Ghostly Tours

Chapter Seven

"Thank you so much for looking after him," Susanna said to Kaylee as she held Sedward's cage in her hand.

"It wasn't even for a week. Why are you back so soon?"

"I'm... Let's just say I'm going to lose my job. But that's not the end of the world; in fact it's a good thing."

"Oh! What are you going to do?"

"I don't know really. I've considered going back to school. Or maybe I'll open my own travel agency. Not that I know enough, but I'll soon find everything out the hard way." The tension had mounted over the ocean on the way back; why had she left the tour? It meant a shaky future. She'd left because she couldn't deal with never seeing Shane again but being reminded of him on each stop in Italy. Italy was a bittersweet place for her. She'd found herself there—well, in her previous life, and she'd lost her love there too.

The cage dug into her fingers. Sedward chirped but didn't say anything. He was unusually quiet. He must've missed her. "Did he talk?"

"Oh, yes, all the time. Cheeky thing. Kept swearing at Blythe."

"Your new boyfriend?"

"Well, that's the thing. He's no longer my boyfriend. I think Sedward helped with that. The guy showed his true colors when Sedward annoyed him."

Susanna couldn't help laughing. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't find that fu—"

"Not at all. I should buy myself a parrot. Handy creatures. They seem to sense things about people."

"Good Sedward." She bent down to him and he said in his chirpy voice, "Goodday, me love."

"Love you too, Seddy. Missed you stax."

"Missed you stax," he echoed.

She pushed her finger through the bar and he perched on it, then gently pecked her with his beak.

"Aw," Kaylee said.

"He's tame because I bought him as a baby and fed him mush."

"I want one."

"Best companion in the world. Better than any man." She hated the listlessness in her voice, but what she said was true. No man stayed forever. Yes, Sedward could die, but his life expectancy was longer than hers anyway. He'd be with her the rest of her life. She'd have to adopt a kid or have a niece or nephew to inherit him. Why was she thinking about death already? She'd only just turned thirty.

"I get what you're saying. Although, you haven't dated much, Susanna. You've never really had any serious relationships to have suffered a broken heart. I've always wondered what's holding you back. I'm sorry. I shouldn't pry. It's none of my business."

Susanna sat down on Kaylee's bottle-green, velvet couch she'd bought at an antiques auction. "Past-life issues."

Kaylee giggled. "You believe in that stuff?"

"Yep, I do."

"What happened on tour? Was Ghostly Tours really ghostly?"

"Very much so."

"You've got to tell me some time. I can see you're suffering travel fatigue, so I'll let you head home, but I know something happened. Something deep."

Susanna nodded. "Yes, it did."

When she went home to her apartment next door, she realized something profound. Sure, her heart had been broken by Shane all over again, but she felt free. That letter had freed her to move on. It's as if she'd dropped a burden she'd been carrying for centuries. It was a type of death. Death brought sadness, but it also cleared away all the gunk. Could she possibly heal and find a way to get rid of the restlessness in her heart?