The Ex Who Saw a Ghost (Charley's Ghost Book 4) by Sally Berneathy Page B

our sister ?” Ross deep voice rose several octaves on the last word.
    “Says so right on her birth certificate,” Charley affirmed. “Father, Nicholas Minatelli.”
    Lila looked at Ross for a long moment. Different emotions played across her face—fear, happiness, anger. Defeat won the struggle. She sighed and shook her head. “No.” She fell back into the chair. “I’m Parker’s sister, not yours.”
    Ross sank onto the edge of the coffee table. If it hadn’t been there, he would likely have fallen straight to the beige carpet.
    Teresa moved to sit beside him. “Her birth certificate lists Nicholas Minatelli as her father.”
    Ross peered at her closely, silently, digesting the meaning of her words. “Dad? My father—my stepfather is her father?” He spoke slowly, carefully. He’d totally lost his cop façade. “I don’t understand.”
    “How do you know about my birth certificate? Did Parker tell you that too?” Lila gazed at Teresa as if she was an alien...or a ghost.
    “Yes,” Teresa said softly. “He told me.”
    “Actually,” Charley said, “I told you. Give credit where credit’s due. Parker just didn’t deny it.” He looked at the television screen. “Come on, man, give us more information. So your dad fooled around a little on your mom. It happens. It’s not like you have to wear a hair shirt for what your old man did. You sure didn’t have to pay out all that money.”
    Amanda would not have expressed it in exactly those terms, but Charley kind of had a point. Protecting his deceased father’s memory was one thing, but if Lila was twenty-six and Parker was twenty-one, the deed had been done before Parker was even born. In fact—
    She looked at Teresa and tried to remember the exact details of the marriage of Ross’ mother and stepfather. Had she said two years before Parker was born?
    “Who are you? Why would he tell you?” Lila demanded.
    Charley got directly between them. “He didn’t tell her. I found the papers in your bedroom.” He pointed to his chest. “Me!” He threw up his hands and sat on the coffee table next to Teresa. “It sucks when people ignore you.”
    Teresa laid a conciliatory hand in the general vicinity of his leg before turning her attention back to Lila. “I’m a friend he could talk to when he couldn’t talk to anybody else.”
    That was, Amanda thought, a tactful way of saying she was conversing with Parker’s spirit because no other living person could.
    Lila frowned. “If you knew that all along, why would you ask me if we were sleeping together? That’s sick! You’re sick! I don’t want to talk to you people anymore.”
    Ross leaned toward her, eyes narrowed, elbows on his knees, hands fisted. Back to cop mode? No, the air of desperation gave sincerity to his actions. He was genuinely distraught. “Please,” he said. “I need to understand. My father never mentioned you. Who was your mother? Did Dad know about you? Did he take care of you? How did Parker find you?”
    Lila’s gaze narrowed. “If Parker told you everything, why are you asking me questions?”
    “He didn’t tell us everything.” Teresa leaned forward, mirroring Ross’ actions though she appeared more composed. “All we know is that you’re Parker’s sister. His half-sister. Now he’s dead and won’t...can’t tell us the rest of the story.”
    “That’s all Parker said, that I’m his sister?”
    Teresa looked at the television and sighed. “Yes.”
    Lila lifted her tea, peered at it as if she wished it was something stronger, and took a drink. She set it half on and half off the coaster, her mind no longer on the preservation of her new furniture. Her hands shook as she lifted the package of cigarettes, took out another one and lit it then drew on it so hard the end sizzled.
    Charley floated over to join Amanda on the sofa. “Parker just asked Teresa not to do this to Lila.”
    “How touching,” Amanda murmured. As determined as Parker was to protect