I thanked her and sat on the couch staring at nothing, the kind of numb that makes your bones feel hollow.
That afternoon Sean tossed his backpack on the floor.
“Dad says don’t be mad about my grades,” he said, voice tight.
“He says I’m trying.”
I forced myself to breathe. “Who told you that?”
Sean looked at me like the answer was obvious. “Dad.
In the treehouse.”
That night, after I tucked him in, he sat up suddenly.
“Mom, Dad told me today that he loves us so much.”
My throat closed. I smoothed his hair with shaking fingers.
“I know he loved you.”
“No,” Sean insisted. “He told me today.
How can he be dead if I talk to him every day?”
I didn’t have an answer that didn’t sound like another loss.
I kissed his forehead, turned off the light, and stood in the hallway until my hand went numb on the doorknob. From his room I heard him whisper, “Night, Dad,” like it was normal.
The next evening, Sean refused to come in. I called him, then called louder, worry sharpening into panic.
No response.
I grabbed my shoes and went outside.
The grass was damp.
Lantern light flickered through the treehouse window like a small heartbeat. I was halfway to the ladder when I heard Sean’s voice, soft and cracked.
“Dad, I miss you so much,” he said.
“I really, really need you.”
I froze with one hand on the ladder rail.
Then I heard Josh.
Not a memory. Not an echo.
Josh’s voice—clear, steady, close.
“I miss you too, buddy,” it said.
“I’m right here.”
My stomach turned over. I swallowed hard and climbed, hands moving like they belonged to someone else.
“Mom!” Sean barked when my head rose above the floor. His cheeks were wet.
“Stop!
You’re not allowed!”
“I’m your mother,” I said. “Move.”
He spread his arms.
“It’s boys-only. Dad said—”
“Sean.” My voice snapped.
“I heard that.
I heard him.”
The treehouse was warmer than it should’ve been and smelled like pine and sweat. A camping lantern sat on a crate, throwing deep shadows into the corners. I turned in a circle, searching for… something.
Anything.
Josh’s voice came again, calmer than it had any right to be.
“Em,” it said, using the nickname only Josh used. “Please don’t scare him.
Just listen.”
My heart slammed. “Who is this?”
Sean dissolved into sobs.
“See?” he cried.
“Dad’s here! Stop being mean!”
The sound wasn’t coming from the air. It was coming from inside the treehouse, as if the walls were speaking.
I crouched and pressed my ear to the plywood, following the vibration until I found a loose plank in the back corner.
I pried it up.
Behind it, taped to a beam, was a small black speaker with a wire snaking down through the floor.
My hands shook as I pulled it free.
“Sean,” I said carefully, “what is this?”
He wiped his nose on his sleeve. “It’s… it’s Dad,” he whispered, but it didn’t sound like he believed it anymore.
Josh’s voice crackled again.
“Sean, it’s okay. Do what your mom says.”
I stared at the speaker.
“That’s not him,” I whispered, then raised my voice.
“Whoever you are, stop talking to my son.”
Static.
Then Josh’s voice said, “Em, please. I’m trying to help.”
Rage flashed hot. “Help?” I hissed.
“You’re wearing my husband’s voice like a costume.”
Sean grabbed my arm.
“Mom, don’t make him mad,” he pleaded. “He said you’d ruin it if you came up.”
“Who told you that?” I asked, softer despite myself.
Sean’s lips trembled.
“Uncle Mike,” he whispered.
My stomach dropped.
Mike was Josh’s friend from work—the guy who’d brought casserole after the funeral and hugged Sean too long at the graveside. He’d sat at my kitchen table with shiny eyes and said, “If you need anything, I’m here.”
“When did Mike come here?” I asked.
“When you’re at work,” Sean said.
“He brings snacks.
He fixes stuff. He says it’s a secret mission.”
I looked down. The wire led to a cheap device wedged under the floorboard.
This wasn’t a recording.
Someone was listening.
“Mike,” I said into the speaker, voice shaking, “I know it’s you.”
Silence.
Then, a careful exhale through the line. “I didn’t want it to be like this,” Josh’s voice said.
I climbed down with Sean clinging to my shirt.
The backyard suddenly felt too open, too exposed.
“Mike!” I called. “Get out of here!”
