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I stopped. I had to. I d just remembered the common denominator of these two
items. Michael s mother had given both of them to us. Did that have anything to do
with it?
Charli, babe, don t go there. I don t think you want to open that can of worms.
I looked around, trying to see if anything was moving. Maddie was looking too, so
she must have heard him.
What did he mean don t go there and can of worms ?
I lied. I had to. This was getting too close to home.
I don t know. Sometimes I don t know what he s talking about.
I found it strange Maddie never questioned if the voice belonged to a male ghost or
spirit. I hadn t been sure but I was now. And I was beginning to think I knew who it
might be.
Most definitely a path I wasn t about to follow.
Ethan must have seen my reluctance to talk about this anymore because he changed
the subject.
41
Kelsy George
Mom, I m going to take Charli for a ride this afternoon. I may have found an
apartment for her. I want her to see it and find out if she can afford it. What time s
supper?
I ll plan for seven. Vivien Harwood obviously liked the fact her son was going to
be in her home for another day.
We ll be back in plenty of time.
She turned to me then and smiled. Don t be in a rush to find a new place. You re
more than welcome to stay with us as long as you want. You and Maddie can trade
stories about the voice. You can t leave anyway until your cuts are healed, and Maddie
tells me it might be another four or five days.
Maddie met my surprised gaze. Four or five? I didn t think they were nearly so
bad.
Charli, I m serious. Those cuts are deep. One of them should probably have had
stitches. And until it heals properly, you ll just keep splitting it open if you walk on it.
In fact, she turned toward him, Ethan, if you re taking her looking at apartments, you
carry her, like you did last night.
I gaped at her. Ethan laughed. It appeared the idea pleased him.
At the corner window the lace curtains started to move. Then the book sitting on
the table in front of the window dropped to the floor with a crack. We all jumped but
Maddie recovered first.
I think your voice is jealous, Charli! Her laughter was cut short when her cup
rolled off the table.
And annoyed.
I started to stand, remembered my feet and sat down again. I aimed my words
where the last action had been.
Will you stop it! You re making a fool of yourself. Please, go away.
Can t Charli. You need me here. I can t go until I know you re okay. The rules are set.
Now I had a voice, either a spirit or a ghost, and it had rules. What else could
possibly happen?
Well, hell! My language would be in the gutter if I had to contend with this voice
for much longer. Just go. I can t deal with you now. Go. Please!
I ll go, but I ll be back. I can t leave until I m done.
My curiosity was piqued but I wasn t going to ask questions. If I did, I d never get
him out of here. And I wanted him gone. Dangerous thoughts were buzzing in my
mind about the voice. I wanted time to think before I said anything more.
To anybody.
42
Deja You
Chapter Six
The voice was with us, in the backseat of the little MG.
I knew it. I could feel the faintly warm breeze on the back of my neck telling me it
was there. I still wasn t happy calling it he like Maddie did, because if I did I might
have to admit I knew whose spirit this was.
While he drove, Ethan told me a little about the apartment building he d found, one
he thought I might like, one I could probably afford.
Then he insulted me.
If you can t quite make the rent, Charli, let me know. I ll give you a raise to cover
it.
I don t know if he said anything more because I wasn t listening. I was too busy
going ballistic.
Ethan Harwood, pull over. Stop this car right now. We re going to talk.
I think he could tell he d done something wrong by the tone of my voice. If he
couldn t, he d find out as soon as I started talking.
He stopped the car in a no-parking zone, hit the button for the four-way flashers
and turned off the motor.
To the accompaniment of the monotonous click of the flasher I did my best to
contain my anger and speak in a reasonable tone.
You are not going to give me a raise to cover any rent I can t afford right now. If I
can t afford this apartment on my own, then it wasn t meant for me. Do you
understand?
I looked at him, sitting there with a half-smile on his face, and knew without a
doubt it wouldn t matter what I said, he d make sure I could afford the rent.
Turning to face the front, I set my body as rigidly as I could to try and make him
believe I was serious. I watched him when I uttered the next sentence and knew I had
finally got through to his stubborn male mind.
Take me home. Back to my apartment. I don t want to see this place and I m not
returning to your mother s house. I want my own apartment.
Come on, Charli, be serious. You can t&
Can t what, Ethan? Survive on my own in a tenement? I ve been doing it for three
years. Until last night you didn t have a clue what kind of life I led. You weren t
interested. You have never, in the three years I ve worked for you, asked about my life
outside the office. You didn t know where I lived. You didn t know if I had problems of
43
Kelsy George
any kind money, people, apartment. But now it s touched your life outside the office,
you re going to make everything right? Well, you can t.
Charli
Take me home. I no longer looked at him but stared straight ahead.
Charli, babe, you gotta take it easy here. I think this is someone you might want on your
side. If things get rough, you re going to need someone like him. Be careful you don t burn all
your bridges too soon.
Things get rough? Burn my bridges! On top of Ethan s pronouncement this was just
too much.
Before he could react I had the door open and was climbing out of the car. It hurt,
but I didn t care. I could feel all Maddie s work coming undone but I could fix it later.
Right now all I wanted was to get away from the voice and from Ethan.
Charli, get back in here.
Ethan hadn t moved, probably believing I would do as he told me because he was
my boss. Too bad. He was in for a rude awakening. And if he pushed the point, I d do
something stupid and quit. I had experience. I was good. I could probably get a job
someplace else.
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