Double Fudge Brownie Murder (Hannah Swensen series Book 18) by Joanne Fluke Read Free Book Online

possibility from her past was one that caused her breathing to quicken and her heart to beat much faster than normal. What if her sisters and Doc had conspired to bring Ross Barton here? But that couldn’t possibly be the case, especially when she’d spoken to Ross on the phone last night. Surely he would have mentioned it if he’d planned to fly to Las Vegas in the morning to be Doc’s best man at the wedding!
    As her great-grandmother Elsa used to say, Don’t shilly-shally around . Shilly-shally was an irregular reduplication of shall I . Hannah had looked it up the first time her great-grandmother had said it. What it meant was that she shouldn’t hesitate to find out if she was simply imagining things and attributing a nonexistent conspiracy to purely innocent people, and that she should march straight to the gazebo and find out the identity of Doc’s best man. Hannah squared her shoulders, took a few quick steps forward so that she could catch up with her mother and sisters, and entered the gazebo only a step or two behind them.
    “Hannah! You look absolutely fantastic!”
    The third voice spoke and Hannah felt her mouth drop open. She clacked it shut so that she wouldn’t look like the fool she felt she’d been. It had been a conspiracy between her sisters, Delores, and Doc! There Ross was, a bit older and somehow more handsome than he’d been the last time she’d seen him. She felt the smile spread across her face as she took in his powerful build that looked just as much at home in a suit as it did in jeans and a chambray shirt, his dark hair that always looked a bit windblown even right after he’d combed it, his brilliant blue eyes that appeared to miss nothing, and the endearing dimple in his left cheek.
    “Ross!” Hannah breathed, and even though she felt more than a little irked at being left out of the secret, she couldn’t help but be absolutely delighted that he was here. “They got me, Ross. I had no clue you’d be Doc’s best man!”
    He laughed and Hannah felt the joy of seeing him spread through her whole body.
    “Come here and let me hug you. It’s been way too long.” Ross held out his arms and Hannah went into them. There was no way in the world she’d refuse his invitation. She’d secretly wished to hear it during college on more than one sleepless night, knowing that he was right down the hall in the apartment building on Muscrat Lane. Then there was his trip to Lake Eden when he was producing Crisis in Cherry-wood , his independent film. He’d been distracted and stressed most of the time he’d been there, busy with the production, the amateur actors he had directed, and the murder that happened on the set. Of course she’d seen him after that, hurried visits when he had passed through Minneapolis on his way to somewhere else, but regrettably, they really hadn’t had much time together. And deep in the night, when she was alone, Hannah had admitted that she wanted time with Ross to see if the sparks she’d felt so long ago could be coaxed into flames.
    “You’re wearing it!” Ross touched the blue sapphire ring he’d sent her from Australia and Hannah was delighted that he’d noticed. She’d worn it almost constantly since she’d received it. The color of the stone reminded her of his eyes. And then his arms were around her and it was like they’d never been apart. She was keenly aware of the clean scent of his aftershave, the heat of his cheek next to hers, his strong arms around her. Had Ross missed her every bit as much as she’d missed him?
    She wanted their hug to last forever, but a voice with a really bad Southern accent intruded. “Hey, y’all!”
    Hannah looked over to see a man in an obviously fake Elvis wig staring at them. “Who’s gettin’ married here anyway? I thought it was them two.” He pointed at Delores and Doc. “But now I think it might be you two.”
    Hannah felt herself blushing. Had they hugged too long? But then Ross laughed and