Engaged in Death (A Wedding Planner Mystery) by Stephanie Blackmoore
Authors: Stephanie Blackmoore
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backyard connecting the properties, following the same meandering path Summer had, whistling a tune.
Rachel peered at Garrett’s retreating form with a look of confusion. She wasn’t used to men being impervious to her seduction techniques. She wheeled around to stare at me. “Wow, Mallory, that man is totally smitten.”
“What?” I emerged from a private reverie, my hand on my head.
Rachel smirked. “And it looks like you are too.”
* * *
That night, I had vivid dreams, but instead of murder on the front lawn, they involved naughty things with a certain neighbor, Garrett Davies. I woke up hot and flushed. I felt a bit different. In the grogginess of early morning, I couldn’t put my finger on it. By the time I descended the grand staircase to grab some breakfast, I’d pinpointed the change in my mood. I felt optimistic. A smidge less bleak.
But I swore off men . Especially lawyers. Especially from Port Quincy, Pennsylvania. Look what it brought me last time. Nothing but pain and recrimination. I wasn’t even finished mourning my engagement to Keith. What were the five stages of grief? I was stuck on the anger stage. The “strangle Keith” part and the “slash Becca Cunningham’s tires” part. Still, Garrett Davies made me smile and, for now, that was enough.
“You seem better.”
I loaded a bagel into the Sputnik-era chrome toaster. I smiled at my sister. She was playing with the orange kitten on the worn black and white checked floor, waving a feathered toy. The kitten was going nuts while the calico looked on.
“I do feel a little better.”
“You know, it’s never too early. I think you need to start getting back in the swing of things.” She looked up as the kitten leaped through the air. “Maybe with Garrett Davies.”
My smile vanished. Was I that transparent, or did Rachel have some kind of psychic sister superpower?
“I’m not rebounding with Garrett Davies after a broken engagement and a six-year relationship!” My face grew warm, and I picked up the kitten and nuzzled her, hiding my cheeks, which were probably glowing crimson.
“So my hunch was right.” Rachel nodded sagely. “You like him so much you don’t want to ruin it by making it a rebound.”
“He’s a jerk, and he’s our neighbor, and there are about ten thousand other reasons I can come up with why I wouldn’t date him.” But he had taken back Jeeves, so he wasn’t truly a jerk. And he did have meltingly beautiful hazel eyes.
“We’ll see.” Rachel’s mouth curved into a simper.
“Have a good day, Rach.”
I drove off for Pittsburgh, waiting for the dread to build. It was my second day back to work, and although I’d managed to avoid Keith and Becca yesterday, it was only a matter of time before I ran into the cheater and his accomplice.
But my hopeful feelings soared, and it made work slightly more bearable. The whispers about the cancelled wedding, the pitying glances, and the gazes cutting away from mine stung a bit less. People probably thought I’d gone on meds, the change in my mood was so complete. It ticked me off in my feminist soul that it took interest in another man to make me feel less adrift.
* * *
“Are you ready to venture out?” Olivia asked at lunchtime. She floated the idea tentatively, as if I were a healed leper leaving the colony for the first time in a dozen years. Her dark brown eyes squinted with concern beneath her bangs.
We’d been fast friends since the first day I met her seven years ago, when we’d been nervous summer associates. She had warned me about getting involved with Keith, a senior associate, when I was working for the firm as a law student, but I’d brushed her off. When my engagement ended, I’d gotten a big hug instead of an “I told you so,” and Olivia had done most of the work to undo my elaborate wedding plans. She was my rock.
“I believe I am.” I rubbed the egg-sized bump on my head like a good-luck talisman. I smiled, thinking of
Rachel peered at Garrett’s retreating form with a look of confusion. She wasn’t used to men being impervious to her seduction techniques. She wheeled around to stare at me. “Wow, Mallory, that man is totally smitten.”
“What?” I emerged from a private reverie, my hand on my head.
Rachel smirked. “And it looks like you are too.”
* * *
That night, I had vivid dreams, but instead of murder on the front lawn, they involved naughty things with a certain neighbor, Garrett Davies. I woke up hot and flushed. I felt a bit different. In the grogginess of early morning, I couldn’t put my finger on it. By the time I descended the grand staircase to grab some breakfast, I’d pinpointed the change in my mood. I felt optimistic. A smidge less bleak.
But I swore off men . Especially lawyers. Especially from Port Quincy, Pennsylvania. Look what it brought me last time. Nothing but pain and recrimination. I wasn’t even finished mourning my engagement to Keith. What were the five stages of grief? I was stuck on the anger stage. The “strangle Keith” part and the “slash Becca Cunningham’s tires” part. Still, Garrett Davies made me smile and, for now, that was enough.
“You seem better.”
I loaded a bagel into the Sputnik-era chrome toaster. I smiled at my sister. She was playing with the orange kitten on the worn black and white checked floor, waving a feathered toy. The kitten was going nuts while the calico looked on.
“I do feel a little better.”
“You know, it’s never too early. I think you need to start getting back in the swing of things.” She looked up as the kitten leaped through the air. “Maybe with Garrett Davies.”
My smile vanished. Was I that transparent, or did Rachel have some kind of psychic sister superpower?
“I’m not rebounding with Garrett Davies after a broken engagement and a six-year relationship!” My face grew warm, and I picked up the kitten and nuzzled her, hiding my cheeks, which were probably glowing crimson.
“So my hunch was right.” Rachel nodded sagely. “You like him so much you don’t want to ruin it by making it a rebound.”
“He’s a jerk, and he’s our neighbor, and there are about ten thousand other reasons I can come up with why I wouldn’t date him.” But he had taken back Jeeves, so he wasn’t truly a jerk. And he did have meltingly beautiful hazel eyes.
“We’ll see.” Rachel’s mouth curved into a simper.
“Have a good day, Rach.”
I drove off for Pittsburgh, waiting for the dread to build. It was my second day back to work, and although I’d managed to avoid Keith and Becca yesterday, it was only a matter of time before I ran into the cheater and his accomplice.
But my hopeful feelings soared, and it made work slightly more bearable. The whispers about the cancelled wedding, the pitying glances, and the gazes cutting away from mine stung a bit less. People probably thought I’d gone on meds, the change in my mood was so complete. It ticked me off in my feminist soul that it took interest in another man to make me feel less adrift.
* * *
“Are you ready to venture out?” Olivia asked at lunchtime. She floated the idea tentatively, as if I were a healed leper leaving the colony for the first time in a dozen years. Her dark brown eyes squinted with concern beneath her bangs.
We’d been fast friends since the first day I met her seven years ago, when we’d been nervous summer associates. She had warned me about getting involved with Keith, a senior associate, when I was working for the firm as a law student, but I’d brushed her off. When my engagement ended, I’d gotten a big hug instead of an “I told you so,” and Olivia had done most of the work to undo my elaborate wedding plans. She was my rock.
“I believe I am.” I rubbed the egg-sized bump on my head like a good-luck talisman. I smiled, thinking of
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