Newlywed Dead by Nancy J. Parra

her long right leg on the knee of her left. Her manicured fingers were wrapped around her coffee cup. Her makeup was minimal and yet highlighted her almond-shaped eyes and bow-shaped mouth.
    â€œThe first thing I do is ask you a lot of personalquestions,” I said, and dug out my notebook from the tote at my feet. I clicked on my pen and wrote
Laura’s Proposal
at the top of the page. “Are you up for the questions?”
    â€œSure,” Laura said, and shrugged.
    I could tell she was a bit uncertain so I sent her an encouraging smile. “Don’t worry. No one sees the notes but me. Privacy is very important. Wedding proposals are very personal and I want to get it right.”
    â€œOh, good,” Laura said, and relaxed her shoulders.
    â€œI know you told me, but please explain again how you and Monica met?”
    â€œIt’s kind of a cute story,” Laura said with a soft smile. “My brother was visiting from New York and I wanted to impress him with this dish I saw online and thought I could make. You see, I’m not much of a cook. My brother always teased me that any time he visited all we did was get takeout. I wanted to prove that I was cool and hip now that I lived in Chicago.”
    â€œI get that,” I said, and leaned in toward her. “I gave up on being cool or hip a few years ago. My ex-boyfriend didn’t care what I cooked as long as I had cold beer in the fridge.”
    â€œOh, wow.”
    â€œIt’s okay,” I said, and waved my hand. “We’re history and this is not about me. It’s about you and Monica. You were making a dish to impress your brother.”
    â€œYes, I was in the middle of making Kung Pao chicken when the recipe called for sugar.”
    â€œSugar?”
    â€œI know, right? I mean, who knew you put sugar in a spicy Asian dish. Well, I didn’t and so I didn’t have any sugar on hand. I dug around and thought maybe I had some honey, but no. Then I contemplated using maple pancake syrup.”
    I winced.
    â€œI know, the last thing I wanted was to screw up my first homemade dinner. So I got desperate and started knocking on my neighbors’ doors. Monica was three doors down and the only one to answer. She opened the door and there was this gorgeous woman with soft caramel-colored hair and big green eyes, and my heart went to my feet.”
    â€œWhat happened?” I asked when she slipped into a quiet memory.
    â€œI forgot what I knocked for,” she said with a small laugh and sipped her coffee. “That’s what I said after a moment of just staring.” Her cheeks turned a gorgeous pink. “It was horrifyingly embarrassing. I mean, it’s hard sometimes. An instant crush can go sideways really fast. She could have had a big burly guy in the next room, you know?”
    â€œIt’s the same no matter who you are,” I said with a quiet smile. “When you fall fast for someone it can get awkward if they have a girlfriend or whatever.”
    â€œSo you know what I mean?”
    â€œYes, I know.” My thoughts turned to Gage. I had to drag them back to Laura. “What happened when you told her that you forgot why you knocked?”
    â€œShe was so sweet. She merely laughed. Then she said that she heard me knocking on other doors and figured I must need something sort of urgent. That brought me outof my attraction coma. I laughed and said, yes. I explained about the Kung Pao. She had sugar and went so far as to ask me for the recipe.”
    â€œNice.”
    â€œIt was,” she said with a soft smile. “I invited her to dinner with my brother, but she said no, of course.”
    â€œOh,” I said, my heart breaking a bit even though I knew it all worked out.
    â€œNo, no, she said the most amazing thing. She said, if I didn’t mind, she’d really like to have me to herself.”
    â€œOhhh.”
    â€œSo we made plans for lunch the next