by Alexie Aaron
“Really? What wasn’t there?”
“No cats.”
~
Audrey scooted in between the running tots to get her potato salad safely to the banquet table. She placed the bowl on the table and turned around to see her fiancé make the same trip. But Matt managed to collect the little girls as he walked.
“We need a few dozen of these,” Matt said, putting Leta and Nura on the ground again to continue their game.
“Be careful what you wish for,” Tauni Cerise warned from the other side of the table. “Those two will run you ragged. Girls, off the robot,” she said, excusing herself to rescue the machine.
Mike, who was manning the grill, accepted the beer Mia and Maisha brought him. Mia put Maisha on the picnic table next to her, making sure she had one hand securely on the child.
“Your girlfriend is very nice,” Mia said to Mike. “I grilled her…”
Maisha put her hands to her mouth in alarm.
“No, honey, not on the barbecue. It’s an idiom, and Aunt Mia is an idiot.”
“I’ll drink to that. Hey, Mia, wasn’t this table over by the woodpile when we first came here?”
“Yes it was,” Mia confirmed.
“You see, Maisha, Mia and I have been friends for a long time. We didn’t start off so well, but we get along fine now.”
Maisha nodded as if she understood everything. Mia suspected that the child was a reincarnated sage, but time would tell.
Ted rescued Brian from the adoring hands of Susan Braverman, and even though the team colors had changed, he thought Brian looked quite manly in the Bears hoodie. He waved at his wife who was keeping Mike distracted while Murphy snuck up on the investigator.
Murphy took all of the meat off the grill and exchanged it with tiny firecrackers.
Mia made her excuses, and she and Maisha took off running.
POP POP CRACK POP CRACK CRACK POP!
Mike jumped three feet in the air. “Murphy!” Mike wanted to swear, but there were too many children around. He settled for “Pblssp!”
***
Alexie Aaron
After traveling the world, Alexie Aaron, a Midwestern native, returned to her roots where she’s been haunting for years. She now lives in a village outside of Chicago with her husband and family.
Her popular Haunted Series was born from her memories of fleeting shapes rushing around doorways, an heirloom chair that rocked itself, cold feelings of mysterious dread, and warm feelings from the traces of loved ones long gone.
Alexie also writes the Cin Fin-Lathen Mysteries. These cozies set in England and south Florida combine action and intrigue with a liberal dose of humor.
Table of Contents
NOLA
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-one
Chapter Twenty-two
Chapter Twenty-three
Chapter Twenty-four
Chapter Twenty-five
Chapter Twenty-six
Chapter Twenty-seven
Chapter Twenty-eight
Chapter Twenty-nine
Alexie Aaron
