

One thing is certain, Desi isn’t here on vacation. The address on the card and area code are both local, which means she lives here. Does that mean Emerson lives here, too?

Forget about it. If Em lives here and hasn’t sought me out, she doesn’t want to see me.

But I know I can’t forget.

I’ve never been able to.

She obviously doesn’t want this ghost from her past around.

That’s the funny thing about ghosts, though.

You can’t control when they appear or how they might affect you, but they always haunt you.