Page 72 of Fish and Chip: Nine Lives One Murder
I’m about to thank them when Eddie lifts a finger. “We have news. We’re finally ready to make the official move to Florida. We’ve been putting it off for years, but now—well, we want to make you an offer you can’t refuse.”
Edie nods enthusiastically. “We want to sell you the park.”
I blink, sure that I’ve misheard or possibly suffered a concussion during the Patty takedown. “I’m sorry, what now?”
“The park,” Eddie repeats, gesturing expansively. “We want you to buy it.”
“The entire park?” I’m flummoxed in a way that suggests my brain has temporarily shut down for maintenance. “All one hundred acres? The rides, the buildings, the liability insurance nightmares? You’re joking, right?”
“Not even a little bit,” Edie assures me while making a life-altering offer over carnival music.
My brain finally kicks back into gear. “As wonderful as that sounds, I don’t have enough money to buy a home, let alone an entire theme park. And I don’t think I’d qualify for a loan either.” My previous financial life was completely entangled with Clyde’s, leaving me with approximately zero credit history of my own and the financial independence of a particularly broke college student.
The Merryweathers exchange a look, then shrug in perfect synchronization.
“We don’t need the money,” Eddie explains. “We just need someone who loves this place to take care of it like we have.”
I make a face without meaning to. Had they taken care of the park, we wouldn’t have been in half the predicaments we found ourselves in this week alone.
“How about we sell it to you for a dollar?” Edie suggests.
I gape at the two of them. “Are you serious?”
They nod as identical smiles spread across their faces.
My hands tremble slightly as I dig through my pocket, finally producing a crumpled one-dollar bill. “Sold!”
All three of us laugh as I press the dollar into Edie’s palm.
“We’ll have our lawyers write it up,” Edie promises. “But consider it a done deal.”
“We’re going to enjoy the park one last timeas owners,” Eddie says, taking his wife’s hand. “Maybe ride the carousel. Haven’t done that in years.”
And now that I’ve had the screws tightened, it probably won’t kill them.
They walk away, leaving me standing in stunned disbelief. A new theme park owner with exactly negative one dollar to my name and absolutely no idea what I’ve just gotten myself into.
Did they just give you a kingdom for a dollar?Fish asks with awe.That’s the greatest real estate deal in history.
Does this mean the snack bars are now our personal pantries?Chip gasps at the thought, his eyes wide with the possibilities, and his mouth wide open to catch any stray crumbs.My first royal decree—bacon on everything!
I slowly turn in a circle, taking in the sights and sounds of my park—MY park!—with new eyes.
The carousel music, the delighted screams from the roller coaster, the scent of caramel apples and fresh popcorn, all of it now belongs to me. Well, me and approximately twenty grand in immediate repairs I can’t afford, but still.
My mind races ahead to October, just around the corner, with all the spooky potential that Halloween brings to a theme park. Jack-o’-lanterns and costumes, haunted hayrides and candy apples—the possibilities are endless. But we’re still knee-deep in September, and there are so many wonderful things to do with fall in full bloom.
As the golden autumn sunlight slants across the cobblestone paths of Huckleberry Hollow Wonderland, I let myself hope that my future as park owner leans more toward funnel cakes and fairy lights than felonies.
But something tells me that where Fish, Chip, and I go, murder might just follow—and oddly enough, I think I’m kind of into it.
CHAPTER 28
Chip
The autumn moon is doing that thing where it makes everything look like magic sparkling across our park as closing time rolls around.
Yeah,ourpark.
