A Haunted Walk to Remember

by Rose Pressey

  “Are you Ripley?” he asked.

  I looked at him skeptically. “Yes.”

  I was a bit suspicious, to say the least.

  The man held out a slim black box toward me. “This is for you.”

  “A gift for me? What’s this for? Is it from you, Brannon?”

  Brannon shrugged. “Open it up and see what it is.”

  I smiled. “Now I’m a little bit nervous.”

  “Don’t be nervous.” He chuckled. “Just open the box.”

  Luckily, it was easy to open. When I pulled off the lid, I spotted a leather-bound book—black with gold scroll detail around the edges. On the front were embossed gold letters with the title.

  “Us?” I asked with a raised eyebrow. “What have you done?”

  “It’s a book for you,” he said.

  I flipped open the cover. An index on the first page listed chapters. How we met, our first date, and his favorite things about me. Tears formed in my eyes.

  “You did all this for me? It’s the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me,” I said.

  “Skip to the end,” Brannon urged.

  I smiled. What was at the end? Was this his way of breaking up with me? Surely he couldn’t be that cruel. Would he be smiling if he was breaking things off between us? No way. Brannon wasn’t like that. Was he? My heart beat faster and nervousness danced in my stomach. Like Brannon had asked, I flipped to the back of the book. In big letters on the last page were the words: Will you marry me?

  My mouth dropped open. Was I actually reading those words? Brannon had moved out of his chair and was now down on one knee. He held a box with a ring in it in his hand, showing the sparkling diamond to me.

  “Ripley Van Raden, the first day I met you I knew you were special. I don’t know why I was lucky enough to have met you and why I’m lucky enough to have you in my life still, but will you make me the luckiest man in the world and marry me?”

  It seemed like an eternity that I stared at him in stunned silence. I suppose my emotions were so high that I couldn’t even speak. Brannon stared at me expectantly, waiting for an answer. He was probably getting nervous about now, waiting for me to say yes. Maybe now he was thinking my answer would be no. I couldn’t keep him waiting any longer.

  Brannon stared at me with wide eyes. After a few more seconds, I finally uttered the word he’d been waiting for.

  “Yes,” I said breathlessly.

  Brannon took the ring from the blue box and slipped it onto my finger. It sparkled even more under the light of the nearby fireplace. He jumped up and embraced me. When we kissed immediately the entire restaurant erupted into applause. That was when I realized that everyone had been watching us.

  After we broke free from the kiss, I stared at the ring again. “It’s beautiful.”

  “Tammy helped me pick it out. She knew what you’d like. You know I’m not good at things like that,” Brannon said.

  Tammy knew about this and had managed to keep it a secret? Wow, I thought for sure she’d accidentally let something like this slip.

  “I’ve had it planned for a couple months now,” Brannon said with a smile.

  I hadn’t been suspicious at all. To say that I was happy would have been an understatement. I couldn’t stop glancing down at the sparkling ring on my finger. The stone in the middle was surrounded by smaller diamonds all around.

  Now Brannon and I had to tell everyone. Of course, Tammy already knew, so there was no need to break the news to her. Though I bet she was on pins and needles waiting for me to call and tell her that I’d said yes. We had a lot of plans to make. When would we get married? Tammy would be my maid of honor of course. My parents would be thrilled. At least I assumed they would be happy since they liked Brannon.

  Flashes of the ceremony came to my mind, decorated with roses and ribbons. Brannon handsome in his tuxedo. A summer wedding or something in the fall? Where would we marry? Maybe we’d have to get married at the library so that Annie could be there too. Not that she couldn’t travel someplace else, but I wasn’t sure she’d have the supernatural strength for the entire ceremony. I was getting ahead of myself, though. Right now, I just needed to enjoy the moment. Brannon beamed at me as he led me out of the restaurant.

  “Where are we going now?” I asked.

  “I have another surprise for you,” he said.

  “Another surprise?”

  I didn’t think it could get better than this. Brannon drove through town and a short time later pulled up in front of the library. The lights shone from every window. For this time of the evening there were way too many cars parked along the street.

  “What’s going on?” I asked with a smile.

  “You’ll see,” he said as he hopped out of the car.

  Brannon came over to open my door and I got out. We walked up to the library doors. I was on such a high that I wasn’t even spooked about the cemetery.

  As soon as I stepped into the library, everyone jumped out and yelled, “Surprise.”

  A big sign that read: Congratulations, Brannon and Rip! hung on the wall above the reference desk.

  “I can’t believe you did this,” I said. “But I have one question. What would you have done if my answer had been no?”

  “Well, then it would have just been a party for opening the museum,” he said.

  I smiled. “Oh, right.”

  He didn’t have anything to worry about. Of course, I would always say yes. I couldn’t wait to be Mrs. Brannon Landon. The next few minutes were a whirlwind of congratulations and hugs. Annie sent a text as she watched the party from her favorite spot on top of one of the book stacks. Jane Austen lounged in her spot on the windowsill, trying to sleep over all the noise. My parents had even come to the party, which was rare since they didn’t go to many places after sunset.

  Now that everything had settled down, I received a text message. I figured it was from Annie. I checked the message and realized it wasn’t from her.

  I just wanted to say goodbye and thank you for everything. You helped me find peace and now I’m able to move on.

  “Josh? Are you still around?” I asked, looking around for him.

  He was nowhere in sight. I suppose he had already moved on to the other world. I was grateful for the message.

  “You’re welcome,” I said, hoping that somehow, he still heard me.

  “Is everything all right?” Brannon asked.

  “Everything is just fine,” I said with a smile.

  I looked out across the library, grateful that everything had turned out well. All was right in my world. I was engaged to be married. The library was perfect. My tour was going well. Things couldn’t get better.

  The end.

  The Haunted Tour Guide Series:

  THESE HAUNTS ARE MADE FOR WALKING, Book 1

  A WALK ON THE HAUNTED SIDE Book 2

  HAUNT THE HAUNT, WALK THE WALK Book 3

  WALK THE WAY, HAUNT THIS WAY Book 4

  TAKE A WALK ON THE HAUNTED SIDE Book 5

  HAUNTIN' AFTER MIDNIGHT Book 6

  KEEP ON HAUNTING Book 7

  YOU'LL NEVER HAUNT ALONE, Book 8

  THE WALK THAT HAUNTS ME, Book 9

  HAUNTED GIRL WALKING, Book 10

  WALK IN MY HAUNTED SHOES, Book 11

  HAUNTING IN A WINTER WONDERLAND (short story)

  Purchase books here

  About the Author

  Rose Pressey is a USA Today bestselling author. She enjoys writing quirky and fun novels with a paranormal twist. The paranormal has always captured her interest. The thought of finding answers to the unexplained fascinates her.

  When she’s not writing about werewolves, vampires and every other supernatural creature, she loves eating cupcakes with sprinkles, reading, spending time with family, and listening to oldies from the fifties.

  Rose suffers from Psoriatic Arthritis and has knee replacements. She’s soon having her hips replaced, elbows, and at least one shoulder.

  Rose lives in t
he beautiful commonwealth of Kentucky with her husband, son, and two sassy Chihuahuas.

  Visit her online at:

  http://www.rosepressey.com

  http://www.facebook.com/rosepressey

  http://www.twitter.com/rosepressey

  Rose loves to hear from readers. You can email her at: rose@rosepressey.com