Murder on Parade by Melanie Jackson Read Free Book Online Page A

preserved.
    There would be no sit down dinner, since tables would eat up the dance floor, but there were lots of hot hors d’oeuvres and a champagne fountain overlooked by an ice sculpture. The frosty swan was maybe a little uneven since he was close to a large candelabra and melting more on one side, but only if you looked at it from the left of the table. Face on you would never notice that he was lamed by the candles’ cruel flames.
    “Oh,” I whispered, moving down the buffet.
    “The cake?” Alex asked and I nodded. Instead of the usual cake topper of flowers and plastic bride and groom, the base cake was finished off with a croquenbouche. The creampuffs were dusted in powdered sugar and decorated with candied cherries. Here I had thought that Althea hadn’t listened to anything I said, but evidently she had paid attention and taken some of my suggestions to heart. I was touched.
    The band had had to cancel because of the storm, but Mr. Jangles who played DJ at all the school dances was able to step in, and he was more to scale with the small room anyway. He was also good at gauging a crowd’s mood and choosing his music and volume accordingly.
    I looked up from my crab puffs which I had been eating with maybe too much enthusiasm, and saw that Mom and Dad were out on the floor and doing the Harlem Shuffle. I tried not to gape but who knew my parents could do that?
    Mom was looking happy and even flirtatious in her blue velvet dress and pearls. I heard her say to Dad as they danced by: “But I thought you loved me.”
    “I can’t help what you think,” he answered but he was smiling and looked tender when he said it.
    What was going on here? I wondered. Were Mom and Dad reconciling?
    Alex returned with another glass of champagne. I had had one already, but felt no effects. Perhaps my leftover adrenaline was countering the alcohol’s usual devastating properties. All I felt was thirsty.
    Cynthia (the cousin formerly known as ‘the slut’ but which I will from here on out only refer to as ‘that cousin’) danced by with a young man I didn’t know. She looked very demure and very unCynthia-like. Perhaps Althea had threatened her with something really awful if she tried to upstage the bride by wearing a black leather bustier.
    I finished my drink and found myself on the dance floor and feeling a little fuzzy around the edges. Alex kissed me as we passed under the mistletoe hung from kissing-balls placed randomly about the room and I knew he was the one. There was something between us that had been missing in every other relationship I had known. Losing him became unthinkable. But what the heck was I going to do about this?
    Finally it was time to go. The bride and groom, who had hoped to escape in a limo or at least a horse and sleigh, were being driven to the airport by David in his four-wheel drive. Althea tossed her bouquet. Well, she more hurled it straight at me. So I caught it and tried not to blush or look over at Alex.
    “Ready?” Alex asked softly as we waved the bridal couple away with cold hands and blue lips.
    “V-very,” I said with chattering teeth.
    We could have slipped into the church for candlelight services since they were underway, but all I wanted was to change back into my warm clothes in the restroom and head for home. It was lovely to walk through the snow though and hear all those voices in the many churches we passed raised up in song. There is nothing more beautiful than O Holy Night floating over the snow that glows warmly as it reflects the thousands of colored lights that blaze out all over town. People in Hope Falls are usually energy conscious—and many are cheap—but this was Christmas Eve and every house, even the Dillon’s, had their lights on.
    “Glad it’s over?” Alex asked.
    I nodded. “And I’m very, very glad you were there.”
    “Me too. I love weddings.”
    But did he want one of his own?

Chapter 8

    It was finally Christmas morning! Unlike the day