I See You

CHAPTER 6 - Feels Like Home

"Oh, thank you."

Noticing the slight tremor that went through her, he typed out another message.

'I'll be with you the whole time. Nothing will happen.'

"Stranger danger," she mumbled under her breath.

Emma opened the front door and saw two men hauling her new queen mattress out of the back of a large delivery truck. Her nerves skittered at the thought of making conversation, possible difficulty in getting it upstairs, needing to instruct them where to place it, and allowing strangers into her home. Was she supposed to tip them? Did they expect her help? Something so simple for anyone else was a series of alarm bells in her mind. This right here was why she allowed Todd to do everything even if she wasn't a fan of the result.

Two soft knocks on the wall beside her was the courage she needed to step out and take control of a mundane situation.

"Hey, are you... Emma Porter?" a rotund man asked after glancing at a clipboard.

"Yes, that's me," she confirmed softly.

"Sign here," he said, handing it over.

She did as he asked and then followed them inside.

"Upstairs please, the first door on the left. If you could just set it on the floor by the back wall."

One of the men grunted, a sound Emma took for understanding and acquiescence before they hauled the bed up and dropped it exactly where she had asked. She ran back down ahead of them, her nerves skipping again until two soft knocks came from the wall directly behind her. Taking a deep breath, she stood on the porch and waited as the men brought two tall boxes inside.

"You can just leave them there."

"Do you want us to unbox them?" the smaller guy asked.

"Oh, um, if that's not a problem..."

"Part of the job, lady," the stout man grumbled, and Wyatt wished he could smack him in the head for being rude.

At the sight of their box knives, Emma excused herself and scurried out to the patio. She noticed the front door swung slightly back and forth and realized Wyatt was staying where he could see both her and the men. That simple reassurance had Emma breathing easier.

"Have a good day, ma'am," the nicer of the two delivery men said as they left with their arms full of cardboard and plastic wrap.

"Yes, thank you. You too," she rushed, stepping back in and locking the door.

'See. Not so bad. You did great.'

The disgraceful snort that left her had Emma whipping her spine straight and covering her mouth as red creeped up her cheeks. That was the second time she had done that in front of him. Emma had broken the habitual response years ago. Why was it coming back now? Because he was a ghost?

"Sorry," she mumbled, biting the inside of her lip.

'Why would you apologize for laughing? Actually, you say that word far too often. For the next twenty-four hours, I challenge you to not say you're sorry for anything, no matter what.'

"Then I would be rude!"

'I'm fairly sure you're incapable of that.'

Wyatt typed with his own snort of disbelief. This girl really needed to loosen up.

"We've known each other all of twenty-four hours. Dropping my manners now would be insulting and poor taste," she said contritely, as if she had already done something wrong.