Epilogue

Natalie stood in the center of the meeting room and looked around her. "This old depot has never looked so good, if I do say so myself."

"Actually, this train station looked pretty good a hundred years ago. But you are right, I don't think it was ever decorated for the holidays this beautifully," Harriet said, standing next to Natalie. "I am sorry I couldn't help."

Natalie waved away her concern. "Are you serious? You probably saved all our lives with that entity at the hotel."

"The priest did more than I did."

"That's not what I heard. He said he subdued it but you're the reason it moved on."

"All I did was reason with it. Tell it that the facility had been shut down and the people responsible for his abuse and death punished. It seems that was his unfinished business so he moved on." Harriet shrugged, as if it was nothing.

Natalie, having felt the power of that thing, knew what Harriet had done was definitely something.

"You're being modest. And, who says you didn't help with the decorations? You told me when I had the tree straight in the stand. You handled the ghost guest list invitations. And most importantly, you came and warned me when the cat was chewing on the light cord."

Having a ghost bat in the shop was enough. She didn't need to have the ghost of Mr. Darcy the cat haunting her for the rest of her life because he'd gotten himself electrocuted.

Harriet smiled. "Happy to do it, and look. Your guests are starting to arrive."

Natalie's first giant Christmas gathering in Mudville was about to begin.

The invitation list was vast. Harper, Stone, Agnes, and Alice were on it. As well as the members of the ghost council. And there was an open invitation for anyone else who was in town for the holiday and didn't have other plans to stop by for a drink and a nibble.

Natalie had set out one long table in the meeting room, covered with charcuterie boards and bottles of wine. She did own a wine shop, after all.

She also owned a bookshop and every guest tonight was to take home a book. Her gift to them.

The books were piled on a side table wrapped in brown paper and tied with twine, decorated with a sprig of pine and holly.

On the wrapping was written nothing but a sentence—the slightest hint of what the book was about. Other than that, the guests would have to choose blindly, and hopefully be surprised and delighted by what they'd chosen when they got home.

But the thing that made the biggest impact in the meeting room was the twelve foot tall—and probably almost as wide—fresh cut Christmas tree provided by Stone's family farm.

It was the kind of tree Natalie had always wanted when she'd lived in the city but could never have. Just like this was the kind of party she'd always wanted to throw.

And as she looked at the table filled shoulder to shoulder with her friends both living and dead, seated side by side, she realized she finally had the friends she didn't realize she'd been missing until moving here.

"Having fun?" Liam asked, coming up behind where she stood and wrapping his arms around her waist.

"Yes. I do wish the Utica ghosts could have been here though."

"You know, we can go and visit. It's not that far."

"You'd do that? Come with me?" She turned in his arms and met his gaze.

"Of course, I would."

"You're getting pretty good about all the ghost stuff," she observed. "Much better than when you first learned about them."

Liam bobbed his head to one side. "They're not so bad, once you get to know them. And I do have to say, the ghosts make excellent party guests. They don't eat or drink. There's nothing to clean up afterward. If I could just see where they are so I stop walking through them, we'd be good."

"Hold that thought." Natalie disengaged herself from Liam's embrace and ran to the Christmas tree.

Bending down she grabbed a badly wrapped package, which was not her fault. Not everything was as easy to wrap as a book.

Trotting back to where Liam waited, she thrust the package at him. "Merry Christmas, one day early."

"What is this?" he asked.

"Open it, silly, and see."

"All right." That dimple was back. Liam might try to act like a grump but deep down he was a big old softie.

Tearing into the paper, he pulled out a pair of thermal goggles.

"You can see if those help. I'm not sure they'll work but thermal imaging is supposed to show ghosts."

He turned the goggles over in his hand. "Where did you get these?"

"Don't judge me, but they might have accidentally fallen into my bag in Utica." She cringed.

Liam laughed. "That's my girl."

"Doctor Walsh. Are you encouraging my petty theft?"

"They owe you more than whatever those cost. Considering you got paid next to nothing for risking your life for that show, which had the highest ratings on PNC in the last two years, I'd say the people at the network are the ones who made out like bandits."

"You're right. I won't feel guilty. Oh, speaking of thieves—did I ever tell you that Alice knows how to hot wire a car?"

Liam shook his head. "No, but I'm not at all surprised. It's a shame you didn't find her grandmother in the graveyard. Can you imagine what that old bird would have been like?"

Natalie laughed. "I know, right? Though it's a good thing she's not there. It means she passed on."

And one quirky old bird in her life was enough.

Speaking of Alice… As if on cue she pushed her chair back from the table and stood, though that didn't put her more than a head higher than those who remained seated.

Tapping her glass with a spoon, she began once the room had quieted, "So PNC is looking for a location for the next season of Ghost Challenge . And maybe this time, since Natalie is a famous ghost whisperer now and all, they'll choose Mudville."

"Alice. No." Harper looked horrified. "One malevolent encounter was enough for me."

"Wimp." Alice scowled at Harper then turned to Natalie. "Nat? What do you say? If they pick Mudville this time, are you in?"

Things around there had changed a bit since Natalie had been outed on the show. She couldn't deny that. But all of it hadn't been bad.

Business certainly had picked up. Not just for her in the shop, but for the whole town. And so far the tourists hadn't made life unbearable as she feared they might.

Natalie glanced at Gabe, who was in a much happier mood since he and Millie had made an agreement with Harper and Agnes that they could reside in the spare guest room as long as they promised not to go into Harper or Agnes's bedrooms.

Gabe lifted one shoulder in a noncommittal shrug.

She looked back at Liam, who said, "That's completely up to you, babe."

Natalie turned back and with a smile said, "You know what, Alice. Yeah. Sure. I think it might be fun."