Free You're Busting My Nuptials (Tizzy/Ridge Trilogy Book 2) by Ann Everett Page B

leading to her parents’ house. When she pushed open the door, she saw her dad surfing channels.
    “Hey Sweetie, I thought I heard a car. Are you okay? Any news about Ridge?”
    “No. I mean, yeah, I’m okay, but no news about my missing groom.”
    “Baby girl, you look terrible. Are you sleeping and eating? We’ve got leftover meatloaf, why don’t you re-heat you some.”
    “No, Daddy, I’m fine. Where are Momma and Gracie?”
    “They’re in the bathroom.”
    Tizzy heard the giggles and screams before she reached the door and when she pushed it open, she saw Gracie sitting waist deep in water, holding a bottle of bubbles, blowing them into the air, while Patticake tried to catch them.
    “Momma!” Gracie squealed. “Watch, I’m going to blow a BIG bubble and you try to catch it.” She dipped her wand, puckered her lips, and blew the scrawniest bubble Tizzy had ever seen. Tizzy ran her fingertips across a bar of soap, then stuck her index finger out and caught the iridescent orb on the tip.
    “You did it!” Gracie yelled.
    “Yes I did, and now, I’m going to do this.” Tizzy transferred the baby bubble to Gracie’s nose. “Now you have a bubble on your nose! Gracie has a bubble on her nose, Gracie has a bubble on her nose,” Tizzy sang and Gracie giggled.
    “Momma, are you spending the night?”
    “Uh-huh, and I’m going to snuggle with you.”
    “Did you find Trooper Cooper?”
    Tizzy cut her eyes over to her mother and then back to Gracie. “Not yet. But I’m going to keep looking. C’mon, let’s dry you off and get you ready for bed. I can’t believe you’re still up this late.”
    A half-hour later, after two stories and a silly song, Gracie snuggled close to her mother. Cuddles curled at her side, purring. For the first time since the wedding, Tizzy felt a sense of peace. She’d find Ridge and he’d be alive. She didn’t know how. She just knew she would. God wouldn’t bring him into her life only to take him away. He wouldn’t. With that final thought, she drifted off to sleep.
    By the time she woke the next morning, she could hear Annie Mae softly singing in the kitchen. She gave a long stretch, and Cuddles mimicked with one of her own.
    The scent of pancakes floated down the hall and Tizzy thought of melted butter and warm maple syrup. Her stomach growled. She pulled Gracie close again, kissed her and reminded herself about what she needed to do today.
    First, she’d round up the crew and they would visit Dairy ‘ere Queens Strip Club in Athens. If they did have pictures of all the dancers, as the barmaid suggested, Jinx would be able to recognize the stripper. If they were lucky, one of the other girls would know where the woman lived.
    Next, she wanted to make a connection between Ridge and the names Eldora mentioned. All the case files in Ridge’s makeshift office would need to be searched to find a suspect or victim named Edward, Edmond, or Eddy. She wanted to concentrate on that and push the cold death part out of her mind.
    She shivered. Last night after the front moved in, the temperature dropped twenty degrees. Outside the wind whipped and howled against the window. The weather man said the chill factor would be sixteen degrees today.
    Wherever you are, Ridge, I hope you’re warm. She shook the thought out of her head, got up, and walked into the bathroom.
    Thankful she kept clothes and cosmetics at her mom ’s house, she pulled on pale pink sweats and ankle boots. Cuddles pushed the door open far enough to make an entrance, jumped up and settled on the toilet lid and began to wash her face.
    “My daddy’s right, I don’t look so good,” she said to the cat. “I really need to pay more attention to personal hygiene.” Tizzy splashed warm water on her face and ran her fingers across the dark circles under her eyes. She opened a drawer and took a tube of makeup out and squeezed some into her palm. Once she was done applying it, she inspected the results.