CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE

The next morning, Amanda slipped out of bed and dressed in a comfy T-shirt and jeans. Outside, wisps of orange and pink appeared in the sky, signaling the early dawn.

“Jake.” She shook his arm gently. “Jake, wake up.”

“Hmm?” He moaned, pulling the covers up higher to his neck.

“Time to wake up.” She flipped on the table lamp. “It’s six thirty.”

He moaned and tossed off the covers. “Give me a few minutes to get ready. Do you think Pearl will have coffee out this early?”

“I’m sure she will. I’ll bring down a few of the paper cups so we can take our coffee to Zephyr Land.”

“Good plan.” Jake went into the bathroom to get ready.

Amanda finished packing and placed her laptop and notebook into her backpack. She’d be sad to leave this place. Seeing Pearl in the morning, watching Clive’s antics, had become part of their normal routine this past week. Amanda’s heart gave a tiny tug. She would miss this place. Not the danger, but the Abandon Inn. Even Declan…and the other ghosts. She wished again she could have done more.

Ten minutes later, she and Jake left the room and took the stairs down to the lobby. Pearl stood behind the desk and held a giant mug of hot coffee.

“Morning, y’all.”

“Morning,” they said in unison.

“Got any coffee to go?” Jake asked.

“Sure thing. Y’all getting on the road this early?”

“After we make one more stop at Zephyr Land,” Amanda said.

Pearl cocked an eyebrow. “This early?”

“I forgot my camera storage card. It has all my photo analysis I need for my report.”

“Well, be careful, sugar.” Pearl turned and printed out a receipt. “I have y’alls’ bill right here if you’re ready to check out. I mean, we’d love to have you stay longer, but I assume with the luggage—”

“Thanks for everything, but yes, we’ll check out so we don’t need to make the stop on the way back,” Jake said.

Pearl’s warm brown eyes met Amanda’s gaze, which Amanda clearly read—to hell with tradition. A hug was in order. Pearl came out from around the counter, and they hugged.

“You feel free to e-mail me anytime. You know our website,” Pearl said. “And I’d love to hear how things go,” she whispered.

“Thanks.” Amanda unclasped the red pendant around her neck. “I want you to have this.”

“What? No, honey, that’s beautiful jewelry. I can’t accept this.”

“In case someone else…gifted…comes along. It could help them see,” Amanda whispered. She hoped to not have to explain everything to Jake. He’d accepted her but likely still didn’t understand much of it.

“Sweetie, thank you,” Pearl said, pulling her in for one more bear hug. “Now, let’s see to getting y’all some coffee for your road trip.” She went and filled two large to-go mugs with coffee and brought out all the mixings to make it delicious.

“This is great!” Jake inched the sugar across the counter to let Amanda go first.

Amanda reached for a few sweeteners, poured some milk, and mixed up her elixir of caffeine. “Thanks again for everything, Pearl.”

“My pleasure. Y’all be sure to recommend us to the big city folks in Georgia.”

“We will!”

* * *

Amanda smiled wide when they approached the Zephyr Land entrance gate. This would be the last time they entered this haunted amusement park. As for the ghosts, well, if they tried to stop her from leaving, she would figure out something.

Jake parked the car and unlocked the main gate. “We go right to the carousel and get your camera card. Then we’re out of here.”

“Yes, provided you stop in Mobile for me to work on my photos.”

“Deal.”

Something seemed different about the boardwalk this morning. A warm breeze blew. An aura of peace seemed to fill the air. Not like the first time she’d seen this place and felt chills. Maybe she’d grown nostalgic because she would soon return home. Or maybe she was just thankful that more ghosts weren’t standing in her way.

“Do you need anything else near the coaster?” Amanda asked.

“Nope. I’m good to go.”

They strolled along toward the boardwalk just like they might have done had the amusement park remained open. Her holding cotton candy, him using a toy rifle to ping ducks on a straight line in order to win her a giant-assed panda.

Things that could have been…

When they reached the carousel tent, Jake’s cell phone rang. He scrambled to look at the caller ID. “It’s my department head. I need to take this.”

“I’ll get the camera card, no problem.”

She moved around him and headed into the tent. Something whacked her on the head. Everything faded to black.