A Christmas to Dismember by Addison Moore (best desktop ebook reader TXT) 📕

shouts so loud her voice nearly breaks the sound barrier. “Nothing is free! Nothing is ever free, Georgie.”

Hux grunts, “They’re going to kill each other, and then we’ll have to change the sign to read two dead old broads.”

“Speaking of killing.” Emmie leans his way. “Bizzy just told me the news. Hope you don’t mind. So you’re really popping the question? Have you narrowed down the proposal possibilities? I mean, this is huge, Hux. You can’t mess this up.”

His cheek cinches as he looks my way. “That’s why I’ve got Bizzy on it.” He squints over at Emmie. “If Leo were to propose, how would you want it done?” I’m shocked Bizzy hasn’t already gone this route with her.

I’m shocked, too.

Emmie takes a breath. “Oh, I’d want it done on a night that has meaning, you know, a birthday, an anniversary, a holiday, Christmas!” She snaps her fingers. “Christmas Eve would be perfect. I’d want it semi-private but with lots of family nearby, so that when I said yes we could all celebrate together.” She taps her chin as she considers this. “I always thought it’d be cute if he staged a fight. You know, if he gave me the impression he was going to break up with me, and then when I panicked he dropped to one knee.”

“Stage a fight…” Hux glances to the side, and you can practically see his wheels churning. His phone buzzes, and he gives it a quick once-over. “Duty calls. Glad I could be a part of this mess.” He kisses me on the cheek. “We’ll talk about the big day. I’ll see you girls later. And remember, it’s a secret.”

“My lips are sealed!” Emmie pretends to zip her mouth shut as he takes off, and a part of me wishes she had done just that a moment ago.

“Are you insane, telling him to pick a fight with Mack? Have you met her? Arguments of any kind are the very thing that nourishes her wicked soul. She’ll chew my brother a new one before he ever gets on one knee. In fact, if he falls to the floor, she might just drive her stiletto through his heart.”

Emmie bucks with a laugh. “You’re so right. I’m sure whatever you have planned is way better.”

I wince. “Any other ideas? You know, something you might actually like?”

“I don’t know.” Her gaze drifts across the street where Jasper and Leo are steeped in a conversation. “If Leo were to propose, I don’t think I’d want him to pick a fight with me. I’d want him to do something sweet, like bury my ring in a slice of chocolate cake. That way we can start our journey as a family in the sweetest way possible.” She cranes her neck toward the refreshment table. “Speaking of sweets, I’d better restock the donuts and the peppermint bark.”

I snatch another piece of bark from the platter in her hands as she leaves, and Macy snatches one off it as she comes my way.

“My evil work is done,” she says, snapping off a bite with her teeth.

“Which evil work? Giving a rather appropriate name to Mom and Georgie’s shop? Or the fact you pretended to be an employee of the inn the night of the murder and lured a man by the name of Arthur Silver to a private suite so you could have your way with him?”

Her brows hike. “Was that his name?”

“Would you knock it off?” I swat her. “Yes, that was his name. How long have you been imitating an innkeeper just to satiate your insatiable appetite?”

“Please.” She darts a glance to Heaven. “When you’re lucky enough to have a sister that practically owns an inn, you don’t look a gift horse or a free room in the mouth.”

“I’ve never given you a free room.”

“Not intentionally. And thank you, by the way.”

“Don’t thank me. You’re lucky I don’t have you arrested.”

Jasper comes up just as I say the words.

“Are we arresting Macy?” He looks almost amused by the thought.

She glares over at him. “You would take her side.”

He shrugs. “I’m sleeping with her. What’s the offense?”

I look up at him. “She was sleeping with Arthur Silver the night Quinn died. You’re looking at the exact reason he wasn’t in the ballroom after the murder.”

Macy gasps and clutches at her throat. “Please tell me I didn’t sleep with the killer.”

“I had Leo look into the guy.” Jasper rocks back on his heels. His expression darkens a notch. “Let’s just say if he did kill Quinn, it wouldn’t be his first foray into murder.”

My mouth falls open. “You mean he’s killed before?”

Jasper nods. “And he just might have done it again.”

Chapter 11

As fate, good luck, or dumb luck would have it, the women of Cider Cove can’t get enough of a quaint new little shop called Two Old Broads. It turns out, not a customer walks into their shop that doesn’t bring up the colorful moniker.

Who knew a feisty name would be all they needed to get hordes of people to part with their hard-earned dollars?

My feisty sister, that’s who.

The next day I spend all of my free time trying to nail down Warwick Tully. According to Arthur, no one was closer to Quinn than Warwick. And ironically, I’m hoping he’ll be able to shed some more light on Arthur Silver.

Yesterday, Leo shared with us that Arthur was charged with killing a man on a hunting trip during his senior year in high school. On the outset it looked as if it should have been accidental, seeing that Arthur shot the man from a decent distance, but witnesses say they saw Arthur arguing with the man earlier that morning. It was a friend of his father’s, who was later discovered to have been having an affair with Arthur’s mother.

The court ruled it as criminal negligence, and Arthur was held in a juvenile detention center during the proceedings and released for time served once the verdict was given. Arthur claimed he