Merry, Merry Ghost by Carolyn Hart Page B

happy day in so long.”
    Gina’s eyes glistened. “We’re glad for you, Susan. He’s a nice little boy.” She removed the napkin and the cover. “Do you want coffee now?”
    At Susan’s nod, Gina poured from the hottle. Then she took a deep breath. “Can I talk to you for a minute?”
    Her voice was shaky.
    Some of the light fled Susan’s face. She looked up, gave a tiny sigh. “What’s wrong?”

    Gina stood stiff and still, her thin face twisted in despair, her shoulders hunched. “I owe almost forty thousand dollars on my credit cards.”
    Susan’s aristocratic features stiffened. Her dark eyes gazed at Gina with a long measuring look. She didn’t speak.
    Gina’s hands twisted together. “I know. I’m a fool. But I had that good job for a while and I got so many credit card offers and I signed up and I wasn’t thinking. I was able to make the payments until I lost my job and now I can’t find a job.”
    Susan glanced at Gina’s outfit. “I saw those trousers in a Neiman catalog. They were expensive. Bedford pants. Very distinctive.”
    Gina stared at the floor.
    “You have beautiful clothes. You’ve always liked fine things.” Susan was more grieved than scolding.
    “You’ve always spent money you didn’t have. Tucker has helped you, hasn’t he? I suppose you’ve asked Jake, too.”
    Gina pulled her hands apart, turned them out in appeal. “I’m desperate. I can’t get a job, and I get all these threatening phone calls.”
    Susan was brusque. “You were able to make the payments. Don’t you understand, Gina? That’s going into debt. The interest charged is huge. What will happen if I pay the debts? Will you live on what you can earn, buy things only if you have the money to pay for them? Somehow I’m afraid you’ll fall back into your old ways. I don’t know. Maybe this time you will have to work out your problems by yourself.” She made a sudden swift gesture. “I’ll think about what should be done. Let’s not talk any more. I have much to do today.” She turned to her breakfast, her face stern.

    Susan gestured with her ebony black cane. “Look toward the back of the closet.” There was a becoming pink flush in her pale cheeks. Her softly waved hair was brushed back, emphasizing her expressive face. Regal in her red silk brocade dressing gown, she was full of cheer. There was no hint of her uncomfortable morning encounter with Gina.
    Jake reluctantly stepped into a long cavernous closet with a flashlight in one hand. “What if there are fiddlebacks?”
    Susan laughed aloud. “Would a fiddleback dare hide in any house under your supervision?”
    Jake’s voice sounded hollow as she slowly moved deeper into the closet. “No one dusts in here. No one’s been in here for years.”
    Susan’s face was suddenly somber. Lines of sorrow pulled at her face. “No. Not for years.” She gripped the head of the cane. “At the back, there are boxes with Ellen’s name. Look for the one that reads Carousel .”
    “Ooh. A spider.” There was a sound of a stamping foot.
    Susan’s expression was a mixture of irritation and amusement.
    “I see the box.” Jake’s voice lifted in triumph. “It’s on top. I’m not sure…Yes, I can. Oh, it’s not too heavy.”

    She stepped into the hall. She held a box out in front of her, gripping it with obvious uneasiness.
    Susan led the way, the cane thumping on the floor. She opened the door to the blue room.
    Keith sat cross-legged on his bed, stacking his plastic gold coins, patiently picking them up when they slid and fell. Duchess rested at the foot of his bed, golden gaze fixed on the plastic coins. Keith looked up as the door opened, his expression uncertain.
    Susan’s face shone with delight. “Good morning, Keith.”
    Peg turned from the mirror, laid a hairbrush on the dresser with a smile. “Good morning, Susan. Keith ate a huge breakfast. Keith, here’s your grandmother.”
    Susan came across the room, bent to kiss his cheek.