Wedding Cake Killer by Livia J. Washburn Read Free Book Online Page A

don’t go to that much trouble anymore. Anyway, the whole celebration’s never been the same since Guy Lombardo died.”
    “I dunno. I miss Dick Clark,” Sam said.
    “He was all right on
American Bandstand
, I suppose.” Carolyn shrugged. “And he was better than that boy who’s on there now.”
    “You mean Ryan Seacrest?” Phyllis asked.
    “I don’t know these people’s names. Anyway, they could bring back the ghost of Guy Lombardo and every one of his Royal Canadians, and I wouldn’t stay up until midnight to watch it. I’m tired. I’m going to bed.”
    “I agree,” Phyllis said. “They can ring in the New Year without us.”
    “I might stay up and watch,” Sam said. “There’s somethin’ about sendin’ the old year off into history and welcomin’ the new one that appeals to me. Maybe it’s the old hope-springs-eternal thing.”
    “I hope the New Year is more peaceful than the last one,” Carolyn said as she stood up.
    Phyllis certainly couldn’t argue with that.
    * * *
    The New Year started off peacefully enough. The first two weeks passed without anything major or exciting happening in the big old house on the tree-lined street a few blocks southwest of the courthouse square in Weatherford. There had been a small snowstorm, not much more than a dusting of white on the lawns and cars and bushes, which was nothing unusual. Upheavals, political and otherwise, continued elsewhere in the world, but not here. Sam came down with a cold but shook it quickly. Phyllis started thinking about recipes she might use in the cooking contest that was held in conjunction with the annual Peach Festival. That was a long time off yet—July—but it never hurt to start thinking about these things early. She knew that Carolyn would already be considering options for her own entry in the contest.
    And they got a couple of old-fashioned postcards from Eve and Roy in the Bahamas, not saying much except that they were having a fine time on their honeymoon. According to the second postcard, they expected to be back in Weatherford on January 15, assuming the weather in Texas cooperated and their flight wasn’t delayed.
    Eve had written the postcards, but both she and Roy had signed them. Phyllis propped them up on the mantel in the living room. All the decorations were gone now, taken down and put away. It was unlikely there would ever be another wedding here, Phyllis knew, but if there was, they would be ready.
    The weather was nice on the fifteenth, so it seemed that there would be nothing to keep Eve and Roy from arriving on schedule. Phyllis was eager to see her old friend again. She had a roast cooking and intended to welcome the newlyweds back with a big supper. She and Carolyn had also made a hearts-and-flowers banner that read WELCOME HOME EVE AND ROY , and Sam had hung it over the fireplace.
    Eve called on her cell phone at about three o’clock. “We’re back!” she said. “Our flight just landed. And we had a wonderful time!”
    Phyllis had taken the call. She said, “We can’t wait to see the two of you and hear all about it.”
    “I don’t know how long it’ll take us to get there. I suppose it’ll depend on the traffic.”
    Phyllis knew how terrible the traffic could be on all the roads leading in and out of the giant airport. “Just be careful,” she said, “and you’ll be here whenever you can.”
    “That’s right. And Phyllis . . . we have a surprise for everybody, too.”
    Eve wouldn’t say anything else about that. She said good-bye, leaving Phyllis to pass along the part of the conversation Sam and Carolyn hadn’t been able to hear.
    “A surprise?” Carolyn repeated. “What in the world do you suppose she means by that?”
    “Maybe she’s expectin’ already,” Sam said with a grin.
    Carolyn gave him a withering look. “You have
got
to stop saying things like that. You think you’re funny, but you’re not.”
    Sam appealed to Phyllis. “Am I funny?”
    “Not in this