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

figure I’ve done something right.”
    “Looks like you did something right already,” Jon told him, clapping him on the shoulder.
    Darcy looked up at Jon with a smile.  He would never know it, but sometimes he had a knack for saying just the right thing at just the right time.
    “How’s my replacement doing?” Grace asked Jon.  “I hope you didn’t give him my desk.”
    “Of course not.” Jon shook his head and sat down across the table from her.  “Wilson isn’t your replacement.  Chief Daleson is going to keep three detectives from now on.  You, me, and Wilson.  He’s doing all right.  I have to coach him through a few things but for the most part he knows his stuff.  Of course, his new girlfriend is taking up a lot of his time.”
    A sad smile crossed Darcy’s face.  She couldn’t help it.  Wilson’s new girlfriend was actually his old girlfriend from back when they were both in school.  Lindsay had run off and gotten married to someone else and then come back to Misty Hollow only to have her husband killed.  Now, with the killer behind bars, Wilson had been spending a lot of time with Lindsay and their relationship had rekindled.  It was nice to see something good come from that tragedy.
    “So where’s our hostess?” Jon was asking.  He waved a hand to indicate the dining table already set with plates and spoons and forks and knives, pink cloth napkins folded just so next to each setting, a small bouquet of late season flowers in the very center.  “The only thing missing is the food.  And Helen.”
    “Here’s both!” Helen called out with a little chuckle, pushing her way through the swinging saloon-style doors that separated the dining area from the kitchen.  She was holding a blue ceramic cooking pot by the side handles, both of her hands inside floral print oven mitts.  She wore the same kind of apron that Andrew had, straight from her own café, over her blue dress.  Her graying hair was tied into the ponytail she had taken to wearing all the time whenever she wasn’t performing her duties as mayor.
    Andrew appeared behind her with a large wooden bowl of salad in one hand and a smaller bowl of steaming rolls in the other.  He and Helen shared a look between them that Darcy knew very well.  It was the same look she and Jon had for each other.
    The table was set and food was passed around.  The main dish turned out to be a chicken stew of Helen’s own recipe, tender grilled pieces of chicken in a gravy with carrots and pearl onions and tiny slivers of celery accompanied by hunks of biscuits worked right in with everything else.  Darcy made a mental note to remind herself to get the recipe later.  Not that she was any kind of cook.  She’d inherited her mother’s gene when it came to cooking.  But maybe she could get Jon to make this for them sometimes. He seemed to do better than she with the cooking related chores.
    Small talk ranged from the current cases Jon was working on, to the construction of the new dollar store set to begin in the spring, to the weather, and of course Grace’s baby.  Wine was served with the meal.  Darcy noticed how Jon made sure to only have a few sips from his glass before drinking water.  He was driving, after all.
    Finally, salads and bread and awesome chicken stew devoured, Helen clapped her hands together and declared that she hoped everyone had saved enough room for dessert.
    “Oh, Helen,” Aaron said, patting his belly.  “I don’t know.  That third helping of stew really did me in.”
    “Nonsense, Aaron,” Helen teased him.  “You’ve got plenty of room there.  I, for one, can’t wait to try that cheesecake you and Jon brought, Darcy.  I think Elizabeth made that, and she is such a wonderful baker.  That was one of the reasons I hired her, you know.”
    Getting up from where he sat next to Helen at the head of the table, Andrew leaned over and kissed her cheek.  “So why did you hire me?”
    “I thought you