2 The Ghosts Upstairs

by SUE FINEMAN

  By the time they had dinner on the table, Billy had come downstairs. “I left the drop cloths down, since we have to give it a second coat tomorrow.”

  “What do you think of the color?” Kayla asked.

  “I like all the colors you’ve picked, including the girly color in the nursery.”

  Georgia grinned. “I picked that one. I think it’s pretty.”

  “It is pretty.”

  “But girly?” Georgia teased.

  “Definitely girly,” he replied. “My sister would probably like it.”

  “She’s cute. Why don’t your sister and brothers go to the academy?”

  “Because my parents think the public schools in the city are just as good as the private schools, and they don’t have to pay tuition.”

  Georgia stirred the gravy. “It’s a status thing for some people.”

  Kayla would be more concerned about where her kids could get the best education.

  <>

  Kayla and Billy finished painting the golden yellow suite, and the painter finished the big attic room and the short bedroom hallway. She wanted to paint the bedrooms and bathrooms in the attic, but she needed to paint the master suite first, so they could air out the paint fumes and move Georgia upstairs. The girl needed a bigger space with a bigger closet, especially after the baby came, and they had plenty of empty suites upstairs.

  Georgia went out looking for a part-time job and came home looking dejected. “There are jobs available, but nobody wants to hire a pregnant teenager.”

  Kayla gave her a big hug. Georgia was trying so hard to get her life together, to earn some money so she could pay room and board, but she couldn’t find a job. Billy wasn’t having any luck job hunting either.

  “I have to go talk with someone at the college tomorrow.”

  “Did you call them?”

  “Yeah, they said I’d have to come in and talk to someone in the Admissions office about changing my starting date from September to January. I’m going in tomorrow morning.”

  Billy called from the study, “Kayla, telephone. It’s your mother.”

  Kayla wiped her hands on the dishtowel and grabbed the phone. “Mama?”

  “Hey, baby. Leonard said you were in Ohio to get an inheritance. I figured it had to be from your daddy’s side of the family, since my family was dirt poor.”

  Kayla smiled. “Daddy’s cousin died and left some money to the cousins. I already got my share.”

  “Then why are you still there?”

  “I like it here, and I’m living in a big house and helping Billy Kane get it ready to sell. He’s paying me for cleaning and painting and such.” She didn’t want to talk about her inheritance. “What’s going on with you?”

  “I’m alone again. Jerry went back to his wife.”

  “But you have that job on the sitcom.”

  “No, it didn’t work out. There are too many pretty young things out here, and I’m not so young and pretty anymore.”

  “Oh, that’s too bad.”

  “I thought… I thought I might come for a visit, if you got a place for me to stay.”

  “Sure. Come on out for a visit.” If Billy didn’t want her mother staying here, Kayla could find her a motel room. Shoot, Mama lived in a motel between boyfriends anyway.

  “Are you going back home, or are you gonna stay in Ohio?”

  “I don’t know yet.”

  “What about Leonard?”

  “What about him? We’re divorced.”

  “Yeah, I know, but he seems to think you’re gonna come back to him.”

  “He’s dreaming.”

  “I have a go-see in the morning for another acting job. If it doesn’t work out, I’ll get a plane ticket.”

  “Okay, just let me know when you’re coming.”

  Kayla ended the call, wondering if Mama was actually coming this time. Every time she hit a low point, she talked about coming to see her only daughter, but she seldom followed through. She’d find another job or another boyfriend and stay right there, in what Granny always called, “La-La Land.”

  She’d like to see her mama more often, but this might not be the best time, what with Billy looking for work.

  Mama probably wouldn’t come anyway.

  <>

  Georgia spent most of the day on Tuesday waiting in line and talking to different people at OSU’s River Valley campus. She came home with a big smile on her face. “It has to be approved when the dean gets back from vacation, and I might be put on a waiting list, but she said I shouldn’t have any problems starting in January. She asked if I’d rather go in Columbus, and I said no. Dustin is going there, and I don’t want to run into him on campus. Besides, I think I’ll do better at a smaller campus. The campus in Columbus is huge.”

  “Can you take all the classes you need here?” Kayla asked her.

  “Until I start med school.” She sat on a stool at the kitchen counter. “Assuming I get into a medical school.”

  “You will. I know you will.” Kayla wanted Georgia to know she believed in her, because she did. In the few weeks she’d been here, they’d become close friends. Kayla felt like an older sister, and Billy was her mentor.

  Georgia’s parents still hadn’t called or come by, even though they knew where she was and who she was living with. She’d gotten past the disappointment, but Kayla knew the hurt wouldn’t go away anytime soon, if ever.

  Wednesday morning, Billy dressed in his paint clothes and walked upstairs, where Kayla was taping off the baseboard. She looked up at Billy. “Don’t plan to paint all day.”

  “Why not?”

  “You have kids coming for a class this afternoon.”

  He groaned. “I forgot. I’ll tape the trim and start painting tomorrow.”

  “I’ll do it today. I’m taking Georgia shopping tomorrow. She only has two outfits that fit. She’s outgrowing everything.”

  He turned away. “You don’t want to tell me about your inheritance? That is what you’re spending, isn’t it?”

  “I didn’t want to say anything while you were looking for work.”

  “How much did Eleanor leave you?”

  “Enough to pay the bills until you find a job.”

  “Okay, don’t tell me.” He threw down the roll of blue tape and walked away.

  She’d hurt his feelings by not telling him. Would he feel better knowing, or would he feel worse knowing she could support them and he couldn’t?

  Following him down to the study, she sat across the desk from him. “My inheritance was almost six-hundred thousand. It’s my fault you lost your job, and it’s my turn to pay the bills. Let me help you finish the house, and then if you don’t want me here, I’ll leave.”

  “It’s my fault I lost my job, and I may not find another one this year. What then?” He threw down his pen. “What if I don’t find one next year either?”

  “Then I’ll look for a job. In the meantime, we’ll live on Eleanor’s money, and we’ll either sell this house or rent out rooms. There’s no reason you should have to support me when I have all this money.”

  She walked around the desk and pulled his head against her breasts. It broke her heart to see his self-confidence draining away. He was a good man and a wonderful teacher. Surely someone would hire him.

  He wrapped his arms around her waist and held her for several seconds. She felt the tension in his body slowly ease. He still hadn’t told her he loved her. She knew he did, but he didn’t trust that love. Maybe he never would, but she wasn’t ready to give up on him. Not yet.

  Billy let go. “I need to get a lesson plan worked up for this class. I have a feeling those four boys will bring their friends with them.”

  “Good thing Georgia’s making cookies.”

  He gazed into her eyes. “Good thing I have you, Kayla. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

  “Are you asking me to stay with you?”

  “Yes. Please stay.”

  Everything seemed so tentativ
e between them. Why couldn’t he tell her he loved her?

  <>

  Billy put together a short class in basic sex education. He expected eight to ten boys, but twenty-four showed up, all students at the academy, and all with notes signed by a parent. He sent them into the library, where they sat on the furniture and on the oriental rug in front of the sofa. He checked all their permission notes and had the boys put their home phone numbers on them, then put them aside and began the class.

  An hour later, as he was finishing up, Kayla invited the boys to the kitchen for cookies.

  Billy held up a finger. “Hold on a minute. If you kids want the second class, be here next Wednesday, same time, and we’ll continue.”

  Based on the questions they’d asked, these kids hadn’t had the most basic sex education until today. At least two of the boys had already experimented with girls, and others thought they’d go blind from masturbating.

  If that was the case, most of the male population would be blind.

  Chapter Nineteen

  That evening, Donovan showed up at the house with the police reports of the incident at the strip club in Memphis. “The police report says you were topless, Kayla.”

  “Well, technically I guess I was, after that jerk tore my top open.”

  “The pictures from the TV video show a drunken patron out of control.” Donovan handed them to Kayla. Billy looked at them over her shoulder.

  Kayla felt embarrassed all over again when she saw the pictures. Billy’s daddy had seen those pictures, and other people had seen them, too.

  “The police report is wrong,” she said, “probably because it was written by that crooked police officer who copped a feel and then stole all my tip money.”

  “He’s under investigation for inappropriate behavior.”

  “Because of what he did to me?”

  “To you and your friend. She has agreed to cooperate with the officers from Internal Affairs. If they get enough evidence to take him to court, they’ll want you to go to Memphis to testify against him.”

  “Oh, I don’t know about—”

  “Do you want him to victimize other women?”

  “No,” she said on a sigh. “If there’s no other way, I’ll testify against him.” Maybe he’d admit doing wrong and she wouldn’t have to testify. And maybe she’d have to sit up there in front of God and everybody and talk about things she’d rather forget.

  She’d die of humiliation.

  <>

  The architect made very few changes to Andy’s design for the front of the house. As soon as the city approved the building permit, Billy ordered the construction supplies from Valley Lumber. His family work crew would be at the house on Saturday morning to build the porte-cochere. He was anxious to see how it looked when it was finished.

  While Georgia watched television in the family room that evening, Billy and Kayla watched videotapes in the secret room. Watching one tape of Eleanor at the hospital, Billy heard William ask Eleanor, “How are you feeling after your treatment?”

  Eleanor didn’t respond. Her eyes were blank. He wondered what kind of treatment she’d had, when Kayla said, “Oh, my God. They gave her shock treatments. No wonder she looks half dead.”

  “How do you know?”

  She stared at him. “How do you think I know? I’m psychic.” She toggled her head side to side. “Or kinda psychic.”

  “So you are, but stay out of my head. There are scary things in there.”

  She laughed, a sexy, throaty sound that crept through his body and settled in his groin. Even with all the other things he had on his mind, one laugh was all it took to bring his focus to Kayla.

  She looked down at the erection straining against the zipper of his jeans. “Will you look at that thing? It pops up at the strangest times. Maybe you should finish this tape so we can go upstairs and take care of that little problem.”

  “Little problem?”

  She laughed again, and he turned off the TV with the video still in the VCR. He had more important things to do, like showing her just how big this problem really was.

  <>

  Kayla and Billy finished painting the master suite and carried all the paint and painting supplies up to the attic. They had a lot of pale gray left, so they’d paint at least two walls of each of the bedrooms with that, with accent walls in other colors – red from the kitchen and family room, dark gray from the living and dining rooms, gray-blue from the master, and the last room would be whatever they had left. They’d paint both bathrooms and the attic powder room the same color as the big attic room. They had a bunch of that paint left, too.

  When they finished up here, Kayla would start on the laundry room and maid’s rooms. She wasn’t sure how much longer Billy wanted her to stay, and she wanted to leave the house in good shape, with the painting finished.

  <>

  Billy, his father, Trevor, and Billy’s twin brothers worked on the frame for the porte-cochere Saturday morning. While the men worked outside, Hannah and Kayla helped Georgia move her things up to the nursery suite. They moved the bed and dresser from Maggie’s suite, made the bed, and fixed up the bedroom until it looked really pretty. They were sorting through the baby clothes when Charlie came in and asked if they needed help with anything. Kayla figured he just wanted to get a better look at Georgia, but if he wanted to move furniture, it would save her and Billy from doing it later on. “Can you move the love seat and chair in here from the other room?”

  “Show me,” he said, so Georgia showed him which pieces she wanted. Maggie didn’t have a desk, but Kayla had one on hold in a furniture store near the mall. It was a big library table with two drawers. She’d also bought a matching bookcase and a storage cabinet. Billy had bought her a comfortable desk chair from Office Depot. It was still in the box in Donovan’s garage. Her parents might not send her anything for her eighteenth birthday, but it was a big birthday, and Kayla wouldn’t let it pass unnoticed.

  By noon, the men had the porte-cochere framed and the roof started. Tomorrow they’d have it nearly finished. Since Billy wasn’t working, he’d do the rest himself during the week. Next weekend, he and his family work crew planned to replace the ugly front door. What would he do without his family?

  His Transylvania-look castle was looking more and more like a home.

  Kayla opened the front door and asked, “How are you doing?”

  “We were doing fine, until Charlie disappeared,” said Trevor.

  “He helped us move furniture.”

  “Good for him,” said Dad. “Now tell him to get his butt back out here. We need him.”

  “Oh, I gave him money for lunch. Georgia went with him.” She waved at the van on the street. “They’re pulling away now. Sorry. I should have gotten lunch myself.”

  “No, that’s okay,” said Billy. “They’ll be right back, and we all need a break.”

  Hannah stood beside the open front door. “While they’re gone, let’s talk about Georgia’s birthday. She’ll be eighteen on Friday, and I want to have a party for her.”

  “She’d love it, Hannah,” said Kayla. “I figure it’ll be a tough day for her.”

  By the time they’d made the party arrangements, Charlie and Georgia were back with two buckets of chicken and everything that went with it.

  <>

  Thursday evening Billy received a phone call from Mrs. Banning. “Mr. Kane, the members of the board would like to visit with you at your home. Would this evening be convenient for you?”

  “What’s this about?”

  “We’d like to speak with you about a teaching position at the academy, and along with that, we have a proposal to make.”

  They had a change of heart? Okay. He’d listen to what they had to say. “This evening would be fine, Mrs. Banning.”

  There were five positions on the board of the academy, and three of those people appeared at his front door that evening. Mr. Daly was the retired owner of a big accounting firm. Mr. Stanton was a wealt
hy philanthropist who served on the boards of several corporations. His granddaughter and grandson attended the academy. Mrs. Banning had served on the public school board for many years. When she was defeated in an election, she and her husband invested in the academy. They both served on the board, but Mr. Banning wasn’t there tonight. Since Mrs. Packard retired, the fifth position had not yet been filled.

  Billy shook hands with each of them and invited them into his study. If this had been a social visit, he would have taken them into the living room, but this wasn’t a social call. They were there on business. As soon as everyone settled in a chair, Billy sat behind the desk and waited for someone to speak.

  Mrs. Banning, the woman who led the board, said, “We’d like to offer you a job, Mr. Kane. The kids at the academy love you, and for good reason. You’re a fine teacher.”

  “What would I be teaching?”

  “Gym, driver’s training, and human sexuality. I understand several parents have sent their boys to you for classes this summer.”

  “Yes, they have. Why the change of heart on sex education?”

  “Because parents have requested it, Mr. Kane. And because they like the way you teach it.”

  Interesting. He’d tried to talk to them about it several times before, but these fine, upstanding citizens wouldn’t listen to him. Mrs. Banning had always insisted the parents didn’t want it.

  Billy didn’t say he’d take the job. He wanted to hear their proposal first, and he wanted a chance to negotiate. “What’s the other part of this?”

  “We’re having problems finding the boarding students adequate homes to live in during the school year.”

  Now he understood. They wanted his house. Did the school have enough money to buy it? Or were they asking him to board students in his home? Billy leaned back and waited for them to get to the point.

  “Would you be interested in boarding students here?” Mr. Daly asked.