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  Personally, I wasn’t so sure. It was very weird. “What’s it like to be dead? And what were you doing that you can be here but you couldn’t come to Mom’s wedding?”

  There was a very long pause. So long, I began to think she was gone, when she suddenly said, “I’m sorry, but I can’t tell you.”

  “Oh,” I said, a little disappointed. I mean, what’s the use of talking to dead people if they can’t tell you about being dead?

  “Sorry, Lilah, I just can’t. But as you can probably tell, I’m doing okay. That’s all you really need to know.”

  I guess that was of some comfort. I smoothed the blanket around me and looked out the window, trying to gauge what time it was. Had to be late, the hospital seemed so quiet.

  “So now what?” I said. Was my dead grandmother going to become a 24/7 fixture in my life?

  “I need you to help me.”

  My dead grandmother needed my help? For what? Was there some old mah-jongg crony of hers she needed help haunting?

  “No, nothing like that,” she said. And even though it had been four years since she’d died, I could picture her standing there with her hands on her hips while she read my mind.

  “Wait a minute, you can read my mind?”

  “No, but I could tell by the look on your face you were thinking something awful.”

  “I don’t know, I thought maybe you wanted to haunt someone. What could you possibly need my help with?”

  “We need to find your father a new wife.”

  “Can we go back to my other idea? I think haunting would be so much easier.” I sighed, suddenly overwhelmed with fatigue. “Dad is a hopeless case.”

  “You’re tired. Sleep on it. They’re sending you home tomorrow, and then we’ll figure out what we’re going to do.”

  It appeared I had no choice. I was going to be a ghost’s accomplice in the matchmaking of my father.

  Oh, this was going to be ghoulish all right.

  No longer able to fight the exhaustion, I closed my eyes. And as I began the spiral down to unconsciousness, my grandmother the ghost hummed a soft lullaby until I drifted off to sleep.

  Chapter 3

  The next day, after the doctor came by and told me I was okay enough to leave, Dad came to the hospital and took me home.

  I was still tired and pretty messed up over the whole I-can-hear-my-dead-grandmother thing, so we didn’t talk much on the way. Dad did tell me that Mom and Stan caught a later flight and went on their honeymoon, so that was a relief. Although the way he said it, it was obvious he still wasn’t over Mom having gotten remarried. I didn’t have the energy to say anything about it, though.

  “You should go get some rest,” he said once we were inside the house.

  I nodded. “I’d like something to eat.” I looked into the fridge for something, anything, to tide me over.

  “Unbelievable. I just can’t believe this.”

  I turned to see Dad holding up the dress I’d been wearing at the wedding. I couldn’t believe it either. It had several scorch marks and even a burn hole that went right through the fabric. If the electricity going through my body was enough to do that to the material, how did I survive?

  The enormity of what had happened suddenly hit me, and I had to sit down. I shuffled over to the table and dropped into a chair, still staring at the dress. “I could have died.”

  Dad put down the dress and approached me. “But you didn’t, and that’s what matters.”

  I nodded, still feeling a bit overwhelmed.

  “Come on, kid, let’s go get you up to bed; you can have a snack later.”

  He took my hand and gently guided me out of the chair and up to my room.

  “Do you need some help?” he asked as I kicked off my All Stars.

  I’d sleep in my clothes before I’d let my dad help me get undressed, but I did appreciate that he offered. “No, I’m okay. Thanks.”

  He closed the gap between us and gave me a big hug. “I’m glad to see you’re okay, kid.” His voice hitched.

  I fought my own tears; it was pretty messed up to think I had survived a lightning strike.

  He left, closing the door behind him. I glanced over at my computer, dying to check my e-mail (my cell phone got toasted by the lightning, so I’d been totally incommunicado since). But my eyes, heavy and protesting any more use, would have no part of it. I gave in to the exhaustion, undressing and climbing in between the sheets.

  My last thought before drifting off was that it seemed really quiet. Maybe my brain was a little fried from the lightning and I had dreamed up the whole thing.

  That made a lot more sense than suddenly having the ability to hear dead people.

  Chapter 4

  My cat, Salvatore Lasagna, woke me up by kneading his paws all over my chest. I tried to push him away, but he certainly didn’t care that I needed sleep after all the excitement of being hit by lightning. Cats are like that.

  I looked at the clock: it was almost dinnertime.

  My stomach growled its confirmation.

  I got out of bed and put on a pair of yoga pants and a T-shirt before heading downstairs to raid the fridge. Halfway down the stairs I could smell pizza. Sometimes Dad knew just what I needed.

  He wasn’t in the kitchen, but the box was on the island so I flipped it open, grabbed two slices, put one on top of the other on a paper towel, and followed the TV sounds to the den. Dad was in there, reading his paper and scarfing down his own slices.

  “Hi,” I said, taking the spot next to him on the couch.

  He lowered his paper and put the slice down on his plate. “Hey, kid, how’re you feeling?”

  I took a bite of my pizza and nodded. “Okay,” I said, even though I wasn’t supposed to talk and chew at the same time—I needed to get that pizza in my empty belly and fast. “What are you watching?”

  He glanced over at the TV and winced even though it was on a commercial. “I guess it’s The Bachelor. I wasn’t really watching.” He held his paper back up to make his point.

  “Maybe he’ll learn a few things,” said someone who sounded distinctly like my dead grandmother. “He could use some tips on courting.”

  Oh, this is not good, I thought. Courting?

  “Dad?” I asked.

  “Mmmhmm?”

  “What do you think happens when we die?”

  He lowered the paper again. “What do you mean, Lilah?” His eyes softened and he cocked his head to the side. “You heard what the doctor said. You’re going to be fine. Do you have a headache or anything?”

  I shook my perfectly nonaching head. “No, I’m just wondering what happens after… you know.”

  “We come back to haunt our families. Woooooooo!” my grandmother said.

  Not funny.

  Okay, it kind of was.

  “Like where do you think Bubby is right now?” I asked, wondering if I should tell him. And if I did, would he even believe me? Probably not. He’d probably take me back to the hospital to have my head examined.

  “I’m right beside you,” she said. But of course, Dad didn’t know that.

  He took a deep breath. “I’m not really sure. Maybe she’s in heaven playing mah-jongg with her friends. Or maybe she’s down in Florida, watching over your grandfather.”

  “Not anymore. He’s got that new girlfriend of his, Marilyn Feldman, to watch over him.”

  The way my grandmother said it, I could tell she was only joking about being jealous. She made it seem like after you die, you just want happiness for the people you left behind.

  Maybe that’s why she said, “Oy, Lilah, we need to find your father a new wife. Look at him; he has pizza sauce on his face.”

  I looked up and sure enough, Dad had sauce and even a string of cheese stuck on his cheek. I leaned over and wiped it away with my paper towel.

  “I didn’t know Zeyde has a new girlfriend,” I said.

  Dad leaned back and looked at me. “He doesn’t. Wait… what?”

 
; Oops, busted.

  “Uh, I mean… Does Zeyde have a new girlfriend in Florida?”

  Dad frowned and shook his head. “I don’t think so, Lilah.”

  “Sure he does,” Bubby said. “Marilyn wouldn’t have been my first choice for him, but she’s a good cook and he enjoys her company. Even though I’m a better bridge player. But it’s nice to see him happy. Now, Lilah, don’t go telling your father our little secret. He wouldn’t get it, would he?”

  I shook my head. She was right. He totally wouldn’t get it. And he definitely wouldn’t be on board with the whole finding him a wife thing.

  “Good girl. Now don’t fill up too much on that pizza!”

  I was just thinking about how she hadn’t changed, when she said, “Because your dad brought home a carton of Chunky Monkey!”

  I took another bite of my pizza to hide my smile. Maybe hearing my dead grandmother was going to be pretty cool, after all.

  After I ate, I returned to my room to call Alex and let her know I was okay.

  She was very relieved to hear it and told me I had become an overnight celebrity at school. People couldn’t wait to see me, the lightning-strike survivor.

  I could tell she was disappointed when I told her I wouldn’t be back to school until at least Wednesday.

  I wanted to cheer her up, but wasn’t sure I wanted to tell her about my grandmother yet. It was still kind of freaky. And what if it was just an aftereffect of the lightning? What if it was all in my head?

  Keeping it a secret, at least for a little while, seemed like a good idea.

  “Andrew Finkel asked me how you’re doing, by the way.”

  My heart skipped in my chest. “What?”

  “Yep,” Alex said, sounding all smug. “He said he hopes you’re okay.”

  “How did he say it?” It’s imperative to know these details.

  “How I just said it, ‘I hope she’s okay.’”

  “Do you think…” I couldn’t even say it.

  “Do I think what?”

  “Nothing.”

  “What, Lilah?”

  “Nothing. Really. Who else? Did the teachers say anything?”

  “Well, in science class, Mrs. Campbell taught us about lightning and the best ways to avoid being hit by it.”

  I snorted. “Too late!”

  She laughed. “Well yeah, for you, but Anita was really freaked out, so at least everyone knows how it happened and how to be safe in storms.”

  I guess it was a good idea. Although I wished I could have been there. I was looking forward to my newfound notoriety. I’d never been famous for anything before.

  And to think that Andrew Finkel asked about me…

  “So, Lilah?” Alex asked quietly.

  “Yeah?”

  “Were you really scared?” I could tell by my best friend’s voice that she was. I wonder what it must have been like for her to watch the ambulance take me away to the hospital. It was probably the scariest thing ever.

  “I don’t remember, to be truthful. I mean, one second I’m standing there and the next, I wake up in the hospital. I didn’t even have a chance to get scared.”

  “I was scared,” Alex said, and I could hear her crying. “I was scared you were dead.”

  “I’m sorry,” I said.

  “It’s not your fault. But I’m glad the lightning didn’t kill you. I’m really glad.”

  “So am I, Alex.”

  After a few minutes more, Alex had to go because her mom needed to use the phone, but she promised to call me right after school the next day to report on anything I missed.

  After I hung up I took a deep breath, and it’s like it all hit me at once. I began to cry really hard.

  “Don’t worry, Lilah,” my grandmother said. “You’re fine.” And then I felt warm all over. Like I was getting a big hug from her.

  Which is really weird, if you think about it.

  Chapter 5

  Oh, kiddo, you don’t have to do that,” Dad said as he walked in the door from work and saw me cooking dinner. “You should be resting.”

  I didn’t stop tearing the lettuce for the salad. “It’s okay, I feel fine.” Bored was more like it. I actually couldn’t wait to get back to school.

  He put his briefcase down and kicked off his shoes. “What are we having?”

  “I defrosted some salmon for the barbecue. And I’m making salad and steamed asparagus.”

  “Good choice.” Dad came into the kitchen and put his hand on my back. “You sure you’re feeling up to this?”

  I was about to say that if I could handle talking to my dead grandmother, I was up for tossing a salad, but I wasn’t ready to tell Dad about my new ability. Not yet. Maybe never.

  “Yeah, I’m okay,” I said.

  “You’re a good girl, keeping me fed and happy,” Dad said, picking a cherry tomato out of the salad and popping it into his mouth.

  I thought about my grandmother’s plea for help. Dad needed more than just his daughter in his life to make him happy. Bubby was so right. Dad totally needed to get out there and start meeting people. He wasn’t the type to find anyone at work, since he was more of a head-down kinda guy (and I’d never even heard him mention any women at the insurance firm where he worked as an actuary).

  And then there was that. He was an actuary. I wasn’t sure what he did exactly, but it had to do with policies, numbers, and minimizing risk or something. Yawn.

  “Hey, Dad?” I asked as he leaned over the sink to turn on the tap. One of his ways of “minimizing risk” was to wash his hands a thousand times a day. If he ever did find a woman, she was going to have to be a germophobe, too, or his hygiene habits would drive her nuts.

  “Yes, honey?”

  “Now that Mom’s married…” His entire body stiffened at my words, but I powered through, determined to have this conversation. “Um, do you think that maybe you’ll start dating?”

  He seemed not to have heard me as he lathered up the soap and took great care to get the foam in between every finger and even under the wedding band he still wore.

  “Where is this coming from, Lilah?” he finally asked after a good rinse. He was stalling; it was totally obvious.

  “Well, I just thought it’s been a long time, and you never go out or anything…”

  Dad pushed the tap off with his elbow and looked at me, holding up his hands in front of him like he was a surgeon getting ready to remove an appendix. Then he reached for a paper towel (“Dish towels harbor germs, Lilah”). “I don’t need to be dating.”

  That made no sense at all. “Dad.”

  He opened the fridge, rooting around for his nightly predinner glass of tomato juice.

  “Dad!” I said again.

  He turned back toward me, abandoning the juice. “What is it, Lilah?” It was like he had completely forgotten what I had said.

  “You do need to be dating. I hate to be mean, but look at you, Dad. You’re thirty-eight, single, and you spend every evening at home, drinking your tomato juice and either playing Scrabble with your daughter or watching TV by yourself. You’re in a rut. You need to get out there before it’s too late.”

  “I like playing Scrabble with my daughter.” He almost sounded pouty. But it was a good thing; it meant he was actually listening.

  I tilted my head and gave him that look. The one he gave me when he wasn’t buying my story. “Really? You like it that much?”

  He pulled out one of the kitchen chairs and sat down, a big sigh escaping him as he did. “Am I that pathetic, Lilah?”

  I took the chair beside him. “I wouldn’t say pathetic. Maybe just a little sad and in denial.”

  “Ouch.”

  “Sorry.”

  He shook his head. “Don’t be. You’re right.” He reached out and grabbed my hand. “And thank you for caring enough to say so. I’m sure it’s not easy to tell your old man he’s sad and in denial.”

  “We worry about you, Dad.”

  He cocked his head. �
�Who’s ‘we’?”

  Uh-oh. Where was my dead grandmother when I needed her? Here I was doing her dirty work and she was MIA.

  “We,” I said, making a big gesture with my arms. “We, like a collective we. You know.” It was a total stretch, but there was a better chance that Dad would think I was a nut than guess his dead mother was the other part of who I meant when I’d said “we.”

  It seemed to satisfy him.

  “I guess it’s been long enough since the divorce.”

  “Yeah, she’s not coming back, Dad.”

  “No kidding.”

  “Maybe you could go on an Internet dating site.”

  Dad groaned. “Doesn’t that smack of desperation?”

  I raised my eyebrows.

  “Good point,” he said. “I get it. How about this, though. George at work has been trying to fix me up with his divorced sister. I’ll say yes to that, and if it doesn’t go well, then I’ll try the Internet thing.”

  I nodded. “That sounds fair.”

  We even shook on it. Mission accomplished.

  It almost seemed too easy.

  Chapter 6

  The first day back at school started out like any other. Alex met me on the corner, and we continued on to the redbrick building that was our school.

  I hadn’t heard from my grandmother in over a day, so while Alex was droning on about how horrible our math test was (the one I’d missed the day before), I was beginning to think my powers had disappeared overnight.

  Although it was a relief, I was a little sad. I hadn’t had a chance to say good-bye to my grandmother and almost missed her presence.

  But as I opened the door to school, countless voices hit me, like someone had turned on a thousand radios right in front of me. The force of it was overwhelming. I fell to my knees, dropping the door handle.

  “Lilah?” Alex said, squatting down beside me.

  I took a deep breath.

  She shook my shoulder. “Lilah? You okay?”

  Looking up at my friend, I nodded and took another breath. “I think there’s something I need to tell you.”

  “You’re not dying, are you?” Normally I would laugh at such a ridiculous question, but Alex’s face was completely serious. It made sense that she was concerned, since she’d been really scared after I’d been hit by lightning.