Patricia Rockwell - Essie Cobb 04 - Ghosted by Patricia Rockwell Read Free Book Online

just press this button when you want to hear the messages,” said Ned, pointing to a large black square at the top of the white plastic box now resting ominously on Essie’s end table.  Wires ran from the box to her telephone, to the outlet on the wall behind her chair and back.  A mound of food wrappers and leftover trash from some fast food that Pru had gone out for an hour or so ago was strewn around Essie’s small living room.  Her apartment smelled of cheap hamburgers, she thought.  The Happy Haven chef made much more appetizing burgers than the one she’d just eaten.  It tasted more like several layers of cardboard and it smelled worse.  But the beverage was another story.
    “And what if I don’t want to hear any messages?” she asked her grandson , leisurely sipping a strawberry milkshake from a large paper cup.  He chuckled and smiled warmly at her.
    “You don’t have to listen to any messages until you want to, Grandma.”
    “Which may be never,” said Essie with a twinkle in her eye.    “Yum, this is good.  It’s been so long since I’ve had a milkshake.”  She stirred the ice cream at the bottom with her straw.
    “Now, Grandma,” cautioned Ned in a whisper, “don’t get me involved in this little battle you’re having with Mom and Aunt Pru.  I’m just a handyman following orders.  If someone tells me to unhook this answering machine, I will.  I don’t want to get caught in the middle!”
    Essie looked at her young grandson’s sweet face.  Ned always seemed so eager and enthusiastic —so different from his more lethargic and seemingly surly brothers.  She could never be mad at him, and she guessed his mother never could either.  He could probably use those angelic looks to charm some young woman someday too. 
    “So, I press this button?” she asked, placing her finger on the one in question.
    “Right!  Here, let’s try it.  We’ve already set up your voice mail greeting.  I’m going to call you.  Don’t answer the phone.  Just let the machine answer and I’ll leave a message and then you’ll see how it works.”
    “What?” said Essie as Ned rose and pulled his cell phone from his pocket and headed to the bedroom.
    “Don’t answer the phone, Grandma!”
    Immediately the telephone began to ring.  Essie looked at her trusty landline phone, now hooked up to the strange answering device as if it were an ailing invalid on life support.  She set her half-finished drink on the end table.  Her inclination was to reach for the receiver but she resisted.  After two rings, the answering machine made a clicking noise and Essie could hear her own voice saying, “This is Essie.  Leave a message and I’ll call you later.”  It was eerie to hear her own recorded voice.  Then there was another click and she heard Ned’s voice say, “Hi, Grandma.  This is Ned.  This is our test call.  Bye.”  Then she heard another click and Ned returned from the bedroom. 
    “Did you hear that, Grandma? ” he asked.
    “Yes,” she said.  “So, now what do I do?”
    “Just imagine, Grandma, that you were out playing poker—”
    “I don’t play poker!” snorted Essie.
    “Okay,” said Ned, “that you were out playing Canasta…”  Essie smiled.  “You weren’t here in your apartment and someone called and needed to talk to you.  So, now when they call and you’re not here, they’ll hear this message and they’ll leave a message.  So when you return from… Canasta, you can play your messages and find out if there’s anyone you need to call back.”
    “Won’t this thing be recording messages when I’m here?” she asked, confused.
    “No,” said Ned gently.  “You turn it on with this ‘on’ switch here whenever you leave your apartment.”  He pointed to another button next to the ‘play message’ button.
    “So complicated!” retorted Essie.
    “Just a few buttons to remember, Grandma,” said Ned as he squeezed her hand.  “Just one you