The meeting

I met the man of my dreams at the grocery store. No joke, he was working there part-time on the weekends and he took my groceries to my car. We chatted for the few moments and in that time I found him to be charming and kind. I came back the next day to see if I had over-imagined my attraction to him. I hadn’t and when he asked for my number, I took his phone from him and put it in there myself.

Our first date was like a million other dates, but wonderful and sweet at the same time. We met at the grocery store and went to dinner. I found out that he was a single father and the older brother to someone that I had graduated high school with. He worked as an architect during the week for a housing company. When his wife died, he picked up a second job to help support his fifteen year old son. His name was Kevin Morgan, and on our first date; at a tiny restaurant, he stole my heart.

For two months we spent every spare moment we could together. A shared lunch, a quick meet after work before he had to go home to his son, or his son’s basketball game (although I hadn’t met his son yet) were normal for us in our quest to be together. When the time came to meet his son; Jasper, I was more nervous than when I had given Kevin my phone number. My future with this wonderful man rested in the hands of a fifteen year old boy. If he didn’t like me or accept me, I knew that Kevin would be forced to stop seeing me. As much as he liked me, his son would (and should) always come first.

We went to pizza the night I met Jasper. I found him to be all the things his father had enthused. He was as charming as his father, intelligent and seemed to care deeply for his fathers’ happiness. I couldn’t have been happier, I was falling in love and the dive was quick and powerful and I was happier than I had ever been.

Of course, I had not been to Kevin’s house or met his dead wife’s sister, Amelia. But I would and my life would change.

****

To Anna Morgan’s way of thinking “’til death do us part” really only pertained to her husband. There was no way she was leaving her home and family just because she had died. That stupid idiot should’ve been watching where he was going. She had been dead for three years and here she was still here. She could never move on, she was bound to Kevin and Jasper once Amelia had brought her back after her funeral. My stupid, stupid sister. How I would love to get my hands on her! She’s got nothing better to do than ruin my afterlife.

Anna had been driving home from a rendezvous with a man she had met through her work as a real estate agent. The best part about meeting men through work was that they were almost always married and not looking for more than casual sex. For Anna, that was perfect. She didn’t want to leave her perfect family; she just wanted a little variation along the way. And boy she got it. She had had several affairs and loved each one. There was something thrilling about getting away with it. But Bob had been different. Bob Smith (what a boring name, Mr. Smith) had made her consider leaving her family. He was a single man (one of the few that weren’t married), and handsome. And he wanted Anna; whether to steal her from Kevin or because he genuinely cared, Anna wasn’t sure. Bob and Kevin had played football together in college. Of course, Anna hadn’t known this before she met with Bob to show him the condo he was interested in buying. Bob had known, though, and he pursued Anna doggedly. He wanted her with a passion that only ignited her desire for him. The pair met for weeks and soon it became more than a fling. Anna was seriously considering leaving her husband and son for a chance with Bob.

She died instantly when she ran the red light and was hit by a semi truck. She stood looking at the aftermath with the pulsing blue and red lights and the wailing sirens. She cursed the driver of the semi; and months later she was there when he had a heart attack after seeing a ghost. She was there when her husband told their son that she had died. Sweet Kevin. He really had no idea. She approved of the casket he chose (sadly, it had to be a closed casket) and she loved that he allowed Amelia to come stay with him to help him with Jasper.

Amelia St. Ange was not all there. As a child she had suffered severe head trauma when she was kicked in the head by a horse. As a result, she couldn’t work and she could speak to spirits. After the funeral, Anna was supposed to leave to the great beyond, but Amelia performed a ritual that tied Anna to her for eternity. At the beginning, this suited Anna just fine as she wasn’t ready to leave her life. But living with Amelia was tiresome and she never did anything that Anna wanted her to do. When Kevin asked Amelia to move in with them; Anna couldn’t have been any happier. She would be able to live in her home and watch her boy.