Chapter 2 #3
Well, Caleb could think what he wanted. It wasn’t as if she was going out with him, so he didn’t have any say in her personal life.
Besides, it had been one and done with Aaron, and she knew she had absolutely no interest in pursuing anything else with him except — she hoped — finding out what was going on with his grandmother’s supposedly haunted house.
All the same, Caleb’s not-so-hidden jealousy might have been amusing to watch if it hadn’t made her brain go in directions she wasn’t sure she wanted to explore right now.
She got out her phone, looked down at the address Aaron had just sent her, and smiled. “Got it. Then I guess I’ll see you Tuesday afternoon.”
At least he got the hint, because he stood at once, saying, “See you then. Just call or text if you’re running late or something.” He paused for a beat or two before he added, the words now directed toward Caleb, “Sorry for interrupting your celebration.”
“No biggie,” Caleb replied, even though Delia thought it was probably a bigger deal than he wanted to let on. “Good luck with your grandmother’s house.”
There wasn’t much left to say after that, so Aaron mumbled a quick goodbye and then let himself out. Quiet descended…although it didn’t last for long.
“I don’t like it,” Caleb said, and Delia crossed her arms. She’d already been pretty sure he wasn’t about to drop this and move on to more neutral topics, but she didn’t much like being proven right so quickly.
“Why not?” she returned. “I mean, cleansing homes of spiritual presences is part of what I do.”
“I know that,” Caleb said, both his tone and his expression now openly irritated. “But are you forgetting that he was being controlled by those bastards at Aegis only a month ago?”
More like five weeks, but Delia decided it was better to let it go.
“I haven’t forgotten,” she said calmly. “As far as we can tell, though, Aegis has totally fallen apart, so it doesn’t seem as if they’re much to worry about anymore.
Besides, I saw Aaron’s thoughts. He’s not lying…
and he’s in a lot of financial trouble. If I can get the house cleansed, it’ll help him out a lot. ”
Caleb’s brows drew together even further, creating an obvious line between them. “You were able to read his mind, just like that?”
“Well, I wouldn’t say it was ‘just like that,’” she responded.
Her tone was gentler than maybe it should have been, but she didn’t want to get into an argument.
“More like I caught one of his thoughts early on, and that somehow made it easier to try to take a second look a little bit later. It’s still not anything I can control with any degree of certainty. ”
For a moment, Caleb didn’t say anything. In fact, he reached over and picked up his glass of champagne. The Cristal still fizzed gently inside, but it wasn’t nearly as exuberant as it had been some twenty minutes earlier.
Then, “Have you tried to read my mind?”
“No,” she said at once. Part of her wanted to be offended that he would even ask such a question, although she understood why her off-and-on ability to read minds might have been preying on his thoughts.
“At least,” she added, since he didn’t look completely convinced, “I haven’t tried on purpose, and I honestly haven’t seen anything of what’s going on in your head.
For some reason, it’s easier with Aaron. I have no idea why.”
Caleb tapped a finger against the side of his champagne flute. “Maybe because his were the first thoughts you were able to hear when your powers started to expand?”
That seemed like as good a theory as any other.
It was true that she’d caught just a snippet — a not-very-flattering one — from Aaron’s mind right after she’d told him she didn’t kiss on the first date.
At the time, she’d been more shocked than anything else by that glimpse into his mind, but now she thought she could see why it might have been easier today to catch at least a hint of what he was thinking, simply because she’d already done it before.
“It’s possible,” she said. “And for all I know, your thoughts are more shielded because of your demon blood. It’s really hard to say, since I’m kind of flying blind with all this.”
That was for sure. She’d had years to get used to her ghost-whispering talent, since it had appeared when she was only seventeen, and she’d now had more than ten years of living with it.
This mind-reading thing? It had come on the scene only five weeks ago, and because she hadn’t even tried to work with this strange new gift — mostly, she’d just hoped it wouldn’t pop up during an inopportune time, like a client meeting or something — she didn’t have much idea of what it could or couldn’t do.
If Ty Carter had stuck around and tried to work with her on the newly expanded talent, then maybe she’d have a better grasp on her ESP, or whatever you wanted to call it.
But he hadn’t made the slightest attempt to get in contact, although Pru had reported that he appeared to still be teaching tennis at the DragonRidge country club, just as he had been for the past five years.
Maybe he’d decided there was no reason to stay in touch, since the immediate danger appeared to have passed.
Delia thought that was a little crappy, considering he’d admitted that he was the one who’d prodded along her psychic talents and gotten them to expand, but maybe he thought she was a big girl and could handle all this on her own.
The angry set to Caleb’s jaw had relaxed somewhat, telling her that he understood she was at a loss here and was just trying to muddle through everything as best she could. “It must be rough,” he said. “Sorry I jumped down your throat.”
She summoned a smile. “I don’t think you did exactly that,” she replied.
“I mean, I understand why you would be worried about all this. But it sure feels to me as if Aaron isn’t being influenced by any outside forces.
He’s just trying to figure out a way to survive — and the best way for him to manage that is to get his grandmother’s house sold. ”
“And the best way for that to happen is for you to get rid of whatever spook has taken up residence there,” Caleb said. He let out a breath and sipped some more champagne. “I get it. I still don’t like it…but I get it.”
“I’m sure it’ll just be your standard de-haunting,” Delia said, glad she wouldn’t have to keep persuading him there was absolutely nothing to worry about.
“In fact, since Aaron didn’t mention that the house had been haunted before this, I have a feeling it’s his grandmother’s spirit not wanting to let go of the place where she lived for so many years. ”
The beginnings of a frown touched Caleb’s brow. “Won’t that make it harder to get rid of her?”
At least Delia felt pretty secure on that front.
After all, she’d done this sort of thing many times before.
“Not necessarily. If she only died about seven months ago, then she hasn’t been haunting the house for very long.
A lot of the time, the longer a ghost has taken up residence, the more difficult it is to convince them to let go. ”
He appeared to mull over those words for a second or two before giving a reluctant nod. “If you say so.”
“I do.”
In fact, the more she thought about it, the more she guessed that this would be a relatively easy cleansing. She could probably be in and out in less than an hour.
Piece of cake.