LOVE, UNEXPECTED

Love always comes when you least expect it, at least that’s what PA Alice Fletcher tells herself as she looks forward to another Friday night of trash telly and wine-for-one.

But what happens when the unexpected is daytime TV crush Jimmy Mack, and he’s sitting on your couch watching the news… of the accident that claimed his life?

Soon, Alice finds her ordered life turned upside down by helping Jimmy cross over to the ‘other side’.

But most unexpected of all is Alice’s growing realisation that her gorgeous ghost has taken up residence in her heart as well as in her home.

Desperately Seeking Heaven

Jill Steeples

Copyright

HQ

An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd.

1 London Bridge Street

London SE1 9GF

First published in Great Britain by HQ in 2013

Copyright © Jill Steeples 2013

Jill Steeples asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.

E-book Edition © June 2013 ISBN: 9781472043429

Version date: 2018-07-23

JILL STEEPLES lives in a small market town in Bedfordshire with her husband and two children.

From an early age she fell in love with the fabulously funny romances of Jilly Cooper, and vowed, one day, she would have a go at writing one of her own.

Jill loves writing short stories, particularly those with a twist in the tail, and her work has appeared in popular women’s magazines around the world and in a number of charity anthologies.

This is her first novel.

A big thank you to the Geese, the loveliest, most generous and talented bunch of writers you could wish to meet, for their support, encouragement and most of all, the giggles.

For Nick, Tom and Ellie

With my love

Contents

Cover

Blurb

Title Page

Copyright

Author Bio

Acknowledgements

Dedication

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty-Two

Chapter Twenty-Three

Chapter Twenty-Four

Chapter Twenty-Five

Chapter Twenty-Six

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Endpages

About the Publisher

Chapter One

I’m not superstitious. Not really. I mean I wouldn’t walk underneath a ladder or anything like that because that would be silly. And if I see a magpie then naturally I’d do a little scout around the area to see if I can find his mate and if not I’ll chirp, ‘Good Morning, Mr Magpie, how are you and your family today?’, but that’s just normal stuff. The sort of thing everyone does, right? And it wasn’t as if Friday 13th held any trepidation for me whatsoever because it’s just a day like any other day. Or at least I thought it was. That was until that strange afternoon. The afternoon of Friday 13th March when the events that unfolded were to change my life and my loves forever.

‘You still here?’ Damon Mitchell was standing in the doorway to my office, bouncing a ball casually on the floor, his usual sharp suit replaced with white three-quarter length shorts and a low-slung vest, showing off muscles I hadn’t known he possessed. The sight on a Friday afternoon was startling in the extreme and I glanced away, feeling a colour tinge my cheeks, before sneaking another look.

‘Almost done,’ I said breezily, picking up the management reports from my desk and popping them in the drawer below, locking the cabinet shut with my key.

When I looked up, Damon was bent over, stretching his hamstrings, looking up at me from beneath his floppy fringe. Did he really have to do that in my office?

‘We’re still a player short, Alice. Why don’t you come along? You never know, you might enjoy yourself.’

‘Ha, believe me, I know,’ I laughed. I had no desire to be getting hot and sweaty in front of Damon. No, retaining a dignified distance at all times was definitely the way to go with the likes of ace sportsmen like Damon. I pushed my chair beneath my desk before reaching for my jacket from the coat stand. ‘Ball games are not my thing. But you have a great time. You can tell me all about it on Monday.’

‘Ah well, at least I tried. You have a good weekend, Alice.’

‘Yeah, you too, Damon.’

It wasn’t just that I’m not the athletic type without any competitive spirit whatsoever. As PA to Simon Ibottson, CEO of Merron Enterprises, I’d always stayed a respectful distance away from the chummy camaraderie that existed on the sales, marketing and finance floors. I couldn’t really be seen to be indulging in the late-night drinking sessions even if I’d wanted to. Instead, I tried to hold onto a professional and friendly demeanour at all times.

‘Night, Alice!’ he called.

Outside, still smiling, I climbed into my car, deciding because of the uncharacteristically warm weather to pull down the lid. The first time that year. It was one of those glorious spring days that tantalises with the promise of summer and the prospect of a whole weekend ahead with nothing to do was bliss. I ran my hands through my hair, feeling the week’s stresses melt away. A couple of glossy magazines, a pile of soppy rom-com DVDs, a box of tissues, a family bag of Maltesers and a couple of bottles of Sauvignon Blanc. There, my weekend was now satisfyingly chock-a-bloc.

I took the back roads home, a journey I could have done with my eyes shut, although even in my carefree state I was sensible enough to realise that probably wasn’t the best option. I loved that drive, my eyes always picking out something new along the country lanes that wound their way through the villages. The picturesque backdrop of green tended fields, stone buildings and colourful bulbs popping their heads up greeting the lengthening days only heightened my sense of well-being. With the CD player turned up high, the wind blowing through my hair, I tapped my fingers on the steering wheel, doo-whopping along to the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

It was only as I rounded the sharp bend before the road opened up into beckoning countryside that I became aware of something. Something odd. A sense of dread rose in my chest. Where was everyone? It was a Friday afternoon and there wasn’t a soul around. Despite me being buffeted by the wind there was a noticeable stillness that lent an eerie quality to the surroundings.

Shivering, I drove on and that’s when my foot took on a life force of its own, involuntarily slamming down onto the brake as I wrestled with the steering wheel, guiding the car into a small cut-away at the side of a large field. My breath quickening, I climbed out and, standing on tiptoes, gazed over the hedgerow at the scene in front of me. Oh my good God! I hadn’t imagined it. A car, silver, large, was upended, its wheels still spinning, the side panels crushed, its windows shattered. On the ground twenty feet away from the car was a solitary figure crumpled on the grass

Oh no, no, no!

I don’t do blood or infirmity or disaster. Frantically I looked around, desperate for someone to join me, preferably a paramedic type, but there wasn’t a soul in sight. It was up to me to go over, but my feet felt welded to the ground. Surely no one could have crawled out of that car alive. Reaching inside my jacket for my mobile, I started to walk, before quickly breaking into a run, looking ahead and trying at the same time to find my phone. Damn! Where was the bloody thing?

Within moments I was beside the wreckage and almost wept with relief to find that the bundle on the ground was in fact a man, alive and if not exactly kicking, looking remarkably unscathed, as he sat there, his arms hugging his knees.

‘Thank god,’ I gasped, ‘are you all right?’ I bent down to meet his eyes, my hand reaching out to touch his shoulder as if to check he was in one piece.

‘Hi.’ He smiled lightly, his piercing grey eyes latching onto mine, holding me entranced. He ran a hand through mussed-up black hair, before extending his arm in friendly greeting as if we’d just been introduced at some social occasion.

‘My phone!’ I needed my bloody phone. ‘I think I’ve left it in my car.’ Don’t panic, I screeched inwardly, my arms waving frantically towards the main road. ‘I’ll just run and fetch it, ring for an ambulance.’

‘No! Don’t.’ He spoke with an authority that stopped me in mid-flight.

‘But you need to be checked over. You look, um…’ Awful. He looked worse than awful, but in such a beguiling way that I couldn’t drag my eyes away from him. His warm brown voice was gently hypnotic too. Weirdly, it was like reconnecting with a long-lost friend. ‘A bit peaky to me,’ I managed, my hands reaching out to touch his face. ‘You’re probably in shock.’

He emitted a hollow laugh.

‘Shock? Yeah, I am a bit.’ He shook his head, bemused. ‘But really I’m okay.’ His expression softened. ‘Besides, the emergency services, they’ve been.’

‘What? And just left you here? No. They wouldn’t do that.’

‘No.’ He eased himself up to a standing position, his long body uncurling. He must have been six foot two at least, the muscles in his upper arms and shoulders clearly defined beneath his creased blue shirt. ‘The accident, it happened earlier. The police and ambulance came and sorted everything. It’s fine. All fine.’ He brushed himself down distractedly. ‘They gave me the all clear. There’s nothing to worry about. I just came back to have a look. To see what happened.’ He let out a long slow whistle. ‘Can’t believe the state of the car.’

‘Me neither.’ I turned to look at the mangled mess. The accident had happened earlier? I felt certain I’d missed it by only a matter of minutes. I must have imagined those wheels spinning. Still, this guy looked pretty shook up. And what was he thinking coming back to examine the wreckage? He couldn’t just hang around here in the middle of a field, reliving the awful incident over in his mind. A light wind was whipping across the hedges, taunting my goose bumps. It wouldn’t do him any good stuck in the freezing cold after the trauma he’d just been through. One thing was for certain though, his car wasn’t going anywhere but the salvage yard.

‘Is someone coming to pick you up?’

He tilted his head, looking at me puzzled.

‘They’ll have to take the car away. Examine it, I guess.’ His hand caressed the misshapen metal of the bonnet.

‘No, I meant you, is someone coming to collect you? To take you home?’

‘I don’t know.’ He gave a funny little laugh. ‘I don’t think so.’

Really it was shocking the way the state of the country was going. This guy was clearly in a bad way. OK so he had no broken bones, but anyone with an inch of compassion could tell that he was in deep shock. His dark eyes were hollow, his skin tinged with grey and the hairs on his arms were standing on end. What were the emergency services thinking, leaving the poor man in this condition? He should be in hospital being checked over or at least at home tucked up in bed.

‘Look, come with me,’ I said, offering my arm, ‘let’s go to my car and then we’ll decide what to do.’

‘Will you take me home?’ he asked, his voice lifting.

‘Of course, I will.’ I patted his arm gently, the touch of his skin under my fingers sending an icy chill down my bones. ‘Gosh, you’re freezing. Come on, I’ve got a blanket in the car. Do you think I should ring someone? Tell them what’s happened, that you’re OK?’

‘No, there’s no one,’ he said matter-of-factly. ‘I, um,’ he faltered, shaking his head again as if trying to make sense of it all, putting on a brave face for my benefit. My heart tugged at his vulnerability. ‘Could we go to yours, maybe?’ he added.

His imploring gaze touched me deep inside. I didn’t know why, but for whatever reason, he couldn’t face going home yet. For the moment it seemed he wanted only the comfort of a stranger.

‘Yes, yes, of course.’ We walked together away from the crash scene, me hanging onto his arm unsure whether I was supporting him or whether he was holding me up. ‘I only live down the road. I think we could both do with a nice cup of tea. Then we can think about having you looked over, seeing a doctor or something.’

‘Tea sounds good,’ he said, in barely more than a whisper.

It wasn’t until I’d put him in the passenger seat and tucked a blanket around his frozen limbs, pulling closed the lid of the car, that the second really freaky thing of the day occurred to me. Manoeuvring the car out of the lay-by, I glanced across at the man whose name I didn’t know yet with a stirring of recognition. And then I looked at him again, examining the defined jawline, the set of his mouth which made him look as though he was permanently smiling, and the deep-set grey eyes which when they focused on you made you feel that you were at the centre of his universe.

It was the eyes that were the clincher. Intense and magnetic, they’d held my gaze on many an occasion. With a jolt of recognition, I gasped. James McArthur, Mr Daytime television himself, affectionately known as Jimmy Mack to his adoring public, was sitting in my car. The realisation turned me into a gibbering quivering wreck. Oh my gawd!

His black hair, usually worn short and neat on screen, had grown longer and swept over one eye, offering him a mysterious air. Wayward tendrils skimmed the edge of his collar and I had to supress an urge to lean over and tidy them up with my fingers.

He was even more gorgeous in the flesh than on the screen, if that was possible, and my breath caught at the back of my throat as my pulse went into overdrive. Being a master in stating the bleeding obvious, I said, ever-so-not-so-casually, ‘You’re Jimmy Mack, aren’t you? Off the telly?’ Talk about losing all coolness and credibility in the space of a few seconds.

He turned his gaze on me, smiled a megawatt smile that sent my insides to mush, and nodded.

‘What’s your name, then?’ he asked, as if it had only just occurred to him that I might have one.

‘Alice. Alice Fletcher.’ Now it was me shaking my head. I couldn’t help imagining what everyone would say when I told them I’d acted as a guardian angel to probably the most recognisable man in the public eye and we were planning on sharing a cup of tea together. How amazing was that? Maybe I’d even get to appear on his show. “Meet Alice Fletcher, the heroine who rescued our very own Jimmy Mack from his car wreckage.” That was exactly the sort of sensationalism his show went in for.

Back at my flat in a flurry of heightened excitement, I clucked around him like a mother hen. I made him a cup of tea, put him on the sofa, threw a duvet over him and generally watched over him. I was desperate to contact someone, anyone to let them know what had happened, but he wasn’t having any of it. Maybe he was on his way to somewhere he shouldn’t have been, I mused, wondering about the private side to this very public man.

Probably once he’d had a rallying cup of tea, gathered his thoughts a little, I’d be able to get more sense out of him, but for the time being he wasn’t the most forthcoming of house guests.

‘I think I might just close my eyes for a moment.’ He put down his empty mug on the wicker coffee table and settled back in his seat, stretching his arms above his head. ‘Is that OK?’

‘Yes, you go ahead. I’ve got plenty to be getting on with here. Just give me a shout if you need anything.’

A little thrill of excitement ran through me. Was Jimmy Mack really sitting on my sofa? Or was I part of some elaborate TV prank? He looked real enough to me. As his eyes flickered shut, I studied his familiar features more closely. The contours of his face, the strong turn of his jaw, the wide lips smiling even in rest; it was like looking at a member of my family. Weirdly, it seemed perfectly natural that he should be sitting there.

But then again…

What if something happened to him?

A ripple of unease rose in my throat. What if he fell into some sort of delayed coma? Or contracted hypothermia, ending up dead in my living room? That would take some explaining. Before I’d even had chance to grab a couple of autographs off him as well. Desperation bubbled up in me. Celebrity or not, I had to get him out of my flat pdq so that the responsibility of looking after the nation’s favourite presenter could be offloaded onto someone else.

For the moment though, he wasn’t going anywhere. He looked right at home on my squidgy sofa, his head resting on his arm. I supposed it was only natural he’d want to sleep after the ordeal he’d been through. It seemed a shame to wake him so instead I wandered into the kitchen, placing the dirty cups into the dishwasher. I threw some washing into the washing machine. Skimmed the pile of paperwork waiting patiently on the side. Checked my emails. Then I read my horoscope in the local newspaper.

“A chance encounter could bring unexpected results. Keep an open mind and go with the flow, you never know where it might lead you!”

Ha, I laughed out loud. There wasn’t much else I could do in the circumstances!

No, all I could do was wait. I drummed my fingertips on the worktop, frequently gazing over at my guest looking for any signs of life. And then I waited some more.

At eight o’clock with no sign of my visitor rousing, I made another cup of tea and a lot more noise in the process. I flung open cupboard doors, banged mugs down on the surfaces and hummed loudly. It was no good; a more direct approach was required.

‘Jimmy?’ I leant over him, whispering in his ear. A musky earthy scent reached my nostrils. ‘Jimmy,’ I said, gently shaking his shoulder, ‘would you like another cup of tea?’

He murmured something unintelligible which, after that amount of time, was an almighty relief I have to say.

‘Good,’ I said, sharply. ‘Then perhaps you’d like something to eat. Might make you feel a bit better.’ Then perhaps you’ll vacate my sofa and leave me alone to my weekend of domestic bliss, I kept to myself. ‘I’ll put the telly on, shall I? We can catch the news.’

I zapped the remote at the telly, popped into the kitchen to fetch the mugs of tea and came back into the living room. That’s when I received the third and most spectacularly freaky shock of the day. So much so that I screamed, dropping the mugs to the floor, the contents spraying my cream leather sofa and gardenia walls. That woke him, once and for all.

‘Jesus Christ! What is it?’ He leapt up from the sofa, only just escaping the spouting hot liquid, and looked at me accusingly.

‘You. It’s you.’ I looked from him to the screen. ‘On the telly.’ I pointed at the box in the corner of the room for good measure just in case he had any doubt as to what I was freaking out about.

We were standing a hair’s breath away from each other and I felt a surge of emotion rise within me, the air in the room suddenly electrified.

‘You!’ I repeated, my mouth gaping open like a befuddled goldfish.

‘Oh… yes,’ he said, having the grace to look a little sheepish, ‘perhaps I should have mentioned it.’

I sank down onto the sofa in the place recently vacated by Jimmy, my head falling into my hands. Maybe there’d been some kind of mistake.

‘You’re… you’re…’ I gulped, no it couldn’t be. ‘You’re… dead?’ I faltered, looking up into his eyes, which seemed so much greyer and deeper than before.

He shrugged, an apologetic smile forming on lips.

‘Yep, I am.’

No mistake then.

The whole country was in mourning following the tragic death of one of the country’s most well-known and well-loved celebrities in a freak accident. Grim-faced newsreaders repeated the news of the untimely demise of Mr Nice-Guy raking over the details of his last hours to find answers to the most unfathomable question. How exactly had Jimmy Mack died? Why had it happened? What private demons had driven Jimmy Mack to an early grave?

In the surreal surroundings of my flat which had taken on an other-worldly quality with the presence of Jimmy lounging on my sofa, the television confirmed to me what I really didn’t want to believe. I was now wrapped up under the duvet, having nabbed it back from Jimmy considering my need to be much greater than his. Hardly daring to surface, only my eyes peeped over the top of the cover at the screen, as tears rolled down my cheeks for the dead man standing beside me.

‘Oh, don’t cry!’ he said, pacing up and down and flapping his arms ineffectively.

‘Don’t cry? Are you serious?’ I jumped up from the sofa and followed him step for step across the carpet. ‘You are… a hugely famous TV star and you’re standing in my living room and if that wasn’t mind-blowing enough… you’re also… you’re also dead! How do you expect me to react?’

‘Yeah, well if it’s any consolation, it’s pretty weird for me too. Do you think I wanted to end up here? I should be on my way to the Heavenly Hilton or wherever it is you’re supposed to go, escorted by a couple of blonde angels.’

‘Oh God!’ I cried, attempting to hurl the duvet across the room, but only managing to tangle it between my legs. ‘Let’s just get this clear,’ I added, slowing my breathing, ‘you are actually… a ghost, then?’

‘Well, it looks that way.’ He actually laughed. As if this were a laughing matter. He glanced down at his moleskin trousers, the pale blue chambray shirt; his sleeves rolled to his elbows, with not even the tiniest speck of blood in sight. He looked real enough to me, solid, living, eminently touchable.

‘Oh, no, no, no. I just can’t get my head around this at all.’

I grabbed a handful of tissues from the box on the table and blew my nose noisily, looking at Jimmy accusingly. What the hell were we supposed to do now? Who should I call? The police, the doctor, an undertaker?

I took a deep breath.

‘So, um, tell me. H-how did it happen then? The accident?’

‘Well, that’s the funny thing, I don’t really know. It all happened so quickly. I was on my way to my parents’ place in Mettlesham. It’s their ruby wedding anniversary this weekend and I was supposed to be taking them out to dinner tonight to celebrate.’ He screwed up his mouth, looking wistful. ‘I left the studio early afternoon and as it was such a beautiful day I decided to take the back roads instead of using the motorway.’ He paused as if reliving those last few moments. ‘I came round the bend and then, well, the steering just flew out of my hands. There was nothing I could do. The car flipped over and over. I didn’t think it was going to stop. And then my head hit the steering wheel or the dashboard, I can’t remember which. And that was it. Game over.’

My gaze settled on the innocuous-looking graze adorning his forehead.

‘Did it hurt?’ I didn’t really want to know the answer, but couldn’t stop myself from asking.

‘Not really.’ He shrugged, pondering the question. ‘It was pretty instantaneous. There was a lot of noise. In my head. And lights, lots of flashing lights, but I didn’t really feel anything.’

‘No? Well, that’s something, I suppose.’ I sighed. ‘I am so sorry,’ I said, sinking back down onto the sofa, not knowing what else to say. What exactly do you say to a dead man? The thought of his grieving family, friends and whole legion of fans was uppermost in my mind.

‘Don’t worry about it. It’s hardly your fault. I appreciate this must be very strange for you, me being here, but please don’t cry over me. The whole dying thing… it’s not half as bad as you’d imagine.’

I felt like sticking my fingers in my ears and la-la-ing into oblivion, but Jimmy was looking at me intently.

‘Well, you’re looking better than when I first came across you, I must admit.’ A bit peaky still, but his voice sounded much stronger and his presence seemingly so much more vivid.

‘Hey, I bet I’m the best-looking dead man you’ve ever met?’

I couldn’t argue with that. He was the best-looking man I’d ever met. Living or otherwise.

When he laughed his grey eyes twinkled mischievously, but I was finding it hard to find anything to laugh about. This whole episode was making me feel very uneasy.

Jimmy went on, considering me thoughtfully.

‘It’s just that I think there may have been a few problems in the um, well I don’t know what you’d call it, but in the handing over process, I suppose.’

‘The handing over process?’ A feeling of trepidation filled every pore in my body. ‘Um, what do you mean?’ I asked, not certain I wanted to hear the answer.

He scratched his head, managing to look both vulnerable and gorgeous in equal measure.

‘For some reason, I seem to have got stuck here with you. Obviously not alive, but neither fully gone over to the other side either. Betwixt and between, I suppose. I think that’s why you were sent my way. To help me.’

‘Ha, ha!’ I laughed, rather too heartily, only now it was Jimmy’s turn to look serious. ‘But how can I possibly help you?’ I said slowly, quietly, the deep apprehension growing in my chest.

‘To get to the other side, of course.’ He said it as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

Chapter Two

Why me? It was a question I asked myself a dozen times over in the hours following Jimmy’s arrival in my life.

I liked to pride myself on my efficiency and capability. It’s what I’m good at. Throw a problem my way and I’ll sort it. Even if I don’t immediately know the answer, I’ll find someone who does. But whoever it was up there who thought my organisational skills stretched to finding homes for recently deceased people, however well-known and however gorgeous, was surely having a joke at my expense.

I tried to broach this sensitive subject with Jimmy.

‘Were you not given any idea when you, um, passed… what you were supposed to do? Where you were meant to go?’

In a short space of time, he seemed to have made himself very comfy on my sofa and was brandishing the remote control with authority, flicking between channels to get the most up-to-date coverage on his demise.

‘Huh?’ He looked mildly irritated as he turned his gaze to look at me.

‘When you… you know…’ I didn’t like to say the word aloud, almost as if I didn’t mention it then it wouldn’t be such a permanent arrangement. Instead, I made a genteel fainting motion.

‘Pegged it, you mean? Nope. There was no welcoming committee or induction manual, not even a map pointing me in the direction of the upwards escalator or the downward one.’

He didn’t look unduly concerned about the whole episode, he was much more interested in what was happening on the telly.

‘Would you look at him.’ He was sitting on the edge of his chair, leaning forward, jabbing his finger at the screen. ‘I don’t believe it!’

It was Barney Roberts, the young and dynamic presenter of Win, win, win! the daily quiz show, his usual cheeky-chappie persona replaced with a sombre mask.

‘We are all deeply shocked and saddened by the untimely death of Jimmy Mack, a much loved and respected colleague here at Studio 99. Our thoughts and condolences go out to his family at this very sad time.’

‘Jeez! What a bloody hypocrite! How he’s got the nerve to stand there saying he’ll miss my friendship and my support as though we were best buddies, I just don’t know. The guy’s always hated me.’

Secretly I was a bit of a fan of Barney Roberts. Much more of a fan than I’d ever been of Jimmy Mack, but now wasn’t the time to mention it.

‘Oh, don’t be like that,’ I said, crouching down to look Jimmy in the eye, picking up his hand. I didn’t want to appear rude, but I couldn’t help myself from staring at his features. They were all so familiar, all so real. My thumb stroked the length of his long fingers. How could he possibly be a ghost when he looked and felt so normal? A shiver tormented my spine as my gaze drifted between Jimmy and the TV screen.

‘He looks genuinely upset, everyone is, you can see that, surely?’ I did my best to reassure him. ‘It’s such a shock for us all.’

‘Don’t you believe a word of it. It’s all an act, he’s just milking the moment. He’ll be plotting to take over my daytime show already. You mark my words. As soon as he’s off air, he’ll be in discussions with the studio bosses.’

‘Do you think?’ I asked, not really believing him. Obviously he was distressed. Who wouldn’t be in the circumstances? I took a deep breath and tried to find the right words. ‘Well, try not to upset yourself over it. I mean, it’s not as though you can do anything about it now. Now that you’re, um, dead…’

I flinched under the dagger-like stare from Jimmy, realising I’d clearly failed on the comforting words front. ‘And it’s not as though anyone could ever really take over your slot,’ I added, quickly. ‘There’ll only ever be one Jimmy Mack. I mean, who could ever replace you?’

He sighed, stretching his arms up above his head, looking marginally appeased. I was beginning to realise that Jimmy had an ego to match his huge talent.

‘Hmm, I suppose, you’re right.’

‘Of course, I am.’ I patted his hand again, in a move that was becoming second nature to me. ‘More urgently though, we need to work out what we’re going to do about…, um, moving you on. Getting you to the right place. You won’t want to be hanging around here for any length of time.’

Jimmy shrugged, unconcerned, looking as if it wouldn’t actually be the worst thing in the world.

‘Don’t worry,’ he said. ‘I’m sure it’s just a minor hiccup. When you think about it, the amount of through traffic being handled on a daily basis, this sort of thing is bound to happen occasionally. I’ll probably be moved on in a day or two.’

A day or two? I was hoping for an hour at the most. Much more of this and my nerves would be frazzled to pieces.

I sighed, taking the remote control from Jimmy’s hold and switched off the telly.

‘Hey, what did you do that for?’

‘Well, it can’t do you any good seeing all that stuff? It must be very upsetting knowing you’re leaving all your friends and family behind. Seeing them so distraught too. It isn’t helping anyone. Your parents…’

Tears rushed to my eyes and I blinked them away. What had Jimmy done to be landed with me; a simpering blubbering mess, but I simply couldn’t bear it. To think of his poor mum and dad waiting expectantly at home for their son to arrive for what should have been a celebratory event, only to receive instead the most unwelcome visitor on their doorstep; a police officer bearing bad news; it was too much to contemplate.

‘Hey.’ He jumped up and wrapped his arms around me. I sighed, his embrace feeling strange but oddly comforting, the very tips of my fingers and toes tingling in expectation. I couldn’t remember the last time a man held me that way. He pulled back, holding my face captive in his hands, his look beseeching.

‘Don’t cry. Not for me.’ I took a deep breath, taking in his earthy masculine scent, his face dangerously close to mine. ‘I’m here, aren’t I?’ He pulled away, holding out his arms wide. ‘Not exactly in the peak of health admittedly, but I’m here.’

When he laughed his deep grey eyes twinkled like stars in the night sky. It went a small way to making me feel better.

‘Yes, but, it’s so sad…’ Now, I couldn’t help the big gulping sobs that had been bubbling in my chest from erupting.

‘No, not really. It’s kind of hard to explain, but it all feels perfectly natural when it happens to you. As if it’s the right thing at the right time. Do you know what I mean? I’ve always believed that things happen for a reason and this just proves it! Sure, it’s tough for the people left behind but it’s something they’ll work through. And really, if you’ve ever held anyone close to your heart, you know that you’ll never completely leave them behind just because you die. I’ll get together again with them all one day, you can bet your life on it.’

I screwed my face up in disbelief.

‘Sorry,’ he held up his hands, ‘not the best turn of phrase. But really, it’s no big deal.’

No big deal? It was the biggest thing that had ever happened in my life. And I hadn’t even known Jimmy before he died. My whole body trembled with shock and terror.

‘But what about your mum and dad? Your friends? Was there anyone special?’ I asked, my mind rushing in each and every direction.

He dropped his head to one side, giving me a quizzical look.

‘A girlfriend?’ I said tentatively. I was pretty certain he wasn’t gay, although now, as he observed me thoughtfully, I wondered for the briefest moment if I’d got him all wrong.

‘Oh, no, there isn’t anyone, no one special at least.’ He looked wistful for a moment. ‘Mum and Dad,’ he stuttered, ‘they’ll find this hard, but they will get through it. They’re very strong together and they have lots of support around them. They’ll beOK. In time.’

Sadness washed over me. There was nothing I could do for him nor his loved ones left behind. I felt totally helpless. Jimmy was putting on a good show of coping, but his underlying vulnerability was tangible. There must be something I could do to help. Restlessness made me itchy.

‘Well, we can’t just sit around here waiting for the ghost train to turn up. We have to do something. Find out how we can get you sent on your way to your rightful place in the … in the, um, universe.’

‘Great! And you have some ideas on how we might do that then?’

‘No, not yet. But how difficult can it be?’

Jimmy shrugged, his dark eyebrows shooting high up into his forehead.

‘Tomorrow, we’ll get started,’ I said, sounding much more confident than I felt. ‘We’ll do some research, there must be oodles of stuff on the internet about it.’

‘Yeah, I bet,’ said Jimmy doubtfully. ‘There is one thing you could do for me before then though.’

‘Yes, of course.’

‘Do you have anything to eat?’

‘You’re hungry?’ I asked, my lip curling involuntarily in disbelief.

‘Are you kidding? I’m bloody ravenous. I’ve had a heavy day out there.’

My mind did a quick inventory of the contents of my larder. I hadn’t been food shopping in days, but I knew there was a loaf of bread and some bacon in the fridge.

‘How does a bacon sandwich sound?’

‘Heavenly!’ he sighed with an enormous grin.

A ghost with a sense of humour, a possessive regard of my remote control and a healthy appetite, sitting large as life in my living room, was something that might take a bit of getting used to, but I supposed sharing a bacon sarnie and a cup of tea would be a good place to start.

Chapter Three

The doorbell reverberated through my flat early the next morning. I jumped out of bed, panic washing over me. The events of yesterday afternoon and evening flashed into my head in a messy jumble. It was a dream, right? I’d imagined the whole thing. Thank goodness for that. Poking my head out of the bedroom door I saw the remains of our late-night snack. Two empty plates, two empty mugs and the faint whiff of bacon lingering in the air. Oh God. Definitely not a dream. Maybe some sort of mental breakdown then, I thought, with just a faint edge of hope. Even that scenario seemed preferable to the reality creeping into my mind like the early morning sunshine filtering into the hallway. Tiptoeing down the corridor, I stopped outside the guest bedroom, gently pushing open the door, hoping against hope that it would be empty. There, sprawled over the double bed, his long limbs tangled in the white sheets was the new man in my life, Jimmy Mack. No dream, but a living nightmare.

The doorbell rang again, more insistently this time.

‘Coming,’ I called hastily, trying to rid myself of the overwhelming sense of guilt I felt. OK, so there was a dead man in my flat, but it wasn’t as if I was personally responsible or anything like that.

‘About time,’ grinned Lexie, holding open her arms for our customary hug, as she stood in the doorway. Purple tufts of wayward hair framed her elfin features. A multi-coloured stripy short skirt, mauve leggings and black T-shirt completed her inimitable look.

‘What kept you?’ she asked, as she swept past me. ‘Didn’t get you out of bed, did I?’

‘No,’ I stuttered. Lexie would be onto all of this in a matter of minutes. ‘I was just getting ready actually.’

‘Really,’ she said slowly, inflecting that one word with a whole lot of meaning. Her eyes wide she marched around my flat like a police officer on a raid, her eyes scanning the remains of last night’s impromptu supper party. ‘I haven’t interrupted anything here, have I?’

‘Don’t be ridiculous,’ I said a little too defensively. ‘Sarah popped round last night, that’s all. It was late by the time she left. I just didn’t get round to cleaning up.’

‘Sarah, eh? Do I know her?’ That familiar impish grin rested on her lips as she looked at me through narrowed eyes and then she took off running down my hallway flinging open the door to the guest bedroom.

‘No, don’t!’ I screamed, but it was too late. With my heart in my mouth, I watched as Lexie surveyed the contents of my spare room. I squeezed my eyes tight and held my breath.

‘Disappointing as ever, Alice,’ she sighed, a look of contempt on her face. ‘I must admit though you had me going there for a moment. I really thought I might find some hunk hiding beneath the bed for once.’

My breathing steadied for a moment.

‘If I had anyone in my flat why on earth would I be hiding him away?’ I said, feeling only slightly aggrieved that the idea of a man being in my bedroom was so outrageous. The commotion must have woken Jimmy, surely? Hopefully he’d done the sensible thing and made himself scarce.Mind you, thinking about it there wasn’t a whole host of hiding places, just the bed, a small cupboard and a pile of ironing overflowing from a wicker chair. I was pretty certain he couldn’t be lurking under there. Perhaps he was performing some spectral hanging out of the window manoeuvre.

‘Hmm, I suppose,’ said Lexie, her interest evaporating. She wandered off in the direction of the kitchen. ‘I’ll stick the kettle on, shall I? I’m dying for a coffee.’

‘Um, yeah, great,’ I said, taking up the spot just vacated by my sister realising Jimmy hadn’t performed any disappearing act at all. He was still there on the bed where I’d last seen him, all 6’2” tanned, toned inches of him, completely sparko. I could even detect the slightest hint of a snore coming from out of his mouth. At that precise moment he rolled over displaying a very decent torso and much more in the process.

Jimmy Mack, recently deceased, was as large as life in my bedroom seemingly apparent only to me. What on earth was I going to do with him? Apart from watch over him all day which at that moment didn’t seem such a bad idea The bacon sandwich and restorative night’s sleep had clearly done him the power of good; his skin now radiated an almost healthy glow, the washed-out grey look of yesterday thankfully gone.

Quietly, I pulled the door shut, breathing quickly, hoping against hope that when I came to open it again, my visiting ghost would have decided to take up residence elsewhere.

‘So I thought we’d go down to the village and do some shopping,’ Lexie called. ‘I’m on the lookout for a cape, something goth-ish. I’m sure they’ll have something on the market.’

Glad of the distraction, I followed her into the kitchen.

‘Great,’ I said, thinking some fresh air might give me some much-needed thinking space, time in which to decide what to do with Jimmy Mack. ‘Although I can’t be long. I have some work to do.’

‘At the weekend? I hope they’re paying you overtime.’

‘Oh it’s just some loose ends I need to tie up. You know me, I don’t like leaving any jobs unfinished.’

But it wasn’t work that was troubling me so much as what to do about my unexpected house guest. Mentally I’d drawn up a plan of action.

Check Yellow Pages.

Google ghosts and how to get rid of them.

And then I was stumped. Check Tripadvisor for heavenly resorts?

Aargh, it was hopeless.

At work I was used to things being thrown at me; could I organise an eleventh-hour meeting with executives from three different continents? No problem.

Book the flights, find hotels, arrange conferences? Leave it with me.

Field my boss’s telephone calls, emails and unplanned personal visits? All part of my day’s work.

Schedule his diary, pacify his team, deal with irate customers, galvanise the sales force? Absolutely.

But could I point a wayward soul to his proper destination in the universe – absolutely no flipping way. I didn’t know where to begin.

I threw back the coffee, wishing it was something stronger, and was just about to go off for my shower when Jimmy appeared in the living room with the tiniest of towels covering his modesty and a huge grin upon his face.

‘So this is your sister then, is it? Aren’t you going to introduce me?’

My mouth gaped opened, but words completely failed me. There was a near-naked man parading himself in my living room. A stunningly gorgeous one at that. My stomach went into free fall as I looked from Jimmy across to Lexie who was completely oblivious to my discomfort before my gaze returned to Jimmy’s resplendent form. I sighed inwardly, as my breath caught in my throat, desire trickling through my veins. This guy was known as a smooth operator; easy on the eye with an open charming manner, but in the flesh, up close and personal, his physical attributes were more captivating than I could ever have imagined.

It was all I could do to stop myself from screaming, ‘Oh my God, Lexie, have you clocked the pecs on that!’

Instead I did another quick glance between Lexie and Jimmy and said, involuntarily, ‘Lexie.’

‘Yeah?’ she quickly countered.

This was freaky. She must be able to see him, to catch the smile currently hovering on his lips, to hear his warm nut-brown voice ricocheting off the small walls of my flat. But she was totally oblivious to his overpowering physical presence.

‘Oh, I’ll just get ready then and we’ll go shall we?’

‘Great. You don’t mind if I switch on the telly while I’m waiting, do you?’

‘No. You go ahead,’ I said, backing out of the room as I watched Jimmy join my sister on the sofa. What she’d think about having an almost naked sex idol rubbing thighs with her, I didn’t want to imagine.

‘She looks nothing like you, does she?’ he called, throwing a glance my way.

I shrugged and threw a glare back. What did he expect me to say?

‘Won’t be long!’ Even I could hear the note of hysterical desperation in my voice.

To be honest, I couldn’t wait to get out of the flat. Less than sixteen hours ago Jimmy and I had been strangers. And now we were in the unenviable position of being stuck with each other for goodness knows how long. Like being fixed up on a blind date and knowing from the off that it was a non-starter, but still having to sit through the entire evening making polite conversation.

I was in and out of the shower in a jiffy, threw on some jeans and my favourite pink jersey top and applied a quick covering of brown mascara to my lashes, a dab of bronzer to my cheeks and a lick of gloss to my lips.

‘OK, let’s go,’ I said, grabbing my handbag, but it seemed Lexie wasn’t about to go anywhere.

‘God, it’s unbelievable, isn’t it?’ she said, zapping the TV off with the remote control and sighing exaggeratedly.

I was beginning to think, uncharitably, that Jimmy was revelling in all this attention. He looked across at me, a smug look upon his face and shrugged his shoulders.

‘What?’ I said, not really needing to ask the question.

‘Jimmy Mack. Dying like that. So suddenly. Who’d have thought it?’

‘Hmm, I know, it’s very sad,’ I sighed, trying my best to muster up some sympathy, but to be frank I was all sympathied out. Especially when the object of my sister’s sympathy was sitting right next to her wearing next to nothing, seemingly enjoying the fact that we were deep in discussion about him.

‘You just wonder what really happened, don’t you?’

‘It doesn’t bear thinking about really.’ I sighed. ‘He probably just lost control at the wheel.’

‘Hmm, it’s a bit odd though, isn’t it? I mean the road and weather conditions were perfect so what caused him to come off the road like that? We probably don’t know the half of it yet. Maybe he was into drink or drugs.’

‘Oh pleeaaase,’ Jimmy said so vehemently I was sure Lexie would hear.

‘I don’t think so,’ I said. ‘He didn’t seem the type.’

Jimmy nodded approvingly.

‘A lot of those celebrities are, you know. Perhaps he’d been at some drink and drugs-fuelled orgy and it sent him over the edge. Or maybe he was involved in some sordid sex scandal that was about to be exposed to the world and he topped himself.’

‘Good grief, does your sister make a habit of slagging off poor unsuspecting celebrities? I’ve never touched drugs in my life. OK, so maybe I like the odd glass of champagne. Who doesn’t? But I certainly hadn’t been drinking that day. Really!’ He chewed on the inside of his lip, shaking his head at Lexie. ‘Put her straight, would you, before I do her for defamation of character.’

I smiled, feeling thankful now that Lexie wasn’t aware of Jimmy’s overpowering near-naked presence after all.

‘Jimmy was the real housewives’ favourite. He couldn’t be seen to be doing anything dodgy. Besides, he always seemed to me to be a true gentleman. Honest and caring. No, I can’t imagine there were any skeletons in his cupboards.’

‘Aw, that’s such a nice thing to say.’ Jimmy beamed under the weight of my compliment. ‘Thanks, Alice.’

‘Huh, and when did you become such a fan of JM anyway?’ Lexie said, spoiling the moment. ‘You always said he was a bit too smooth, a bit too squeaky-clean. I don’t like to speak ill of the dead, but honestly, I’d rather have Barney Roberts any time of the day.’

I paused, suddenly aware of Jimmy’s laser-like stare bearing down on me. Lexie took my hesitation for complicit agreement.

‘Come on, you have to admit Barney has something special going on.’

An awkward silence punctured the air as I searched for something to say.

‘You have a thing for Barney Roberts?’ Jimmy spat the words out as he ran his hands through his hair, looking indignant. ‘Please tell me it isn’t true. Really Alice, if you knew him, you’d never think that way. The guy’s a complete loser. What on earth would you see in him?’

I shrugged helplessly, giving up the search for something placatory to say.

Lexie though was in full-on swooning mode, as she examined her fingernails, deep in thought.

‘Oh yes. He’s hot. Mmm, mmm. Young and sexy. A bit dangerous too. I like that in a man. You know, that whole bad boy unpredictable thing.’ She shivered exaggeratedly as if imagining unimaginable things with Barney.

Jimmy shook his head, tutting.

‘What is this? The Barney Roberts Appreciation Society?’

‘Come on,’ I said, finding my voice at last, eager to separate the pair of them and lower the sizzling temperature within the flat, ‘let’s get going, before it gets too busy out there.’

I gave Jimmy a furtive little wave, then slammed the door shut on him and the flat for a few hours, grateful for a little respite from the huge problem that had bulldozed into my life. I took a deep breath. I would deal with it all later. Maybe by the time I got home, Jimmy would have received a communication from the powers upstairs.

Chapter Four

Three hours, a lot of walking and four carrier bags, all belonging to Lexie, later, we settled at a pavement table outside a bustling cafe on the High Street. It was bright and the cold pinched my skin, but as the sun was making such a valiant attempt at breaking through the clouds, the least we felt we could do was make the most of the uncharacteristically good weather.

‘You sure you’re okay?’ She asked through narrowed eyes. ‘You seem, I don’t know, a bit distracted, that’s all.’

I smiled wryly. The distractions were everywhere, but what could I possibly tell her?

I’d been determined to forget about Jimmy for a few hours at least, but that was proving impossible. Every newsstand, every paper, every television shop we passed in the street served as a reminder that I hadn’t dreamt the whole mind-blowing episode up. Jimmy Mack was dead and for reasons that I couldn’t entirely fathom, he’d decided to make a detour on his way to the other side and camp out at my place for a while.

‘Well, you seem a bit on edge, a bit strung out. You need to relax. Get out and enjoy yourself a bit more.’

I raised my eyebrows. She’d be strung out if her new lodger was a ghost. That sort of thing takes some getting used to.

Besides, I knew from experience exactly what Lexie had in mind when she talked about me enjoying myself more. I braced myself.

‘I mean, how long has it been now, since Mike?’

She knew just as well as I did, but I humoured her.

‘Oh about three years, I suppose.’ Three years, six months and four days to be precise. Not that I was counting.

‘Exactly! Far too long. You need to get out there, move on, make a life for yourself.’

‘I have a life, thank you very much,’ I said, lowering my voice as I noticed the guy on the next table beginning to take an unnatural interest in our conversation.

‘Yeah, but when was the last time you went out on a date? With a guy, I mean?’

‘Hmm, well, that’s what usually happens on a date, isn’t it? You go out with a guy.’ The pot of sugars on the table suddenly seemed very appealing. I picked up a bunch and turned them over in my fingers. ‘And I’ve been out on lots of dates, it’s just that I’ve never wanted to see any of them again.’

‘Too fussy, that’s your problem. You’re waiting for your soul mate to fall out of the sky, but that’s never going to happen, Alice. Life isn’t a romantic novel, you know.’

I couldn’t help smiling, especially after yesterday. Stranger things had definitely happened.

‘You’ve got to give guys a chance,’ she went on. ‘Get to know them. They’re not all like Mike, you know. There are some decent ones out there.’

What she meant was that they weren’t all two-timing, lying little toe-rags like my ex. That was maybe the case, although I wasn’t still entirely convinced on that point, but I really didn’t have the time or the inclination to get involved with anyone at the moment. Besides entertaining the idea of a boyfriend was out of the question now. I had an unexpected house guest to look after.

‘Maybe,’ I said, unable to hide my scepticism, ‘but you can’t force these things. If it’s meant to happen it will.’

Leaving it to fate, I’d decided, was a much better option than road-testing a whole string of Mr Maybe’s, Mr Highly Unlikely’s and Mr Downright Unsuitable’s.

Just then a jet of cold air whooshed around my neck and whipped up my trouser legs.

‘Not interrupting anything, am I?’

‘Oh my God!’ I jumped in my seat knocking the remains of my cappuccino over the small table. Wildly, I looked around, half expecting the entire High Street to be looking my way, but there was only Lexie who was observing me oddly.

‘See, just look at you. You’re so uptight and edgy.’ She made a half-hearted attempted at mopping up the coffee with some paper napkins. ‘What on earth’s the matter with you?’

At least Jimmy had the grace to look sheepish.

‘You don’t mind if I join you?’ he said, slipping into the chair beside me, not looking remotely interested in my answer.

‘Nothing,’ I said to Lexie, my gaze scouring the neighbouring tables to see if anybody had noticed the arrival of Jimmy Mack, but there wasn’t a flicker of interest from any quarter. I was slowly coming to terms with the weird fact that Jimmy was visible only to me.

‘I thought I felt something on my arm, something crawly,’ I said, trying to keep the hysteria from my voice. ‘Must have imagined it!’

When Jimmy shuffled his chair closer to mine I noticed Lexie’s incredulous gaze settle on his ghostly form. For a split second I thought we were busted, but quickly realised it wasn’t Jimmy she was seeing, but the chair, seemingly moving of its own accord. Swiftly I hooked my foot around the leg of the chair and yanked it frantically from side to side.

‘There! I told you. It was a spider. Got it,’ I said, with a triumphant sigh, screwing my foot into the ground.

Lexie’s brow furrowed and her mouth twisted in disbelief at my suspect behaviour. When she stood up, shaking her head, I breathed a huge sigh of relief.

‘I’m just popping to the loo, and then we’ll go shall we? Before we get thrown out of this place.’

I nodded with an apologetic smile and picked up my handbag, turning my attention to Jimmy as soon as Lexie had left.

‘You gave me the fright of my life popping up like that.’ I was doing my best impression of a ventriloquist for the benefit of the man on the next table. ‘You could have given me some warning,’ I hissed. ‘What did you expect me to say?’

‘Sorry,’ he laughed, ‘but you have to remember I’m finding my way around this whole thing too. I didn’t realise I could transport myself from one place to the other just by the power of thought. Look at this,’ he said, sounding unnecessarily excited.

‘Abracadabra!’ He waved his arms in the air with a dramatic flourish before disappearing into thin air and reappearing over the other side of the patio area, squeezed between two fat ladies enjoying a morning croissant. He gave me a little wave, before repeating his magic chant.

‘That’s pretty cool, isn’t it?’ He popped up again beside me. ‘Obviously I don’t need to say “Abracadabra” but I think it brings a certain “je ne sais quoi” to the overall effect, don’t you?’

‘Very clever,’ I said, feeling secretly impressed and annoyed all at the same time. I still wasn’t entirely convinced I wasn’t having hallucinations. ‘How did you know where to find me though?’

‘I didn’t. I was just thinking about you. It was pretty lonely cooped up in that flat of yours and I was wondering when you’d be back and then suddenly whoosh and I was here.’ He laughed, obviously reliving the moment.

‘God, that is pretty freaky, but I suppose it has its benefits. Saves all that hassle of getting on buses and tubes,’ I joked.

‘Yeah,’ he said, pulling a sad face. ‘The only downside is you have to be dead to qualify for the perk. Might be a bit of a drastic move just to avoid the rush-hour traffic. Mind if I help myself to one of these biscuits?’

I watched as he greedily devoured not one, but the three remaining biscuits on the plate, the man on the next table spluttering over his coffee as the biscuits evaporated into thin air.

‘Mmm, lovely,’ I said, smiling sweetly, making exaggerated chewing motions in an attempt to cover up Jimmy’s greediness, before twisting my chair and turning my back on the man sitting beside us.

‘That’s seriously weird,’ I said to Jimmy, watching him as if I’d never seen someone eating before.

‘Huh?’ he asked, through a mouthful of crumbs.

‘How you have to do the whole eating and drinking and sleeping thing. I thought… well, you don’t expect…’ My voice trailed away at the ridiculousness of this conversation.

‘What? All those other ghosts you’ve met haven’t needed to do that then? Well, I must be special.’ With his grey eyes wide with devilment and a smile hovering on his lips, there was no way I could disagree on that fact.

‘Well, it doesn’t happen in the films,’ I said, determined not to be distracted by his obscenely good looks.

‘This isn’t a film, Alice. This is your terrifying new reality.’ He chuckled and lent over blowing a kiss on my nose. ‘I wonder if it’s because I haven’t passed over yet. I guess all this wafting around in no man’s land requires a certain amount of energy. Once I get over to the other side I’m sure this whole maintenance side will be redundant. It’s just a case of me getting there.’ He flashed me another smile, the one that said ‘we’re in this together, kiddo.’

‘Well, I’m not sure why you’ve decided I’m the person to help you get to the other side,’ I muttered, a tad petulantly. ‘I haven’t got a clue what you should do and it’s not as if I have any spiritual leanings either. The last time I was in a church was at my cousin’s wedding and I didn’t really pay any attention to the business side of things.’

He leant across the table and laid his hand on mine. It was the most peculiar experience. It felt so natural and yet other-worldly at the same time, sending shivers rippling down my spine.

‘I didn’t decide on you, Alice. That’s the thing. You’ve been specially selected for the job. A bit like those Reader’s Digest promotions your Mum used to get through the post. Obviously someone somewhere thinks you have something to teach me.’

I gulped at the enormity of the situation as the guy from the next-door table gave me a very dubious look. Well, as far as he was concerned, I’d been talking to myself for the last five minutes as well as demolishing everything in sight on the food front; he probably had me down as a complete basket case.

What on earth was it that I, Alice Fletcher, could teach Jimmy Mack?

‘Shall we go then?’ Lexie was back, her wide smile bringing a welcome touch of reality into my world.

‘Great.’ I stood up, picking up my bag before looking back at Jimmy.

‘Oh, don’t worry about me,’ he said, flashing me that smile again. ‘I’ll make my own way back. I’ll probably make it before you. Abracadabra and all that!’

He winked and I watched him evaporate into thin air. That really was some party trick. I couldn’t help giggling and the guy at the table next door quickly looked away, finding his weighty paperback suddenly very interesting just when I caught him looking at me again.

Mad greedy women were to be avoided at all costs, obviously.

Chapter Five

Not only did Jimmy make it back home before me, but he was also thoughtful enough to have cleared the mess away, washed up the dirty crockery and made his bed. A piping hot cup of tea was waiting for me on the kitchen table.

‘I could get used to this kind of thing,’ I said smiling, dropping my handbag on the floor. For the briefest moment the thought of sharing my life with someone who would be waiting for me at the end of a hard day with a warm welcome and a glass of something special in hand seemed very appealing. Someone like Jimmy, I thought in a moment of wild fantasy as our eyes met across the kitchen. I fought the urge to run into his arms and attack him with a barrage of kisses.

‘That’s good because you might have to,’ he said, without any trace of humour, clearly not on the same wavelength as me. ‘For a little while at least. It must seem extremely rude me gate-crashing your life uninvited, but hopefully it won’t be for long. Once we find out where I’m supposed to be going then I’ll be out of your hair for good. And you can forget that you ever met me.’

I snorted; that was highly unlikely. How would I ever forget Jimmy? I hadn’t met a ghost before, especially one with such a high profile as Jimmy Mack, so it’s not exactly something that would easily slip my mind.

‘Don’t worry,’ I said. ‘We’ll work something out.’ I sank down on the sofa realising my plans for having a chilled-out vegging weekend would have to be put on hold. In fact, all plans were on hold for the foreseeable future. I wasn’t entirely disappointed by the fact.

‘I promise, as soon as I can I’ll be out of your way. I could go now if you really wanted me to. Find somewhere to hang out. Do what ghosts do, I suppose.’ He shrugged, smiling. ‘Do a bit of haunting in my spare time. Get my own back on all those people who pissed me off in life.’

‘Don’t be silly,’ I said, casting him a grave glance. ‘You’d get lonely with no one to talk to. I’ve heard about unhappy ghosts and the havoc they can cause. No, you’re much better here with me. Where I can keep an eye on you. Together we can work out what we’re supposed to do with you.’

Although Lord knew what that might be. I scratched my head, frustrated at my lack of resourcefulness. I was way out of my depth, crazily so.

I didn’t want to think about it too closely, but this had to be a commonplace occurrence. People died every day. I was certain they didn’t all go through this stage, wafting around in the ether attaching themselves to some poor unsuspecting human until they had the go-ahead to move on to wherever they were supposed to be going. No, something had clearly gone very wrong in Jimmy’s transition and if we didn’t do something about it soon he could be trapped here like this forever.

‘We need to go back to the crash scene,’ I said, with a sudden sense of urgency.

‘What are you talking about?’

‘The accident! That was where your spirit should have been collected from. I don’t know why it wasn’t, probably an oversight or something, but maybe if we get you back there, then they’ll come for you and you can… um… get taken across… to… well, um, you know.’

‘Hmm, you make it sound like the dustbin collections. If they don’t pick up one week, they’ll catch you second time around. I’m not sure it quite works like that.’

‘Do you have any better ideas?’ I snapped.

Jimmy sighed, dropping his head backwards and gazing up at the ceiling.

‘No, not at the moment. I don’t. I’m just trying to lighten the atmosphere, that’s all.’

‘Well, in that case, if you don’t mind, can we have a go at doing things my way please?’

‘Do I have to come?’

I’d pulled the car over into side of the road where I’d stopped only yesterday, not knowing at that point my life was about to take such a weirdly unexpected turn. In the half-light, the field gave no clue to the horrors it had witnessed, but the stillness that had been so apparent in daylight only seemed magnified in the eerie twilight.

‘Don’t be ridiculous. Of course you have to come. What would be the point in me going on my own? It’s you that we’re trying to get despatched, after all.’

Jimmy winced, looking at me through narrowed eyes and I immediately regretted my choice of words. To be honest, I wanted nothing more than to turn around and take him home to the safety of my flat, but I knew that wouldn’t have helped either of us.

‘I’m just not sure this is a good idea, that’s all. For God’s sake, Alice, this is where it all happened. I really don’t think I need to be re-visiting the scene of my death. It’s too soon, it’s not natural.’

I turned my head to look at him and he grasped my hand, as though it were the most natural thing in the world, our fingers instantly interlocking.

‘I know this is difficult, Jimmy, but you being stuck in this state of limbo isn’t natural either. I’m worried for you. This has been devastating for everyone concerned, but we can’t change what’s happened. What we can do is try our hardest to make sure you end up where you should be and I’m pretty certain that isn’t meant to be in my little flat. You should be out there,’ I pointed into the distance through the windscreen, ‘with your own… your own type.’

I cringed. He cringed. There was no easy way to say these things.

‘You make it sound so very appealing.’ He laughed, tipping his head back on the car seat. His strongly defined jawline, the tilt of his chin, the tiny dimple at the corner of his mouth were highlighted in profile, making my heart twist with longing.

‘Come on,’ he said, leaning over and tracing a finger down the length of my cheek. ‘Let’s get this over with then.’

Outside the sky had darkened further and I dug my hands into my jacket pockets wondering why I’d ever thought this was a good idea. An icy chill ran down the length of my body as my eyes searched out the spot where the wreckage had strewn the countryside.

‘At least the car has gone now.’

‘Yeah, I really loved that car,’ he said wistfully. ‘I’d only had it three months. Just had it valeted too. Still, I don’t suppose I’d have much use for it now.’

‘Don’t think about it,’ I said feeling guilty that I was putting him through such an ordeal. ‘It was over here.’ I led him by the hand across the uneven ground, trying to work out the least hazardous path in the darkness. ‘I don’t suppose you have a torch with you, do you?’

‘Oh yes, I have one right here in my jacket pocket,’ he said tightly. ‘No, Alice, I do not have a torch with me.’

‘All right, it was just an idea. Look we’re here now anyway. You can see the flattened grass. See.’ I bent down, sweeping my palm across the ground.

‘Great. Brings back such happy memories.’ Jimmy wrapped his arms around his chest looking totally disinterested. ‘So what do you suggest we do now then?’

‘I think we need to take a moment of silent reflection. Give thanks for your life and then ask our spirit friends to guide you on your way.’

Jimmy sniggered, looking around him.

‘Well, all those other dudes obviously forgot to turn up. Perhaps they took the date down wrong in their diaries.’

‘Oh come on, Jimmy, it isn’t funny. You have to want to do this. It has to be worth a try.’

I grabbed his hands in mine, closed my eyes and took a couple of deep breaths.

‘Friends, spirits…

‘Countrymen!’ interrupted Jimmy.

‘Stop it!’ I hissed. ‘We come in peace and friendship. We give thanks for the life of Jimmy Mack who has now sadly departed from the physical realm. Please help us guide Jimmy to his rightful place in the universe.’ I offered his hands up to the night sky. I knew the wording wasn’t spot on, but I just hoped someone somewhere would get the gist.

We stood there in the increasing cold a moment or two longer, before he dropped his hands to his sides.

‘Nice try, Alice, and I do appreciate all the trouble you’ve gone to, but really this isn’t going to work. Can we go home, please? I’m freezing cold, hungry and tired. I can think of much better ways we could be spending our time.’

His gaze skittered over my face, and I wasn’t sure about any of those other spirits, but mine plummeted to the floor. Tears gathered in my eyes. What had I been thinking? Jimmy was right, this was never going to work and yet he’d been lovely enough to humour me and see this whole ridiculous escapade through to the end.

‘Yes, I suppose you’re right,’ I sighed, defeated. ‘We’ll go. This is obviously not the way to do it, but there’ll be another way. I promise you.’

Just as we turned to go, I spotted the lights in the distance. Vast bright white lights approaching at a steady pace, searching us out, the accompanying growling rumble growing louder and louder. I shielded my eyes with my arm from the dazzling glare, the vibrations from the craft reaching my shivering body.

‘See, what did I tell you! Look! They’ve come for you, Jimmy. They’ve come for you.’ Our eyes locked together and in that moment I realised however important it was for Jimmy to find his spiritual home, I didn’t want him to go. Not yet. I’d only just met him, but in some ways it felt as if I’d known him a lifetime. And that wasn’t nearly enough time. There was so much I still needed to know. The fact that I wanted him to stay, wanted more of him, filled me with fear. Why did I feel this way about a ghostly stranger? It didn’t make any sense.

Emotion prickled through my entire body as I grabbed hold of his hand. The enormity of the situation was clearly too much for him as well as his whole body rocked with something approaching hysteria as he gasped to find the words.

‘It’sOK, it’s OK,’ I soothed, stroking his arm.

The craft shuddered to a halt in front of us and a door flew open, a man in an all-in-one suit leaping down onto the ground.

‘What the bloody hell do you think you’re doing? In my bloody field! There’s nothing to see here. The party’s over. Now clear off!’ he yelled.

I looked across at Jimmy who, doubled up with mirth, was no use whatsoever. Making abject apologies to the tractor driver, the ghost and I sprinted back to the car.

OK so Plan A may have been a major fail, but I was certain that there were dozens of other options we could try and in the meantime it wouldn’t be too much of a hardship sharing the flat with Jimmy.

He was well-mannered, domesticated and easy on the eye. I’d had worse house guests.

As long as Jimmy obeyed a few simple house rules then I couldn’t foresee any problems. And the first and most important rule on the list, not to turn up unexpected when I was out doing other stuff, I reminded him of on Monday morning as I was getting ready to go to work.

‘Now remember, you can’t just turn up at work, showing off your fancy magic tricks. I have a very important job to do and I really don’t need the distraction of you popping up in the middle of an important board meeting.’

‘Wow,’ he said, letting out a slow whistle as his gaze travelled the length of my body taking in my grey slub silk pencil skirt and matching jacket. His eyes lingered on my ankles and black patent court shoes. ‘You look pretty hot in all that office gear. Kind of severe and buttoned up, but I like that.’ He raised his eyebrows approvingly and I turned away trying to hide the fetching pink patches of embarrassment that were now adorning my cheeks. Jimmy Mack had a reputation as a flirt, only I would never have believed he’d be practising his skills on me. ‘Very nice indeed,’ he added.

‘No turning up at the wrong times, Jimmy. Are you listening to me?’ I asked, picking up my keys from the hall table, trying to ignore the warm fuzzy feeling his attention provoked.

‘Yeah, yeah, don’t worry, I’ll be as good as gold. I promise. I’ve plenty to be getting on with here anyway.’

‘Good.’ I said, on my way out. ‘I’ll see you later then.’

‘Yeah, you have a good day at the office, sweetie!’

Chapter Six

‘Morning, Alice, good weekend?’

Simon, my boss had his sleeves rolled up and two empty coffee cups on his desk suggesting he’d already been in at work for at least a couple of hours.

‘Yes, great,’ I said opting for the sanitised version, not the ‘oh my God, a ghost moved into my flat, you might know him, he just happens to be a celebrity, and we spent the rest of the weekend trying to get rid of him again’ version. Although that might have been fun just to see the look on Simon’s face.

‘Good, good,’ he said distracted. ‘I’m in meetings for the best part of the day, but I’ve sent you a few tasks to your inbox if you could look at those for me. Oh, and you’ll need to schedule in a meeting with Roger Carter. Damon Mitchell has been in this morning to hand in his resignation so I’ll need to chat through with Roger the likely ramifications.’

‘Really?’ I said, completely taken aback by the pang of disappointment the news elicited within me.

‘Yep. Didn’t see that one coming. He’s our best salesman by a long chalk. I’m sorry to lose him, but he wasn’t going to be bought off. He’s leaving to start his own business, apparently. Landscape Gardening. At least he’s not going to one of our competitors. That would have really pissed me off.’

‘I’ll be sad to see him go,’ I admitted, trying to wrestle the idea of the super-smooth salesman I knew giving up the suave designer suits for his wellies and the outdoor life.

‘Me too,’ Simon said, as he turned to leave my office. ‘I’ll catch up with you at lunchtime if there’s anything important.’

I realised with a thud that I’d miss seeing Damon about the place. His smiling face popping around my office door always lifted my spirits; he was funny, delightfully indiscreet and yet always seemed genuinely pleased to see me, his cheeky banter never seeming intrusive only affectionate.

I hated change, any kind of change, and all of a sudden everything in my life seemed to be shifting like the earth’s plates creating imperceptible but far-reaching consequences.

Decisively, I clicked on my inbox, moving emails into folders, checking off tasks, my mind operating on autopilot. I glanced at my watch. It was two hours since I’d left Jimmy on his own and my attempts at not thinking about him were clearly failing. I’d been scared I might conjure him up in my office and I certainly didn’t need that kind of distraction, but with him constantly in my thoughts and the news of Damon’s departure rattling around in my head, it was almost impossible to concentrate on anything else.

What was Jimmy up to, I wondered, a lonely spirit navigating a hostile world.

I’d once signed up to an online dating agency so I had a small idea how that felt, but however much I tried to imagine myself in Jimmy’s shoes, I couldn’t. It was too awful even to contemplate. How must he be feeling with no one to talk to or confide in? I only hoped he wouldn’t do anything silly in my absence, but even that thought was ridiculous. He was hardly about to throw himself off a bridge or under a train. The worst had already happened.

Even so when I walked back through my front door that night, it was a huge relief to find that Jimmy was still there and to be greeted by the most delightful cooking smells wafting from the kitchen was an added bonus.

‘Ah, you’re home! Good day?’ Jimmy welcomed me from the kitchen doorway wearing black chinos, a tightly fitted white T-shirt, my pinny and a big grin. Simple but dazzlingly effective. He looked as if could have just wandered off a film set, the sight sending a ripple of excitement fizzing along the length of my body. His gaze appraised me and his mouth parted as if he were about to say something before he obviously thought better of it.

‘New clothes?’ I asked, dropping my gaze. Either that or he must have had an account with a Chinese laundry somewhere.

‘My old clothes,’ he said, matter-of-factly.

‘Really? What, did you go back for them or something?’

‘No. I got them sent over,’ he said casually, as if this was indeed the Heavenly Hilton. My brow furrowed in confusion as I looked for clarification. ‘I couldn’t stay in those old things, the whiff of diesel and cow pats wasn’t a great combination so I, um, willed them over,’ he added. ‘A new start and everything.’

‘You willed them over?’ I gave a nervous giggle. ‘How did you do that exactly?’

Jimmy laughed too, turning his attention back to the frying pan.

‘Well, I’m not sure about the technicalities but in the same way that I can transport myself from one place to another, I can do the same thing with projecting an alternative form of myself. This is my casual weekend look,’ he said with a wry grin. ‘Do you like it?’

‘I do,’ I said, sounding like a star-struck fan, but still struggling to get my head round what he was telling me. ‘So you don’t actually change your clothes at all. I’m just seeing what, a different version of you?’

‘You got it!’ he said, as though that was a perfectly reasonable explanation. If it wasn’t for the seriously impressive magic tricks then it would have been easy to forget that Jimmy was a ghost. He was such a vibrant, larger-than-life force occupying my flat and now my head and part of my heart too.

‘Something smells good.’ My nostrils picked out the aromas of garlic, tomatoes and onions. ‘You didn’t need to go to all this trouble.’

‘It’s the least I could do after everything you’ve done for me. It’s just pasta with a tomato sauce. I hope that’s OK?’

‘Sounds perfect,’ I said, accepting the glass of chilled white sparkling wine he was offering. Our glasses chinked, our eyes meeting as we took a sip together, the bubbles on my tongue matching my own fizzing excitement. ‘What about you? How was your day?’

‘Yeah, not bad. Although I missed you, Alice.’ His expression was deadly serious, but his eyes twinkled with mischievousness. ‘I did a bit of cleaning.’ He gestured around him at the gleaming surfaces. ‘I hope you don’t mind?’

‘No.’ I shook my head in amazement. ‘Anytime you get the urge, you go straight ahead.’ I laughed, feeling a pang of guilt that he’d had to resort to getting the duster out. I couldn’t see him sticking out this new role for long. Going from being a feted celebrity to my domestic lackey didn’t seem like the best career move in the world.

In my own flat, I felt redundant wondering what I should do next. I looked around at the uncharacteristically spotless living room and settled myself on the sofa, trying not to mess up the careful display of cushions. For some reason, I felt vaguely nervous as though I was waiting for a job interview.

‘Can I help at all?’ It was a half-hearted offer, but one that went a small way to making me feel better. I slipped off my shoes and kicked them under the coffee table, trying for relaxed.

‘No,’ he said, turning and giving me an indulgent smile. ‘It’s all under control. Just sit back and enjoy.’

‘So where did you learn to cook then?’ I asked a bit later, when we were sat at the table tucking eagerly into the tagliatelle. I hadn’t realised how hungry I was.

‘At uni. I had a few months living off pot noodles, and then decided, for the sake of my health, I needed to learn a few basic dishes that included some green stuff. Thinking about it, I needn’t have worried. Could have stuffed myself silly with burgers, fries and beers.’ He gave a wry shrug. ‘Funny how you spend a lot of time sparing yourself for the future when in a lot of cases there won’t be a future. Let that be a lesson to you, Alice.’ He pointed a friendly finger my way ‘Get out there and live your life to the full, young lady. And eat as many burgers and fries as you want to.’

I laughed, my insides squirming uncomfortably at the further reminder of Jimmy’s perilous condition.

‘Hmm, trouble is, knowing my luck, I’d do exactly that, put on sixteen stone, become an alcoholic bag lady and live to 105. Very old, very fat, drunk and lonely with no one to care for me.’

‘Now that is hard to imagine. But you know what I’m saying, don’t you?’ There was a sincerity in his voice which was hard to ignore. ‘Make the most of what you’ve got, your time here because it could all be over in an instant.’ He clicked his fingers in the air. ‘Work out what’s important to you and go for it.’

I twirled my pasta around my fork, absent-mindedly. That was easy for him to say but then I guessed he had the benefit of hindsight; he was looking at it from the other side. Literally. Like a lot of people, I had a vague idea of the things I wanted from life, but most of those I had pencilled in for some time in the future. But what if my future were to be cut short, like Jimmy’s? A feeling of unease tempered with impatience niggled along my veins.

‘Do it, Alice, before it’s too late,’ he said, as if reading my mind. ‘It’s all too easy to put things off, but my advice to you is to go out there and grab life with both hands. And it’s not things like your career and money that are important, you know that. It’s your friends and family.’ He paused. ‘Your relationships.’

I laughed, looking up into his eyes.

‘Oh dear, you’re beginning to sound like my mother. And my sister.’

‘Really? I’m in good company then. What is it they say exactly?’

‘That I should get our more. Start dating again. I think they’d like to see me settled with someone. It’s been a while since Mike.’

‘Mike?’

‘Yeah, he was my last serious relationship. We were together for about five years and everyone thought we would have the Happy Ending, but it wasn’t to be. We sort of fizzled out.’ I laughed without a smidgeon of self-consciousness. It was such a long time ago now it was almost like talking about another person. ‘That’s not strictly true. Not so much a fizzle as an explosion when I found out he was cheating on me with a couple of other girls. I haven’t really got back into the dating scene since.’

‘His loss, definitely,’ said Jimmy, looking at me intently from beneath long dark lashes. ‘There’ll be some good guy out there for you, Alice. Someone you can be happy with. You’re such a great girl, you deserve to be happy, but you need to get out there and find him. Take it from me, you don’t have as much time here as you might think.’

‘I suppose you’re right,’ I said with a pang of regret. It felt so easy to be talking with Jimmy, safe and reassuring as if I could tell him anything and he would never judge me in any way. Perhaps that was because I knew he wasn’t of this world. That we had something special and sacred that would only ever exist between the two of us. How many conversations did we have left, I wondered, before Jimmy would leave our strange twilight world forever?

‘That’s what they say, isn’t it? You don’t get to your deathbed wishing you spent more time in the office. Was there someone special in your life?’ I probed again. ‘Someone you wished you’d spent more time with.’

‘No, sadly not.’ Now it was Jimmy’s turn to look pensive. ‘I wish there had been. It was all up here,’ he tapped the side of his head. ‘My master plan for the future. I had it all mapped out; a mad passionate love affair with the woman who was to be my wife, a couple of kids, an apartment in town, the big house in the country, a golden retriever, guinea pig, the full works. Only I got stuck at first base. I didn’t get to meet the woman of my dreams.’

‘That’s so sad.’ Tears pricked at the back of my eyes, but I blinked them away. It was such a terrible waste. Jimmy would have made a wonderful husband and a fantastic father too, I didn’t doubt. And now it was too late for him.

‘Actually,’ he said, putting his fork and spoon down, ‘there was something I wanted to ask you.’

‘Of course. Just ask away,’ I said lightly, trying to ignore the growing sense of trepidation in my tummy.

‘I wondered if you’d come with me on Friday?’

‘Friday?’

‘Yes, to the funeral. I need to be there, obviously, but I don’t think I can face it alone. It would mean a lot to me if you came along.’

I hoped Jimmy hadn’t noticed my sharp intake of breath. It hadn’t occurred to me that he’d go to the funeral, well not in a wafting around capacity at least, and surely I’d be conspicuous, not knowing anyone else in the congregation.

‘It’s OK,’ he said, doing that weird thing of seemingly reading my mind again, ‘you can say you were a good friend of mine. There are a lot of friends my family hadn’t got to meet. Please, Alice?’

‘Of course, I’ll come,’ I said, feeling honoured to be asked. ‘I’ll book the day off work tomorrow. It should be fine.’

‘Thanks.’ Jimmy smiled, looking relieved and reached across the table, his hand finding mine. My fingers sizzled, my whole body warming from the intimacy of his touch.

Something stirred deep inside me as my eyes locked with Jimmy’s. I was the only one he had now, the only person in this world who could help him and I wanted to ensure I did everything in my power to do exactly that.

Booking the day off work wasn’t difficult. I rarely took time off so Simon was more than happy to accommodate my request especially when I told him it was to attend a funeral.

‘I’m sorry to hear that, Alice. It wasn’t anybody close, was it?’ He’d looked up from his papers, a genuine concern etched across his brow.

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