3 The Ghost at the Farm

by SUE FINEMAN

  Andy punched in Charlie’s number. “Be ready to go to work tomorrow morning. I’ll pick you up at sunrise. We have a crop of corn to harvest.”

  “A crop? Like on a farm?”

  “Didn’t I tell you I was buying a farm? Be ready at sunrise.”

  “But—”

  Andy sang, “She thinks my tractor’s sexy,” and disconnected.

  Julie looked sideways at him. “I didn’t know you could sing.”

  “I was in a band in high school, but we were lousy.” That was a long time ago.

  Julie asked, “Do you have enough people to help tomorrow?”

  He cocked his head. “Are you volunteering?”

  “Since you just cut my commission, I figure I’d better find another profession.”

  “Farming?”

  “Well… there is that sexy tractor thing,” she said with a coy little smile.

  He laughed. She delighted him, and it wasn’t just her beauty and her subtle sense of humor. He felt more comfortable with her than with any woman he’d ever been with. And they hadn’t even made love.

  “You can bring us lunch. I have a feeling we’ll be ready for a break by then.”

  While Andy was on the phone with his father, Julie walked into her little office cubicle to pick up the papers on the Collins sale. It was scheduled to close on Thursday, although she probably wouldn’t see the commission until the following Monday.

  Brent sat in her chair, going through her file drawer. He had the Collins file on the desk in front of him. Julie exploded. “What in the hell do you think you’re doing?”

  He looked up, a surprised expression on his face. His nose was swollen, and he had huge black and blue smudges under his eyes, but she was too angry to feel sorry for him.

  Glancing around, she saw two other agents standing nearby, watching them. “Will one of you please call Bob and tell him I caught his son going through my files?”

  Brent grinned. “You’re going to tell Daddy on me? Ooh, I’m scared.”

  “You don’t work here anymore, remember? You don’t have any business going through my desk even if you did work here.”

  He had a smug look on his face. “I told you not to work with Ezra Collins. The sale will never go through.”

  She gasped. “What did you do?”

  Brent bolted out of the chair and grabbed her sore arm. She screamed in pain. Blood seeped through the bandage and into the sleeve of her sweater and she knew some of her stitches had torn loose. “Damn you. That’s two sweaters you owe me, and if I have to have more stitches, you’re paying the hospital bill.”

  Andy came on the run. He grabbed Brent by his jacket and slammed him back against the wall. “Touch her again and I’ll break more than your ugly nose.”

  Julie cradled her sore arm and fought the pain. Someone slid a chair over for her, and she gratefully dropped into it. What gave Brent the right to ruin her life?

  Andy, still holding Brent against the wall, glanced over his shoulder. “Julie, how bad is it?”

  She lifted her arm to show him. “It’s bleeding through the bandage, and it stings like crazy.” The stitches had torn through her tender flesh and the cut had broken open.

  With one hand on Brent’s chest, Andy snapped open his cell phone and called 911. “This is Andy Kane. Send a patrol car to the River Valley Realty office. Tell them Brent Bosch assaulted Julie Tandry again. Better send the paramedics, too.”

  Maybe Julie wouldn’t have to go back to the hospital for more stitches, but from the amount of blood on her sweater, she wouldn’t bet on it. At this rate, her arm would never heal.

  Three other agents walked closer to get a better look.

  Margaret said, “Julie, Bob is on his way. He said five minutes.”

  Brent moved a little and Andy shoved him against the wall. “Stay put until the police get here.” Brent didn’t fight back. He just stood there.

  “What’s wrong with your arm?” Dora asked.

  “She cut it on a broken glass,” said Andy. “She has a bunch of stitches, which are probably pulled loose now. She also has this jerk’s handprint bruised into her other arm.”

  “Oh, Julie,” said Dora. “You’re the woman from the bar fight?”

  Julie wanted to cry from the pity in Dora’s voice and in the eyes of the other agents, people she’d worked with and been friends with for the past three years.

  “Shit,” Peter muttered. “I can’t believe Bob let this piece of trash keep a key to the office.”

  “Mind your own fucking business,” Brent yelled, and Andy raised his fist. One look and Brent shut his mouth. He was clearly afraid of Andy, who was two or three inches taller and angry enough to do serious damage to Brent’s face.

  The police arrived with the paramedics, and then Bob ran through the door, followed by Donovan Kane. Bob scanned Julie’s desk and listened to Brent try to explain his way out of trouble. Julie knew it wasn’t the first time he’d caused trouble in the office, and unless they locked him up somewhere, it wouldn’t be the last.

  Bob looked over at Julie and she knew as soon as the deal on Andy’s farm closed, she’d have to find another job. Bob could no more control Brent than she could. “He said the Collins sale wouldn’t go through. I don’t know what he did, but I worked hard on that deal, and I want my commission.”

  He shook his head. “If the deal doesn’t close, I can’t—”

  “If you want a lawsuit, I’ll be happy to oblige, and I guarantee it won’t be pleasant. You allowed someone who didn’t work here to come and go at will, to snoop through my files, and to interfere in my deals. I can’t count the number of customers he’s scared off in the past two or three months.” All men, of course. Brent didn’t like her working with men.

  Bob looked around at the other agents. There were seven of them now, all listening intently. Julie didn’t care who heard. She wouldn’t be working here much longer. If she had anything to say about it, Brent would be sitting in a prison cell by then.

  Tears burned the backs of her eyes as the paramedic cleaned the cut on her arm. “Looks like some stitches ripped out.”

  “Back to the hospital?” Andy asked.

  She shook her head. “No.”

  “Yes,” the paramedic said. “You need to have this taken care of or you could end up with an infection.”

  Julie glanced out the glass-paned back door at the officers patting Brent down. They cuffed his hands behind him and pushed him into the back of a police car. They might take him in and question him, but she knew they wouldn’t keep him. His attorney would have him released within the hour, and she’d be looking over her shoulder again.

  Donovan rubbed her shoulder. “I’ll help Bob pack your files and take them to Andy’s place.”

  She put her hand over his. Like his son, Donovan was a considerate man. “Thank you.”

  Bob stepped closer. “Brent won’t get into the office again unless he comes through the front door. I’ll have the locks changed.”

  “It’s a little like locking the barn door after the horse got out, isn’t it? What about the Collins deal?”

  “I’ll call Ezra Collins, see if I can get things back on track.”

  “Thank you.” Mr. Collins had been a difficult client all along, and she wanted to get paid for her time and trouble. She’d earned it.

  Her arm had stopped bleeding, but the anger she’d felt when she saw Brent at her desk wouldn’t go away anytime soon. It festered in her stomach, and weighed heavily on her chest. What did she have to do, move away from River Valley to get away from Brent?

  Cleveland was looking better all the time.

  Bob said, “Have the hospital bill sent here to the office. I’ll make sure Brent pays it.”

  “Oh, he’ll pay, one way or another,” said Andy. “He’ll pay.”

  <>

  Julie leaned her head on Andy’s shoulder while the doctor repaired the damage to her arm. Tears ran from her eyes and soaked his shirt, but the tea
rs weren’t from the pain. They were from frustration and anger and self-pity. Her life was coming apart, one piece at a time. With Brent hounding her, she couldn’t live alone, and she hated having to rely on other people, especially people like this hunky architect who held her as if she meant something to him.

  Andy didn’t say a word about her tears. He just handed her the handkerchief from his back pocket and continued to hold her. She’d never felt as safe as she did in his arms.

  Except when he turned into Andrew.

  <>

  Back in Andy’s condo, while he worked on his computer, Julie called her cousin in Columbus. “Susan, did you rent out your spare bedroom?”

  “Not exactly. Why? What’s going on?”

  Julie spent the next few minutes going over what had happened in the past two days. “I have to move out of my apartment, and as soon as the sale on the farm closes, I’m quitting real estate.”

  “Well… uh… you see…”

  Julie sighed. “You have a new boyfriend?”

  “Um, yeah, kinda.”

  “He’s living with you?”

  “Uh…”

  “He’s standing right there, isn’t he?”

  “Yeah. Can you stay with your parents for now? I’ll help you find an apartment here in Columbus if you want.”

  “I’ll figure something out. Thanks anyway.”

  Andy stood in front of her, hands on his hips. “Running out on me already?”

  “I hate mooching off other people.”

  “You’re not mooching.”

  She sighed. “Yes, I am. I’m taking advantage of your good nature and—”

  “And you’re afraid I’m going crazy with Andrew and the deal at the farm.”

  “Well… There’s definitely something weird going on.”

  He stood staring at the floor for several seconds. When he looked up, he asked, “Are you afraid of me, Julie?”

  “No,” she said quickly. “I’m just worried about you.”

  “Then don’t leave me. I need you here to keep me grounded in the present.” He walked to the window and stared out at the city. “I don’t want to slip into the past and get stuck there.”

  She walked over and leaned against his back, her right arm around his waist, holding his strong body. Pressing her cheek against his shoulder, she said, “I don’t want you to get stuck there either.”

  He turned and put his arms around her. “I won’t pressure you to do anything you don’t want to do, but I need you to stay with me, Julie.”

  Her throat tightened and tears burned her eyes. He was giving her a reason to stay, a reason that had nothing to do with Brent. “What about my virtue?”

  His arms tightened around her and his lips moved against her temple. “Your virtue is always on my mind. Always. I wake up at night thinking about you sleeping in the other bedroom, about how sexy you look in my old sweats, but I can’t offer you anything right now except a room to sleep in and a shoulder when you need one.”

  She raked in a shaky breath, wondering if he meant he wanted to keep this relationship on a friendship basis. She pulled back a little and gazed into his eyes. And then she kissed him, a chaste little kiss on the lips.

  “More,” he whispered. “I want more.”

  His lips gently but firmly took control, searing her lips right down into her soul. The room spun and she had to hold on to him. His hand cupped the back of her head and his fingers threaded through her hair, holding her gently while he made slow, sweet love to her mouth. His hand cupped her breast through her clothes and his thumb rubbed her nipple, bringing liquid heat rushing through her body.

  Then the phone rang. He stepped back and looked at her as if he didn’t recognize her. “What’s that?”

  Oh, not again. “Andrew?” Andy wasn’t kissing her. Andrew was kissing her… or he was kissing someone. She wasn’t sure it was her. “Andy, come back.”

  He looked around. “Where am I?”

  The phone stopped ringing and started again. She put her hand on his face. “Andy, honey, come back. Stay here in the present with me. Please, Andy. Don’t leave me now.”

  The ringing stopped and Andy asked, “What just happened?”

  “You kissed me.”

  “I remember that part.” He smiled a little. “Hard to forget kissing you.”

  Yet he had. He started kissing her and ended up kissing someone else, someone he’d made love to in the past. Who had Andrew loved back then? Was that love drawing Andy back?

  The phone rang again, and Andy went into the kitchen to answer it, leaving Julie confused and a little frightened. She had always believed in ghosts and angels, but this whole past life thing confused her. She always thought when someone died, that life ended. But Andrew Jefferson was still alive inside Andy Kane’s body.

  How could someone go back and forth between a former life and the current one without losing his mind?

  Chapter Six

  Brent had been handcuffed and taken to the police station like a common criminal. Now he sat in a hard chair in a claustrophobic little room and this stupid cop was trying to talk him into saying things that could earn him a prison sentence. Did they think he was that stupid?

  “What were you doing in Miss Tandry’s desk?”

  Brent glared at the officer without answering.

  “Why did you grab her arm?”

  He’d just wanted to take her somewhere private and talk to her, but he couldn’t say that.

  “Did you know she’d cut her arm at the bar?”

  “It wasn’t my fault,” he blurted. “Andy Kane hit me and knocked her down. Why aren’t you charging him with assault? Son-of-a-bitch broke my nose, and I didn’t touch him.” The mayor’s brat had no right to interfere in a private matter. If Julie was hurt, it was Andy Kane’s fault.

  Where was Julie now? Was she with him again? Where was she living? He’d been watching her apartment and knew she wasn’t staying there. She wasn’t with her parents either, because he’d driven by there this morning and didn’t see her car.

  Damn bitch had no right to go off with another man.

  Once he got Julie back, he’d have to make sure she understood she was not to treat him this way again. No talking with other men. No going off by herself without telling him. No refusing when he gave a direct order. She was his woman, and she would obey him or suffer the consequences. The reason his parents got divorced was because Dad didn’t take control and Mom walked all over him. Brent was determined that wouldn’t happen with him and Julie. He was the man, and he was the one in control.

  He looked up at the officer standing over him. “I want to call my attorney.”

  <>

  Andy sat in the living room of his condo with Julie. Thanks to Brent, she had more stitches in her arm. His hand fisted with the urge to punch the bastard for hurting her again. That jerk had no right to hurt her like that.

  “Julie, my mother invited us for dinner tonight. I told her I’d ask if you were up to it.”

  “That was nice of her. I’d love to have dinner with your parents.”

  Andy’s mouth tugged into a grin. “She said since you were spending so much time with me and Dad, she wanted to meet you.”

  “She’s probably curious about the farm.”

  “I’m the one who’s curious. I need to ask her some questions about Andrew Jefferson’s life.”

  “She knew Andrew?”

  “She knew of him. He built the house my parents live in. Andrew died in that house.” Andy didn’t want to tell her how Andrew died. Not after the day she’d had.

  He took her hand and gazed into her soft green eyes. He wanted to make love to her and hold her all night, but she wasn’t ready to trust another man, especially one who was being sucked into another lifetime, a man who was starting to wonder what was real and what wasn’t. In the farmhouse that day, his body was there, but his mind was back in 1912, long before Andy Kane was born. Julie had pulled him back into reality, but what if s
he couldn’t keep him here? Would he stay in the past or wander the no-man’s land between the past and present?

  Why were these things happening to him? How was he supposed to resolve issues from the past? He should have asked the gypsy at the fair, but he was too stunned to react. He’d never told anyone about the dreams, yet she knew.

  Andy’s mother was grounded in reality, yet she’d once had visions of her own and communicated with the ghosts in the house. She’d learned to deal with the fact that her great-grandfather was a cold-blooded killer. If anyone could make sense of what Andy was going through, it was his mother.

  What would happen tomorrow, when he went out to the farm to harvest the corn? Would he become Andrew again?

  Another question nagged at him. Was it safe to leave Julie alone tomorrow? If Brent Bosch found her, she could be in grave danger. The guy had something important missing in his brain. He didn’t care about Julie; he wanted to possess her.

  “Andy? How soon do we have to leave? I’d like to take a hot bath, if I have time.”

  He squeezed her hand and glanced at his watch. “We have an hour or so.” Running his thumb lightly over her palm, he asked, “Need some help undressing?”

  She lifted her chin and gave him a gentle kiss on the lips. “You can unfastened my bra. I wish I had one that fastens in the front.”

  He kissed her again and rubbed his cheek against hers. “Then you wouldn’t need me.”

  “Yes, I would,” she whispered, leaning into him.

  Threading his fingers through her soft hair, he wanted to do more than kiss her, but that would have to wait for another time. He squirmed a little to relieve the pressure of an erection that refused to be contained. If her arm wasn’t injured, he might have her in his bed by now.

  He couldn’t seduce her anyway. This woman would expect more than a night or two in his bed, and he had enough on his mind without taking on a lover who had trouble of her own.