Ring for Murder (Lighthouse Inn Finale) Read Online Free

Alex?”
    “How much I love you in jeans,” he answered
without thinking about it. “Not that you aren’t beautiful now,
because you are. I don’t know what I’m trying to say. Forgive
me.”
    She laughed out loud, with no reserve. “Are
you kidding? That’s one of the things I love most about you. Peter
always insisted that I get dressed up to go to the grocery store.
He hated seeing me in blue jeans.”
    “Then that’s just one more way the man was a
fool for letting you go,” Alex said.
    In a meek voice, Elise said, “He called the
inn today.”
    “What?” Alex asked, shocked at the news.
Peter had followed Elise to North Carolina when she’d taken the job
at Hatteras West, but that was a long time ago. “What did he
want?”
    “He said he wanted to congratulate me on our
wedding,” Elise said.
    Alex grunted. “The idiot should be
congratulating me, not you.”
    “Why’s that?”
    “You aren’t the one getting the prize,” Alex
said.
    “There, you’re wrong,” she replied. “I’m
every bit as lucky as you are.”
    “Is that all he wanted?” Alex asked, not
able to help himself. He had a sore spot when it came to the man,
and he knew it. Asheford was handsome, and rich to boot, and Alex
always felt a little less than he was when he was around him.
    “He asked me if I was happy,” Elise
admitted.
    “He was probably hoping you would change
your mind about marrying me,” Alex said, trying to lighten the mood
a little.
    She looked at him quizzically. “Yes, that’s
it, exactly. How did you know?”
    “I guessed, but it’s not that hard a leap to
make. What did you say?”
    She squeezed his arm. “That for the first
time in my life, I’m truly in love, and that I wouldn’t give that
up for anything.”
    “If I weren’t driving right now, I’d kiss
you.”
    “If you weren’t driving, I’d encourage
it.”
    They both laughed, and the tension was eased
again between them.
     
    When Alex and Elise got to Monet’s Garden,
the parking lot was full. Alex hoped that their rehearsal dinner
wouldn’t get swallowed up whatever else was going on there, but
they’d asked for a private dining area, so hopefully it would be
all right.
    As they walked in the door, they saw a great
many more folks than the wedding party and a few out of town guests
waiting for them as well.
    “Surprise,” they all shouted, and Alex
looked quizzically at Elise. “Did you know about this?”
    “I’m as baffled as you are,” Elise said.
    Monet himself, the restaurant’s owner and
namesake, approached them. “Welcome, my friends. I haven’t
forgotten what you did for me when I first opened, and I hope you
will allow me to repay you by hosting this surprise dinner. You
approve?”
    Elise squeezed Alex’s hand as she said, “Of
course we do, but you shouldn’t have gone to all of this
trouble.”
    “No trouble at all. Now come, enjoy
yourselves. The restaurant is yours, and yours alone, this evening.
Consider it my wedding present to the two of you.”
    Alex could only imagine what the gesture was
costing his friend, but he was resolved to graciously accept it.
“Thank you,” Alex said as he shook the man’s hand heartily.
    “Thank you,” Elise echoed, and then kissed
Monet on the cheek.
    Monet looked happy enough to burst. He
clapped his hands together, and then said, “Let the festivities
begin!”
    Alex was suddenly awash with old friends,
and even some guests from the inn who had become a part of his
circle over the years. Evans Graile, a sprightly older man,
approached them with a present in his hands.
    “It’s good to see you, Evans,” Alex
said.
    “I was overjoyed to get the invitation
tonight.” He extended the present he’d been holding toward them. “I
just want to wish you both much happiness.”
    “There’s a table for presents by the door,”
Emma Sturbridge said as she approached them.
    “I’ll put it there, then,” Evans said. “It’s
the most wonderful single serving tea