Dead People Read Online Free PDF Page A

floor hallway.
    Pale pink tinted Tricia’s cheeks as she gestured at the stairway flowing upward another flight. “Luke uses the tower room as his studio. Here’s his bedroom.” She walked a few feet to an open door and stopped. “Erin’s is down the hall. They both face the lake.”
    “Erin’s bedroom is in the other tower?”
    “There’s only one real tower. The other one is for looks.” Tricia stepped back from the doorway. “I haven’t gotten to this floor yet, and he’s messy.”
    Cassie peeked inside at a king-sized bed and a chest of drawers. A pair of jeans lay on the floor. The bed sheets were rumpled, the royal blue cover trailing on the wooden floor. A restless sleeper. He’d said Isabel’s ghost didn’t trouble him, but maybe his own ghosts kept him awake.
    A stack of books sat on the dresser. Craning her neck, she read the titles. Fathering for Dummies. The Single Father. The Single Dad’s Survival Guide. The Collected Wisdom of Fathers.
    “Coming?” Tricia asked.
    Cassie cleared phlegm from her throat and followed Tricia.
    Erin’s bedroom was decorated with fluffy white rugs dotting the mellow wood floor, white lacy curtains, a bedspread dotted with butterflies, and cheery yellow walls designed to make a little girl happy.
    Picturing Erin’s sad little face, Cassie wanted to tell Luke it wasn’t working.
    Tricia lifted a framed photo from Erin’s nightstand. “Vanessa Desidero. Isn’t she beautiful?”
    Even with burgundy-streaked platinum blonde hair and vampire eye makeup, the thin-faced woman possessed an eerie beauty. Cassie leaned back. Easy to imagine the woman in the photo gazing at her reflection and chanting, “Mirror, mirror, on the wall...”
    Tricia set the photo back on the nightstand and pointed at a closed door. “There’s Erin’s bathroom. She’s kind of odd. I don’t think I’ve seen her smile once.”
    Cassie shrugged. If Tricia thought Erin was odd, it was a good thing she hadn’t known Cassie when she was a child. Especially after her father married TWM. The Wicked Stepmother.
    But she’d turned out okay. Like Joe said, she was well-adjusted for a live person.
    “Does Isabel show up here?” Cassie gestured at the room.
    “You’ll have to ask Erin.” Tricia wound a strand of hair around her index finger. “She doesn’t confide in me, not yet. But she will. Kids love me. That’s why Luke hired me. It’s just taking Erin longer than most.”
    Cassie bit her lower lip. Tricia was making it about her, not Erin. But so what? Living children weren’t Cassie’s concern.
    She frowned. Something unnatural and unusual and uncomfortable was happening to her. More unnatural than talking to ghosts.
    She was starting to care .  
    Cassie shivered. If she ignored these new feelings, maybe they would go away. “I wonder why Isabel shows herself to Erin and Luke, and not you. You’re the one who knew her.”
    Tricia grabbed another strand and started plaiting the two. “I’m her housekeeper’s daughter. Way beneath her notice. Like ankle level.”
    “She sounds like—” Cassie stopped her words and glanced around. She couldn’t feel anything in the room, but ghosts could be sneaky, ectoplasmic things.
    “A bitch. And she was. My mom cried like a baby at her funeral. And do you know what Mrs. Shay left her? After twenty-five years of service? A crappy five thousand dollars.” Her mouth wobbled. “She’s at the medical center now. Cleaning toilets. ”
    Cassie glanced away, giving Tricia time to compose herself, listening to Tricia sniff. Don’t cry, she thought. After a moment, she faced Tricia again, just as she wiped the back of her hand across the pinkened tip of her nose.
    “My mom can tell you more. I’ll call her.” Tricia pulled a cell phone from her pocket and punched in numbers, turning her back to Cassie. Seconds later, Tricia was talking, every few words drifting to Cassie.
    “...ghost...Isabel...Luke...money...” Her voice rose. “Mom!