‘Uh,’ I said. ‘Look. I can’t really talk right now.’

‘I realize that,’ Father Dom said. ‘And don’t worry – I had one of the novices ask for you. Your mother thinks it’s just some new little friend you’ve made at school. But the thing of it is, Susannah, we’ve got to do something, and I think it had better be tonight—’

‘Look,’ I said. ‘Don’t worry about it. I’ve got it under control.’

Father Dom sounded surprised. ‘You do? You do? How? How have you got it under control?’

‘Never mind. But I’ve done this before. Everything will be fine. I promise.’

‘Yes, well, it’s all very well to promise everything will be fine, but I’ve seen you at work, Susannah, and I can’t say I’ve been very impressed with your technique. We’ve got the archbishop visiting in a month, and I can’t very well—’

The call waiting went off. I said, ‘Oh, hang on a sec. I’ve got another call.’ I hit the hook and went, ‘Ackerman-Simon residence.’

‘Suze?’ A boy’s voice, unrecognizable to me.

‘Yes . . .’

‘Oh, hi. It’s Bryce. So. What’s going on?’

I looked at my mother. She was scowling into the story she was working on. ‘Um,’ I said. ‘Nothing much. Can you hold on a second, Bryce? I’ve got someone on the other line.’

‘Sure,’ Bryce said.

I switched back to Father Dominic. ‘Uh, hi,’ I said, careful not to say his name. ‘I gotta go. My mother has a very important caller on the other line. A senator. State senator.’ I was probably going to go to hell for it – if there was such a place – but I couldn’t very well tell Father Dominic the truth: that I was dating the ghost’s ex-boyfriend.

‘Oh, of course,’ Father Dominic said. ‘I – well, if you have a plan.’

‘I do. Don’t worry. Nothing will ruin the archbishop’s visit. I promise. Bye.’ I hung up and got back to Bryce. ‘Uh, hi. Sorry about that. What’s up?’

‘Oh, nothing. I was just thinking about you. What do you want to do on Saturday? I mean, do you want to go to dinner, or to a movie, or both, maybe?’

The other line went off. I said, ‘Bryce, I’m really sorry, it’s a zoo here, could you hang on a minute? Thanks. Hello?’ A girl’s voice I’d never heard before said, ‘Oh, hi, is this Suze?’

‘Speaking,’ I said.

‘Oh, hi, Suzie. It’s Kelly. Kelly Prescott, from your homeroom? Listen, I just wanted to let you know – what you did today for Bryce – that was so righteous. I mean, I have never in my life seen anything so brave. They should totally put you on the news, or something. Anyway, I’m having a little get-together at my place this Saturday – nothing much, just a pool party, my folks’ll be out of town, and our pool’s heated, of course – so I thought, if you wanted, maybe you could stop by.’