Disclaimer: Still don't own any of the regular GW characters…
"She's perfectly normal!" Melinda cut in.
"Perfectly normal? Do you have kids?" she asked accusingly.
Melinda shook her head. "No, not yet."
"Well, you wait for the day when your kid starts talking to themselves at age 15. You won't think it's perfectly normal. She's not coming back here tomorrow- or ever. And you won't find any of our business here anymore, either."
Jessa turned on her heel and slammed the door on her way out.
Melinda flinched as she heard the door slam. Delia, who had been standing next to Melinda throughout the encounter, looked stunned.
"How dare she treat you like that!"
"She didn't treat me like that. She's treating her daughter like that. That is why, I think, Mallory needs to tell her mother about her gift."
The ghost suddenly appeared in front of the counter.
"Nate, right?" Melinda asked.
He scowled. "So is that it?" he asked. "Is she done with me now?"
"No, but it's going to be more difficult to get her to help you."
"Why can't you help me?" he asked.
"Because it's her job. Either way, to cross you over I would need to get to her," said Melinda, more to herself than the ghost.
Nate let out a loud yell, causing the lights to flicker. "She'll help me. I'll make her!" Nate gave Melinda one last lingering glare before disappearing.
"I have to help her," Melinda said. "He's going to hurt her if he's not careful."
"Are ghosts ever careful?" Delia asked.
Melinda smiled. "No, not really. Not when they hold this kind of pent-up anger – which is where I hit my road block. I don't know what kind of a relationship Nate and Mallory had."
"You need to talk to Mallory."
"You needed to talk to me?"
Melinda looked disbelievingly at the door. Mallory stood there, rather small-looking, and very scared.
"What are you doing here?" Melinda asked incredulously.
"Did you run off?" Delia asked.
Mallory hesitated. "Sort of. I got out of the car at a red light. My mom was talking on her cell phone; I don't know if she noticed. She seemed really upset. But she was talking to my psychologist! I don't want to talk to him! I'm not crazy – you know I'm not crazy!"
As Melinda looked at her, she saw that Jessa was walking up the block, towards the store, clearly furious.
"Mallory, come back here."
"What?"
"Behind the counter. Duck down behind the counter."
Mallory still looked confused, but could sense the urgency in Melinda's voice and obeyed.
Jessa stormed into the store, whacking the door open. "Where is she? Where's the little brat? It's what's good for her!"
Melinda tried to keep her voice calm. "Is Mallory gone?"
"Don't play dumb with me, you little sneak. Where is she? Where's the freak?"
Melinda attempted to keep her temper in check, but before she could open her mouth, Mallory stood up. "I'm not a freak!" she said, sobbing. "I'm not a freak! I don't want to go back to that psychologist! I'm not crazy!"
"You will if you know what's good for you!" Jessa's eyes were shining in anger.
"No! I won't go with you!"
Melinda watched in horror at this mother-daughter clash.
"Jessa?" she asked timidly.
"What do you want?"
"Can she stay with me and my husband for awhile?"
"No! She's coming with me!"
"Look, she's not crazy, and I just want to help her!"
"Mom, I want to go with her!"
Jessa looked as though she had been smacked in the face. "You… you want to go with her?"
Mallory nodded. "I hate living with you."
Jessa looked like she wasn't going to be able to breathe.
Assuming a look of utter contempt, she spat out, "Fine. Live with her. You can be freaks together. Don't expect to come back though." Then Jessa turned to Melinda. "Congratulations," she said sarcastically, "you've gained a crazy teenage girl for the next four years."
Without another word, Jessa turned on her heel and walked out.
Delia's mouth was hanging open, Mallory was staring determinedly at the door, and Melinda was a little stunned.
"Um, Mallory… are you okay?"
"She was never a mother to me, anyway."
Melinda's expression softened. "What do you mean?"
"I mean that I hated living with her. My dad died when I was little, and my mother always treated me like scum. She never wanted kids. I was a 'mistake' as she often reminded me. The whole ghost thing, which she would never understand, only seemed to prove her point, and make her loathe me more."
"Really?"
"Would I lie?" Mallory asked, turning on Melinda. "So, I can stay with you?"
Melinda nodded slowly, still bewildered at what had just taken place.
"Forever?" Mallory asked, voice full of hope.
"We'll see," Melinda said. "Actually, let's go home now. Delia, do you want to close up?" Melinda heard the words, but didn't feel as if they were coming out of her mouth. She was walking, talking, moving in a trance.
"Why don't we just close up?" Delia suggested. "I don't think we'll have much more business today, after that encounter."
Melinda nodded. She walked back to the store room, grabbed her purse, and led Mallory out to her car.
Later that night, as Melinda was making dinner, she was starting to accept the reality of the situation. Jessa had abandoned Mallory.
"Mel, I'm home!" Jim called as he walked in the house.
"Kitchen," Melinda responded.
Jim walked in, kissed his wife, and sat down at the table.
"So… we have a kid, now," Melinda said.
"Sorry?"
"You know that girl I told you about, Mallory?"
"Yeah, the girl that can see ghosts too, what about her?"
"She's going to stay with us for awhile."
Jim frowned. "What do you mean?"
"I mean that her mother abandoned her in the store today, her father's dead, and she has nowhere else to go."
"So she's staying with us? How long?"
Melinda sighed. "I don't know. At least until we cross this ghost over, and then I'll see about talking to her mom. Maybe the authorities. I just…."
"Don't want to see her put in the system?"
"A kid like her wouldn't last too long in a home once a ghost started bothering her."
Jim nodded. "Where is she?"
"In the guest room. I was about to call her down for dinner. Jim… she told me things in the store that I never thought I'd hear. I just thought it was, you know, a fight. Not anything as serious as she told me."
Jim stood up and hugged Melinda. "You're doing the right thing. I'm sure she's a good kid. What about when school starts?"
"I'm hoping they've reconciled by then."
A/N: Do you think you could do me the kindness of leaving a review??