by Bill Crider
“I, uh, got into a little scrape,” Rhodes said.
“A little scrape! I wonder if I’m going to have to move back home and take care of you.”
Hack decided to come to Rhodes’s rescue. “Your daddy’s a hero,” he said. “Solved three murders, one of ’em that happened sixty years or so back. Ever’body was fooled about what was goin’ on, but not the sheriff.”
“Dead heroes don’t do anyone any good,” Kathy said. “Where’s Ivy? I think I ought to have a talk with her.”
“Uh, don’t you want to introduce me to this young man that’s standing here?” Rhodes said.
“Oh,” Kathy said. “Dad, this is Greg Pollack. Greg, this is my father, Dan Rhodes.”
Rhodes liked Pollack’s looks. He wasn’t big, but he was solid, with a strong chin and thick black hair, cut short like a lot of men’s these days, with no sideburns at all. He had brown eyes that looked right at you and a dimple in his right cheek when he smiled, which he did when he and Rhodes shook hands.
“Glad to meet you, Sheriff,” Pollack said. “Kathy’s told me a lot about you. She didn’t say anything about you getting into a lot of scrapes, though.”
“I don’t like to think about it,” Kathy said. She reminded Rhodes of her mother, and never more so than when she was trying to take care of him. He wondered why everyone wanted to do that.
“Ivy and I are going to Cozumel,” Rhodes said.
“You’re changing the subject,” Kathy said. “But I’m glad you’re going. You need a vacation. The salt water’s going to sting those cuts, I’m afraid.”
“Maybe I’ll just sit on the beach and soak up the sun,” Rhodes said. “Where’s Ivy?”
“She’ll be here in just a minute,” Hack said. “You’re not supposed to see the bride before the wedding starts.”
“Speaking of getting started,” Parry said. “I think it’s about time. Ruth, why don’t you step down the hall and bring in the future Mrs. Rhodes.”
Ruth left the room. Rhodes felt his throat getting tight. It was probably just a result of the choking West had given him. He wondered why the room was so warm. The county could cut back on the heating and save a lot of money.
“Sheriff, you come on over here,” Parry said, motioning Rhodes toward his desk.
Rhodes walked over to Parry.
“Who’s the best man?” Parry said.
“That would be Hack,” Rhodes said. Hack walked over and joined them, just as Ruth and Ivy came into the room.
Ivy was wearing a gray suit with a white blouse and carrying a small bouquet of white carnations. Rhodes wondered who had bought it for her. She was smiling broadly, and Rhodes felt a tingling sensation in his toes. He also felt his throat getting tighter.
Hack was humming “The Wedding March,” very quietly and slightly off-key.
Everyone cleared out of Ivy’s way as she started toward the desk. Kathy walked just in front of her.
When they got to the desk, Kathy stepped aside and Ivy stopped beside Rhodes. She put out a hand and took his arm as they faced Parry.
“Well, now,” Parry said. “Is there anyone here who’s going to voice any objections to my joining this couple in matrimony?”
Rhodes thought about Mrs. Wilkie. He held his breath, but no one said anything.
“I guess we’d better get started, then,” Parry said. “Do you have a ring, Sheriff?”
Rhodes reached in his pocket and brought out the ring. He thought he heard a sigh of relief from somewhere, but he didn’t look to see where.
“Good,” Parry said, and in less time than Rhodes would have thought possible, he and Ivy were being pronounced man and wife.
“You can kiss the bride,” Parry said.
Rhodes had worried about that part. He’d thought he might be too embarrassed, especially in front of a crowd.
But it turned out that he wasn’t, after all.
The Sheriff Dan Rhodes Mystery Series
Too Late to Die
Shotgun Saturday Night
Cursed to Death
Death on the Move
Evil at the Root
Booked for a Hanging
Murder Most Fowl
Winning Can Be Murder
Death by Accident
A Ghost of a Chance
A Romantic Way to Die
Red, White, and Blue Murder
“The Empty Manger,” (novella in the collection entitled Murder, Mayhem, and Mistletoe.)
A Mammoth Murder
Murder Among the O.W.L.S.
Of All Sad Words
Murder in Four Parts
Murder in the Air
The Wild Hog Murders
The Murder of a Beauty Shop Queen
Compound Murder
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