Haunted Guest House Mystery 03-Old Haunts by E. J. Copperman Page A

me.
    That caught me a little off balance. I’d expected something more on the order of, “Why don’t you love Daddy anymore?” Maybe this was going to lead up to that, because I had a really good answer all ready to go.
    I had to improvise a bit on this one, though. “I loved him,” I said. “And he seemed to love me. I was sort of knocking around in my life, I couldn’t decide what I wanted, and he seemed like the only thing that was making me happy.”
    But Melissa was already shaking her head; no, that wasn’t what she wanted to hear. “What was it about him that made you want to marry him?” she asked.
    “What’s this about really?” I countered.
    “Answer the question.” The world will be deprived of a great prosecuting attorney if this child decides to forgo law school.
    “What made me fall in love with your dad? Is that what you’re asking?” Melissa nodded, so I went on. “Well, when he wants to, he can be awfully charming. And in those days, he wanted to. Funny, concerned, interested, warm—he was all that. And he was going to work to help people do better in life. He was going to set up really inexpensive investments for people who didn’t have much money, so maybe they could have it a little easier. He used to believe in stuff like that.”
    Melissa nodded, small movements of her head, as if taking an inventory of what I’d said. Maybe she was having a hard time picturing her parents as a couple of idealistic kids just starting out in life.
    “Why don’t you feel like that now?” she asked. Ah, the question I’d been waiting for.
    “Things changed,” I said. “Your dad changed. So did I. I wanted to come here and start this guesthouse, and he—”
    “He wanted to go to California with Amee,” my daughter said, her eyes daring me to treat her like a little child who wouldn’t understand such things.
    “Yes,” I said, biting my lip just a little. “That was the end of it, but it wasn’t the whole reason. He started getting caught up in making money, and that made him different. I had you, and that made me different. I wasn’t interested in the life he wanted, and he didn’t have time for the one I wanted. Before we got to the point where we hated each other, we figured it was best to split up.”
    Again, there was the little nod of her head. She was absorbing. Maybe she’d think it over later and come back with more questions. I couldn’t decide whether that would be a good thing or a bad thing.
    “That’s very interesting,” Melissa said. She stood up and started toward the front door. I grabbed hold of her arm as she passed me, and gave her a hug.
    “Very interesting?” I asked. “Are you studying us for anthropology class?”
    “What’s anthropology?”
    “Don’t worry. You’ll find out in college.”
    She walked back into the house, her eyes a little dreamy. This injection of her father into her life again might have been exciting, but it couldn’t be easy for her, and I wasn’t sure what to do about it. On the one hand, I felt like things had been a good deal simpler for both of us before Steven had come back. On the other…Well, it had been a long time since Liss had a dad. I couldn’t deny her that.
    And as for any prospect of Steven becoming a permanent fixture in our lives again, he was going to have to do it from somewhere else within a week. Today was Monday. A week from today this crew of guests was going to be gone, and a new Senior Plus Tour was scheduled two days later, with every bed in every room of the house booked. My ex-husband would have to find himself somewhere else to live if he wanted to stay in New Jersey.
    Added to my list of things to do: Talk to Steven about his residency plans.
    But first there was the spook show, along with strategizing about the Big Bob case. I’d decided to call it “the Big Bob case” to sound more private-eye-like. And it required my attention, which meant it required Paul’s attention. I went inside to