Gem of a Ghost: A Ghost of Granny Apples Mystery by Sue Ann Jaffarian Page A

weight.”
    “Is that the Max character?” asked Granny.
    Emma nodded but kept up her conversation with Keith. “What did Lainey say about that?”
    “I didn’t tell her.” Keith got up and disappeared into the kitchen.
    “Max is here,” Emma whispered to Phil. “He likes Keith.”
    “So do I,” returned Phil, “in spite of Summer.”
    Granny eyed Max up and down. He winked at her, causing Granny to giggle like a schoolgirl. “I gotta watch me some of his movies.”
    Keith returned clutching another Coke. “That booze made me dry as a sand dune.” He looked down at the can as he popped the top. “I’m sorry. Would you guys like something? We’ve got tons of Coke, even some beer still left.”
    “No, thanks,” Phil answered for both of them.
    Emma wasn’t through with the Lin Reid topic. “Why didn’t you tell Lainey about Lin’s offer?”
    Keith took a drink before answering and squelched a burp. “Excuse me.” Sitting back down, he said, “Lainey doesn’t get along with her stepfather at all. Not sure why, but she can’t stand him. She once told me he had her husband all picked out for her—some clown nephew of his or someone like that. Maybe that’s why.”
    “So Lainey being engaged to you gummed up his plans.” Phil leaned forward and moved the orchid out of the way to see Keith better.
    “I guess.”
    Max moved in front of Emma. “This boy isn’t the gold digger. Reid is.”
    Emma’s attention clicked onto the ghost. Without thinking, she asked Max, “Why do you say that?”
    Not realizing Emma was speaking to a spirit, Keith answered, “Well, as long as she’s with me, she can’t date his nephew. Although she’s met him and doesn’t like him, so I’m not sure how Lin thought he was going to change her mind.”
    Max looked at the boy, letting him finish before he answered Emma’s question. “Lainey doesn’t have all her inheritance. She gets the bulk of it when she turns twenty-one in five months. I think Reid wants to get his hands on it. He’s already wormed his way into Joanna’s money by convincing her they didn’t need prenups.”
    Emma clutched the back of the sofa. “Keith, did you know about Lainey’s inheritance?”
    “Sure, that’s how she could afford this place.”
    “No, not the money she received at eighteen. Did you know she was to inherit a larger sum upon her twenty-first birthday?”
    From the surprise on his face, both Emma and Phil knew he didn’t.
    Emma wasn’t sure how or if Lainey’s suicide attempts tied in to her inheritance or Lin Reid. While Lin did seem to exercise some control over Joanna, she couldn’t imagine how he could manage to push Lainey to the brink of killing herself, if he did have a hand in it at all. It just seemed improbable.
    “You know what the weirdest part of all this is?” asked Keith. “When we were with Lainey’s parents, her mother seemed to be totally in agreement with Lin. But her mother offered me money to make sure I married her.”
    “What?” everyone, even the two ghosts, asked almost in unison.
    “Yeah.” He ran a hand through his hair, loosening it into a riot of short tendrils. “Joanna came here one day shortly after Lainey went to Serenity and handed me twenty grand in cash. In cash! She said there was another eighty waiting for me the day I married Lainey.”
    Phil stared at Emma. “What in the hell is wrong with those people?”
    Without waiting for an answer, he turned to Keith. “Whatever made Lainey do what she did, I don’t think it had anything to do with you. Not a damn thing.”
    “I’d like to believe that.”
    Without a word, Max started floating down the hallway toward the master suite, Granny following him like a lovesick puppy. It reminded Emma of Summer. The girl hadn’t come out yet. “Summer’s taking a long time.”
    Keith turned and glanced down the hall. “She’s probably showering first.”
    “Or,” Phil added, “stalling to make a point.”
    Emma made a sour