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around her. And surely out to exploit her aunt.
    She knew something had to be wrong with him. He seemed legit enough on the Internet, but if he had gotten released from his job at
I Spy
and then decided to go “freelance,” why would he pick a story like this to get himself back on his feet? The chances of there even being a story were slim to none. And yet he seemed to be basing the return of his career on it? Not a smart move as far she was concerned. And if there was one thing Newland Tran looked, it was smart. At least smarter than Darrell and Gilbert, for sure. No, there was something else to Tran. And she vowed to keep an eye on the family silver until he was gone.
    • • •
    Natalie leaned her head back and let the nighttime breeze wash over her. She had let Oskar out in the grass for one last potty before bed. But she couldn’t allow herself a break. She ran over in her mind her schedule for the next day.
    She needed to talk to someone about school uniforms, needed to figure out what Darrell and Gilbert were up to, needed to run an inventory on the things in the house to make sure Tran wasn’t walking off with anything more valuable than one of her aunt’s perfume bottles. And a host of other things that kept the foundation going.
    After the argument with her brother over returning with her to Bitty’s house, Natalie’s head was pounding. But it felt good to be out here in the air, breathing in the familiar smells of the night-blooming jasmine and the gardenias that her aunt kept at the end of the porch.
    The screen door creaked open, and then shut quietly behind whoever came out onto the porch. Natalie didn’t bother to open her eyes and look to see who it was. It couldn’t be Aubie; he never shut the door quietly behind him, and her aunt was more than likely inside, still watching
Dancing with the Stars
. That left only one person, and she wasn’t sure she wanted to see him.
    “You don’t trust me.”
    Well, give him extra points for getting right to the point.
    “Why should I?” Again she didn’t bother to open her eyes. She kept her head back, trying to relax as much as she could while she waited on Oskar.
    Okay, the truth of the matter was she had a hard time relaxing at any time of the day. She had too many responsibilities to let her guard down much and at the end of the day it was hard to let it go at all. But hopefully soon Gerald would ask her to marry him, and Aunt Bitty would agree to go live in Meadowbrook, and by some miracle Aubie would become as mature in all matters as he was in matters of city affairs. But until then …
    “Hey, I’m a nice guy. I mean, what’s wrong with me? You were nicer to those two lumps at the gym than you are to me.”
    Natalie pushed herself upright in the big wooden rocker and finally turned to look at him. “I’ve known those two lumps my entire life. We started kindergarten together. And as far as being nice to you, I’ve been nothing but cordial to you ever since you got here.”
    “Wow, you are uptight.”
    “I am most certainly not uptight.” He’d hit a nerve, but there was no way that she was agreeing to his assessment of her. He didn’t know anything about her. He didn’t know what she did every day and how she managed to keep everybody’s lives in order. He didn’t know what kind of effort and energy it took to make sure that things got done. Or that she was the only one who could do it. The last Coleman left that had sense enough to make sure that the fortune was kept intact.
    “So you’re not uptight. Got it.” She heard him chuckle, and the sound went right through her.
    “I don’t see what’s so funny. You’re the one here searching for a ghost. And yet I don’t see any ghost searching equipment.”
    “I beg your pardon?” This time his voice turned from filled with humor to a little on edge. Good, that’s exactly how she wanted him.
    “I did some research today, Mr. Tran. And I know that there are all sorts of