Page 42 of Giving Up The Ghost
“Us?” I demanded. “Who isus? And you nearly killed Ezra last night! I don’t think you have much room to accuse me of anything,” I hissed. “Do you think for one moment your story about thinking we were here to rob the place holds water?”
“What I think,” she spat, “is that you and Ezra are pulling him down. All he can think about is you and his friend up there. I can’t even show him our family’s artifacts without him trying to pull you into it! This isn’t for you, Julian Weems! It’s not for Ezra, not for you, not for anyone but him. And me.” She leaned in, flecks of mud falling from her sodden shirt as she leaned in close to add, “Do not interfere!”
“And if I do? Will you cosh me with a spade, too?” I let my gaze drift over her dirty clothes and messy hair. “Will I get to be replanted? Fertilizer for the Fellowes’ rose garden?”
Her face purpled with rage as she shoved herself away from me, striding towards the cellar now without looking back. The crying woman was ahead of her, arms spread for the moment I caught a glimpse as if blocking Charlotte’s way. Charlotte didn’t even slow down, passing through the crying woman and jerking open the cellar door with a mighty tug.
There was no way in hell I was leaving anyone alone with Charlotte.
CHAPTER 10
OSCAR
Julian had the grace to wait until I’d brushed my teeth and had a morning piss before cornering me about Charlotte again. “I don’t think it’s a good idea to be alone with her today,”
I nodded in agreement. “Even if I wanted to, there’s some things I want to follow up on and. I texted the housekeeper, Marcy, yesterday and she got back to me last night, told me Charlotte’s daughter Nadine collected the key from her three weeks ago. She had proof, apparently. An email from me, to show Marcy, that said I’d like for them to have access to the house and grounds, and they would not be requiring services.”
“Shit. And Marcy didn’t think to check with you?”
I smiled bitterly. “To be fair, I haven’t been the most hands-on homeowner, have I? I’ve let the lawyers and staff deal with everything since Grandmere’s death. To Marcy, it seemed like a perfectly reasonable thing to happen. And they’re related to me, so it made sense.”
“So, Nadine faked the email? Do you think Charlotte is aware?”
“I don’t know. I messaged Nadine last night, after Marcy’s reply, but I haven’t heard back from her yet. I just asked if she’d had any trouble getting the housekeeping staff to give her the key and I wanted to follow up if they’d been a problem.” I shrugged. “Not my best lie, but I was tired and worried about Ezra so…”
“So,” Julian drew out, sinking to sit beside me on the bed. “What are you thinking?”
“Charlotte invited me to visit someone who knew Grandmere. Simeon something or other. I don’t remember him myself, but apparently, in her research, Charlotte came across his name as being an old friend of Grandfather’s and someone Grandmere was in contact with. She says he might be able to answer some of my questions. I think… I think I should go with her. Just,” I pressed my fingers to his lips to silence his protest, “to get her out of the way. You and Ezra can check into the house while we’re gone. Whatever else you need to do without Charlotte lurking.”
“I don’t like that idea at all.”
I stretched up to kiss his frown, touching our foreheads together. “Got a better one?”
“Goddamnit, no.”
* * *
Charlotte was waitingfor me in the kitchen, all smiles and not a trace of the bedraggled figure Julian had described seeing early that morning. I forced a smile myself and made appreciative noises over breakfast as she bustled about, setting cups and plates on the table. “Is your friend all right?” she asked, sitting across from me. “I really do feel terrible, Oscar. Terrible and ridiculous! I was thinking about Landon Price, and that got me thinking of some of the others in Violet’s circle who have died and, well…” She huffed an annoyed sigh. “I suppose I worked myself up into a bit of a state. When the door opened while I was in the study, all I could think wasI’m next!”
The urge to tell her to get fucked and die was strong. Ezra was doing better that morning, a bit woozy but awake. His head was throbbing, but he was able to make it to and from the bathroom on his own and hadn’t had the seizure he’d feared was coming. I’d left him and Julian up in his room, Julian texting with CeCe while Ezra assured a stressed Harrison that he was alive and as much as he’d love Harrison to come visit, he knew it wasn’t the best time given all the work stuff going on for Harrison and just the entire situation with us.
Not gonna lie, Ezra being mature about his boyfriend was kind of a new thing. I made a mental note to tease him about it later and instead focused on Charlotte with a stern but not unkind expression—one I’d had to practice over the years, one I gave family members of the dead when they demanded some secret or other that their loved one did not wish to pass on. “Ezra’s doing better. We’re still worried—Julian is going to sit with him to make sure there’s no ill effects, so they’re well occupied today.” There. There was her opening. I focused on my tea, trying to act casual even while my heart tried to beat its way out of my ribs.
“Oh, that’s good to hear. I was hoping that you might accompany me on a visit this morning, and I didn’t want to fight with your friends about it.”
When I didn’t jump on her leading tone, she went on. “Simeon Greely. Does his name ring a bell for you?”
I gave it a moment’s thought then shook my head. “I’m sorry, no. But if he is a friend of Grandmere’s, there’s a good chance I’ve met him, but it was so long ago I’ve simply forgotten.”
“He was a friend of your grandfather’s, actually. He was not as close with your grandmother.” She set her teacup to the side and, folding her hands, leaned in with an earnest gaze on her face. “Oscar, I know I am… difficult. It is something I’ve fought against my entire life. My own mother, till the very end, would tell me I was flighty and upsetting.” She offered me a weak smile, her nails tapping out a quiet tattoo on the wood. “I am very driven, Oscar. I am determined. Your quest is mine, yes? You seek your family history, your origin story, so to speak.” She gave a soft laugh at that, and I mimicked it, not feeling a shred of joy at that moment but rather trepidation. “I’m seeking the same. Perhaps for a different reason. You want to know yourwhy, I want to knowhow.It is,” she hesitated, leaning back, cheeks pinking, “an unfortunate fact that my abilities are very weak. I’ve tried everything to strengthen them. Paid charlatans insane sums of money on the promise of lessons and meditations that would open some locked thing inside me. I begged Maman to tell me all she knew, to make introductions to family so I might speak with them, uncover the secret that was denied me.”
“Charlotte,” I said softly, “I was born like this. Any learning I did, it was my grandmother trying to shape me into the sort of medium she felt was acceptable. Safe. I’ve been denied so much of my history, and I’m only now learning about abilities I have that have been suppressed due to her training. But I was never taughthowto be a medium. We’re simply born like this.”
A dark expression flickered over her face, lips tight and eyes narrowed, before she gave me a sad, steady gaze. “I have the seed of it inside me, Oscar. I simply need to learn how to make it flourish. Now.” She pushed away from the table. “Allons-y. The day is only getting later!”
* * *
“How didyou come to meet Mr. Greely again?”
