Murder Al Dente
Page 20
The buffet was spectacular and Buddy behaved like a gentleman, which netted him bites of every dog-healthy option on my plate. He particularly enjoyed the bacon I peeled off the devils on horseback for him. I didn’t want to risk giving him the prune and chutney filling.
The DJ began playing “The Best is Yet to Come,” and we all turned to watch Jack and Elizabeth perform their first official dance as husband and wife. Lily took a video of the two of them twirling around on the dance floor, brilliant smiles lighting their faces.
When Lily wasn’t taking photos she was dancing, either with Michael or with Jim Sutherland, who cuts quite a rug. Jim and Lily made a striking couple and I noticed Michael watching them as they danced. There might have been just a hint of jealousy in his eyes.
I knew Bill hated to dance, but the DJ was really good and I love dancing, so when the next song began I turned to him, prepared to wheedle if necessary. That’s when I saw the box in his hand. It was an indigo-blue velvet ring box. I think my heart stopped. I know I stopped breathing. This could not be happening. We’d had this conversation before. Bill knows how I feel about marriage.
He must have seen the look of horror on my face, because he quickly said, “I’m not asking for a commitment, Nikki. I’m offering one. I want to spend the rest of my life with you, even though you drive me crazy. I don’t need a marriage license to show the world how much you mean to me.”
He opened the box, revealing an eternity band with alternating emeralds and sapphires. The stones were bezel mounted, so there were no prongs to catch on hair or clothing. Bill took the ring out of the box, and said, “It’s for your right hand,” and then he laughed at the look of relief on my face and I started breathing again. I let him slide the eternity band onto the ring finger of my right hand and it fit perfectly.
“How did you know my size?” I asked.
“Elizabeth.”
I looked out over the dance floor and saw my best friend watching me with tears in her eyes. I might have had a few in my own as well, because the room suddenly looked a little blurry. And then we danced. I don’t remember a whole lot about the rest of the cruise. I just remember being in Bill’s arms and feeling like I was floating. In spite of our differences, or maybe because of them, this was the man for me. The fact that he wasn’t demanding a legalized commitment made me love him even more.
EPILOGUE
Vanessa accepted a plea deal the D.A. offered in exchange for her confession. She was still sentenced to life in prison, but with the possibility of parole after twenty years.
Lily and Michael are dating and he’s spending a lot more time in the Bay Area. Her cats love him and she’s teaching my reclusive friend how to sail. I gave him a jumbo bottle of Banana Boat SPF 50 sunscreen. Redheads burn. They’re an oddly well-matched couple, what with the whole stratospheric intelligence quotient thing they have in common.
After the wedding, I confessed to Bill about my conversation with Vanessa at the Dr. Feelgood offices in San Francisco. I told him I’d threatened to take incriminating evidence to the police, hoping I could record her confession. He didn’t press me for details. I’m sure he assumed I’d obtained the “evidence” in a less than legal manner, but what he didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him, his career, or our relationship.
I eventually left a voicemail message for Melinda Tentrees asking if she’d heard anything from our mutual friend about how Jea and Sky were doing. I explained that I didn’t need to know where they were, just that they were okay. I haven’t heard back from her, or from Nina, so I assume Melinda doesn’t know anything and Nina couldn’t care less about my piece of mind. Now that the two women have forged a bond, Nina might deliver any rescued children directly to Melinda, rather than bringing them to my office. Will I ever see Nina again? Only time will tell.
THE END
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Nancy Skopin
About the Author
Award winning author, Nancy Skopin, is a native of California who currently lives on the Oregon coast with her husband, Max Ferry, and their dog, Turq. An avid student of human nature, Nancy is happiest spending her days imagining the best, and the worst, that we are capable of, and translating those ideas into her Nikki Hunter mystery novels.
As does her central character, Nancy lived aboard a yacht in the San Francisco Bay Area for thirteen years, though she has recently settled on solid ground.
While researching her mystery series she worked for two years with a private investigator, learning the intricacies of the business and, specifically, the art of bar and restaurant “mystery shopping.”
Visit Nancy Skopin’s Amazon Author’s page: http://www.amazon.com/Nancy-Skopin/e/B00Y17LVBA/
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Other Nikki Hunter Mysteries,
by Nancy Skopin
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Murder Over Cocktails
Dinner And A Murder
Murder A La Carte
Murder Served Hot
A Side Order Of Murder
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Murder Served Cold