Page 37 of Ghostly Bother
Angus's father picked up the empty bowls and stood. "I wish I could help, but other than giving Betty a ride to your place, I'm not sure what I can do."
"There's not much any of us can do." Angus met his mother's gaze. "I hate feeling helpless, but I can't fight what I can't see."
"I'll go over tomorrow night and see what I can do to help. I'll know more by then because Betty will be about to update me on what she thinks about Eden's intentions." His mother shook her head. "I wish you'd come to me sooner."
"Me too. I knew she was annoying Lance, but I don't think I fully understood how badly until I got home tonight and heard him screaming at her. Lance doesn't scream. He's the calmest, most easy-going man I know. I've never heard him as upset as he was tonight. I hate this. I feel like it's my fault. If I could just solve this case, she'd go away."
"Maybe. You don't know that for sure. Even after finding out who killed her, she could choose to stick around. This is on Eden, not you. She needs to learn that being a ghost doesn't give her any right to harass people. She should look at Lance's gift to see ghosts as something special, not something to take advantage of." His mother nodded to where Angus figured Betty was. "Go see what's going on. Once we have more information, we'll get with Ray and Bethany and form a plan."
"Want a ride?" his father asked Betty, despite not being able to see or hear her.
Angus's mother shook her head. "Betty said she'll catch a ride with someone headed that way. She said you're supposed to stay here and keep me calm so I don't head over there and cause a scene." His mother rolled her eyes. "As if I would."
Angus bit back a smile. It was exactly what his mother would do.
His mother spoke with Betty for a few more minutes, then turned back to him. "Betty left. She'll know how to handle this best." She gripped Angus's arm. "How mad was Lance when you left?"
"At me?" Angus swallowed hard. "Not relationship ending, but he wasn't happy. I know why. I didn't discuss this with him before I decided to leave, but having a conversation like thatwith Eden there would have only made it worse. She's probably happy she's causing problems for us, thinking it will get me to do my job faster or something. The thing is, I have been doing my job. The answers just aren't there yet."
"We'll see what we can do to help. Betty can go places you can't. Hear things you won't." His mother closed her eyes. "Why didn't you come to me?"
Angus stared at her. "You know how I feel about involving you in cases."
"This isn't just a case. You have a ghost harassing you. This is the stuff I should help with. I don't care who killed that woman. The city is better off without her. I don't think anyone is worried we have a killer on the loose. Whoever killed her was focused just on her."
"Murder is murder, Mom."
"I know that, but seriously, you have bigger issues. Eden's already causing problems for you and Lance. I can focus on her while you focus on the case. I'll call in every favor I can to protect my boys." His mother leaned in and kissed his forehead. "Tonight, you rest. Tomorrow, you work on making things right with Lance and leave the ghost to me and my friends."
Angus smiled. "Thanks, Mom." He wasn't sure what his mother could do, but he was thankful for the help. She'd dealt with pushy ghosts before and would know best how to handle one. If the other ghosts were around Eden, they would at least tell him what she was doing to drive Lance crazy since Lance wasn't letting him in on everything going on. God, he hated the idea of Lance keeping stuff from him. That wasn't how their relationship was. At least it hadn't been until now. Even if Lance was trying to protect him from Eden's attitude, it wasn't something Lance should have to shoulder himself.
"Here." His father handed him a shot glass with two fingers of dark liquid in it.
"What's this?" Angus never had been much of a drinker and his father knew that.
"Just a little whisky. It will help you sleep tonight. If you don't take it, you'll lay in bed all night overthinking this whole thing. You need to rest." His father smiled. "Trust me. I know all about long nights and no sleep. Nothing is going to be solved tonight. The best thing you can do is get a good night's sleep and be ready to focus tomorrow."
His father was right, but he almost felt that he was taking the easy way out by taking the shot. Despite the guilt, he tossed back the shot, grimaced at the burn, then set the shot glass down. "Thanks."
His mom raised a brow. "Are you sure you don't want to do a bong hit? That would be more effective than that—"
"No." Angus glared at his mother.
She held up her hands. "I was just offering."
Angus laughed. "How did I end up being the kid whose parents are the ones pressuring him to get high?"
"You're just lucky that way." His mother kissed him on the cheek. "Go shower and get some sleep. I'll make you breakfast before you go to work." She picked up the empty shot glass and headed into the kitchen.
"You got everything you need?" his father asked.
"Yeah, I think so. Might need to borrow your razor in the morning. I forgot to grab mine." Angus stood.
"You know where it is. I have an eight o'clock tee time, so I might be gone. Use what you need." His father gripped his shoulder. "We'll get you through this."
"Thanks, Dad." Angus was surprised by the emotion burning behind his eyes. Coming here had been the right thing. He loved his parents. They were unlike any other parents he knew. A bit eccentric and crazy, but they were his. He took a deep breath. "See you in the morning."
As he made his way to the bedroom, he could only imagine the conversation his parents would have about him once they were alone. And he was sure that Betty would wake his mother sometime in the middle of the night to update her on what was going on. Angus couldn't worry about all that now. The shot of whisky had done its job. He was tired. A quick shower and he was going to sleep, leaving the stress of everything going on to deal with tomorrow. Tonight, he just needed to take a step back. The hard part would be sleeping alone for the first time in months.
