The Ghost in Love by Jonathan Carroll

playing on TV. Listen, really, we have to talk.”
    The movie didn’t just happen to be on TV. Ling ran it on purpose to make Ben feel bad because the ghost was so angry with him for his idiotic behavior toward German. The two of them were sitting now at the kitchen table looking directly at each other. Ben didn’t know that, of course. He just thought he was alone in the room, talking on the telephone to the woman he would have given half a universe to have back in his life again.
    German answered decisively and the tone of her voice carried more than a little irritation. “We’ve talked about everything, Ben—over and over. There’s nothing more to talk about.”
    â€œYes, there is. There are . . . things.”
    She shook her head and bit a thumbnail. She frowned. She wasn’t having it. Not this time, not anymore. “
Things?
That doesn’t help me much, Benjamin.” She was tired of his elliptical way of speaking, especially about things that really mattered. This subject exhausted both her head and heart.
    But on the other end of the line Ling knew that something very big was going on. The ghost was paying full attention now. Would Ben Gould do it? Would he actually tell her?
    â€œWe really do
have
to talk, German.”
    Now it was her turn to sigh. He was beginning to sound like a broken record and it was strange. “You’ve already said that several times, Ben. But we’ve talked everything out till it’s exhausted, you know what I mean?” She tried to keep her voice measured and kind, but it was difficult.
    â€œNo, this is different. This is very, very different from what you think. Can I ask for one last favor? Just one? Do I still have enough points for one favor?”
    She looked up at the ceiling. “What?”
    â€œI want you to meet me somewhere. Would you do that?”
    â€œWhen? Where?”
    â€œOne eighty-two Underhill Avenue in an hour. Would you do that? Would you do it for me for what we once were?”
    She hesitated, startled by the way he worded the sentence. There was no good reason to say no, so she reluctantly agreed. But unhappiness was very plain in the sound of her voice. She would walk Pilot over there because Underhill Avenue wasn’t far from her apartment. At least they’d get some exercise. “All right, I’ll be there.”
    â€œThank you, German. Thank you very much.”

    Since the accident
that should have killed her, Danielle Voyles had taken to reading the Bible. She did not make a big deal about it. Few people outside her family and some friends even knew she was doing it. Every morning before breakfast she read at least five pages. Then she closed her eyes and thought over what she’d just read. Thought hard. Danielle had never read the Bible straight through. The experience so far was mostly a combination of hard going or boring, but she was going to finish it. And when she was done, she wanted to read the Koran next. Until the accident, she hadn’t spent much time thinking about God or the larger issues, but she was sure thinking about them these days.
    One day Danielle and her boyfriend went on a picnic. They had been fighting a lot recently and needed some quality time alone to work things out. Otherwise they both knew their relationship was in big trouble. The picnic spot was a half hour’s ride away by turnpike. The day was beautiful and the road was clear. When they were halfway there, Danielle saw something out of the corner of her eye. When she turned her head to look, she saw a small single-engine plane nosediving into a rocky field very close by on the side of the highway.
    Afterward Danielle said the only thing she remembered were the sounds. First she heard a long loud
wooooom
as the plane made impact with the ground. Then the sound of different kinds of metal and glass smashing, snapping, and crashing. That’s all, but it was a huge blessing because of what