Page 52 of All You Want
But then again, if she is playing witch, how do I know she hasn’t put a spell on me? Maybe it’s my fault. After all, I’m not being fair to her to steal kisses and cop feels without acknowledging her affections.
“Not a bad place to be.” I swallow the rest of my salad and prepare to dive into the French dipped roast beef sandwich Monica brought in. “I’m not afraid of you, Tami King.”
“Maybe you should be.” Her smile glazes across from me, and her eyes widen as she stares across my shoulders.
I turn around and catch a floating image in the doorway. It’s headless and blurry, flickering like a badly tuned TV channel.
“What the heck?” I know it’s only a holographic projection, but having that thing stare at me is creepy.
It’s quiet, absent the sound effects, and it’s out of focus, but it seems to glow brighter and twirl around with a spinning parasol.
A veiled head grows from the image, and flyaway long hair wafts up and down like smoke. The ghostly bride raises her hand to her lips and blows me a kiss, then beckons me with her finger to come to her.
“It’s too late, Toddkins,” Tami sings in a spooky voice. “I’m coming ’round the mountain when I come… I’m coming… coming, coming.”
Nineteen
~ Tami ~
It’s finally grand opening night, and I can’t stand still, checking every decoration, greeting guests, and giving pep talks to my employees. I even have security blending in with the guests, everyone in costume, and truthfully, it’s overkill. Evan showed up in the nick of time, right before the first guests checked in, and with Molly in tow, they finished the final touches for the ghost-hunting tour.
“We should be ready.” I smooth a flyaway strand of hair from my face, tucking it underneath my sweeping Victorian-era hat piled high with taffeta, silk, and feathers.
I’m dressed as Madam Goldilocks, in a blue ruffled dress with petticoats, and carry a parasol as a prop. I’m also wearing a sharp hatpin to be historically accurate, since women of those days wielded them to keep men’s wandering hands and lips in line.
“Relax,” Todd says, giving my arm a squeeze. “It’s going to be okay. Everything’s going like clockwork.”
Easy for him to say. He’s hidden inside a costume where no one will recognize him. It’s not his face that’ll get egged if the party’s a big bust.
“I can’t relax. This is my grand opening, and I have status check meetings with my staff every half an hour. I also have to keep an eye on the Graveyard Party out in the parking lot while making sure the hotel guests are comfortable and catered to.”
He shakes his head slowly and caresses my shoulder, snickering under his breath.
I give him an appreciate smile and poke the point of my closed parasol on his big foot. Maybe he was right about keeping the opening small, but it’s too late now. There are a dozen campers parked outside, decorated with gravestones, skeletons, ghouls, and scary swamp creatures, and the children are having gobs of fun running between them.
“Tami.” Todd’s eyes are hidden behind the cutouts of his fur-faced mask. “It’s going to be okay. Take a deep breath.”
“I will. Now, you go mingle with the VIP guests,” I tell him, pointing to the saloon side of the dining room. “I need to close out the Graveyard Party and make sure every kid gets a treat bag.”
“I think they’ve had all the treats they can handle,” he says. “Corny’s got everything under control. It’s going very well.”
I can’t help the butterflies fluttering in my stomach. It’s just that I want everything to be perfect.
“The sun is setting soon, so we have to get the kids back to the town square for the Monster Mash Dance.” I tick off the agenda items in my mind. “Before the adults from the Sixty Miners bar crawl come over for the Horror Fest.”
“I see Walt and Johnson directing traffic,” Todd says. “Looks like the trick or treating is almost over.”
I slink away from Todd’s side and exit out a set of French doors to the patio where Viola Graham is finishing up the Haunted Story Hour.
“And that is how the giant pumpkin burst—full of treats for every good little goblin who helped him grow.” Viola shows the book in a semi-circle and proclaims, “The End.”
“Yay! Do we get a treat, too?” Little Jessie, dressed as a scarecrow country girl, tugs at Miss Viola’s gown.
“We want lots of treats exploding all over us.” A boy wearing a gorilla costume beats his chest.
“Wooo, wooo, wooo,” a man wearing a pumpkin costume hoots. “I’ve got so many treats I’m bursting.”
“Treat, treat, treat!” the rows of little goblins, witches, princesses, and monsters chant as they line up to get their goody bags.
