Page 38 of Cameron

“Now who is being mean?”

“You deserve it,” the ghost said. “It’s rather obvious what you should do.”

Now, that was being obtuse. What did the ghost want him to do?

Shaking her head, she mumbled, “How does this family survive without me? You should ask her to marry you. You can save her ranch by putting the Burnett name on it. Give her what she wants.”

He’d thought about that on the way home, but he wanted her to marry him because she was in love with him. Just like he was falling in love with her.

“I don’t marry to save someone’s family ranch. I’ll marry because I’m in love. It’s what my parents did and I’m not like my crazy-ass cousins. I’m waiting to find someone who loves me for who I am,” he said.

“Very valiant of you,” she said. “Maybe we should give you a crown to wear. You’re the man who will buy her ranch for pennies on the dollar and walk away after having sex in the cabin.”

How could she know about what happened when they were snowed in?

“How do you know these things?”

“I’m a ghost with a lot of time on my hands,” she said.

How did you throw a ghost out of your house?

“Please, just give me some time to think on things. Let me get some rest and then I’ll call Samantha to find out how thingsare going,” he finally said, knowing he was not going to win this battle.

CHAPTER 14

After the employees’ party, which Edward did not attend, Samantha and her mother decided it was time to wait up for him. Like two parents waiting for a tardy teenager, they sat in the living room of the house, waiting for him to sneak up the stairs.

About two o’clock, after her mother had fallen asleep on the couch, Samantha heard him come into the house.

She shook her mother awake, hating that she had to do it, but their mother needed to hear his excuses.

“Where have you been?” her mother asked.

He walked into the room and gazed at the two of them.

“Have a seat,” Samantha said, pointing to the chair across from them. “We need to talk.”

His brown eyes widened and she could see the fear in his gaze. She was so angry at him that it was hard to remember that he was her brother and that she loved him.

“Samantha, what’s wrong? Did something happen at the wedding,” he asked, taking a seat across from the women.

“The wedding was cancelled by the fiancé. He didn’t want to marry Bridezilla,” she said.

A smile spread across his face. “They still have to pay, right?”

“Who knows,” she said. “Where have you been?”

The man licked his lips uneasily and shifted in his chair. Her mother just stared at him. “Isn’t it a little late for Mother to be up?”

“No,” she said in a commanding tone that Samantha had not heard her use since they were children. “It’s time for us to have a family meeting and for you to be honest with us.”

Edward gulped. “What do you mean?”

Samantha picked up the first group of papers and handed them to him. “This is an audit on the ranch’s books I had Casey do. What are you spending the money on, Edward?”

He flipped through the pages.

“This is all wrong. This can’t be true,” he said.

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