CHAPTER TEN

 

"We wish you a merry Christmas and a happy new beer." —A Millbrook Christmas Carol

 

"You really know how to ruin a costume." Allyson, the Hussy, Harlow stood behind me at the dressing table at the Millbrook Community Center and honored me with her version of a compliment. We both stared at my reflection in the large mirror.

I blew upward into my feather-covered tiara ensemble "I'm doing the best I can with what was provided to me, Allyson. I mean, you must have stretched out this get-up when you wore it last year." I couldn't resist the dig. Everyone knew that she had the biggest chest in three counties.

She grinned at me, and I returned the smile—managing to put a crease in the thick foundation that she'd caked on my face moments earlier. Why I'd agreed to allow her to apply my makeup I still couldn't fathom. But here we were. Old enemies acting as if we were new besties.

My face was actually in pain from the heavy coating. I wondered if it was possible to suffocate your pores to the point of skin poisoning.

Her high-pitched voice grated on my nerves as she let out a little giggle. "Hi, Ty. How nice of you to come by and wish our queen well. Doesn't she look just lovely?"

My breath caught in my throat as I saw Ty's large figure silhouetted in the door frame behind us.

"I think she looks terrific."

Allyson let out a disappointed sigh. I imagined that she was aggravated that Ty hadn't taken the bait on her fake compliment.

"Ladies, are we about ready to load up in the car and take a ride around town?" His voice was soft and smooth, and I berated myself for liking the sound of it. I'd promised myself that I wouldn't go there again. Ever.

"Well, this is as good as she gets." Allyson responded and then stuck the crystal-topped glitter wand into my hand with more force than was necessary.

"Ow." I switched the wand to my other hand and briefly considered clobbering her with it. But, she'd already sauntered over toward Ty and was making a big production of squeezing past him and out the door.

Good Lord.

"Ready, Mandy?"

"Uh. Yes. But, could you lead me to the right car? I'm having a little trouble seeing."

"Why is that?" He stepped toward me and held out a hand.

I turned to look at him. "I think she put too much glue on these fake lashes. My left eye is stuck shut."

Ty chuckled and I playfully smacked him with my wand.

 

* * *

 

"Well, you sure had one heck of a reign as Glitter Queen." Penny stated the obvious as we sat on the sofa in my den the next afternoon and watched Paget loop another strand of garland around the already over-decorated tree.

"Huh. You can say that again." I was still picking glitter and feathers out of my hair from that costume.

"You're the only Glitter Queen in the history of the Mistletoe Smackdown to award the trophy to someone who didn't even enter the contest," Penny cackled between sips of coffee.

"Well, I think the school had the best decorations. All the kids made little baby Jesus mangers out of walnut shells, and the older kids dressed as reindeers and stood in front of the school and performed a bell choir, and their tree full of aluminum foil snowflakes was awesome. It was beautiful, heartfelt, and simple. And that's what the trophy should be about."

I'd felt confident in my choice. Until the little trophy ceremony this morning.

"Yeah, well, I think that will also be the first time that on Christmas Eve, the Glitter Queen gives the school principal a trophy of two people having—adult relations." Her choice of words was for my sister's benefit. And her laughter was never-ending.

I sighed. I'd never live this down. Apparently, no one had bothered to check the replacement trophy before handing me the box to present. Instead of a couple innocently exchanging a kiss under the mistletoe, they had moved on to a more compromising position.

"Hey, I heard that. It wasn't my fault. Maimie ordered that over the phone. It's not my fault the old bat won't use her reading glasses and gave them the wrong item number," Ms. Lanier bellowed from the kitchen where she was whipping up some treats for us.

"My glasses don't allow folks to see the true beauty of my eyes," Ms. Maimie responded as she returned from her bathroom makeup touch-up down the hall.

I leaned back on the sofa and ran my hands through my hair for the millionth time. More glitter trickled down the front of my shirt.

"Are you sure you don't want me to get hold of your hair? I can get that out at the shop," Sundae offered from where she crouched on the floor—trying to find where a light bulb was missing in the strand of lights.

"No. I'm good. It will wash out eventually." I was not going back into Sundae's chair again. I loved her, but I was still trying to recover from my last visit.

A knock on the door rescued me from the onslaught of teasing and suggestions for my beauty regimen. I headed to the kitchen door and opened it to see Ty Dempsey standing there with Coach Mulder and a bottle of wine.

I did a double take. What was my grouchy tree farm boss doing here?

"Penny said you'd invited me over for dinner, and I hope you don't mind that I brought along Coach. He's all alone this year." His words explained things, but his eyes told the real tale. Coach Mulder had really loved Ms. Strength, and he was in pain this year.

His note had turned out to be a final plea for her love and not really a threat. Something to the effect of "if he couldn't have her in this life then maybe the next life," and while poorly worded, the fact remained that he'd lost her to unforeseen circumstances, and no one deserved to be alone at Christmas.

"Sure, come on in." I gestured to the men, and Ty mouthed the words thank you to me as he handed me the wine.

"Hey, coach, we could use some help in here with these lights," Sundae called, and soon Coach was in there coaching the girls about the best way to decorate.

Pickles took up his place at Ty's thigh and got his favorite ear-rub. I opened the bottle of wine.

"Now, none of that for young Paget, okay?" Ty teased from nearby.

My face heated. Yet another thing I'd never live down. Letting my sister get into the potent General Lee's Eggnog while I'd tried to solve the case and diffuse the Suzette situation in the bathroom—well I wasn't trying to solve it so much as to survive the Hoot's investigative methods.

"Yeah, yeah. It's been a wild few days. But now that the contest is over, were you ever able to confirm that my unwelcome visitor was, in fact, harmless? Who left the tree note on my bed?"

Ty stuffed a piece of turkey in his mouth that he'd swiped from the serving tray. He answered around it, "Yep, it was just another misunderstanding. It wasn't left there by Parker, the church treasurer, as Ms. Lanier had predicted."

"Who left it, then?" My curiosity was killing me.

"Believe it or not, it was left by Ms. Strength's niece." Ty reached for another piece of turkey but pulled his hand back when Ms. Lanier raised her kitchen towel to give him a pop.

"Who is Ms. Strength's niece, and why would she threaten me?"

He shrugged. "Her name is Macy Deats. She showed up this morning to claim Ms. Strength's body. She admitted to leaving you the tree and said to apologize. She'd just wanted Ms. Strength to win the trophy one last time. And she wasn't threatening to hurt you. She claimed that she was letting you know that if Ms. Strength could be killed over a trophy, who knew what would happen to you if you chose wrong. She apologized and asked me to pass this along to you. Said she saw you at the Nog party and tried to tell you but wasn't able to chat with you there."

An image of a young woman with dark brown eyes danced through my mind. She'd been trying to speak with me when Suzette was dragging me across the room. And she'd looked familiar because she favored her aunt.

"I told her I'd ask if you wanted to press charges for trespassing. I don't know if I can swing a breaking and entering charge because you left the house unlocked." He gave me a stern you-know-better-than-that look.

I looked over at Paget and Sundae decorating the tree and Coach Mulder on the floor working with the lights. I looked at Penny and Ms. Maimie clinking their wine glasses together on the sofa and Ms. Lanier pouring herself a glass as she joined them in the den.

I shook my head. "No. No. Let her off. She's lost her aunt, and the whole thing was senseless. How much trouble is Suzette Granger in anyway?"

Ty leaned back against the counter and watched the scene in the den with me.

"I doubt the prosecutor will press charges. She didn't actually lay a hand on her. It really was just an accident. Dr. C. confirms that the death was due to a heart attack and not the fall. Although, Suzette will always have to wonder if her threat instigated the heart attack. I'm sure she'll always blame herself."

"How sad. All of that over a trophy and a recipe." I saw the happiness in Paget's face as she hugged Sundae, and I knew that family was really the recipe for true happiness. But…

"Whatever happened to that eggnog recipe?" I asked, not sure that I ever wanted to see that stuff again. But, then again, it had had a certain special aftertaste that was addictive.

"Well, we have the index card down at the station—it is technically evidence—but I heard that there was a copy of it posted on the front page of The Mainstreet Mile this morning."

"You don't say…" I said, as I turned to Ty with a smile on my face. "I guess some things are just too good not to be shared."

"Oh, I totally agree with that…" He reached into his shirt pocket and pulled out something that looked a lot like a twig of mistletoe. He held it up over his head and stepped toward me.

Fa la la la lah…