Whipped Wedding Woes: A Cozy Mystery (Caesars Creek Mystery Series Book 8) Read Free

from Momma. Howie’s got an idea about detecting ghosts or poltergeists as he calls them and communicating with them.”
     
    “Don’t they already have machines for that?” I asked. “You know, on those ghost hunter shows they have equipment that’s supposed to show….well, something unusual.”
     
    “Oh, but Howie wants to go a step further,” Stormi claimed. “He wants to actually talk to the ghost…make contact so to speak.”
     
    “I have a feeling the ghost might be petrified of Howie,” Paige remarked as we walked into The Frozen Scoop.
     
    “Enough talk about Howie!” Stormi exclaimed. “This is my wedding and I want more focus on me.”
     
    “Alright bridezilla, we’ll only focus on you. No more talk about weird cousins and their partners,” I announced. Unfortunately, the fates had other plans.

Chapter Two
     
     
    The wedding day arrived and the sun shone vividly in the cloudless sky. A slight breeze blew just enough to keep things cool. I do believe Stormi had a talk with Mother Nature, either that or Mother Nature didn’t want to mess with the bride. Whatever the case, we couldn’t have paid for better weather.
     
    That morning we all headed over to decorate the courtyard and the reception tent. I brought my little doggie Winchester with us so he could run within the courtyard. Stormi wanted him there for the wedding as well and I couldn’t deny her. I just hoped he’d be a good boy. For some reason, whenever Luella came into the ice cream shoppe and Winchester was there, he’d bark incessantly at her. He never did that before with anyone else. I’d have to put him in the back room if I saw her coming. They say dogs know if someone doesn’t like them. I’m sure the feeling was mutual.
     
    We decorated the courtyard first, setting up chairs with a white liner running down the aisle. The nuptials would take place inside the gazebo, which we decorated with red and pink roses. The fragrance from the flowers was intoxicating and helped elevate the mood even more so. We also strung white lights around the roof of the gazebo which we hoped would provide a magical ambience for the wedding that evening. The reception tent tables were decorated with pink tablecloths with vases of red roses. More white lights were strung around the tent roof and a huge Congratulations banner was hung at one end of the tent. Bruce, Howie and Brandon set up the tables and chairs while us ladies hung pink and red streamers from the tent ceiling. After the boys were finished, Howie cornered Bruce in an animated conversation. Luckily, Brandon was able to sneak away, but not without Bruce giving him the stink eye.
     
    “What are they talking about?” I asked Brandon as he walked over to Paige and me.
     
    Brandon shook his head. “Howie wants Bruce to invest in his new invention…some kind of poltergeist detection.”
     
    Paige’s jaw dropped. “What the…”
     
    Brandon raised his hand. “I know, I know…I didn’t think Bruce would go for it either, but…”
     
    Paige did a double take. “If he did, he’s bunking with the dog tonight.”
     
    “You don’t have a dog,” I said trying to stifle my giggle.
     
    “He’ll have to scour the neighborhood and find one then.”
     
    Brandon laughed. “You know Bruce is too smart for that. No way would he ever invest in any of Howie’s ideas.”
     
    Paige straightened one of the tablecloths. “Don’t be so sure about him Brandon. One time he bought some kind of cookware that was supposed to halve my cooking time. He spent $500 on a complete set…I tossed it in the garbage the next week.”
     
    “She didn’t give it time!” Bruce exclaimed as he walked up behind Paige, giving her a start. “I thought it would cut your time preparing dinner in half. I was only thinking of you dear.”
     
    Paige gave him one of those, ain’t buyin it, looks. Bruce grinned. “Well, the sales guy was good. I mean I really thought it was the next generation in