Chapter 2

Notes: I know, I haven't written much about her helping spirits, we will get to that, but to help them, Melinda first has to heal.

Disclaimer: I own nothing! Any resemblance to existing stories or characters is unintended.

Melinda's eyes opened and the familiar ceiling of her bedroom came into focus, she rolled over, her hand going instinctively to Jim's side of the bed, but all she felt were empty, cold sheets. Then, the memory of what happened came crashing down on her like a load of bricks and the pain made her feel like she had been stabbed through her soul by an icicle.

'What's done is done, there's no use crying about it.' she said; but that didn't stop the tears from coming and she wept uncontrollably until she was a blubbering mess.

Rick had woken up early, just like he always did, and made coffee, which had somehow had spiraled into making breakfast for the two of them; he was almost done setting the table when Melinda finally came down the stairs.

"Hey … what are you doing?" She asked, her face harboring a small smile.

"Coffee?" He asked as he offered her a cup.

"Please." She said as she wrapped her hands around the mug and took a deep sip and allowed herself to get lost in the aroma.

Rick took this opportunity to study her; her complexion was pale and pasty, gone was the warm, sun kissed glow he had so fondly remembered, and her eyes had dark circles under them.

"Well, then! How about some breakfast, eh?" He said as he pulled out her chair for her.

"Thanks, but I'm not very hungry." Melinda said flatly.

"Melinda, come on, you have to eat, Jim wouldn't want you to …" He started to say without thinking, Melinda stood up from the table so fast, she almost upset her chair.

"And how would you know what Jim would want me to do?" She spat venomously at him as she turned and stormed away from the table, tears pricking her eyes.

She stopped midway across the room and blew out a breath in an effort to calm herself and turned around to face him.

"I … I … I'm sorry, Rick, I didn't mean that." She said, and an awkward silence fell between them.

"Let's just eat." He said, gesturing to the table after a minute of uncomfortable silence with neither of them knowing what to say.

"Hey …! What are you doing here?" Delia said as Melinda walked into the store.

"I just … I think the best thing for me is to keep busy, and I just … couldn't be in that house, surrounded by all of his things with nothing to do." Melinda replied.

"Okay, fair enough. It is nice to have you back, we have been swamped lately with tourist season and everything." Delia replied, Melinda suddenly pulled her into an embrace.

"What was that for?" Delia said, surprised.

"A thanks … for being my friend, and being there for me through all of this, I know I probably didn't make it easy for you." Melinda said as she released her.

"Are you kidding? You lost someone very special to you, I know how that is, remember?" Delia replied as several customers came in, chattering excitedly amongst themselves.

"Hi, welcome to Same as he Never Was Antiques." Melinda said as over their excited chatter.

"Wow, this place is great! It's everything Dave and Sarah said it was!" One of the female customers said.

"Our friends, we're all into antiquing, and they took a road trip through Grandview last year and they told us about this place, so naturally, we had to come and check it out ourselves!" She added, noticing Melinda's blank expression.

"Well … that's great! Feel free to look around all you like and please don't hesitate to ask if you need any help." Melinda said to the excited group of people.

"Oh my gosh, we're famous!" Delia whispered excitedly.

Melinda laughed in spite of herself. "Well … I don't know if I'd go that far." She replied as the group of people lined up at the register with multiple items.

"At this rate, we're going to have to start traveling the countryside looking for antiques to sell, like those guys on American Pickers." Delia said with a laugh as she counted the money from the register that day.

"I'm going to run down stairs and put this in the safe." Delia said as she put their day's earnings in a secure bag, while Melinda busied herself closing down the store for the day.

"So ... I hear you had some company last night." Delia said with a raised eyebrow.

Melinda raised an eyebrow in return at her friend. "And just what is that supposed to mean?" She replied.

Delia merely looked at her expectantly in reply.

"Yeah … okay, so Payne stayed over last night, so what? … and he slept on the couch in the living room, so don't give me that look." She said as Delia gave her a scolding look and opened her mouth to speak.

"Well, you know I told you that Jim's been around, well apparently he went to Payne and … brought him back here." Melinda said with a shrug.

"So he did." Delia said as she nodded in understanding.

"Though I don't know why exactly." Melinda replied.

"Really?! You really don't know." Delia said exasperatedly, wording it more as a statement than a question.

"Professor Payne like … totally has a thing for you! Why do you think he left in the first place?" Delia said when Melinda didn't offer an answer.

"Because 'It's a once and a lifetime opportunity'." Melinda said, quoting what Rick had told her when he came to say goodbye on the way to the airport.

"That might have been what he told you, but that wasn't the real reason that he left. Imagine how it must've been for him, to have feelings for someone who was very happily married, to know he'll never have a chance with them? I am sure that was awful for him." Delia said.

"Yeah … I guess Jim noticed too, because he said we always had something special." Melinda replied tearfully.

"Look … I know you're not ready right now, and you shouldn't until you are, but at some point, you're going to have to move on with your life. I know, I've been there, remember?" Delia said as she gave her a hug.

Melinda blew out a sigh, she knew Delia was right, she wasn't ready … and she didn't know when she would be, and regardless of whether it was fair or not, anyone else stepping up to the plate had some big shoes to fill.

"Rick Payne!" Rick stifled a weary sigh as he heard his name being called by a familiar female voice, he had just exited his office, anxious to get the hell out of Dodge after a long day of lecturing.

Professor Ramona Hockmeier taught modern and classical languages on the floor above his office … she had been the other half of the reason he had gone on sabbatical.

'So much for getting out of here at a reasonable hour.' Rick thought bitterly to himself.

"Yes, yes … I am back, Elvis has returned to the building." He said in false dramatism as he gestured grandiosely.

Ramona laughed exaggeratedly and tossed her hair flirtatiously as Rick pinched the bridge of his nose in an effort to retain his patience.

"Look, Ramona, I'd love to chat, but I've had a really long day and I still have to coordinate my course material for the week … you know how that goes." He abruptly cut her off as he turned his back to her and locked his office.

"You're wasting your time, you know." Ramona said abruptly.

Rick stopped, his keys still in the door and turned around to face her.

"Excuse me?" He replied, a hint of offense in his voice.

"Oh don't pretend like you don't know what I'm talking about, Rick … Melinda Gordon … you've been crazy about her ever since before you left … and it looks like you still are." She said, her voice taking on a haughty, condescending tone.

"And what if I am? Last time I checked, that wasn't yours, or anyone else's business." Rick replied coldly as he pulled his keys out of the door and stuffed them angrily into his pocket.

"She'll never love you, you know … even with Jim out of the picture." Ramona continued in the same haughty tone.

"How can you possibly know that? You don't even know Melinda that well!" Rick countered venomously.

"I know her well enough to know that her and Jim's relationship was the kind that would make the likes of Jane Austen giddy, and Jim was a man that … well … let's face it, any woman would kill to have." Ramona replied.

"And why are you telling me this?" Rick shot back, his patience about gone.

"Because, a man like you, who is quite a catch in his own right shouldn't be wasting his time on a woman who will never love him. You know what they say; it's only love if you're loved in return." She said.

"Goodnight, Ramona." Rick said as he pushed past her toward the elevators, before he said something he'd regret.

"Sooner or later, you're going to have to face reality, Rick!" Ramona called angrily after him as he disappeared around the corner.

"You sure you're going to be okay?" Delia said as they locked up the store for the night.

"Yeah, I mean … no … but I have to start somewhere, right?" Melinda replied, offering a smile as they walked to their vehicles.

"Okay, just promise to call me, okay?" Delia said as they shared a hug.

"Yes, mom." Melinda said humorously as she gave her friend a good natured eye roll.

"I mean it, Melinda, no matter what time it is … okay?" Delia said as she gripped Melinda's shoulders and forced her to meet her gaze.

"Okay, okay!" Melinda said with a laugh. "I feel blessed to have so many people that care about me." she added

"Yeah, they even dropped everything and flew half way across the world on a red eye." Delia said.

"Okay, okay! You've made your point!" Melinda said, laughing as she got into her vehicle and headed home.

"How's she doing?" Ned asked Delia when she got home.

"As well as can be expected, I guess." Delia replied with a sigh.

"I heard Jim crossed over." He continued.

"Apparently, yes." Delia replied.

"Are you still skeptical about it, mom? Even after all you've seen and experienced?" He said.

She shrugged. "Old habits die hard, I guess."

"I also heard that Professor Payne is back, the word around the university is that he flew in here on a red eye when he heard the news." Ned said with a knowing smile.

"Yes, why?" Delia replied slowly as she eyed her son.

"Well … I'm no expert, but usually a guy only does that when he's like … totally nuts for a girl." Ned said.

"Well … he also had his friend's dead husband threatening to haunt him for all eternity if he didn't." Delia pointed out.

"See? Even Jim knew, because it was like … so totally obvious!" Ned replied.

Delia paused and took studied her son with a sad smile.

"When did you get so grown up?" She said as she hugged him.

"Do you think Melinda will be alright?" Ned asked.

Delia sighed. "Only time will tell that, Ned."

Melinda went through the motions of getting ready for bed, she just felt so … numb … like a piece of her soul had died alongside Jim that horrible night. She crawled into bed and let her head fall back against the pillow and what was worse, is as long as she was in this state, she couldn't help the spirits that needed her.

"I'm sorry." She said, tears welling up in her eyes, she knew that they could still hear her, even if they couldn't get to her. Knowing she was shutting them out when there were so many that were hurting and needed her help made her feel even more terrible.

"I know so many of you need my help, but I'm just … not ready yet and I don't know when I will be … I'm sorry." She said as she hugged one of Jim's pillows and cried into it.

Rick sat at his desk, trying to sort out his course curriculum for the week, but his mind and his heart just weren't in it.

"Damn it!" He said as he slammed his fist down on his desk; this is why he didn't want to come back, everything had been fine out there in the middle of nowhere, he was making progress, both professionally and personally, then Jim had to go and die and ruin everything.

"Yeah, Jim … what the hell?!" he said, as he began to pace angrily around his house. "Oh yeah …that's right … you can't hear me because you've crossed over! You're happy! Well good for you! Meanwhile I am stuck here …" He trailed off as emotion threatened to overcome him; he swallowed hard against the lump that had formed in his throat.

"Why did you drag me back here, Jim? I had moved on, I had made peace and put everything behind me." He said, hor voice cracked with emotion as he sank into the couch and ran his hands through his hair.

"You wasted both yours and my time, Jim. She's never going to love anybody else … and certainly not me." He said despairingly, he knew he was wallowing, but he couldn't help it.

He laughed humorlessly as he realized what he had been doing.

"Look at me, baring my soul to my friend's dead husband who can't even hear me anymore." He said as he stood.

"Well, I know what I promised, but I can't I just … I can't do this … I'm sorry." He said as he stormed to his closet, dug his suitcase out, threw it on the bed and started throwing clothes into it.

Unbeknownst to him, the ghosts of two women had been watching his entire exchange.

"Damn it! We have to do something!" one of them said.

"No good, he'll never listen to us." The other replied.

"No, but I know someone who will." The first one said with a mischievous smile as they disappeared.

Notes: I see this story has some faves and follows now, thank you so much!