“I saw the castle!” Trevor raised his hand as if he was answering a question at school.
“Did you see any ghosts?” Deb leaned down and whispered conspiratorially. “Because legend has it it’s haunted.”
Now Trevor’s eyes were the size of baseballs. Her son loved any and all things ghost related.
“It is?” Trevor breathed in reverent wonder.
“That’s what they say.” Deb nodded her head.
Before Trevor went on a rant about why he believed in ghosts and why ghosts were “sooo cool” Sara decided to change the subject.
“You said the show, Fairytale Love was filmed there?” Sara had never watched it, but her sister Shelby had been obsessed. She’d had favorite contestants and Sara had a faint memory of the finale being shocking and “the most romantic thing ever” to quote her sister.
“Sure was.” Deb nodded and there was a sparkle of pride in her eyes. “Soon after it aired, businesses around here started capitalizing on its popularity, adopting different themes, even tweaking their names. The grocery store, Food N’ Stuff became Huff N’ Puff Food N’ Stuff and now has Three Little Pigs on all their buggies. The Snack Shack is now Snow White’s Snack Shack.” She leaned down and lowered her voice once again. “And I heard that they’re going to be reopening Cherry On Top and it’s going to be Olaf’s Cherry On Top. You know Olaf, from the movie—”
“Frozen!” Charlotte squealed.
Trevor was obsessed with ghosts. Shelby was obsessed with Fairytale Love. And Charlotte was equally obsessed with the movie Frozen.
“That’s right!” Deb smiled from ear to ear. “Funny thing about that is, the original owner is actually named Olaf. He retired to Florida but his granddaughter is going to be reopening it. Don’t know much about her, though.” Deb’s penciled-in brows furrowed.
Feeling a little bit like this was conversational double Dutch, Sara decided to jump in when she saw her opening, “Do you know if the Whisper Lake B&B is still open?”
Grandma Betty had stayed at the Whisper Lake B&B during her magical summer. Sara had no idea if it was still around. She’d tried to look it up online but hadn’t gotten very far. All of the information was from decades earlier.
“It sure is. Except now it’s called, Princess and the Pea B&B.”
Goosebumps broke out on her forearms, and it was her turn to ask in reverent wonder, “It is?”
The Princess and the Pea had been Grandma Betty’s favorite fairytale. She’d read it to Sara, Shelby, and Matt every time they spent the night at her house.
Deb nodded. “It has been for years, though, that change had nothing to do with the show. Right after Cliff bought it, oh it has to be over sixty years ago, he changed the name. Course they’re both gone now. God rest their souls.” Deb looked up to the ceiling as she made the sign of the cross before lifting a crucifix that she had hanging around her neck and kissing it. “Karen and Sly have been running it for years, but a little birdie told me the previous owner’s grandson just blew into town, and he’s a sight for sore eyes, if you know what I mean. Anyhoo, it’s up at the top of Lakeview Lane, you can’t miss it.” With another wink, Deb headed back to the kitchen.
As Sara took the first bite of her BLT, she was beginning to think maybe this entire trip hadn’t been such a crazy idea after all. The kids were happy. She’d seen the castle when they’d pulled into Goldilocks, and now she knew the B&B was still open and it was coincidentally named after her grandma’s favorite children’s book. With any luck, she and the kids could get a room at the B&B, and from what Deb had told her, there would be plenty to keep them busy for the week with the festival going on.
Things were falling perfectly into place. If she believed in fate, she’d think that it had a hand in what was going on.
So why did she feel so off balance, so unsettled? The answer to that question immediately materialized as Stranger Danger’s face popped into her mind.
Yep, that would do it.