Marry and Bright
Page 12
Buster winked at me. “You did say the theme was leftover inventory purge, right?”
“Your leftover inventory is a lot fancier than mine,” I told him as I eyed the blown-glass orbs.
Fern stutter-stepped over to me. “Baby-mama is cute.” He angled his head as he stared at her across the room. “And young. You don’t think she’ll let me fix her hair, do you? I haven’t worked on anyone young in forever.”
I leveled my gaze at him, and he gave a nervous laugh. “Aside from you and Kate, of course. You know I don’t mean that you two are old, sweetie.”
“Thanks,” I said.
“Don’t mention it.” He patted my arm and began making his way geisha girl-style to Prue.
I made a mental note to warn the girl not to give Fern free rein with her hair unless she wanted to end up with a transformation worthy of the witness relocation program.
I saw the door open and our cake baker friend, Alexandra, poke her head inside. I waved her in and tried not to stare when I saw whose hand she was holding as she pulled him behind her. “Is that the detective you worked with on our last case?” I asked Reese.
The mousy-haired man with the questionable combover smiled and nodded to us before turning his attention back to the tall glamorous woman next to him. He looked as shocked to be holding her hand as I was, although I’d thought they’d looked like they were getting cozy during the police investigation we’d met him on.
“It sure is,” Reese said, shaking his head. “Doesn’t Alexandra live in Scotland?”
“Yep,” I said, watching the baker flip her long brown hair off her shoulder and set a pink bakery box on the coffee table. “She flies over to do our high-profile cakes a few times a year.”
Reese pointed to the box. “Do you think she brought cake?”
“The oddest couple of the century just walked in and you’re thinking about cake?” I asked him, secretly hoping Alexandra had brought some of her famous sweets as well.
He looped an arm around me and pulled me close. “Cake isn’t all I’m thinking about.”
I felt myself blush and looked around to see if anyone had heard. The nearest person was Buster who was unpacking ornaments and handing them out for people to hang.
Reese took a red-and-green-swirled glass ball and passed it to me. “Here, babe.”
As I took the ornament from him and hung it on our first Christmas tree together, I felt happier than I had in a long time. Even knowing I had a wedding in a couple of days with a bride who rivaled the Grinch couldn’t put a damper on the feeling of home I got as I looked around the room. Richard had left the kitchen and removed his apron, and he stood next to the couch petting Hermes on the head. He looked calmer than usual, and I felt surprised he wasn’t scurrying around after Leatrice trying to get people to eat his hors d’oeuvres instead. Maybe he really was over the disappointment of being left off the list, although somehow I doubted it.
“Cheers to surviving another year,” Kate said from her perch on Daniel’s lap as she raised a glass of champagne. “Together.”
Everyone raised their glasses and clinked them.
Reese locked eyes with me, his hazel eyes deepening to green. “I’ll drink to that.”
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THE END
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Since it’s the holidays, Richard has decided to share a couple of his party recipes on the next pages (most of them borrowed and adapted from Southern Living, which he loves and reads from cover to cover). Enjoy!
Missed a book in the series? Check out the entire series listed in order after the recipes!
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Wishing you the happiest of holidays!
Also by Laura Durham
Read the entire Annabelle Archer Series in order:
Better Off Wed
For Better Or Hearse
Dead Ringer
Review To A Kill
Death On The Aisle
Night of the Living Wed
Eat, Prey, Love
Groomed For Murder
Wed or Alive
To Love and To Perish
Marry & Bright
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deadringer.lauradurham.com
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Thanks for reading and reviewing!
For my father,
with love and thanks for his support
Acknowledgments
As always, an enormous thank you to all of my wonderful readers, especially my beta readers and my review team. I never give you enough time, but you always come through for me. A special shout-out to the beta readers who caught all my goofs this time: Linda Fore, Tony Noice, Sheila Kraemer, Wendy Green, Carol Spayde, Katherine Munro, and Tricia Knox. Thank you!!
A heartfelt thank you to everyone who leaves reviews. They really make a difference, and I am grateful for every one of them!
I learned a lot about Christian biker gangs for this book and was very impressed by them. One of the themes I revisit often in my books is looking beyond appearances, and I think this fits perfectly with these tough guys (and ladies) with hearts of gold.
About the Author
Laura Durham has been writing for as long as she can remember and has been plotting murders since she began planning weddings over twenty years ago in Washington, DC. Her first novel, BETTER OFF WED, won the Agatha Award for Best First Novel.
When she isn’t writing or wrangling brides, Laura loves traveling with her family, standup paddling, perfecting the perfect brownie recipe, and reading obsessively.
She loves hearing from readers and she would love to hear from you! Send an email or connect on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter (click the icons below).
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laura@lauradurham.com
Copyright © 2018 by Laura Durham
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No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.