The Flip (17 page)

“Like an instant replay?” Willy asked.

“Just so.” Georgia touched her leg. “He was
wounded.” Her breath caught in her throat. “Oh my God, he was an escaped slave. He was hiding here.”

Molly interrupted, “It’s rumored that there was an Underground Railroad station somewhere here in town. I always assumed it was the Friends Meeting House in Jericho.”

“It was here,” Georgia told her with finality.

“But you said there was a woman,” Brad insisted.

“Well, yes.” She wandered to the staircase. “Wait, I don’t know what these things are. Wait a minute.” She paused.

“What?” Sal demanded.

“There’s a man. Oh, oh, he’s so sad. The female is back.” She looked at Sal, a laugh escaping her lips. “You wouldn’t believe what she’s doing to you.”

Molly moved possessively to him, leaning close. Sal looked at her, put his arms around her, and said, “Worried, sweetheart? You don’t have to be. You’re the only one in the world for me.”

Georgia’s eyes traveled upward. “She’s not happy.” Her voice trailed off and she turned.

Sal whispered into Molly’s ear, “Why’d she stop talking? What’s going on?”

“Shhh.” Molly shushed him. “Let her listen.”

Georgia watched the two figures meet at
the top landing. She tried to discern more, but it was too dark for her to distinguish anything other than a male and a female floating above them all.

Gerald stood stock-still. He wanted to reach out to take Tessa in his arms. Her shoulders were hunched in defeat. She sensed him before seeing him.

“You came back?” Tessa’s voice was small.

“Do you want the truth?” he asked.

“You never left,” Tessa answered as she reached out to him. “I…I missed you. I never knew that I could…miss you.” Her voice trailed off in shame.

“That’s not enough anymore, Tessa,” Gerald told her firmly. “I am not going to stay
here any longer.”

Tessa shook her head. “I understand now. All those years wasted. I never understood.”

“You never gave me a chance.”

“I took you for granted. You were right in front of me, and I never saw you. All those men. I know now I was searching for something, and I never realized it was you.”

“I love you, Tessa.”

“I know, and what’s more, I know now that I love you. I want to be with you, only you, wherever you take me.”

Gerald held out his hand. Tessa placed hers on top of his palm.

“The house was never haunted, was it, Gerald?”

“No, my own, you were the only one haunted here. Let’s put it all to rest and see where destiny takes us, together.”

“Yes,” Tessa echoed. “Together.”

They lifted their faces to the sun shining through the stained glass window, leaping together, without fear.

Georgia wiped her streaming eyes, coming back to the silent room. They surrounded her quietly, watching, waiting for her to say something.

“It’s over,” she told them. “They’ve left.”

“What! That’s it?” Willy exclaimed. “But you didn’t do nothing!”

Georgia smiled at him. “I didn’t have to. She moved on. She finally accepted the help she needed and moved on.”

Brad walked over from the doorframe. “You saw her?”

“Red-gold hair and all.”

Brad’s face paled. “What was this all about?”

Georgia shrugged. “I don’t have all the answers. There was a troubled spirit. She’d been here for years. She couldn’t move on.”

“Move on where?” Julie asked.

“Wherever she needed to. Some call it heaven. Who knows? Either way, she found her peace.”

“Why was she doing what she did to us? Not that I mind that she’s gone,” Julie assured her.

“Why does anybody bully or torment someone else? She was searching for something, and I think she finally found it.”

“What?” Julie asked, moving into Brad’s arms.

“Love. It’s the great equalizer. Isn’t being loved or cherished enough to bring anyone peace? Sometimes I find that there was no haunted house, but a haunted heart.” Georgia smiled. “I
think my work is done, but there is something else. I don’t know exactly what I’m feeling.”

“Oh, here we go again!” Willy said with exasperation. “Did my spectral ghoul leave?”

“I don’t feel anyone else in the house,” she said, though her voice did not sound certain. “Yes.” She looked up. “I’m satisfied.”

“She’s talented,” Marum observed.

“No more than the sibyl in Greece or that fellow Nostradamus,” Sten responded. “I think we can back off for now. This group seems capable of thinking they are running their own lives.”

“Tessa?”

“Has gone to Gerald and her reward. She
had to see what was right in front of her to move on. Gerald will take care of her from now on.”

“What about us?” Marum backed into the dark shadows, her voice distant. “Is this all there is?”

“You knew that when you took this job,” Sten told her. “I always told you never to get attached to them. It’s just a job, Marum. Just a job.”

“Do you ever get tired of it?” Marum asked, her eyes filled with unshed tears.

“Nah, there is always another one struggling for help. A lost sheep that requires a nudge in the right direction. We can lie low for now. They won’t be needing us until their second
son is born. He is a hell-raiser and they will need guidance. They are on the right course. I was thinking of a little vacation. Olympus, you know.” He winked, and they were lost to time once again.

Chapter 23

Brad and Julie held hands, watching with bated breath as the Tiffany lampshade was placed gingerly on a granite stand by a gloved Sotheby’s agent. The place was packed with buyers. They had netted close to $400,000 just on the contents of the boxes they had found in the tiny walled-off room. In their wildest dreams they had never expected anything like this to happen. It just couldn’t get any better, Julie thought, could it?

“Signed by Louis Comfort Tiffany, rare lotus glass lampshade. I will start the bidding at one-point-five million dollars.” The auctioneer hit the lectern with his gavel.

Sal turned to a sea of upraised paddles held by people eager to buy. “Wow,” he said in awe.

Apparently, Julie giggled, it could!

Epilogue

Julie rested her hands on the bulk of her belly. Brad was on a ladder adjusting the sign. It was beautiful, forest-green with bright gold lettering. They had fought over the name, but in the end, she agreed that his choice had a certain charm. The Sleep Inn said it all. It didn’t matter if they never had a single customer. The house had made them richer than they could have ever imagined.

Willy had married Rita, and LaMarr was in the process of becoming a big brother. Julie and Brad had had their first big gig last week. Molly’s boss, Paul Russo, had his daughter’s christening done at the house; his second wife and their
blended family looked adorable. Sal and Molly were planning a summer wedding using the Inn’s gardens. It had gotten National Trust status when they delved deeper into its Underground Railroad past, and the town had put up a plaque.

Well, Julie was happy. She loved unconditionally and was loved unconditionally. And it seems that in the end, that’s all that matters, really.

Author’s Note

This was a fun book to write. While there is a Bedlam Street in Cold Spring Harbor, there is no Bedlam or Hemmings House. There are many beautiful homes along the Gold Coast that gave me the inspiration for this mansion.

General McClellan really did work for the Illinois Central Railroad before the war. He was general in chief for the Army of the Potomac. Well loved and respected by his troops, he was at odds with both Lincoln and his staff, causing him to be fired. It was said that he was influenced by the information given to him by Pinkerton scouts.

While looking for information about the
Underground Railroad, I was amazed to discover that the Maine Maid Inn, right off Jericho Turnpike in Jericho, New York, was indeed a safe house. Valentine Hicks was a known station master and used his home to help slaves escape north. The Maine Maid Inn has recently been given protected status as a historical site by the town of Oyster Bay.