The Tessa Randolph Collection, Books 1-3 by Paula Lester (best ereader for comics .txt) 📗

want something to change, Miss Randolph, you have to force it to. Be the daughter you want to be and let the rest fall into place.”

The moment felt profound—like Instructor Hanson was imparting his last words of wisdom onto Tessa. Like he was instructing her in more than skydiving. She felt a little guilty—it should’ve been the man’s grandson who got to hear that, not her.

Bryce jogged over to them. “All set?”

“Yes, sir! Let’s get in the air.” Tessa took the older man’s elbow as he led toward the hangar. “Fifteen minutes from now, you’ll be on the ground again. I always have a beer to celebrate a good landing. Maybe you and my grandson will join me.” He winked.

“Maybe.” She gave him a bright smile and let him lead her to the plane.

The Hansons helped keep Tessa upright and oriented during the free fall part of the jump. She was shocked to find it exhilarating, fun, and only slightly terrifying.

Bryce peeled away first, signaling it was time to release her chute. Tessa held onto Instructor Hanson a moment longer. She held his gaze, waiting for the moment his heart would stop. And when it did, Tessa reached out with her other hand, signaling for the portal to the other side.

His face relaxed and his mouth turned upward as a bright white light spread out below their feet.

It felt like time stopped for a moment as she watched him move forward into the light, pausing to give her a jaunty wave. Then, the light was gone, and she was falling fast. Quickly, she reached to pull her chute. She held her breath, and it opened.

Mr. Hanson’s automatic reserve chute opened a few seconds later, and his body floated gently down a distance beside her.

Tessa drew in a breath and braced for dual impact of the hard ground and Bryce’s inevitable heartbreak.

Chapter 2

TESSA STAYED WITH BRYCE until the ambulance had come and gone with his grandfather’s body and some other Hanson family members showed up. That wasn’t part of her job description, but it was the right thing to do.

Once she was satisfied the young man was supported by his parents and cousins, Tessa slipped away. She drove Linda to the Mist River Manor apartments with a heavy heart, reminding herself that the elder Bryce Hanson was ninety years old and seemed happy to go over to the unknown.

That was what got Tessa through the grim business of reaping. When it came time, most of her clients were ready. Then there was Chet Sanborn, the soul who’d given her so much trouble, eluding her for days until Tessa caught his killer—almost meeting her own end in the process.

She shuddered at the thought. Hopefully, nothing like that ever happened again.

The apartment lobby was deserted. Tessa checked her mailbox and immediately rolled her eyes, tossing the flyer for a local cable company into a nearby recycling bin. She split WiFi with a friend in the building and used a streaming service. Didn’t everybody? Cable is dead. Only, it didn’t seem to realize yet that yet.

When she turned to head for her apartment, the lobby wasn’t empty anymore. Silas St. Onge, the building’s superintendent and maintenance guy extraordinaire—also the mechanical magician who kept Linda purring—stood gaping like a caught fish. As usual, a chunk of sandy blond hair flopped over one of his eyes.

Usually, Silas was pretty cool and collected. But now, he appeared to be struggling. Shocked about something, maybe? Tessa couldn’t help herself. Curiousness overcame her, and she walked up to him, tipping her head. “Everything okay?”

He blinked a few times as though having trouble focusing on her and then, suddenly, a wide smile broke across his face. To Tessa’s delight, it was big enough to reveal the adorable dimple in his right cheek.

“I can’t believe it.” He held out his arm. “Can you pinch me? Make sure I’m not dreaming.”

Her gaze dropped to his muscular arm and the bicep that strained the short sleeve. She pursed her lips and gave it a light pinch then shrugged. “You seem real enough to me. I think you’re awake. I’m awake. And I have been since way too early this morning.”

“You think eight am is way too early,” he said.

“Because it is,” Tessa countered. “So, what’s up? Why do you think you’re dreaming?”

He shook his head and dropped the arm again. “Mrs. Cross just gave me five thousand dollars.” His tone was hushed, matching the awed expression on his face perfectly. “She just gave it to me. No strings attached.”

“Wow! That’s nice of her.” Tessa couldn’t help but gasp. She totally understood Silas’s conundrum. That was a shock.

Mrs. Cross lived a few doors down from Tessa. She was an elderly woman who always had her nose just a bit too far into the other residents’ business, but she was sweet and mostly harmless. But sweet enough to give someone five thousand dollars?

“Yeah, she gave me half of what she won because I get her groceries for her. I picked out the winning scratch-off ticket. She said it was only fair. I tried to turn it down, but she insisted.” He ran a hand through his hair pushing back the floppy piece. “I have no idea what to do with it. Bank it for a rainy day, I guess.”

Tessa leaned an elbow on the lobby’s front counter. “That’s so boring.”

“You know me.” He shrugged and put his hands in his pocket.

He was right. She did know him. They’d become close over the past few months, ever since Tessa’s breakup with Frank and since starting her new job as a grim reaper. But Silas couldn’t know about that.

She considered for a minute, thinking about Silas and his hardworking attitude. He worked on his days off. He maintained Linda for next to nothing but a pat on the back. Tessa had always been a hard worker, but she’d never had Silas’s work ethic. She liked to put her feet up whenever possible.