Ghostly Liaison (9 page)

* * * *

Bridget stared at her houseguest and shook her head. This was probably the most bizarre conversation she’d ever had. “What do you mean you don’t know where he died?”

“I was kind of out of it at the time and Robbie refused to give me the address. But it was at one of his constructions sites. I just don’t know which one exactly.”

“So, you don’t know where Nick died and you expect me to find him? If his spirit is still around, how come he hasn’t contacted you?”

Charlie stared at the floor. “I don’t know. I don’t have all the answers. But maybe Nick does. Just ask Robbie for the address.”

Bridget closed her eyes. No, not Rob again. Would every conversation she had end with him? She wouldn’t be surprised if he starred in her dreams tonight. Actually, that wouldn’t be such a bad idea.

“Why don’t you want to go out with him?” Charlie asked. “Do you think you’re too good for him?”

“Oh my God. How much have you heard tonight?”

“I’ve heard everything. What else is there to do?”

“Will I have no privacy?”

“Of course you’ll have privacy. I’m not a perv.”

The ibuprofen was useless. Bridget’s headache remained and her muscles still objected to any kind of exertion. Walking around at the store shopping for curtains had only aggravated her knee. She stood and faced Charlie. “I’m going to take a bath, and then I’m going to bed. I’d prefer to do both without you hanging around. Will that be possible?”

“I left you alone last night and this morning, didn’t I? But I gotta know. Are you going to ask about Nick?”

“I’ll see if I can find out where he died without bringing Rob into this. Then you can go find him.”

“Okay, okay. I can do that. Thank you.”

Bridget took a step toward the bedroom.

“Before you go,” Charlie pleaded. “Will you turn on the TV?”

Rob parked in front of the office and hopped out of the truck, Barnaby right on his heels. Two more items on his to-do list and then he could head over to Charlie’s. Except, now it would be Bridget’s. At least temporarily.

When he opened the door, the dog dashed inside, knocking him off balance. He gripped the frame, preventing him from landing on his ass. One of these days Barnaby would break his leg.

He tossed his paperwork into the in-box. Item one scratched off. On to item two. He went to the receptionist area, but instead of Linda greeting him with her sunny disposition, the part-time bookkeeper, Margo, scowled. She couldn’t be more than five years older than Rob, but with that frown, she looked ancient. Why couldn’t she smile at him like she did at Carl?

Barnaby trotted around the desk and jumped into her lap. With a yelp, she pushed the dog away and stood, brushing her white skirt, which now contained dusty paw prints that just wouldn’t go away. “Now look what he’s done.”

Dammit. Okay, so maybe she directed the frown toward the dog. Linda never minded Barnaby’s affection. In fact, she always egged him on. Margo, on the other hand, seemed to hate everything and everyone. Well, everyone except Carl.

Rob came around the desk and grabbed the dog’s collar. Margo’s designer suit looked great on her curvaceous body, but totally inappropriate for the job.

“I’m sorry. I’ll take care of the cleaning bill. Like I told you before, you don’t have to dress up. You should consider wearing jeans.” As if he hadn’t told her at least a dozen times. He dragged Barnaby back around the front of the desk and snatched a leash, which hung on a hook by the door. “Where’s Linda?”

Giving up on her skirt, Margo sat back in the chair with a grunt and straightened some papers. “She had some kind of an emergency. Car—Mr. Anders called and asked if I would sit in for the day. But if I had known you were bringing that monster in here, I would have declined.”

She’d almost slipped up there. He wouldn’t be surprised if Carl was sleeping with the woman. She was just his type—big breasted, well dressed, and young.

He secured the leash on Barnaby’s collar and hooked the end around his wrist. The dog may be over anxious, but hardly a monster. At least this visit would be short. “I need the envelope a courier dropped off for me.”

“I gave that to Mr. Anders.”

If he’d held a pencil in his hand, he’d have surely snapped it in two. After counting to three, he placed both hands on the desk and leaned forward. “Was it addressed to Mr. Anders?”

Margo flinched and scooted back into her chair. “No, but it was from the lawyer’s office. I thought Mr. Anders took care of all the legal paperwork.”

“He does, but if I recall, business documents are addressed to him.” He straightened and headed for the hall. Damn. So much for leaving early.

Carl’s office was situated on the other end of the small building. Years of pictures, many including Rob’s father, cluttered the walls. A credenza lined the left wall and included several pictures of Carl’s family.

Barnaby stopped in the doorway and growled. Rob tugged on the leash, silencing the dog. How did he manage to mix the two people up? Shouldn’t he growl at Margo and be happy to see Carl?

“Is Linda okay?” Rob asked.

Carl was leaning back in his chair reading what appeared to be Rob’s documents. He looked over his glasses. “Her sister went into labor.”

Rob let out an easy breath. Thank God. That meant he wouldn’t have to see Margo tomorrow.

Carl sat up and placed his glasses on the desk. “By the way, Rialto is back on. They paid their bill.”

And it was a huge bill. But he doubted it was completely good news for Carl since his son had died there. “How will this impact the new office project? Will we have enough workers?”

“Taken care of.”

“Do you need me to take over Rialto?”

Carl stared at him for several seconds. “Thanks, but I’m good, actually. It’ll be a relief to get it finished.” He waved the papers in the air. “What is this?”

And that was his cue to leave.

“None of your business.” Rob snatched the papers and turned toward the exit.

“Wait. I think we need to talk.”

Rob respected Carl, but didn’t need him interfering with his life. “Talk about what? That you opened my personal mail? This has nothing to do with work.”

“I didn’t realize it was personal until I started reading it. Sit. Please.”

If he didn’t stay and hear Carl out, he’d probably never hear the end of it. He grabbed a seat. Barnaby lay on the floor beside his feet.

Carl pointed to the papers. “Does this have anything to do with your house sitter?”

House sitter or future girlfriend? Rob was betting on the latter. “She seems to think I’m going to kick her out into the street if we don’t get along. I thought a contract would ease her worries.”

“But the contract stipulates she gets the property if you should die before the six months are up.”

“Yeah, so? Who else am I going to give the house to? Some cousin I don’t even know?”

“No, but you have a business. Have you had your will drawn up yet?”

Rob sat straighter. For once he was ahead of the game. So what if the lawyer had practically bribed him. It was worth it. “Already done. And just so you know, I’m leaving you the business.”

“Rob, you don’t have to do that.”

“You deserve it. Besides, I don’t have anyone else to leave it to. Not that I plan on dying any time soon.”

“Well, at least you can change it if you get married or have kids.”

If Carl had mentioned that last week, Rob would have laughed in his face. But after meeting Bridget, it didn’t seem so funny. True, he hardly knew her, but it didn’t stop him from wanting to spend every free minute with her. She was all he thought about. Marriage was looking less scary, but first he had to convince Bridget to start dating.

* * * *

Sitting in Kate’s office using the computer, Bridget typed Nick Anders’s name in the search box and waited. Damn slow computer.

“Does Kate know you’re in here?”

Bridget flinched at the squeaky voice and inadvertently clicked the page closed. “Gee, Tori. Way to sneak up on a person.”

“Well, if you didn’t have your nose buried in the screen, you would have seen me approach. What’s so interesting?”

“It’s personal. And yes, Kate knows I’m in here.”

“Listen, while I got you, I need you to do me a favor.” Tori closed the door and leaned against it. “Don’t ask Rob over to fix the house on Friday. I want to ask him out, and I don’t want him feeling obligated to work on the house.”

“For your information, he comes over when he feels like it, not by my request. If he wants to go out with you, I’m sure the house won’t stop him.” Well, it wouldn’t stop anyone else. Rob might use the excuse to be nice.

“You think so?” Tori looked downright hopeful.

“Any man who’d want to date you wouldn’t let a little work get in the way.” Unfortunately for Tori, that man wasn’t Rob. But hey, she could learn the hard way.

Tori smiled and nodded. “You’re right. Thanks, Bridget.”

“Any time.” Maybe she was a horrible person leading her cousin on, but she didn’t care. Tori had it coming.

Once her cousin left, Bridget stared at the ocean scene on the monitor. Sun, sand, and palm trees. Now there was a place she’d probably never visit, at least not in the summer wearing something skimpy. Not like she used to, anyway. Oh well, she was getting too old for that crap anyway. Right?

She clicked on the Internet icon. Why was she bothering searching for Nick? Besides wasting her time here when Rob would be the easiest route, did she really think she’d be able to see another ghost? If ghosts were floating all over the place, how come she hadn’t seen them?

Or maybe she had. Could that be what she’d seen in the hospital? And how about that guy on the road? Shit. So what made her crazier: seeing hallucinations or seeing ghosts?

She turned off the machine and stood. Forget about Charlie. Forget about Nick. They weren’t her concern right now, her job was.

By the time five o’clock rolled around, her concern had shifted from performing her job to making it home before she collapsed. Being on her feet most of the day—cleaning cages, feeding animals—only made her headache worse. Her muscles could stand a break, too. How could riding a bike one time create such misery? Another bath was in store for the evening, and more ibuprofen. Not that the pills helped with the headache much. She pulled her backpack out of the locker and slipped it on.

Kate pulled a bottle of water from the refrigerator. “You got any plans for tonight?”

Bridget grabbed her coat from the rack and hooked it on her arm. The weather had been chilly in the morning, but warmed nicely by lunch, so she wouldn’t need to wear it home. “Rob’s supposed to come over and work on the bathroom. Other than that, nope.”

“How’s it working with Rob? Is he behaving?”

Was kissing her behaving? “So far it’s good. I’m thankful you suggested me for a house sitter. But you didn’t coerce him, did you?”

“Coerce him? Why would you think…. Oh, Tori. I keep forgetting she’s got the hots for Rob and is within earshot whenever he visits. She must feel threatened.” Kate lifted an eyebrow. “Should she?”

“I’m not doing anything to threaten her.” Except maybe existing.

“Then she must be her regular paranoid self. Well, I didn’t coerce him or beg. I knew he was having difficulty with his neighbor and I merely suggested you as a solution. And since I could vouch for you, he jumped all over it. Does that make you feel better?”

“A little, thanks. I feel like all I’ve been doing lately is asking for help.”

“Hey, if family can’t help out, what good are they, huh? Do you need a ride home?”

Cramps had threatened Bridget’s leg all day and while a ride home would be nice, she couldn’t accept. Maybe family was meant to help, but there was needing help and there was being needy. She would not be needy. She shook her head. “I’m good, but thanks.”

“Let me walk out with you, then. I think I need some air after the Mitchell’s dog. I’ve never seen a dog fart so much.”

Together they laughed and stepped outside. The sky was a dazzling blue without a fluff of cloud and the scent of pine filled the air. Bridget took it all in.

“Is that why you don’t need a ride?” Kate nodded to the front of the lot.

There stood a big red truck, with Rob leaning against it. He smiled and waved. Bridget’s heart fluttered at the sight.

“I didn’t know he was coming here.” Why did he keep pursuing her? How many times did she have to tell him no? Maybe when her noes stopped sounding like yeses. Because deep down inside, she was glad he was there. Something inside her came alive in his presence and wiped out the nagging headache.

* * * *

When Bridget stepped out of the building, Rob’s heart had lifted. All day he’d thought of her and now here she was in the flesh. Damn, he had it bad.

As he sauntered their way, Kate practically scowled at him and a smile flitted across Bridget’s face. Maybe he was making headway after all.

“Hey, ladies!”

“What are you doing here?” Kate placed her hands on her hips.

He couldn’t blame her for being wary. He had promised to behave. Could it be she knew he’d kissed Bridget? No, that couldn’t be it. If Kate knew, she’d be flat-out fuming.

“I finished patching the wall in the bathroom and thought Bridget would like to pick out the paint color.”

“You have to paint the bathroom?” Bridget asked.

“Well, yeah. You see, there’s this big patch on the wall.” He stretched his hands about a foot apart.

Bridget chuckled. “That’s not what I meant. Why can’t you just paint that one spot?”

“I could, but I’ll never be able to match the color.”

“You can’t match white?”

“Uhhh, the walls aren’t white. They’re kind of peachy.”

“They are?” She looked at Kate, who only shrugged.

“So, what do you say?” he asked.

Bridget shifted her weight. “Do you really need me to pick it out?”

This conversation wasn’t going anywhere near how he’d hoped it would. He’d never met a woman who didn’t enjoy picking out paint samples, and while Bridget didn’t come right out and say no, his heart ached with her lack of enthusiasm for the project.