“You hid that one in that cookbook she loved. The one with the cherry pie on the front,” Graham said, tone wistful. “I watched her find it. She cried when she read it and pressed it to her chest like she wanted to absorb it. That was the one that did it. I knew it was time to finally get up the nerve and ask her out.”

Ash stayed very still, his gaze on his former friend. His dead friend. “You didn’t have to wait as long as you did,” he said hoarsely. “From the very first letter, she wanted it to be you. You could’ve asked her at any time.”

“Yeah, but then I would’ve been just another guy panting after her. She needed wooing. That’s what you told me, right?” His smile turned cutting. “Always with the friendly advice and the helping hand. My good ol’ buddy Ash.”

Ash closed his eyes, wishing the vision would go away.

“But you were secretly hoping she’d think it was you, weren’t you?” he asked. “That was why you agreed to help me. I should’ve known when the letters were so good that you had a thing for her. No one could write the stuff you wrote without feeling some of it. But stupid me, I just thought you were doing a really great job using your writing skills to help your friend win the girl.”

Ash opened his eyes again, his jaw clenching. “What are you doing here?”

Graham got to his feet, his gaze hard, and slowly clapped his hands. “To congratulate you of course. You finally got what you wanted. You slept with her, and she called out your name and not mine this time. Feel like a man now?”

Ash stood then. “Shut up. You’re not real.”

Graham stepped closer, looming over him even though he was only an inch taller. His handsome face twisted into a sneer. “You think she’d be in your bed right now if I was still here? You think she’d still be there if she knew I’m not here because of you?”

The words were like bullets to Ash’s anger and bravado. He flinched and looked away.

Graham chuckled and put a heavy hand on Ash’s shoulder. His low voice rumbled against Ash’s ear. “Enjoy your time with her, Isaacs. Just know that I’m always there. She’ll never really be yours. I live in a place in her heart and mind that you will never get to no matter how hard you try. She was meant for me. You’re just another guy warming her bed. Not the first and not the last.”

Ash turned back to say something but recoiled. Graham’s expression had morphed into fear, and then he jerked backward and was on the floor at Ash’s feet, two bullet holes in his chest.

Ash screamed and dropped to his knees, pressing his hands over the wounds, trying to help, but blood just kept rushing out. No. No. Not again.

“I thought you were my friend, man,” Graham said, eyes sad.