by Blythe Baker
BILLY: R U okay?
BILLY: Am I mistaken, or is your apartment building on the news?
BILLY: Yes, I’ve been following the New York City news since U left. No, that does not make me crazy.
We were on the news? Part of me wanted to look, but a more dominant part of me thought it would be best to let it go. Whatever was being reported was either wrong, or if it wasn’t, I already knew the story. There was no sense in stressing Tucker out more, anyway. He looked exhausted, and not just from the sleeping pills.
ME: Remember how I said I’d tell U everything over shakes at the diner?
BILLY: Yes. U better not be backing out. I want to hear everything.
ME: I will tell U everything, but we may have to extend it to a three-course meal.
BILLY: Cheese fries for appetizer, burgers for main, shakes for dessert.
ME: U’ve got yourself a deal. I’m on the first flight out tomorrow morning.
BILLY: Thank goodness. Be safe until then.
ME: Always.
When I looked up from my phone, Tucker had fallen asleep again on the couch, his head lolled back on the cushion, mouth open. I smiled and draped my fleece throw blanket over him before sneaking away and heading downstairs to Blanche’s apartment. I wanted to spend as much time with Pudding as possible before our flight the next morning.
As I walked down the familiar hallways and stairwells, I realized how little I would miss the old brick building I’d once called home. Maybe the time had finally come to give up my old apartment for good and stop keeping a foot in both worlds—New York and Missouri. Even though I had my own furniture and space here, my apartment didn’t seem near as inviting as the attic space in my grandparents’ house. Plus, New York City may have been home to over eight million people, but it didn’t have Billy Stone or Suzy Colton. Or even a Sheriff Larry Tucker. Hillbilly Hollow had my grandparents, who I couldn’t wait to see again. And Snowball. It had kind people and a small-town charm I realized I couldn’t live without.
And, as much as I’d fought it at first, Hillbilly Hollow was sure to have more ghostly adventures in store for me. I smiled, finding myself looking forward to them.
Continue following the ghostly mysteries and eccentric characters of Hillbilly Hollow in “A Haunted Holiday in Hillbilly Hollow.”