Ghostly Liaison by Stacy McKitrick Page A

Years of pictures, many including Rob’s father, cluttered the walls. A credenza lined the left wall and included several pictures of Carl’s family.
    Barnaby stopped in the doorway and growled. Rob tugged on the leash, silencing the dog. How did he manage to mix the two people up? Shouldn’t he growl at Margo and be happy to see Carl?
    “Is Linda okay?” Rob asked.
    Carl was leaning back in his chair reading what appeared to be Rob’s documents. He looked over his glasses. “Her sister went into labor.”
    Rob let out an easy breath. Thank God. That meant he wouldn’t have to see Margo tomorrow.
    Carl sat up and placed his glasses on the desk. “By the way, Rialto is back on. They paid their bill.”
    And it was a huge bill. But he doubted it was completely good news for Carl since his son had died there. “How will this impact the new office project? Will we have enough workers?”
    “Taken care of.”
    “Do you need me to take over Rialto?”
    Carl stared at him for several seconds. “Thanks, but I’m good, actually. It’ll be a relief to get it finished.” He waved the papers in the air. “What is this?”
    And that was his cue to leave.
    “None of your business.” Rob snatched the papers and turned toward the exit.
    “Wait. I think we need to talk.”
    Rob respected Carl, but didn’t need him interfering with his life. “Talk about what? That you opened my personal mail? This has nothing to do with work.”
    “I didn’t realize it was personal until I started reading it. Sit. Please.”
    If he didn’t stay and hear Carl out, he’d probably never hear the end of it. He grabbed a seat. Barnaby lay on the floor beside his feet.
    Carl pointed to the papers. “Does this have anything to do with your house sitter?”
    House sitter or future girlfriend? Rob was betting on the latter. “She seems to think I’m going to kick her out into the street if we don’t get along. I thought a contract would ease her worries.”
    “But the contract stipulates she gets the property if you should die before the six months are up.”
    “Yeah, so? Who else am I going to give the house to? Some cousin I don’t even know?”
    “No, but you have a business. Have you had your will drawn up yet?”
    Rob sat straighter. For once he was ahead of the game. So what if the lawyer had practically bribed him. It was worth it. “Already done. And just so you know, I’m leaving you the business.”
    “Rob, you don’t have to do that.”
    “You deserve it. Besides, I don’t have anyone else to leave it to. Not that I plan on dying any time soon.”
    “Well, at least you can change it if you get married or have kids.”
    If Carl had mentioned that last week, Rob would have laughed in his face. But after meeting Bridget, it didn’t seem so funny. True, he hardly knew her, but it didn’t stop him from wanting to spend every free minute with her. She was all he thought about. Marriage was looking less scary, but first he had to convince Bridget to start dating.
    * * * *
    Sitting in Kate’s office using the computer, Bridget typed Nick Anders’s name in the search box and waited. Damn slow computer.
    “Does Kate know you’re in here?”
    Bridget flinched at the squeaky voice and inadvertently clicked the page closed. “Gee, Tori. Way to sneak up on a person.”
    “Well, if you didn’t have your nose buried in the screen, you would have seen me approach. What’s so interesting?”
    “It’s personal. And yes, Kate knows I’m in here.”
    “Listen, while I got you, I need you to do me a favor.” Tori closed the door and leaned against it. “Don’t ask Rob over to fix the house on Friday. I want to ask him out, and I don’t want him feeling obligated to work on the house.”
    “For your information, he comes over when he feels like it, not by my request. If he wants to go out with you, I’m sure the house won’t stop him.” Well, it wouldn’t stop anyone else. Rob might use the excuse to be nice.
    “You