door. It's Jason. His hair is mussed and he doesn't look like he's slept much. His RHS sweatshirt is inside out, and his face seems long and sad. He steps into the room, joins Taylor at their mother's bed, and takes his sister's free hand.
His beautiful blue eyes lock on mine. I smile, trying to let my love for him shine out. He winks back.
"Talk to her, Jason," I say softly.
"She's asleep," he says.
"She'll wake up again. She needs to know that
both
of you are here."
He turns back to his mother. "I love you, Mom. Don't leave us. Whatever's wrong, we can work through it. We always do."
Rachel Tillson's eyelids flutter open and her soft blue eyes focus on her two children in the room with her. I watch as she swallows hard and weakly licks her lips. "J-J-Jason. Tay-baby."
"Mommy," Taylor says in a childish squeak.
Jason moves to the head of his mom's bed and runs his fingers through her hair.
With that, I quietly sneak out of the room, leaving the siblings with their mom. Whatever happens, they'll make it ... together.
"Is it okay to admit that I'm happy
not
to be investigating the mayor's house tonight, crawling around God knows where trying to capture EVPs or get infrared pictures?" Celia says to me over the roar of the crowd.
"I'll second that," Becca says and then crams a handful of popcorn into her mouth.
"It's good to be out of Radisson for a little bit," Taylor chimes in.
The four of us drove in my car from Radisson to Felcher's Point, where RHS is taking on the Felcher Falcons in round-ballâa term Jason and his buddies use for basketball. He and Ryan are both on the team, so we're riveted to the action.
I have to agree with Celia, quite frankly. It's been a hell of a week and I'm mentally exhausted. My heart's not into ghost hunting at the moment, although I do still want to find out what's going on inside the mayor's mansion. Right now, some mindless spectator sporting is what does the body good. Plus, any opportunity to gawk at Jason Tillson in his basketball uniform is time well spent.
"Good shot, Ryan!" Taylor shouts, backing it up with a hearty clap.
The cheerleaders, led by my former nemesis turned polite acquaintance Courtney Langdon, move from the front row of the bleachers out to the middle of the court to do a pyramid during the time-out. I glance over at Jason kneeling on one knee and swabbing his drenched face with a white towel. The weight of the world is on his young shoulders, yet he's playing like a champion. He's already got twelve points, and RHS is up by three.
When the action resumes, Ryan MacKenzie is fouled by the Falcons with only a few seconds left in the game. Stephanie Crawford, a friend of mine on the squad, begins to cheer, and we all join in.
"Up in the air, round the rim, come on, Ryan, put it in! Sink it! Sink it! Come on, Ryan, sink it!"
He nails the first shot, nearly stripping the net. All of us RHS faithful who traveled to the game are on our feet. When Ryan misses the second shot and it bounces off the rim, Jason snags the rebound and slams the ball home. Why am I not surprised? Not because I know what an awesome player he isâwhich he isâbut because a minute before it happened, I had a bit of a déjà vu moment where I saw Jason move in for the slam-dunk kill. It's the first time I've ever really had a connection to something Jason based, and my soul tingles in delight knowing we've bonded on such a cosmic level. Of course, Jason would merely roll his eyes at me if I told him. So, instead, I join the rest of the RHSers in flooding the Falcons' floor to congratulate our team.
When Jason sees me, he picks me up in his strong grip and holds me close to his sweaty body. He's got that boy ick smell to him, but I don't care. There's more to this embrace than the simple victory of a high school basketball team. Jason's thanking me for this morning as well. Words don't have to be exchanged ... I just know.
"We're all headed back to Radisson after we
His beautiful blue eyes lock on mine. I smile, trying to let my love for him shine out. He winks back.
"Talk to her, Jason," I say softly.
"She's asleep," he says.
"She'll wake up again. She needs to know that
both
of you are here."
He turns back to his mother. "I love you, Mom. Don't leave us. Whatever's wrong, we can work through it. We always do."
Rachel Tillson's eyelids flutter open and her soft blue eyes focus on her two children in the room with her. I watch as she swallows hard and weakly licks her lips. "J-J-Jason. Tay-baby."
"Mommy," Taylor says in a childish squeak.
Jason moves to the head of his mom's bed and runs his fingers through her hair.
With that, I quietly sneak out of the room, leaving the siblings with their mom. Whatever happens, they'll make it ... together.
"Is it okay to admit that I'm happy
not
to be investigating the mayor's house tonight, crawling around God knows where trying to capture EVPs or get infrared pictures?" Celia says to me over the roar of the crowd.
"I'll second that," Becca says and then crams a handful of popcorn into her mouth.
"It's good to be out of Radisson for a little bit," Taylor chimes in.
The four of us drove in my car from Radisson to Felcher's Point, where RHS is taking on the Felcher Falcons in round-ballâa term Jason and his buddies use for basketball. He and Ryan are both on the team, so we're riveted to the action.
I have to agree with Celia, quite frankly. It's been a hell of a week and I'm mentally exhausted. My heart's not into ghost hunting at the moment, although I do still want to find out what's going on inside the mayor's mansion. Right now, some mindless spectator sporting is what does the body good. Plus, any opportunity to gawk at Jason Tillson in his basketball uniform is time well spent.
"Good shot, Ryan!" Taylor shouts, backing it up with a hearty clap.
The cheerleaders, led by my former nemesis turned polite acquaintance Courtney Langdon, move from the front row of the bleachers out to the middle of the court to do a pyramid during the time-out. I glance over at Jason kneeling on one knee and swabbing his drenched face with a white towel. The weight of the world is on his young shoulders, yet he's playing like a champion. He's already got twelve points, and RHS is up by three.
When the action resumes, Ryan MacKenzie is fouled by the Falcons with only a few seconds left in the game. Stephanie Crawford, a friend of mine on the squad, begins to cheer, and we all join in.
"Up in the air, round the rim, come on, Ryan, put it in! Sink it! Sink it! Come on, Ryan, sink it!"
He nails the first shot, nearly stripping the net. All of us RHS faithful who traveled to the game are on our feet. When Ryan misses the second shot and it bounces off the rim, Jason snags the rebound and slams the ball home. Why am I not surprised? Not because I know what an awesome player he isâwhich he isâbut because a minute before it happened, I had a bit of a déjà vu moment where I saw Jason move in for the slam-dunk kill. It's the first time I've ever really had a connection to something Jason based, and my soul tingles in delight knowing we've bonded on such a cosmic level. Of course, Jason would merely roll his eyes at me if I told him. So, instead, I join the rest of the RHSers in flooding the Falcons' floor to congratulate our team.
When Jason sees me, he picks me up in his strong grip and holds me close to his sweaty body. He's got that boy ick smell to him, but I don't care. There's more to this embrace than the simple victory of a high school basketball team. Jason's thanking me for this morning as well. Words don't have to be exchanged ... I just know.
"We're all headed back to Radisson after we
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