by Edie Ramer
The tips of Rose’s eyebrows rose while the corners of her mouth dipped. “I tried to stop them.”
“They’re in your living room?”
Rose nodded, looking unhappy.
“I’ll talk to them.” Cassie squared her shoulders, though she had no idea what she was going to say. She was better with dead people than live ones. But she marched into the living room, Rose following her.
Miss Gracious and Mr. Hunky were sitting on the couch. As if they were action figures and someone pressed their buttons, they stood.
“So nice to see you again,” Miss Gracious said.
Mr. Hunky shifted his feet and nodded.
“I wish I could return the compliment.” She spoke calmly but coolly. “Ghosts don’t like group confrontations. They’re shy.”
“Are they shy?” Miss Gracious’s smile didn’t dip but the skin around her eyes tightened. “Or is there some reason you prefer being alone with Donovan’s grandmother without any witnesses?”
Behind Cassie, Rose gasped.
On a gray chair in the corner, the air moved. An outline of a man formed.
“Olivia!” Rose moved to stand next to Cassie. “That’s rude and uncalled for.”
“Grandma, Donovan and I just don’t want you taken advantage of.”
“First, just because I’m eighty-five doesn’t mean I’ve become gullible. Second, I’m not your grandma.”
“I’ve offended you.” Her expression hurt, Olivia gazed down at Rose. “I don’t mean you any harm or disrespect. I...we...just want to protect you.”
“When I need protection, I’ll ask for it. You’ve insulted my guest, and now you’ve insulted me.”
“Donovan.” Olivia twisted around, leaning toward him, putting her hands out. “Aren’t you going to say anything?”
“We should leave.”
A muscle in Olivia’s cheek twitched. “Don’t make me out to be the bad guy. You agreed we should be here.”
“You kept talking until I said yes.”
“Now you’re talking as if I’m being...being...”
“A bitch.” Cassie smiled, happy to help.
This was taking an interesting turn. When she got back to the hotel, she was going to have a lot to tell Luke.
“Not a bitch,” Donovan said quickly.
“Then what am I? A hysterical woman?” Olivia held her arms rigid at her sides, her hands curled. As if she were holding back from popping him a good one on his chin.
“I never said that either.” He stepped back until the couch stopped him.
If Cassie didn’t dislike Olivia so much, she’d be wincing for her. Instead she wanted to do a happy Snoopy dance. Hadn’t Olivia learned that men didn’t like to have scenes in private? And they hated it worse in public. A public scene was their idea of hell.
Olivia shook her head, her mouth open but no words coming out. As if she didn’t believe this was happening.
“Are you dropping this, Donny?” Rose asked, her tone lilted, her eyes bright with hope.
He shoved his hand through his short hair and looked at her, misery compounded in his easy-to-read face. Cassie could practically see the gears turning in his head. Trying to do the right thing, but realizing the right thing wasn’t easy to figure out.
“I want to do what’s best for you.”
“You know what’s best for me. Leave me here.”
“You’re talking to a ghost.” He held his hands out to her. “That’s not...sane.”
“If you see the ghost, will you believe me?”
He didn’t talk for a long moment, then nodded. “I’ll have to.”
“And you won’t kick me out of my home? The place I’ve lived for fifty-one years?”
He nodded. Olivia let out a soft cry. Rose let out a squeal. Her arms spread, her face creased in smile folds, Rose rushed into Donovan’s arms to give him a huge hug.
Cassie turned her gaze to Olivia. She stood unmoving. Not even an eye-blink. Staring at Donovan and Rose, her mouth still open. As if watching her plans crumbling, her dreams tumbling like Jack and Jill down the hill.
Why this mattered to her so much, Cassie didn’t understand. All she understood was that this attractive woman who dressed in designer clothes and oozed confidence was scheming to kick an elderly woman out of her home.
Cassie sucked in a deep breath. Despite the pain in the ass this was proving to be, it would give her pleasure to foil Olivia’s plans.
“Let’s get this going,” she said as Rose and Donovan unclinched. “There are five people in the place, but one of us isn’t showing up.”
“Bridget?” Donovan looked toward the hall, his eyes lighting up.
Olivia’s jaw dropped even wider, staring at him as if his skin had just turned green.
Cassie swallowed a laugh. She wasn’t here for entertainment. If that’s what she wanted, she had better distractions waiting for her at the hotel suite.
“I’m talking about the dead person in the room.” Cassie turned her head toward the chair, but the outline was gone. Oh great, the guest of honor was playing hide and seek.
“Now?” Rose asked. “Tea first.” She smiled at Cassie then at Donovan. “I have Danish for you. With cinnamon and pecans. I told Bridget it was your favorite, and she made it just for you.”
“How nice.” A muscle twitched on Olivia’s cheek and her voice dripped poison. “And what have you done for me?”
Donovan looked sharply at her. Rose blinked. “I didn’t know this was about you.”
Olivia half-turned to Donovan and clasped his arm. “I didn’t mean it like that. This ghost thing has me so...” There was a sob in her voice and she flapped her other hand. “...unsettled. I just want to help you and your grandmother.”
Cassie thought about gagging, but restrained herself, waiting to see what Donovan would do.
Donovan patted Olivia’s hand clumsily. “I know, honey. It’s just... I don’t like the idea of putting her in a home.”
“But you worry about her living here alone.”
“I worry because I don’t want her to be unhappy. I care.”
She stepped closer to him, her hand moving up to his shoulder, her breasts brushing his chest. “I care, too.”
“I care more than either of you.” Rose crossed her arms. From the look on her face, she was one pissed off granny and the only Danish she wanted to give Donovan now was in an inappropriate place.
Cassie put her hands on her hips. Time to end this. “This is all very...” Sickening. “Personal. I’m a ghost therapist. It seems to me your money would be better spent on a family therapist.” She took her hands from her hips and gestured at them. “I’m not here to criticize you. But I really don’t care to be involved in your family drama. If this is what you want, get a reality show. Don’t involve me.”
“I agree.” Donovan stepped back from Olivia. “I’ll stay while you contact the ghost.” He looked at Rose. “Only if it’s okay with you, Grandma.”
She beamed at him.
He turned to Olivia. “You said you had some shopping to do for that place you’re decorating in Kenilworth. No need to stay with us.”
Cassie had to stop herself from clapping. It sure sounded like a dismissal. Donovan wasn’t the kind of man to break up with a woman in public, but from the shock on Olivia’s face, as if he’d slapped her, she’d gotten his ‘it’s been fun’ message.
Rose, though...smile wrinkles creased her face and her eyes twinkled. If she was ten years younger, she’d kick up her legs like the Rockettes at Christmas.
“I’ll go.” Olivia’s voice was choked. “But I’ll be back,” she added, shooting a dark look at Rose.
The hairs on Cassie’s nape rose and she stepped toward Rose, ready to jump in front of her. But Olivia was already strutting away in a runway walk, her heels tapping on the hall floor.
When the hall door closed, Cassie heard Rose’s breath whoosh out. As if that released Donovan, he marched toward the hall.
&
nbsp; “Donny.” Rose’s voice wavered. “Are you leaving?”
“I’m locking the door,” he said, out of sight already.
“Oh my,” Rose said softly. “I need to sit down.”
Cassie jumped to her side, but Rose was already bending her knees, sitting without help and smiling shakily at her. “I think it’s going to be all right.”
Nodding, Cassie pictured the anger in Olivia’s eyes and shuddered. Not feeling all right, but she hoped she was wrong.
Donovan returned and sat on the couch next to Rose, shifting to face her. “I’m sorry for worrying you, Grandma. You can stay as long as you want. If anything happens, I won’t send you anywhere. Whatever happens—and I hope nothing will for a long time—I’ll make sure you’re taken care of. I promise.”
“Oh, Donny.” Tears sparkled in Rose’s eyes. “I’m the one that’s being silly, hanging on to this place. It’s far too big for me. What do I need three bedrooms for? I don’t mind moving into a smaller place. You should live here. I just don’t want to go into one of those homes.”
“You won’t go into any home.” He didn’t take his gaze off of hers. “You’ll stay here. I’m not taking the condo away from you.”
Cassie exhaled, her uneasiness ebbing. This wasn’t a soap opera after all. The soaps her house ghost watched never had happy endings like this.
“What about the ghost?” she asked, reminding them that she was there.
Rose smiled at her through teary eyes as if she were her angel. “I knew it would be a good idea to invite you here. I think it’s time for Donny to meet the man that I love.”
Chapter 6
Herb showed up for Rose. As solid as a ghost could be without using ectoplasm. Herb looked dapper in a tie and suit, a head of thick white hair. His body, on the short and muscular side, was oddly young for his face.
Looking at Herb and Rose, sitting close together but not touching, Cassie felt an unaccustomed twinge. For three years, her best and only friend had been a ghost. When they accidentally touched, it was like being engulfed by a glove of ice.
How horrible for Rose not to be able to touch the man she loved.
A man who obviously loved her back.
“Did my grandfather really kill you?” Donovan had taken his introduction to a ghost fairly calmly, though in the last minute his complexion had turned two shades paler. He’d moved from the couch to the chair that matched Cassie’s, his butt on the cushion edge. “Sorry, Grandma, but you have to admit this sounds weird.”
“It was a horrible time in my life.”
“Because of him.” Herb scowled.
She nodded, her face sagging in lines of unhappiness. “I was a young mother. Your grandfather was hardly home and I felt like a single parent. I knew John was seeing other women. He made me feel that it was my fault. That I wasn’t woman enough for him.”
“You were more than woman enough.” The tenderness in Herb’s voice made Cassie shiver. “You weren’t rich enough. That’s why he went after Mary.”
“Mary?” Donovan asked. “Who was she?”
Herb turned slowly away from Rose, as if reluctant to look away from her. “My wife. Mary and I were both well off. John and I occasionally did business together.”
Cassie frowned, and Rose leaned toward her. “John was a stockbroker.”
“I was a banker.”
“The bank president,” Rose said.
He looked back at her, his eyes crinkling. “My family owned the bank. I did the best I could, but I didn’t get the title because of my enterprise.”
“You had two brothers. They picked the best one.”
“Rose, I daresay you’re prejudiced.”
She beamed, gazing into his eyes. “I daresay I am.”
Cassie peered sideways at Donovan. He looked sick, as if someone had punched him in his stomach. Punched him hard.
“John decided to kill Herb,” Rose said. “Then he planned to marry Herb’s wife.”
“But he was already married to you,” Cassie said.
Rose nodded, her forehead puckered in a dozen creases. “I don’t know if he planned to divorce me afterward or kill me. But it didn’t matter. After John killed Herb—”
“Making it look like burglars,” Herb said. “Mary suspected him. She asked him if he did it. He said no, but when he tried to touch her, she pulled back. Her sister Anna flew in from Miami and stayed with her for the next two weeks. Then they packed up and drove to Anna’s home in Miami. I could see that Mary felt horrible.”
Rose’s lips pressed into a line. She gave him a wifely you-are-being-unbelievably-dense look.
“You were dead at this time?” Donovan asked.
“Dead and angry as hell,” Herb said. “I was haunting John. I did a bit of haunting stuff that you see on TV. Making noises, scaring him, hiding his shoes. But when I saw how unhappy Rose was and what a wonderful mother and person she was... I stayed to cheer her up.”
“He did.” She nodded.
“He came out to you?” Cassie gripped the chair arms. She wasn’t sure she wanted to know the answers to her questions, but had to ask. “When her husband was still alive?”
She looked at him. He shrugged and Rose turned to her. “When John was very much alive.”
An odd notion stole into Cassie’s mind. “How long did John live after that?”
“I’m not sure.” Rose raised her eyebrows at Herb, her face flushed. “Two years?”
“I’d say eighteen months, give or take,” he said.
Cassie loosened her grip on the chair arms. There was dead silence coming from Donovan’s chair, but she had the feeling the same words burning in her mind were flashing in neon in his.
“Did you happen to have life insurance on him?” she asked.
“Of course.” Rose averted her gaze from Donovan’s. “But I didn’t kill him. He died in a car accident.”
“He was driving drunk,” Herb said, satisfaction in his voice.
“John always had two or three drinks a night.” Rose glanced downward, as if after all these years it still hurt. “It got worse after he killed Herb.”
Goosebumps popped up on Cassie’s arms. “You were haunting him, weren’t you?” she asked Herb. “Scaring him? That’s why he was drinking.”
“You’re damn right I was.” Herb’s eyes sparkled brightly for a dead man. “The bastard killed me. I hope he’s in hell.”
Cassie switched her gaze to Rose. “I suppose you added to the life insurance amount after Herb’s murder.”
“I saw how quickly someone could die. I had a child to look after.” She met Donovan’s gaze squarely. Her chin up. “Your father was a teenager. Without the insurance money, I would’ve had to find a job. We would’ve had to move to a smaller place. He wouldn’t have had enough money for college. Once I had my own money, I did very well. I have a talent for picking the right stocks. I’m much better at it than your grandfather.”
Herb beamed like a proud husband. “Your grandmother has a brilliant mind.”
Rose leaned toward Donovan. “I know you’ve been worried about me, but I’ve been worried about you.” Her face wreathed in a smile and she sat straight. “Not any more. You’re going to break up with that woman, aren’t you? You finally see her for what she is.”
Donovan shifted, glancing at Cassie then Herb. “Grandma, I can’t talk about it here.”
Herb held up his hands. “I’m not going to blab about it to anyone.”
“No one I know will care,” Cassie said. But of course she was going to tell Luke about today. In detail. Along with her sarcastic asides that would make Luke’s eyes flash and his lips curve into a wicked grin.
With another shift of his body, Donovan nodded at Rose. “The engagement was a mistake.”
“A big one,” Rose said.
“Giant,” Herb said and peered at Donovan. “She even talked you into signing a will leaving her everything if you die. Before you’re even married. I don’t know what the hell you
were thinking.”
Donovan shot an accusing glare at his grandmother. “You told him.”
“You did,” Herb said. “I was in the room.”
“It’s different now.” Rose giggled. “We saw the way you looked at Bridget.”
Herb grinned. “Like she was your favorite candy bar and you wanted to nibble on her, bite by bite.”
“I can’t talk about it.” Donovan slunk back in the chair. “I’m still engaged to Olivia.”
“If you’re as smart as your grandma thinks you are, you’ll get unengaged fast.”
No one had asked Cassie’s opinion, but if a ghost could add to the discussion, so could she. “And make an appointment with your lawyer to take Olivia’s name off your will.”
“Right away,” Rose said.
Donovan held his hands out. “This is supposed to be about the ghost. Since when did it become about me? I’m not saying anything more about my private life. Let’s turn this back to you, Grandma.”
“What about me?” Rose’s body stiffened, radiating indignation. “You’ve met Herb. You know I’m not crazy.”
“Maybe you’re not crazy, but is this healthy?” Donovan gave Herb a look that judged him. “Grandma could’ve been dating all these years. Maybe found a man who loved her that she could love back.”
“I have a man who loves me,” Rose said.
“You have a ghost who loves you.” Donovan shot to his feet. “You can’t even touch him, can you?”
“You don’t understand.” Rose’s voice grew impassioned and strong, like a younger woman’s. “I’m not the one who sacrificed the most. You think this has been fun for him? Not having a real body? Not being with others like him? He could’ve been in heaven all this time.”
“Maybe it’s not heaven he’s worried about.” Donovan spread his feet an inch, his body rigid. “Maybe it’s hell.”
“I’m not worried about going to hell,” Herb said. “I’m not perfect. I’m not a saint. There are a few things I did in life that I wouldn’t mind doing over. But if you’re talking about your grandfather, whatever I did was justified.”
“Herb didn’t stay all these years for revenge,” Rose’s hand crept dangerously close to his icy digits.