Chocolate Heart Killer: A Pumpkin Hollow Mystery, book 14 by Kathleen Suzette (guided reading books .TXT) 📗

appreciate being extremely pregnant and walking down the aisle. She’s going to be my maid of honor, you know. And besides, what if she went into labor during our wedding?”

“Amanda’s your maid of honor? What about Christy?” He glanced at me.

“I’ll have two maids of honor. I could never choose between them.” I took a sip of my coffee. I couldn’t choose between my best friend and my sister and having two maids of honor seemed like the solution. “How about a Halloween themed wedding? How does that sound?”

He chuckled and looked over at me. “Are you serious?” There weren’t many cars out on the streets at this hour as we drove down the street and the neighborhood was quiet.

I shrugged. “I really don’t know if I am. But it’s kind of fun to think about.”

“So does that mean you’re going to wear an orange wedding dress?”

I turned and looked at him wide-eyed. “No! I’m not going to wear an orange wedding dress. Although,” I said thinking about it. “It certainly would be different. But I’m pretty sure I’m going to go with traditional white.”

“I see,” he said. “I guess we could just have a few orange details here and there. A Jack-o’-lantern or two on the reception tables?”

I nodded. “I can always have Christy and Amanda wear orange dresses.”

He laughed. “I bet they’d appreciate that.”

I shrugged. “Why not? I bet if we found just the right shade of orange, they would be pretty.”

“I guess if they’re okay with it, why not?”

I really didn’t know if I wanted my bridesmaids to wear orange or not, but the idea appealed to me. If I could find the right shade of orange, that is.

Chapter Two

I took another sip of my coffee and settled into my seat as Ethan drove. The morning sky was getting lighter and the sun would soon make an appearance on the horizon. I love the snow, but not the cold. Or at least, I love the snow until a day or two after Christmas. Since it was now nearly the end of January, the snow was wearing out its welcome. I would be glad when spring rolled around.

We had ridden in silence for a few minutes when Ethan turned toward me. “What about a venue for the wedding? Where are we going to get married?”

I chuckled. “Well aren’t you getting all excited about the wedding?”

He nodded and grinned. “Why not? Why shouldn’t I be? I’m going to be marrying the only woman I’ve ever truly loved, and I have every right to be excited about it.”

I smiled and shook my head. “You’re something else. I thought most guys didn’t care anything about the actual wedding?”

“I’m a modern man. What can I say?”

“Well, Mr. Modern Man,” I said and took another sip of my coffee. “We’ll have to figure out all the details. There will be a million of them. I had better get a notebook to keep track of everything.”

He raised one eyebrow, looking at me again. “I guess we can have the reception at the ballroom, can’t we?”

I glanced at him and chuckled. “Aren’t you afraid of ghosts?”

He looked at me. “Ghosts? What are you talking about? What ghosts?”

I chuckled again. “Ellie Adams and Josh Tate. It’s been just over a year since they died in that ballroom. Don’t you think they might still be hanging around?”

He laughed. “No, I don’t think they’re hanging around. I don’t believe in that kind of thing. Don’t tell me you do?”

I shook my head. “No, I was just teasing you. I’m quite certain that the two of them have gone on to wherever it is they were going.”

He chuckled and nodded. “What about the ballroom? It’s a nice place for a reception.”

“We’ll see. How’s that for an answer? We still have plenty of time to figure it out.”

We turned onto the highway and it was clear. The snowplows had been through and done their work, and I was glad. I hated driving in snow, and I avoided it whenever possible.

“My mother is working on a raspberry white chocolate fudge. Just in case you were wondering,” I said, glancing at him. I worked at our family owned candy store, along with my sister and mother. Since starting a website to sell candy, business had picked up tremendously and my mother was always working on new recipes.

“Oh, your mother is a genius. Is the new flavor for Valentine’s Day?” he asked.

I nodded. “Yes, we’ve already started selling it online. I know she has a couple of other tasty items she’s been working on, too.”

“Well she had better get a move on,” he said. “Valentines Day will be here in a few weeks. Speaking of Valentine’s Day, is there anything in particular you want to do that day?”

I shrugged, thinking it over. “Anything is fine. We can go to dinner, or we can make something at home and curl up in front of the fireplace.”

He thought about this a moment. “How about a nice fancy dinner? We rarely go anyplace fancy and it might be nice to do that.”

“You don’t have to argue with me about it then,” I agreed. “Let’s do it. Let’s find a fancy place and dress up. We might be too late, though. I bet the nicer restaurants will already be booked up.”

“I’ll get right on it when we get home this afternoon,” he said.

We drove in silence for a few minutes. There was something about driving down the highway, just the two of us, that I liked. Even when we weren’t talking, there was a comfortable silence that I cherished. I glanced at Ethan. The heater was blowing full blast, and he had taken off his knit hat. He’d recently gotten his blond hair cut and his profile was neat and