Reason Is You (9781101576151) Read Free Page B

spongy under my feet, leaving impressions that got progressively soupier as I approached the shoreline. I didn’t care anymore about the raindrops. I had only about a half hour, maybe less, to feed the itch the storm was causing in me. I closed my eyes and inhaled the undeniable aroma of the Gulf. The storm was pushing it up the river. I loved the saltiness of it on my lips. Theheavy feel of it pressing through the air, like it was pushing against me and pulling the breath out of me at the same time. It was exhilarating, like it was just for me to absorb. When the wind picked my hair up, though, I opened my eyes. I knew it was time to go in. Everything after that always scared the hell out of me.
    I rinsed dishes blindly that night while the thunder rattled the window in front of me. My dad had a dishwasher, but living plate by plate didn’t warrant much use of it. I felt the need to make it feel loved.
    Riley was up in her new room, formerly the guest room, trying to get a cell signal or channel ghosts maybe? God, I didn’t know, but the whole thing had my stomach in knots. Dad morphed at my side and leaned against the counter.
    “You didn’t talk much at dinner.”
    I smiled up at him and looked away again quickly. I was afraid he’d see my struggles again, and I was afraid to let him down. Lightning flashed through the window and I winced as I waited for the next rumble.
One…two…three…
    “Just tired, I guess.”
    “A lot on your mind.”
    “Yeah. Thanks for all this, Dad.” I put a dish back in the sink and gave him my attention. “Getting Riley’s room ready like that, it’s great.”
    “Well, I just want her to feel at home.”
    At home. “Thank you.”
    “I’m proud of you, you know.”
    I gave him a hug around his bulging middle and picked the dish back up.
    “Saw you outside today.”
    I froze in mid-rinse and looked forward, focusing on a tile witha red teapot stenciled in it. The warm fuzzy of the previous moment vanished and the familiar tension settled in my bones.
    “Okay.”
    There was a long pause, and I wanted to nudge him so he’d get it out there.
    “Is it—” He stopped and fidgeted with a dirty fingernail. “Are they back, Dani?”
    “They?”
    “The—whatever they are.”
    I had to chuckle at the simplicity of that. Another flash lit up the yard like daytime, and I put the dish back down, wiped my hands, and faced him.
One…two…
I felt the vibrations ripple from my ankles up, like the house was welcoming me home.
    “Dad, it’s not a group that—follows me around.”
    He rubbed at his face, his beard. He looked like I felt, and it made me realize what he must have gone through with me.
    “Well, I don’t know that much about all this, and it’s been a long time, so bear with me.”
    I looked around to make sure Riley wasn’t anywhere nearby.
    “People just—stick around sometimes, you know? Afterward. They don’t even have to be local. They’re just—there.” I looked down. “And for some reason, I can see them.”
    He nodded and narrowed his gaze. “And someone was here today? I saw you talking to nothing.”
    I closed my eyes.
Talking to nothing
. “Yes.”
    “I don’t know, Dani.” He pushed off the counter and picked a coaster off the table absently and balanced it on its side. “I guess when you did so well up in Dallas—you never talk about it anymore. Not even on visits. I guess I thought it was over.”
    I laughed softly. “Not over. Just new, and I knew how to hide it there.”
    Bright white light flashed along with a concussion that shook the earth, and I jumped. The storm was on top of us.
    “What about Riley?”
    I looked away, feeling the burn in my chest. “Yeah, about that.”
    “Aren’t you worried about her seeing you?”
    I bit my lip. “I was out there today because I found Riley talking to someone.”
    His look was blank.
    “An old friend. The dead kind,” I added.
    He flinched as if I’d poked him with a lit match.