Free Til Death Do Us Part (A Darcy Sweet Cozy Mystery Book 16) by K.J. Emrick Page B

walk down the aisle with the man she loved.
    Not that it was going to be an aisle.  There would be a pink roll of fabric laid out on the grass of the town center and flower arches for the bride and groom to walk through.
    She couldn’t wait.
    “You’re thinking about your wedding again, aren’t you?”  Grace was leaning back in her chair, arms folded, a smug look on her face.
    Darcy came back to herself and realized her sister was right.  She’d been lost in daydreams about her wedding again.  It was becoming her favorite pastime.
    She sat down in the chair across from Grace at her desk.  “I’m here to see Jon, but I’ve got a little time for my Matron of Honor.”
    “You’d better.  I’m not just a pretty face, you know.”
    “Aaron thinks you are.”
    “Yeah, but he’s my husband.  He’s biased.”
    “Doesn’t make it any less true, sis,” Darcy added with a wink.
    They shared a laugh, talking about the wedding details for a few more minutes, about flower arrangements and whether they should let the guests have rice to throw or maybe get little bubble blowers.
    “It’s too bad mom can’t come sooner,” Grace said after a while.
    “I’m just glad she’s coming.  I don’t know.  It wouldn’t have been the same without her, I don’t think.”
    “I bet you never thought you’d say that.”
    Repairing the relationship between them and their mom had taken a long time.  Eileen Sweet was remarried now herself and in Darcy’s opinion, as odd as it sounded, that was one of the things that had brought them closer together.  Just one of many.
    “Sounds like you’re all set for the wedding, sis.”  Grace started shuffling the papers on her desk and Darcy knew she probably had a lot of work to do, with the bodies stolen from the cemetery and whatever other small town goings on the police were handling.  “I’m happy for you.  After you and Jeff divorced I figured you’d never take the plunge again.”
    “I just had to find the right man, I suppose.”
    Grace looked at her with a knowing smile.  “You and Jon are good together.  I’m guessing you’re good in every way?”
    A blush heated Darcy’s face.  She could feel it happening.  She and Jon certainly hadn’t waited for their wedding night to find out if they were, ahem, compatible, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t looking forward to the honeymoon.
    “Oh, that reminds me,” she said, getting up from Grace’s desk, “did I tell you?  We’ve decided to go to Australia for our honeymoon.”
    “Really?  The land of koala bears and men who talk like Crocodile Dundee?”  She leaned back and twisted her lip up and did her best Australian accent.  “G’day, mate, welcome to the outback!”
    “That was a horrible accent.  You know that, right?”
    Grace stuck her tongue out at Darcy.  “Don’t they have some kind of giant killer snake there?” 
    “That’s Florida.  I think.  I mean, they have snakes—”
    “Giant firebreathing lizard?”
    “You mean Godzilla?”
    “I just don’t want you getting killed by some weird animal, sis.  Like the platypus.”
    “I’m pretty sure the platypus is a vegetarian,” Darcy said, unable to keep herself from laughing.  Her sister acted serious all the time, but then suddenly she would slip and remember she actually had a sense of humor.  “I have to go see Jon.  Don’t worry.  I promise not to be eaten by any wild animals when we go to Australia.”
    “I mean, seriously.”  Grace opened a file and took out a pen to make some notes.  “Why does anyone go to Australia?”
    “Oh, the Sydney opera house, the Great Barrier Reef, the Blue Mountains, driving along the Great Ocean Road…”
    “Okay, okay, I get the point.  You two are going to see a lot of things and have a lot of fun and be all lovey-dovey.  Got it.”  She waved with the pen.  “Go talk to your man.  He was looking for you earlier anyway.”
    On the way to Jon’s office, Darcy