Unfinished Business An Angela Panther Novel (A Chick-lit Paranormal book) (The Angela Panther Series) Read Online Free PDF Page B

that.”
    I checked to see if Jake caught the part about John saying something at Starbucks, but either he wasn’t paying attention or he figured I had already mentioned it to Josh because his expression stayed flat.
    “Then I showed her my airplane, and she said she liked it. I tried to show her my new army truck, but she was gone. She just disappeared with all of these sparkly things flying off of her. It was pretty cool.” He went back to eating his Blizzard. Priorities.
    I tilted my head.
    “It wasn’t her, Ang. Your mother isn’t haunting us.”
    You wanna bet? I resisted the urge to curl up the side of my lip, and scream, yuh huh. I saw her too, so there, because I’m a mature adult and all, dang it.
    ###
    W e made it to Indianapolis in record time. Jake has a way of maneuvering through traffic at ridiculously high speeds, and while Josh and Emily sat blissfully ignorant, it scared the living h-e double toothpicks out of me. I spent most of the ride either screaming, Jake, and covering my eyes or ducked down low in the seat with a magazine in front of my face.
    When we arrived, Dad was sitting in his recliner in the sunroom, but didn’t get up when we walked in. At eighty, his body, worn from years of smoking, simply wasn’t what it used to be. I had a flashback to the comment Ma made about it soon being just my brothers and me, but I quickly pushed it away. I couldn’t go there, not yet. We all walked in and said hello, and he gave me his standard greeting of “Hello, Sunshine,” and hugged me extra tight. I squeezed my eyes tightly to stop the tears. It felt good to have him hug me, even in his weakened state.
    Dad was always the consummate storyteller and man of wisdom but lately preferred to just listen instead. His breaths were labored due to COPD, and it was rough to watch him struggle. It broke my heart, but I was grateful he was still here. His health was the elephant in the room; if we pretended it wasn't a problem, then it wasn’t. I knew different, but this was the way my family worked.
    Dad and I sat in the sunroom – because he couldn’t smoke in the house – while Jake and the kids talked with Grandma Helen. “I can’t believe your mother is gone."
    You and me both .
    I choked back a sob. He’d lost so many people lately and losing my mom had to be hard even though they weren’t together anymore. They shared a life and children and I’m sure her death was a smack of his mortality for him.
    “I know. I’m still in shock. One day she’s walking around and joking with the kids and the next she’s gone. I’m still trying to process that.”
    He shook his head. “I always thought I’d go first. I never thought she would. I just can’t believe it.”
    Dad asked how the kids were handling it all, and I filled him in without telling him what Josh mentioned in the car. I explained that Emily didn’t seem at all impacted, which wasn’t a surprise to anyone, but that Josh was sad.
    “I remember when your grandmother died, you tried to convince me to let you stay home from school, but you hadn’t even shed a tear."
    “I remember. I thought I could get a day off out of it, but honestly didn’t feel that sad. I feel bad about that now.”
    Dad nodded and gave me a resigned look. “You were a teenager and so is Emily. It’s normal to be selfish at this stage. She’ll feel it eventually."
    I took his hand and squeezed it tightly. “I love you, Dad."
    “I love you too, babe,” he told me.
    Then I said something that surprised both of us, because it acknowledged something neither of us wanted to think about. “I need a year, Dad. Can you just give me a year? Let me get through this, please.”
    “I’ll try sweetheart. I’ll try, Sunshine." He knew exactly what I meant.
    ###
    T hat night I tucked Josh in bed, and we talked about Ma. “So, when you saw Grandma, what was she wearing? I tried to sound nonchalant when really what I wanted to say was, I saw her too! Holy crap! We’re