Page 19 of Guy
Making a few more calls to the police department that had been in charge of the investigation, it was determined that her uncle was at fault even though there was little that could be done about his heart stroking out so she called a doctor friend of hers when she needed more information on the ‘life support’ that had been keeping her uncle alive for the last two weeks.
“It was a big one from what I’ve read about it.Even if he had been in the hospital with his body hooked up to monitors, he wouldn’t have survived.Cindy was nearly decapitated.The reason it says that she died at the hospital a day later is that they were both donors and were kept alive because of their organs.Not everyone knows that.Your family was able to save six lives by being a donor, and made it so that four people will be able to see.More people should do that.”She asked him what she needed to do now.“You’re taking over for your mother?I hope the hell so.She’ll fuck it up even if they do have their arrangements made.”
“Yes, I’m taking over.”She thought about what he said and wasn’t even offended by what he said about her mom.She was a royal pain in the ass.“They do have their arrangements made, and everything should be paid for.Whatever is left over will go to their estate.Whatever that might entail.”
Her aunt and uncle were good people, and while she had no idea what their estate might be, she knew that they lived modestly and didn’t seem to have trouble paying for things when they came up.She was going to miss them both terribly.
Finishing up what she’d been working on, Ben allowed her to leave to take care of things for them.Once she was at the funeral directors, she was told that everything was indeed paid for and that all the arrangements had been made.She was glad for that.It made the whole process seem more personal to her, rather than her having to guess what they might want done.
She did decide for them to have services together and for there to be one room used for the two of them.Sen knew they were well-liked and thought of, so she didn’t have any trouble agreeing to the one full day of calling hours with the service the next day.Everything else had been taken care of by them.
After getting things arranged, she made her way to the police station, where she got an update on the accident.It was just as she’d been told.Uncle Robert had had a stroke, causing the accident that pushed traffic at a light, killing her aunt immediately.Her uncle, brain-dead from the stroke, was kept alive so that his organs could be harvested, as he and his wife had been donors forever.
Going back to her apartment, she was surprised to find a box from someone on her doorstep.Taking it inside, she was dismayed to find her mother waiting for her in her living room.She asked her what she was doing.
“That landlord of yours wasn’t going to allow me to come in until I told him about Robert.I had to lie and tell him that you knew I was meeting you here so he’d allow me in.Why do you lock your door anyway, Sen?It’s not like you have anything worth stealing.Besides, it makes it difficult for me to get into your place when you’re not home.”She told her that was the point of the lock.“I don’t understand.You want me to be locked out of your place?Whyever for?I’m your mother.As I said, youhave nothing that anyone wants anyway.How did the arrangements go?”
“Well, they were all done up like I knew that they would be.I only had to approve the calling hours for them.”She picked up her mom’s boots and put them by the door.“The next time you break into my place, could you at the very least clean up after yourself?I might not have anything to steal, but I do like the things that I have.”
“Oh, get over it.”Her mom put her feet up on the couch, and Sen was happy that at least she didn’t have her muddy boots on.“I’ve come here to stay until the will is read.I’m sure he had one.Since he outlived Cindy, if there isn’t a will, it will all come to me.I’ve never cared for her in the first place.Not good enough for my big brother.”
“I loved her, and she was good enough for Uncle Robert.They were a great couple.”Mom did that waving her off thing again, and it annoyed her.“Use your words, Mom.I know you have plenty of them.You never seem to run out when you’re talking to me.”
“You’re in a mood.”She said that her favorite uncle and aunt had died.“They were old, darling, and they were going to die anyway.Why don’t you take me shopping, and we’ll get some lunch?Well, it’s too late for lunch, so we’ll have an early dinner.Your treat.”
“I don’t want to have an early dinner with you, and I can’t afford to go shopping with you.In fact, I can’t afford dinner with you either.You always pick the most expensive places when it’s my ‘treat’.On top of that, you usually want to have your nails done or something along those lines, and I don’t have the money for it.”She asked why she was forever broke.Telling her that she was going to have to manage her money better.“I do, but when you come around, I have to pick eating peanut butter sandwiches for the rest of the week or my rent.I decided that telling younois better on my wallet and stomach.”
Even though she said she was going to stay, her mom left about an hour later.She left her with a migraine as well as an upset belly.Taking something for both, Sen laid down on her cleaned up couch and closed her eyes.It was easier to deal with her ailments than with her mother staying the night when she wasn’t really invited.She was going to have to talk to the landlord about him letting her mom into her place, too.Mom was the main reason that she had locks on her door in the first place.
Chapter 9
Guy sat in his office trying to figure out where he wanted to go next.He’d been sitting in here for the last two hours, and all he could think about was that Amber wasn’t home and he was bored.He never got bored when he was alone in the house, and he couldn’t figure out why it was suddenly bothering him now.
“Because you’ve opened up your heart and now they all want in it for some reason.”He had opened his mind too; he didn’t snap anymore, nor did he enjoy his own company.He was blaming that on his family.They had pushed and shoved their way into his head and heart, and now they were there all the time.“Stupid family.”
Smiling, he thought about what Belinda would have said about that statement.She would have yelled at him and told him that the best thing in the world was family and that he should appreciate them more.Guy had gotten in the habit of talking to himself because he wanted Belinda to hear him and shake him out of his mood.But she was gone now, and he missed the dead woman.
No other ghosts had come around him.He could see them.Not as many as Selma did, but he could see them hanging out in places.More than likely, they didn’t understand that he could see them standing about.It was just as well; he didn’t want anything to do with them any more than they did him.
Just this morning, one showed up in his office.Ignoring them in favor of looking things up for the coming spring, he decided that if they didn’t bother with him, then he’d be all right not to be bothered by them.It was a win-win situation for him.Not so much for the ghosts, he supposed.
He had enough going on right now with deadlines for upcoming books as well as things around the house being done, so that when the spring auctions came along, he’d know just what he needed in the way of the household.They needed bedroom suits for sure, and if he could find a couple of landscape pictures to go into the rooms, he’d be thrilled about that.
There were other things that he thought would fill out the rooms.Objects of curiosity would be nice, along with a few rugs in the right price range, as all the rooms had hardwood floors.He and Amber discussed it, and they wanted to name the rooms by color.Having it called the blue room or the yellow room would also make it easier to have guests put in specially named rooms rather than saying the one at the top of the stairs.It was something that he was looking forward to a great deal.
He looked up from his now sleeping computer to see what Amber wanted when she called his name.Her smile could mean anything, but he waited for her to tell him what she needed.She came further into the room while he waited for her to speak.
“I just spoke to Ivan again.He wants to know if you want to go with him to an auction that is set up in one of the bigger buildings in Zanesville.He said it’s an open affair and that means that there might be more than one lot at the auction.”He asked when it was.“Tomorrow morning.He said it’s one of his favorite auctioneers who is running it, and he wants us both to go with him.I think the clinic is closed on Thursdays.”
“It is, and what do you think about going?It won’t be like a house auction, but it could be fun.And it will get us out of the house.I’m sort of bored with the same walls.How about you?”She said she was game if he was.“Good.Tell him that—I’ll tell him we’ll go.We’ll take the truck if the weather holds.Do you know what it’s supposed to do tomorrow?”
“Sunny all morning and into the afternoon.Then storm clouds build up after seven for it to drop another inch or two of the wet stuff on us.”She laughed.“I’m not normally so up on the weather channel, but I was just in the kitchen and Katy was saying how she needs to go to the grocery store tomorrow on her day off.”
“Good.We’ll go.”He rubbed his hands together.“You get the name of the building, and I’ll check to see if it has heat or not.More than likely it does, but just how much heat will be the question.I went to one once, and the heat was all right, but the floor seemed to be doubly cold, and my legs and feet ached when I walked around.I don’t know if the concrete was just too cold or if I’d strained something the day before.But we’ll be prepared.”
By the time he got in touch with his brother, it was late in the day.He’d gotten a little more work done, an outline for the next detective book, and was working on a title when he remembered that he needed to contact his brother.Armed with the name of the building and the way it was going to be heated, he figured they’d be all right when the time came for them to be hanging out at the auction house.Both he and his wolf couldn’t stand to be cold, unlike his brothers, who loved to romp in the snowy weather like big wolves did.
Going up to bed later that night, he was very happy to see that Amber was naked.She mostly wore one of his shirts to sleep in, but when she was in the mood, she was as naked as the day she was born.He got into the bed just as unclothed as she was.
