K.J. Emrick - Darcy Sweet 13 - Ghost Story Read Free Page A

He’d been working at Helen’s café for about eight months now and Darcy had gotten to know him pretty well.  It was nice to see Helen had moved on after her divorce from Steve and could be happy again.
    Jon shook Andrew’s hand, still awkwardly holding the cheesecake.  “Uh, maybe you should take this,” he said, offering the box to Andrew.
    “Ah, excellent!” Andrew said as he caught sight of the logo on the cake box.  “Helen likes it when her friends shop at her bakery.  What kind did you get?”
    “Blueberry cheesecake,” Jon told him.  “Hope that’s all right?”
    “Definitely.  It’s one of my favorites, I know that.  Grace and Aaron brought a lemon meringue with them so we’ll have plenty of dessert for after lunch.”
    “We could have brought more with us if you guys had let us know you were planning a lunch party,” Darcy said, sliding her feet out of her sneakers to leave them at the door.  Helen had carpeting through most of her house and she liked to keep them clean.
    Jon did the same with his shoes.  “Why did she decide to have us over, anyway?” he asked.  “What’s the occasion?”
    Andrew shifted his weight and his smile turned a little sheepish.  “I’m not really sure.  We went to bed last night after watching a movie and she didn’t say anything about it at all.  Then this morning she woke up insisting that I start cooking a lunch for all of us.”  He shrugged.  “I try not to ask questions when she gets an idea in her head.  You know how insistent she can be.”
    It hadn’t escaped Darcy’s attention that Andrew had spent the night here with Helen.  Apparently their relationship had gotten more serious than she realized.  Good for Helen, she thought to herself.  Still, it was odd to just wake up and decide to have a lunch party on the spur of the moment.
    Andrew excused himself back to the kitchen, telling them that everyone else was in the dining room already.  Jon turned to Darcy and took her by the hand.  “Stop it,” he whispered.
    “What do you mean?”
    “I know that look on your face.  I can almost see the wheels turning in your mind.  This is just a lunch.  Nothing mysterious about it at all.  Don’t go looking for trouble where there isn’t any.  We get enough of it all on our own without having to do that.”
    Feeling silly, Darcy rolled her eyes and squeezed Jon’s hand.  “I know.  Sorry, I guess I just can’t help myself.”
    He kissed her forehead and pulled her after him down to the dining room.  “That’s just one of the many reasons why I love you, Darcy Sweet.”

Chapter Two
     
    “Hey, sis.”  Grace waved with one hand from where she sat at the dinner table.
    Darcy loved seeing Grace this way.  Motherhood definitely agreed with her.  She had her feet kicked out in front of her and her arm protectively around the baby sleeping soundly in the sling carrier she wore over one shoulder and across her chest.  She was letting her dark hair grow long again and she was more relaxed than Darcy could remember seeing her in a very long time.
    The fact that she hadn’t gotten back to work at the police department didn’t even make her upset anymore.  Her life, for the moment, revolved around her baby and the family she had started with Aaron.
    Darcy’s brother-in-law stood behind Grace, hands massaging her shoulders, already completely at ease in his role as a father.  The baby had been unplanned, but neither of them would want it any other way.  Little Addison Darcy Wentworth would always have a lot of love in her life.
    The little baby girl was asleep, lulled by the warmth of her mother’s body and the sound of her heartbeat, and Darcy was careful not to wake her as she gently pulled back the soft blue fabric of the sling to get a better look at her adorable face.  “I think she’s going to look just like you, Grace.”
    “Better her than me,” Aaron agreed.  “If she grows up beautiful like her mom then I