Bartholomew 02 - How to Marry a Ghost Read Online Free PDF

Marriott have a house round here? I thought he lived in New York.” I wondered if my mother had mentioned that I had hoped to be working for him.
    “Oh sure, I think he’s got an apartment on Central Park West or someplace but he spends a lot of time out here, probably because he can keep a low profile. He transplanted a couple of giant barns into the woods along the bay—maybe they even came from England originally.”
    “You’ve been there?”
    “Oh, no. No one gets invited there—socially, I mean. He keeps himself to himself. We only know he’s there because

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    people had to go there to clean and maintain the house and the word got out it was his.You’ll see him around now and again—
    walking on the beach or grabbing a bit of late night sushi at Mount Fuji. They give him a table in back and leave him alone.
    But that’s it, pretty much.You won’t see him at any fancy parties or anything.”
    “Sounds like your dad,” I said without thinking.
    “Right. Sounds like my dad,” he echoed. “You’ve gotten to know him a bit then?”
    “I have,” I said, “just a little and I have to say I love what I know. He’s a sweetheart. I prejudged him before I even met him and I was totally wrong.”
    “How come?”
    “Oh, I suppose I was just being protective of my mother. I sort of freaked when I heard he was so rich, I thought he’d be odious and ostentatious and I wouldn’t have anything in common with him.” I suddenly realized what I was saying. “I mean, nothing personal about your family. I’m just weird.” I shrugged and grinned at him. “Don’t ask me why but being around too much money makes me uncomfortable.”
    “You don’t have to say another word. I get it. I’m here to tell you having money can cause as many problems as not having any sometimes. And you know what? I had the same doubts about your mom. I thought she might be like all the other women who tried to snare him. They never got the point of him, they just wanted his lifestyle. I think they just liked the idea of putting
    ‘wife of Philip Abernathy’ on their résumés. He and my mom had such a terrific marriage, he was devastated when she died. I never thought he’d find anyone to replace her but I can see he’s totally smitten by Vanessa.”
    “Has he told you why?” I was curious.
    “He loves how she’s so down to earth, he loves her energy, but

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    he says she’s also got a vulnerable side. He figures she’s been repressed emotionally for years. Now I would never say my dad was one of those touchy-feely kind of people but he seems determined to help her—as he puts it—learn to love herself and express her love for others.”
    I didn’t say anything. I didn’t feel comfortable admitting to Rufus—whom I had only just met—that I had always had a problem relating to my mother emotionally. But it seemed he knew without my telling him.
    “You don’t get on with your mother?”
    “We get along fine but we’re not close.” I decided to trust him. He was my “brother” after all. “We’re just so different. It’s like our roles are reversed and I’m her mother rather than the other way round. You mentioned her energy. She puts me to shame and I’m over twenty years younger. She has style, she keeps up with the world far more than I do—”
    “I’m sure you do all right,” he said gently. “Family members don’t have to be identical. Look at Scott and me.”
    “Tell me about Scott—” I began. He was my “brother” too, so I had better start getting to know him.
    “Maybe later,” said Rufus. “He’s not my favorite topic of conversation. C’mon, we have to go get breakfast. I need an egg sandwich bad.We’ll take Dad’s Jeep and go along the beach.
    “You’ll like Mickey’s,” he told me as we bounced along the dunes, “although I shouldn’t really be calling it that. Old Mrs.
    Mickey ran it as a little mom-and-pop convenience store.