“One big change is the Ferris wheel,” Fitzgibbon said.
“Did they tear it down?” Ronan couldn’t imagine the son wanting to see the instrument of his father’s death every day.
“No.” Fitz shook his head. “They got new enclosed cars so that no one else can take a swan dive.”
Ronan shivered in the hot summer sun. “Was there any talk of Brighthouse’s ghost haunting the place?” Christ, the last thing he wanted to deal with during River’s visit was a restless spirit.
“Nothing I’ve heard of. I’ll keep an ear out on Facebook. You know how ghost stories spread like wildfire.”
“I sure do.” Ronan would have a chat later with Tennyson about the possibility of the park being haunted. He knew how excited his husband and Everly were for River’s family to come for a visit and wanted to do everything in his power to make sure they had a great time.
A great time that didnotinclude a haunted amusement park.
2
Tennyson
A few days later, Tennyson loaded his cooler bag with juice pouches, water, and snacks. Chocolate chip cookies and Fritos were Brooke’s favorites, according to Everly, so he added those, along with sour cream chips for Aurora and Doritos for Wolf.
When Ten announced he would be picking River’s family up from the airport, the kids had insisted on coming along. Ronan agreed to stay home with Ezra so that there would be plenty of room in the SUV for everyone. He and the others would be busy preparing a family dinner for when they got back.
“Everly!” Ten called upstairs. “Are you ready to go?”
“Ready Freddy!” she called back. “I’m just finishing cleaning up my room.”
Ten felt the earth shift on its axis. “You’re doingwhat?” His daughter hated picking up after herself with a burning passion when he or Ronan asked her to do it. Neither of them had asked, which meant Everly was cleaning up of her own free will.
“I want Brooke to feel at home.” Everly reached the top of the stairs with a laundry basket in her arms. Ten could see it was loaded with her clothes, as well as Ezra’s.
“Here, I’ll help you with that.” Ten dashed up the stairs to take the basket. He didn’t want Everly to take a tumble.
“Did I hear Everly say she cleaned her room?” Ronan asked. He was chewing on a bite from a half-eaten apple. “When you get back from the airport, you can start on mine. I’ve got a stinky basket of laundry with your name written all over it.”
“Nice try.” Everly shook her head, sending her strawberry blonde ponytail flying. “I’ll be with Brooke, my bestest cousin, and Woofie and Aurora, my bestest friends.” Everly pinched shut her nose. “Do your own stinky laundry.”
Ten handed the laundry basket to Ronan. “Can you handle this for me while we’re gone?”
“Yes, sir!” Ronan snapped off a salute before setting the basket on the floor and kissing Tennyson. He bent to kiss Everly’s cheek. “Have fun. I’m so excited for you to see Brooke.”
“Me too.” Everly hugged Ronan and bounced out the door behind Tennyson.
Fitz and Aurora were waiting at the bottom of the stairs, and Cope was crossing the street with Wolf. A few minutes later, everyone was loaded up and ready to roll. Cope rode shotgun while the three kids sat in the third-row seats, wearing headphones and watching a movie.
“What did you think about everyone’s suggestions for what to do while River is here?” Ten asked.
“I liked them all. It will be fun to go on some day trips. If the weather is bad, we can go to story time at the library or to that shark bowling thing. It really was a lot of fun.”
“Whose birthday party was that for?” Ten asked. He’d been surprised when Cope mentioned a birthday party that Everly and Aurora hadn’t been invited to as well.
“It was for Chuckie McCloud, the booger king.” Cope burst out laughing. “His mother said he could invite four friends, and Wolf was one of them.”
Ten laughed along with him. If there was an Olympic gold medal awarded for eating boogers, Chuck would have several. “I was alittle jealous that Everly hadn’t been invited, but not anymore. That little boy gives me the creeps.”
“At least he doesn’t flick them on people like he used to do.” Cope grimaced.
“No, now he snacks on them instead.” Ten dry heaved at the thought. He knew little kids did gross things, but Chuckie was at the top of the list. Everly came home from school with Chuckie stories at least once a week. All Ten could do was hope the kid grew out of his gross habit and that he was in a different first-grade classroom.
“Are we there yet?” Everly called from the back seat.
