The Haunted - Jessica Verday [110]
“She felt so bad that I couldn’t go, she was willing to sacrifice her ticket and give it to me.”
“She really did that?” Ben said.
“Yup. Of course, I made her go, and she had a great time. Got to shake Michael’s hand, and wouldn’t wash it for a week. But I could never get over the fact that she was going to give up the one thing she wanted so badly, for me.”
Ben and I fell silent, and stayed that way for another hour, until Ben saw a sign for a McDonald’s. “Is this okay with you?” he asked, pulling into the parking lot. “I’m starving.”
“Yeah. This is fine. I’m hungry too. But let’s eat inside. I have to, um, use the restroom.” Unbuckling my seat belt, I glanced into the rearview mirror.
“Take your time, Abbey,” Caspian said. “I’ll wait here.” I gave him a brief nod and then got out of the car, stretching my arms and legs as I walked into the McDonald’s. Handing Ben some money, I told him what to order for me, then hurried to the bathroom. Soon we were back in the car and on the road again.
“The guy at the register said we only have about twenty minutes until we reach Shepherd-stown,” Ben said. “That’s where your dad made the reservations, right?” Reaching for my bag on the backseat, I carefully maneuvered around Caspian’s leg and pulled out a piece of paper with the hotel address and confirmation number scribbled on it.
“Yeah. We’re staying at the Shepherd’s Inn. I guess the town is too small for a Hilton.”
“Sounds cozy,” Ben replied. “Let’s hope the sheets are clean.”
“And the phones work,” I deadpanned. “Otherwise, if my dad can’t get through, we might have company tomorrow.”
Ben followed the directions I’d printed out, and turned off onto a long gravel road. We bumped along, hitting potholes every couple of feet.
“Do you think they could have made this road any bumpier?” I asked, as I jolted out of my seat.
“Maybe they saved their money for the hotel. Jacuzzis, PS2s, plasmas, and a wet bar in every room.”
“I’m sure that’s what they did,” I said. “Absolutely positive.” We bumped along a little farther until the road inexplicably smoothed out and turned into shiny blacktop. Combination movie rental–tanning stores started popping up, and it looked like we were heading back into civilization.
Ben eyed one of the combo stores as we passed. “Why would you want to go tan and then rent a movie right after? Or, alternately, rent a movie, then go tanning?” A bait shop–Japanese restaurant popped up, and he looked at me with both eyebrows raised. “If I don’t understand the tan-and-rent one, I sure as hell don’t get that one.”
“Haven’t you ever felt like eating sushi after a long day spent in rubber boots and muddy water?” Caspian said.
I hid my smile as I looked out the window. “I don’t know, Ben. Maybe the people here really like convenience?” He snorted but didn’t say anything, and a large brick building with a striped awning came into view. A sign next to it proclaimed it the Shepherd’s Inn.
“Guess we found it.” Ben gunned the Jeep forward. “I hope it’s not a hotel-slash-bowling-alley.”
I snickered and then immediately felt bad for laughing at Caspian’s home state, but he didn’t seem to mind.
We parked and got out, each of us hauling our own bags, and Caspian followed behind me. The interior of the lobby was a lot more impressive than the exterior of the hotel, and I turned in several directions to take everything in.
Glass desks, vintage art, exposed modernized pipes, and brass light fixtures gave the place a modern twenties style with just a touch of steampunk. Even the clerk behind the desk was impeccably dressed in a stylish, old-fashioned business suit.
Ben checked us in, and I waited by his side as the clerk tapped away on her keyboard.
“Here we are,” she said, then frowned. “I see a note on the reservation requesting rooms on opposite sides of the corridor, but the only rooms I have left that fulfill those requirements are the