The Ex Who Saw a Ghost (Charley's Ghost Book 4)

by Sally Berneathy

“Oh, well. I’ll be home before she gets the funeral invitations sent out. Having them engraved will take a while.”

  Someone cursed from the other side of the flimsy partition that separated her from Stanley.

  Amanda slid off the table.

  “What are you doing?” Teresa asked.

  Amanda pushed aside the curtain and leaned around the partition. Stanley sat on a table that matched hers. One sleeve of his red plaid shirt had been cut off at the elbow, the other at the shoulder. A doctor pressed the contents of a syringe into his arm. His face was pale, his lips clenched. He looked to be in a great deal of pain. “Stitch him up with no anesthetic, doc!”

  The sheriff’s deputy standing in the corner stepped forward. “Ma’am, you shouldn’t be in here.”

  “I know, but I really want to see him suffer some more.”

  Stanley glared. “Bitch.”

  “Ma’am—”

  Teresa grabbed the back of her T-shirt and tugged.

  “Okay, okay.” She returned to her cubicle and slid onto the table. “I feel better knowing that worthless piece of scum is suffering.”

  The curtain parted. Ross stood behind a wheelchair. Jake sat in that wheelchair.

  Teresa ran to Ross and he pulled her into his arms, holding her tightly.

  Amanda slid off the table and Charley darted between her and Jake. “What’s he doing here?”

  Jake rose shakily. One arm was in a sling, but he was free of tubes and appeared more sober than he’d been that morning.

  “What are you doing here?” Amanda looked down, expecting to see his bare legs. He’d managed to get his jeans on. Darn.

  Jake sank onto the table beside her. Beads of sweat dotted his pale face and he was breathing hard.

  “I called him,” Ross said. He still had one arm wrapped tightly around Teresa. “I’ve been monitoring alerts from Laskey’s office because my brother’s body was found in his jurisdiction. Imagine my surprise when I saw that Teresa Landow was requesting assistance for Lila Stone.”

  “She’s dead,” Teresa said. “We tried to help her but we couldn’t.”

  “She killed your brother,” Amanda said. Ross stiffened. “But it was an accident. She was trying to kill herself.”

  “Did my brother tell you this?”

  “No, Lila did.”

  “Parker had a DNA test done to verify that she was his sister,” Teresa said. “She wasn’t, and it broke her heart.”

  Ross shook his head slowly. “She wasn’t his sister? What about the birth certificate?”

  “I’ll explain it all later. They were very close. Your brother cared for her like a sister. He couldn’t justify letting her have money that was rightly yours, but he was still worried about her. He left with her spirit when she died.”

  “My brother’s spirit is gone?” Ross asked.

  “Yes. He went into the light.” Even from across the cubicle, Amanda could feel Teresa’s tension as she waited for Ross’ response.

  The curtain opened again and Sheriff Laskey came in, diverting everyone’s attention. He looked surprised to see Ross and Jake. “Evening, officers.”

  “Evening, Sheriff.”

  He shifted his gun belt uncomfortably as he looked first at Teresa then Amanda. “So, Morrissey and the Wagner brothers think you both see ghosts.”

  Teresa lifted her chin. “I am a medium, yes. I have spoken with the victims from the well, and I can give you names if you’d like to verify them.”

  Teresa told her story about Parker and the men from the well leading them to Lila, but she didn’t mention Charley. She was giving Amanda the chance to continue to keep her secret.

  Amanda studied Ross for his reaction. His expression remained the same as Teresa talked.

  Then it was time for Amanda to tell her story of what happened after Teresa went for help.

  “Morrissey and the Wagners started shooting at me,” she said. “I shot back.”

  Everyone in the room waited.

  “I’m a better shot than they are.”

  “I stood in front of the men so you could aim at them!” Charley exclaimed. “Do I get any credit?”

  “You told them the ghosts of the men they killed were there,” Laskey said.

  This was it. Her chance to admit to seeing Charley, admit that he’d helped her. “Yes, I did tell them the ghosts of their victims were there.” It was true as far as it went. She just needed to finish the story, confess about Charley.

  Laskey narrowed his eyes.

  Amanda licked her lips. Teresa was brave enough to tell the truth and risk ridicule. She had to do the same.

  The doctor slid the curtain aside. “Miss Caulfield, I’m Doctor Osborne.”

  “Well,” Laskey said, “if you’ll both agree to come in tomorrow and give your official statements, I’ll go home and get some sleep.”

  “Okay.” Amanda wasn’t sure if she was relieved or upset that her moment of truth had been interrupted. Probably relieved.

  “We’ll be there,” Teresa promised.

  Laskey left.

  Teresa took Ross’ arm with one hand and Charley’s with the other. “Let’s go down the hall. I can’t stand the sight of blood.”

  “No!” Charley protested. “I don’t want to go with you!” He had no choice. He followed her out.

  Ross drew the curtain behind them, but his soft words came through clearly. “I’d still love you even if you told me you talk to little green men from Mars.”

  “I’m going to puke!” Charley shouted. “Right here in the hospital, I’m going to puke!”

  Amanda looked at Jake. He was smiling. Even the doctor was smiling. Ross accepted Teresa with all her quirks. Surely Jake would do the same for her. She was going to tell him about Charley.

  But not right now. Too many people around.

  Ross and Teresa’s footsteps disappeared down the hall.

  Jake slid from the table onto the chair beside it. “You think she’ll live, doc?”

  The doctor examined Amanda’s wound. “A couple of stitches and she’ll be good as new.”

  Amanda endured the process with gritted teeth. She wasn’t going to wimp out in front of Jake.

  The doctor finished and put on a clean bandage. “You’re good to go. I can write you a prescription for pain pills if you’d like.”

  Amanda shook her head. “I’ll be fine.” And if she wasn’t, a glass or two of wine should help.

  The doctor left the cubicle.

  She was alone with Jake. Time to confess.

  “So in one evening you shot three men and beat up the sheriff?” Jake’s eyes glowed as he looked at her.

  “I didn’t know it was the sheriff.”

  “I’m going to have to keep closer tabs on you, protect the citizens of Texas from you.” He reached for her hand.

  She wrapped her fingers around his. “I like that plan.”

  She slid off the table, and Jake rose shakily from his chair. He leaned over and touched his lips to hers.

  The events of the evening faded. The pain in her arm disappeared. All she felt was the magic of Jake’s kiss.

  The curtain rings screamed as someone shoved the curtain aside.

  “Amanda!” Her very pregnant sister waddled into the room. Sunny followed close behind.

  Jake released her and stepped back.

  “We were so worried about you!” Jenny tried to hug her.

  Amanda flinched. “Ouch. Bullet wound.”

  Jenny lifted her hand to her mouth. “I’m sorry! I invited your friend for dinner. I wanted to surprise you, but then you didn’t come home and dinner got cold, and we were afraid something had happened to you, and it had!”

  “Sunny was the surprise? You didn’t redo the living room?”

  “I decided to name the baby Suzanne Amanda. I just have a feeling she’s going to have red hair so I want to name her after my sister and my sister’s friend who both have red hair.”

  Amanda and Sunny exchanged grimaces.r />
  It was always possible Jenny’s baby would have red hair, but it would have to come from Davey’s genes.

  Jenny’s eyes suddenly widened and she clutched her stomach. “Oh, I’m having more of those brackish contractions! Ow! That hurts!”

  If Amanda had a bullet wound, her sister had to have worse pain.

  Jenny winced. “I think I need to sit down.”

  “Uh, Jenny,” Sunny said, looking at the floor, “I think your water broke. I believe you are going to have that baby right now.”

  Amanda took her sister’s arm. “Thank goodness we’re in a hospital.”

  Panic spread over Jake’s face. “I’ll go find a doctor.” He rushed past his wheelchair and out of the cubicle.

  “I can’t have the baby here!” Jenny protested.

  “I’m not sure you have a choice.” Sunny took her other arm and steered her toward the chair beside the exam table.

  “No! I need my doctor and my hospital and…and where’s Davey? I can’t have this baby without my Davey!”

  Where’s Davey?

  My Davey?

  Jenny scrambled in her purse and produced her cell phone.

  Jenny was calling Davey. She was having the baby and all was well with her and Davey.

  That meant Amanda would have her apartment back. She would even be happy to sleep on the lavender sheets. Who could see color in the dark?

  Doctor Osborne rushed back into the cubicle.

  “I can’t have this baby here! This isn’t my hospital! I’m calling my husband! He’ll take me to my hospital in Dallas! Don’t let me have this baby here all alone!”

  “Relax, ma’am,” the doctor soothed. “We can move you to another hospital. If your water just broke and this is your first baby, I’m sure you’ll have plenty of time. Let me get you a gown and do an exam.”

  “We’ll give you some privacy,” Amanda said.

  “Yes,” Sunny agreed. “We’ll go find a Coke.”

  They hurried through the curtain before Jenny could protest, though Amanda wasn’t sure she would have. She was talking to Davey.

  Jake leaned against the wall.

  “Jake, nice to see you again,” Sunny said.

  “Do you know where there’s a Coke machine?” Amanda asked.

  “Down the hall. I’ll show you,” Jake said.

  Sunny looked from one to the other of them. “I think I’ll pass on the Coke. You seem to be okay, and I can’t do anything to help your sister. I’m going to head home.”

  Amanda gave her a one-armed hug. “Thank you for worrying about me. I’m sorry the evening turned out so badly.”

  “I got to see you. It was worth it. Good night, Jake.”

  Amanda watched her birth mother walk down the hall. How lucky she was to have Sunny in her life. Much as she hated to admit it, she had to thank Charley for the bizarre circumstances that led her to Sunny.

  “I like her,” Jake said. “No wonder you’re friends. She reminds me a lot of you.”

  Another secret she needed to share with Jake if they were going to have a relationship. “Let’s find that Coke machine, get you back to your room, and have another kiss.”

  “Good idea.” He wrapped his unbandaged arm around her and pulled her to him. “But not necessarily in that order.”

  One of these days she’d share her secrets, but not tonight.

  THE END

  for now