Heather Graham - Ghost Shadow

Sean nodded bleakly, and looked at his sister. “You saved our lives, Katie. We’d have died for sure if you hadn’t kept us from suffocating in those bags.”

Bartholomew was seated in the one big chair in the room while David stood and Katie perched on the end of her brother’s bed.

He sniffed loudly. “Excuse me, but I do believe I get a little of the credit!”

“I’d hug you if I could,” Katie told him.

“Almost-I’m getting there,” Bartholomew said. “Look, you can all talk this out until you turn blue in the face. No one will ever be able to understand the human mind.” He waved a hand in the air. “Liam is down at the station now, where he will be for hours on end, filling out paperwork, and filling in the gaps from all the statements that were taken last night.” He pointed a finger at Katie. “You two-go home. Get rest. I’ll be looking after Sean. Have you seen your brother’s notes? He wants to get David in with him and start filming the shipwrecks of the Keys.”

“That’s marvelous! He’ll stay home,” Katie said.

“She’s talking to herself again,” Sean said.

“No, she’s talking to Bartholomew,” David corrected.

Sean’s jaw dropped. He stared at his sister. Katie shrugged.

“You mean, you can see him, too?” Sean asked David.

David shook his head regretfully. “No-but I did see him, for a brief minute last night. He’s real, and he’s looking out for you.”

Katie grinned, patting his leg. “Sean, cool. You’re staying home!” she said.

Sean groaned. “My plans aren’t really solidified yet,” he said.

“You’re going to ask David to work with you,” Katie told him.

“Hey!” Sean protested.

“It’s all right. I think it’s a great plan,” David said. He lifted a hand toward Katie. “We really do have to get some sleep.” She stood to join him, glancing at Bartholomew.

“Get along now, you cute little kiddies,” Bartholomew told her. “I’ll be here, I swear.”

Katie kissed her brother’s cheek carefully. “We’re a short drive away. Call if you need anything! I’ll be back in the morning,” she promised.

David shook Sean’s hand. “Jamie is on his way up to spend some time with you. He’ll be here soon.”

“I’m all right. I’m really all right. I want to come home.”

“They’ll release you soon,” David told him.

“Hey, David,” Sean said.

“Yes?”

“You’re really interested?”

“I’m really interested. My intentions are not to leave home for quite a while now,” he said.

He took Katie’s hand and they left the hospital room. Katie peeked in on Sam, but his nurse said that he was resting comfortably, so they tiptoed away.

In the car, Katie was silent for a while.

“I heard you talking in the kitchen when I woke up,” she told him.

He glanced her way. “Yes, you did.”

“You were talking to?”

“Bartholomew, of course.”

“But-”

“I don’t see him. I can hear him.”

“Oh. What was he saying to you?”

“Ah. Well, they’ve gone on. Tanya, Stella and Danny.”

“I’m so sorry for all of them.”

“Well, Stella and Danny were together.”

“Poor Tanya.”

“I don’t know. Some people believe that we forget about the ones that were most important to us in this life. I don’t believe that. We don’t forget those who mean everything to us here.”

“You sound sure.”

“I am,” he told her.

“Why?”

He looked over at her, a slanted smile cutting his features.

“Because love is our finest human emotion,” he said. “And losing it is the true depths of hell.”

“That’s lovely,” she said.

He pulled off the road suddenly, turned to her and took her hands. “Katie, I know that I’ve barely had time to really get to know you, for you to have time to know the real me. Your brother asked me my intentions. Well, my intentions are to stay here. To be with you. And, I’m thinking, when the time is right, when you’re sure…well, then, my intentions become absolutely old-fashioned and honorable. I want to marry you. I want to raise a family-and live happily ever after, of course.”

“Ah!” she said.

“Ah?”

She leaned over and kissed him.

“I do know you,” she said softly. “And I already know that my life without you would be hell. So-ah! I love you. And yes.”

“Yes?”

“Yes, I’ll marry you!”

He smiled.

They drove on home.

And that day, as they turned onto Katie’s street, it seemed only right that the angel parade was going on, and that fireworks went off as well, down at Mallory Square, just as they pulled into the drive.

They stood by the car, watching the lights in the sky.

David pulled her close.

“Home,” he said.

And so they were.

Heather Graham was born on March 15 and grew up in Dade County, Florida, and attended the University of South Florida at Tampa, majoring in theater arts and touring Europe and parts of Asia and Africa as part of her studies. After college, she acted in dinner theaters, modeled, waitressed, and tended bar. She married Hershey Dennis Possezzere, and after the birth of her third child, she was determined to devote her efforts to her writing: her dream. She sold her first book in 1982.

Today, this author's success is reflected not just by reader response and the over 20 million copies of her books in print, but in many other ways. In addition to being a New York Times bestselling author, Heather has received numerous awards for her novels, including over 20 trade awards from magazines such as Romantic Times and Affaire de Coeur, bestseller awards from B. Dalton, Waldenbooks, and BookRak, and several Reviewers' Choice and People's Choice awards.

Heather has appeared on Entertainment Tonight, Romantically Speaking, a TV talk show that aired nationwide on the Romance Classics cable channel, and CBS Sunday News. She has been quoted in People and USA Today, been profiled in The Nation, and featured in Good Housekeeping. Her books have been selections for the Doubleday Book Club and the Literary Guild. She has been published across the world in more than 15 languages and has published over 70 titles, including anthologies and short stories.

Now, she had five children. Somehow, this prolific author manages to juggle it all – family, career, and marriage – while reaching a level of success to which few can aspire.