Mistletoe Bay Read Free Page B

trees were bending under the weight of lights and ghosts, and there had to be at least two dozen carved and glowing pumpkins. A life-size Frankenstein was standing on the front porch holding a lantern to light the way to the door, and eerie music was coming from somewhere.
    Someone obviously had a little too much time on their hands.
    She smiled as the boys made their way up to the porch. Frankenstein had made a movement the boys hadn’t seen. They were about to get a surprise. Chase and Tucker were going to love it. Corey was a different matter. He was almost four and idolized his older brothers, but underneath the tough act, he was still a little boy. She moved up the driveway a little bit in case Corey got scared.
    Just as Tucker was about to reach for the doorbell, Frankenstein leaned down and in a creepy deep voice said, “Welcome to my castle.”
    Chase and Tucker jumped about a foot in the air, then laughed. Corey did what she’d thought he would do; he screamed, dropped his bag of candy, and sprinted off the porch right into her arms.
    â€œEasy, hon. Remember, it’s only a Halloween costume.” She hugged Corey tight for a moment. “I told you, even adults sometimes dress up for trick-or-treat night.”
    Corey lifted his head from where he had buried it in her shoulder, and glanced back to the porch. Frankenstein was giving Tucker and Chase high fives. Corey relaxed slightly.
    â€œHey, little fellow!” bellowed the six-and-a-half-foot monster. “I didn’t mean to give you that much of a fright.”
    Corey stopped shaking and whispered into her ear, “Is it a man inside or a kid?”
    â€œSounds like a man, hon. Probably some dad who wanted to have some fun on Halloween.” She gave him another squeeze.
    â€œDo you want me to give one of your brothers your candy bar, or do you want to come get it yourself?” asked the monster.
    She whispered to Corey, “How about I go up with you?” Corey nodded his head. “Carry me.”
    â€œWill do.” She thought her son was extremely brave to go back up there. She kept both arms around him and walked up the pathway to the porch steps.
    Frankenstein bent down and picked up the bag of goodies Corey had dropped. “Here you go. Sorry for frightening you.” The monster, who had a really great lifelike mask on, looked at her. “Sorry about that. My wife warned me the little ones weren’t going to like it, but I couldn’t resist. I dress up every year, and the older ones love a good fright.”
    â€œThat’s okay.” Chase was down on his knees examining Frankenstein’s boots. Tucker was studying the mask.
    â€œWow!” exclaimed Tucker. “How does it move when you talk?”
    â€œPainfully.” The man chuckled. “I forgot to shave before applying the glue.”
    â€œGlue? Wow, we have glue at home.”
    â€œNot that kind of glue, Tucker.” She shuddered to think what her son would glue to his face. “It’s a special kind of glue made for masks and such.”
    â€œYour mom’s right, son. You have to send away for this stuff. The guys in Hollywood use it for special effects in the movies.”
    â€œCool.” Tucker looked duly impressed.
    Chase tapped his knuckles on the huge black boots. “What are these made of?”
    The man chuckled. “Plaster of paris. Made them myself. It’s the same technique they use when you break your arm and they wrap it up in all that gauze. I just spray painted them black when I was done.”
    â€œCan I touch one of your bolts?” Tucker was looking for something to stand on so he could reach the man’s neck, where two bolts were sticking out on either side.
    â€œBoys, I’m sure Mr. . . . ummmmm Frankenstein has better things to do with his evening than to have a bunch of boys poking at him.”
    â€œPete Kingsman, at your service, ma’am.” He bent down,