“I have to know what’s happening with her.”
Isaac wrinkled his nose. “You have to go home and shower, dude. And then dress in clean clothes and go talk to the woman.”
“I tried. She kicked me out.”
“If I understand the gossip I’ve heard, she’s been a little busy getting caught up with her sister. Give her a break. Her world just got turned upside down.”
Michael stared up at his brother. “I can’t live without her.”
“I know. So go after her, you stupid jerk.”
“She doesn’t want me.” Michael ran his finger along the picture of her in the paper.
Isaac rolled his eyes. “She’s had a horrible shock. Of course she wants you. I’ve seen the way you two look at each other with your stupid goo-goo eyes.”
Michael pressed his lips together. “I don’t know what to do.”
Smirking, Isaac snorted. “You never give up in business, and suddenly you’re like ‘Waaaaah! I don’t have my girl anymore’.”
The ghost of a smile tugged at the corners of Michael’s mouth. “You’re a jerk, Isaac.”
“Yes. Yes, I am. Now get out of here. You’re starting to stink and scare off clients.”
Michael cocked a brow and looked at his brother. “You’re right.”
“Of course I’m right. I’m always right. Duh.”
“You really think she gives me goo-goo eyes?”
Isaac rolled his eyes again. “And you give them right back.” He made smoochie noises and raised his voice an octave as he teased, “Oh, I wuv you so much, you big stwong vampire! Oh, I wuv you wight back, you confused wittle pixie pwincess.”
Michael laughed and swatted at his brother. “Okay. I’ll go after her.”
“Good. Maybe then we can get some work done around here.”
As he walked from the room, Isaac called after him. “Shower first.”
There was a soft knock on the door, and Dixie exchanged a look with her sister.
Pixie called out, “Who is it?”
“It’s your parents.”
“What do you think?” Pixie asked Dixie.
Dixie shrugged. “Let’s see what they have to say. At least they’re not yelling at each other anymore.”
They walked to the door together, and Dixie opened it.
“May we come in?” their mother asked, formally and stiffly.
“Yes, but only if you behave like civilized adults.”
Their parents stepped inside.
Pixie motioned toward the couch. “Have a seat.”
Pixie and Dixie sat across from them, on the edge of the bed.
The king said, “We have some apologies to make, and we hope you girls will forgive us.”
Surprised, Dixie looked at Pixie, whose eyes widened.
“First, I must apologize to your mother. I already have, but we wanted to let you hear everything. So, Miranda, I am very sorry I took your oldest daughter, barely born, and stole her away. I intended for you to come home because I couldn’t live without you.”
Their mother took his hand, and said, “And I’m sorry I took Dixie away without letting you know about her or letting you know where we were. I was afraid, too. I thought the worst of you, and I’m sorry.”
Watching in amazement, Dixie’s heart softened.
Their father turned to the girls. “We are extremely sorry for how our actions affected our family, specifically you girls. We love you with all our hearts. We hope you can forgive us...?”
Dixie smiled at her father. Her father. “I can.”
Pixie nodded. “So can I.”
Their parents stood. The king said, “Which of you is Dixie?”
Both twins pointed to Dixie, and laughed.
Their father smiled, and his voice cracked. “May I give you a hug, my daughter whom I never knew I had but whom I love dearly?”
Dixie’s eyes filled with tears and she fell into his arms. He hugged her fiercely. “I love you, baby girl. And I want to get to know you.”
Their mother held out her arms to Pixie. “Please forgive me for leaving you behind. I have thought about you every day since then and regretted my actions. My heart has ached for you every day.”
Pixie hugged their mother.
Soon they were all laughing and crying.
They were a real family.
Well, if you counted being part of a family of pixies real.
Boy, was Stacy going to be ticked off that she’d missed all the excitement.
Later that night, after their parents had left hand in hand, Dixie and her new sister had fallen silent, just enjoying one another’s company and presence. Suddenly, there was yet another knock on the door.
Dixie watched as Pixie opened the door.
Then she heard Michael’s voice. “May I please speak with Dixie?”
As she realized he could tell them apart even when their own parents couldn’t, her heart warmed. She nodded at her sister, who let him come in.
Pixie said, “I’m going to take a long bath. Don’t disturb me.” She winked at Dixie, who blushed.
“We won’t,” Dixie assured her.
After Pixie left the room and they heard water running in the luxurious bathtub, Michael looked at her earnestly. “I’m so sorry I messed things up so badly.”
“You didn’t.”
Michael put up a hand to stop her. “Please. Let me say this. It’s hard enough.”
“All right.”
“If I’d only known there were two of you, I would have known in an instant that you, Dixie, were my lifemate, because I never get that feeling when I’m around your sister. Just you.”
He looked so miserable that she couldn’t help but put her face to his cheek, caressing. “You can tell us apart.”
“Yes. Because when I’m with you, I feel what’s called the lifemate buzz.”
“I feel it, too.”
He handed her the box. “I found this for you.”
She opened it, and gasped. Inside was a ring, with opals shaped like butterfly wings — or would that be pixie wings? — surrounding a large center diamond for the body. “It’s beautiful.”
“I love you, Dixie. Will you marry me?”
She fell into his arms. “Oh, yes!”
They made up for the days of kissing that they’d missed, until Pixie came out of the bathroom. She looked between them with an arched brow. “Are you two still at it? I take it he proposed?”
Epilogue
The Elvis Lives in Moonchuckle Bay?
DIXIE STEPPED INTO THE BALLROOM of the Fairy Court on Michael’s arm.
She wore a twinkly pinkish-purple gown supplied by her sister, and Pixie wore a sparkly bluish-green gown.
The three of them walked in together.
“Wow,” said Dixie as she caught her first glimpse of the royal palace. Pixie had insisted that they formally introduce her at the castle, staying with her at the hotel while all the preparations for this celebration were made by their parents.
While they’d talked, they’d learned that they both liked cherry pie, detested Justin Bieber songs, and loved flowers and gardens.
Pixie had finally met their grandmother, who’d come to Moonchuckle Bay and moved into her old rooms in the palace.
Dixie turned in a full circle. The ballroom looked like something from a Disney fairy tale, glittering and resplendent and magical.
Pixie led Dixie and Michael through the crowd, introducing them to pixies and supernatural guests as they went — people who bowed to both of them and said how honored they were to meet the Princess Dixie at long last.
It was indeed a magical evening, especially when the king and queen went up to the front of the room and renewed their wedding vows in front of the entire Fairy Court.
Her mother looked beautiful — and years younger. Apparently she’d been glamouring herself to look older.
But the biggest surprise was when her grandmother dropped her glamour — and now looked no older than ei
ther of her granddaughters!
“Why, Grandma,” Dixie exclaimed, “how beautiful you look!”
“Thank you,” Grandma said, fluffing her hair before she pulled them both into a group hug.
After all the toasts to the newly re-vowed couple were made, and during the dancing, Michael led Dixie to where their parents stood together.
Michael’s father, Jack Murphy, told Dixie’s father, the king, that he’d like to negotiate a mutually acceptable wedding contract between the two of them.
The king looked at Dixie, studied Michael, and nodded. “I’ll look at it.”
Dixie and Michael just smiled at each other because they knew they were eloping later that evening, anyway.
Pixie finally said, “I’ve had way too much family togetherness. I’m out of here.”
“Going to meet your sweetheart?” Dixie guessed.
Pixie smiled. “Maybe we’ll follow your example and drive off into the sunset.”
“Shh!” Dixie said. “Don’t make me regret having confided in you.”
Pixie laughed. She hugged Dixie and whispered, “Good luck.” Then she kissed Michael’s cheek. “Take good care of her. I’ll see you when you get back.”
“I plan on it.”
“All right. I’m off to meet my own guy, then.” Pixie disappeared into the crowd and out the door without anyone else noticing.
Dixie turned to Michael and said, “I’ll meet you outside.”
He nodded. She followed her sister’s path and slipped out the same door. Ahead, she saw Lord Dragomir opening a car door for Pixie. She waved and he nodded at her before climbing in and driving off.
Dixie made her way to Michael’s car, and he joined her.
“So you’re still okay with getting married in Vegas?” he asked.
“Yes, and I invited the psychic and her guy to join us. After all, it’s because of her prediction that I came to Moonchuckle Bay and met you to begin with.”
He gave her a sweet kiss. “I will be forever grateful for that.”
Her eyes twinkling, she asked, “Can we have Elvis marry us?”
He barked out a laugh. “Only if we go back to Moonchuckle Bay.”
“Really?”
“Yes. But I suppose we can have an Elvis impersonator in Vegas if you don’t want the real thing.”
Dixie’s eyes widened to the size of saucers. “Are you telling me that Elvis — the Elvis — lives in Moonchuckle Bay?”
He grinned. “Isn’t it great?”
“Can we talk him into going with us?” she asked. “Maybe bribe him with a couple of peanut butter and banana sandwiches...?”
“He doesn’t go out much anymore. But he does still like those sandwiches.”
“I guess I’ll have to settle for an impersonator, then. But I want to meet him when we get back home.”
“You got it. He’s a client of the firm.”
Dixie snuggled against his shoulder and sighed. “I do believe that I’m the luckiest woman on earth.”
~ The Happy Ending ~
Thank you!
Thank you very much for taking the time to read my book, The Bridesmaid Earns Her Wings, the second in the Moonchuckle Bay series. I love to write these light-hearted, humorous, magical stories to allow people to curl up with a good book for an afternoon. I hope you were entertained.
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Happy tales, Heather Horrocks
www.BooksByHeatherHorrocks.com
About the Author
Heather Horrocks is the USA Today bestselling author of numerous books (Moonchuckle Bay paranormal romances, Chick Flick Clique and Christmas Street romantic comedies, a novel in the unprecedented American Mail-Order Bride series, Who-Dun-Him Inn and Bad Mothers Club cozy mysteries, and Women Who Knew inspirational books) plus an upcoming series for writers, sharing her unique character interview and amazing book-in-a-day system developed by plotting over seventy-five books with Diane Darcy, each in one day. She is also the founder of Word Garden Press, a niche publisher of PG-rated fiction and non-fiction.
Raised overseas for her first seventeen years, she hid under the bed with her mother during a South American coup, waterskied through an oil slick in the Persian Gulf, partied with a Kuwaiti princess classmate, flew in and out of the blacked-out Cairo airport mere moments before it was bombed during the Six Day War, rode a camel (and ate a camel steak), crossed the finish line first at Utah's Miller Motorsports Park—and walked on hot coals—without getting burned!—at a firewalk workshop!
She loves anyone who can make her laugh, which explains why she adores her witty husband, her funny friends and sisters, Anne George mysteries, and her cute little dog Gus. She loves to cook for friends, siblings, and especially her children and their families. She and her husband reside in Utah. You can find her online at www.BooksByHeatherHorrocks.com.
Book Club Questions
1. Would you like a Revealing Mirror so you can see who people really are? (It could certainly come in handy during election years!)
2. Would you ever consider eloping? Under what circumstances?
3. Have you ever taken a road trip? What’s your fondest memory of that trip? What’s the most cringe-worthy?
4. Have you ever learned something about a loved one that changed what you’d believed up to that moment? About yourself and where you come from? How did you react?
5. Do you know people who are hot and cold? Cold and aloof one day and warm the next? Since they’re probably not pixie twins separated at birth, how would you describe them?
6. Relationships are fraught with misunderstandings and fears. Do you agree with how the queen took the second twin and fled? Or how the king took the first twin trying to entice her back?
7. Moonchuckle Bay has all sorts of monster-themed events and businesses. Wamego, Kansas, which is an actual town, has OZtoberfest and the Yellow Brick Road Bike Ride. What special events does your town have?
8. Did you feel Edward the ghost should have been able to sue the humans to get his old home back?
9. Were you ever an Elvis fan? Which singer is your all-time favorite?
10. Have you ever been mistaken for someone else? What complications arose?
Books by Heather Horrocks
MOONCHUCKLE BAY Paranormal Romances:
Jingle Belle (free here), The Artist Cries Wolf (Halloween 2016), The Bridesmaid Earns Her Wings, (Black Friday 2016), The Vampire Gets a Grip (day after Christmas 2016), The Dr
agon Finds His Flame (coming soon)
CHRISTMAS STREET Romantic Comedies:
Bah, Humbug!, Kissing Santa, The Naughty List, Love on Christmas Street (#1, 2, & 3), Deck the Malls
CHICK FLICK CLIQUE Romantic Comedies:
Pride and Precipitation, A Hound Dog Named Elvis, Regally Blonde, A Pink Dog Named Fluffy (formerly titled Puppy Love), My Spare Lady, Movie Night at Candy’s Cafe (#1, 2, & 3), A Bulldog Named Desire, Fifty Shades of Greystoke, While You Were Stranded, Romancing the Clone (2016), Davidson and Goliath
WHO-DUN-HIM INN Cozy Mysteries:
Snowed Inn, Inn the Doghouse, Inn the Family Way, Laugh Yourself to Death at the Who-Dun-Him Inn (#1, 2, & 3), The Czech’s Inn the Mail #4 (2016)
BAD MOTHERS CLUB Cozy Mystery Series:
Murder is Misunderstood #1
INSPIRATIONAL:
Women Who Knew the Mortal Messiah, Men Who Knew the Mortal Messiah, Women and Men Who Knew the Mortal Messiah, Women Who Knew the Great Jehovah (2016)
AMERICAN MAIL-ORDER BRIDE:
Violet: Bride of North Dakota
OTHERS:
How to Stuff a Wild Zucchini, Old Maid of Honor, Baby Mine
Receive a FREE STORY for signing up for Heather’s New Release Newsletter at www.BooksByHeatherHorrocks.com
Acknowledgments
Thanks to everyone who helped me with this book, in one way or another…
My friend and USA Today bestselling author DIANE DARCY for plotting, and for sharing your Nightshade Hotel & Casino with me for my opening scenes. Be sure to watch for her Nightshade series, coming soon. It will be fantastic!
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