Murder in the Mix Boxed Set 28-30: Cozy Mystery Addison Moore (the reading strategies book .txt) 📖

access to the holy of holies, her couture depository. She holds all of her designer gowns under lock and key in some vaulted warehouse down in the basement of the Bentley mansion. Dash and I are heading over after school to raid it. Don’t worry, guys. I’m not ditching you for the pod that birthed me.” She looks my way. “Believe me, she’s never moving in with me the way you’ve let Carlotta move in with us. And by the way, I’d trade Cressi-duh for Carlotta any day of the week. But I don’t have to. I have you.” She dots a kiss to my cheek. “Remember, if you can pull off what I told you to do, you’ll never have jury duty again for the rest of your life. Good luck getting out of it.” She waves to Everett. “Have fun doling out the life sentences. Love you!” She slams the door and bolts for a group of girls shivering in the snow.

“Nice.” I sigh as Everett pulls back onto the road. “Do you think Cressida is trying to weasel her way back into Evie’s life by way of designer dresses?” I warm my belly with my hands until the heater kicks in again.

Everett shakes his head. “I doubt it. She’s about as maternal as an earthworm.”

“Earthworms might be more maternal.”

“Touché.” He glances my way. “So, don’t keep me in suspense. What did Evie suggest to get you out of jury duty for life?”

A naughty smile rests on my lips and I bite down over it. I take a moment to take in my handsome husband with his black suit, matching tie, and his slicked back dark hair still dewy from the shower. He’s clean-shaven today, and his cologne is intoxicating me in ways that neither hard liquor nor any of my vanilla scented sweet treats could ever be capable of.

“She said I should bring Ethel with me and shoot the defendant.”

“Geez.” Everett grips the steering wheel. “Lemon, half the things she says alarms me. Should we find a good therapist?”

A laugh thumps from me and the baby kicks me as if he or she was laughing as well.

“No. Evie is fine,” I say. “She’s just a teenager. They’re dramatic. They let their minds wander and say and do whatever they want.” Within reason, I hope.

His chest expands as we head onto the highway. The sky is gray, the roads are slick with ice and snow, and I’m relieved I don’t have to drive all the way to Ashford by myself today.

“Well, I’m not approving,” he says as he glances over his shoulder before we merge into traffic. “I’m going to have a talk with her. And what’s this going to the Winter Formal with two boys business? That’s not how I want to raise her. I’m going to tell her she needs to make a decision.”

“What? Everett, they’re just glorified friends. Dash is going with them. They’re all practically going stag.”

“That tells me you have selective hearing. I heard facts. She has two boyfriends, both of which asked her and are escorting her to a dance in which she is going to wear something that costs more than the school will have to pay to rent the ballroom for the night. There are many things off in that entire scenario. Besides, my goal in life is to be a better father than the one I had. And that means I need to get involved, even if it means getting my hands dirty. Believe me, I can’t wait to be one hundred percent involved with our baby.” He reaches over and pats my knee. “I’m in love with both of you more and more every day. Just when I don’t think my love can grow another inch, it stretches out a mile. Thank you.”

“Thank you for what? And by the way, you could melt all the snow in Vermont with your sweet words. I love you, too, Everett.”

“Thank you for saving me from myself. I was a mess, and we both know it. You made a real man out of me.”

“Everett, you bypassed boyhood in the womb. You were born a real man. Speaking of manly things, how did it go hiring the contractor? Did you pick one? Will the house be ready for the baby?”

His eyes widen a notch as he stares out the windshield.

Last night, the topic came up before bed, but as soon as he helped me take off my dress, we got distracted with other, far more delicious things, like keeping each other warm the old-fashioned way. And boy, is Everett an expert at heating things up.

“Actually, that’s just what I wanted to talk to you about.” His lips flicker with the hint of a smile. “I vetted about seven contractors. They were all pretty solid. You won’t like the time frame of the completed projects, but they were all more or less shooting for some point next summer. Which is quick,” he’s ironically quick to add, but I slump in my seat regardless.

“Why do I feel a but coming on?”

“No but. Just that one of the contractors made me an offer I couldn’t refuse.”

“Was she a leggy redhead whose figure hasn’t been transformed within an inch of a beach ball? Because if so, the deal is off the table.”

“Nope. It was a burly man with a barrel chest who happens to be married to your best friend.”

“Oh no,” I moan. “No, no, no. We can’t hire Bear. He still hasn’t finished Grandma Nell’s house, and it’s been over a year now. We’ll never move into our dream home. Evie will be married and have kids of her own, and Sugar Cookie here will be leaving for college by the time we get the keys. That is, if they still use keys that far off into the future.”

“I don’t know if I should spoil the surprise, but Bear told me he’s putting the finishing touches on Nell’s place and that he might be done as