Free literal leigh 05 - joyful leigh by Melanie James

hotels and it was too good to pass up. Anyway, I told her we’re having Thanksgiving here. I asked if she’d like to stop by for breakfast this morning. She seemed really busy, so I asked if the kids could come over.”
    “How the hell did you explain the cat suit?”
    “I had to lie. I told her that I put my Halloween costume on for the kids. I couldn’t tell her the truth! Oh, and Kelly got ahold of Esmeralda. She’s coming over tonight to get this thing off me when I’m done working undercover. Marie might come along.”
    “Awesome! I bet you’re ready to get that thing off. How’s it feeling?”
    “Itchy. Hot. Just plain uncomfortable. It seems to be adhering to my skin more with every hour.” Hunter took a deep breath. “It’s that magic spell of Lindsey’s,” he whispered. “I’m really counting on Esmeralda or Marie being able to get this damn thing off of me. But…what if they can’t?”
    “Don’t even consider that possibility, Hunter. Just worry about being safe on your undercover assignment this afternoon. We’ll figure out how to get that thing off of you later.” I have to admit that I had been wondering the same thing. The thought of Hunter being permanently stuck in a cat costume didn’t appeal to me one bit. I just didn’t want to say anything to Hunter and make him more anxious.

 
    Chapter Eleven
    The Fast and The Furriest
    “Oh my God! My brother gave you this? Are you sure it wasn’t some imposter?” Up until then I thought it was just an overused idiom when someone says “her eyes popped out of her head.” But when I looked at Moon’s awestruck face, her eyes were truly popping out a little. I mean physically bulging out in response to seeing the huge diamond on my finger.
    “Ha ha. No, it was Hunter all right. Can you believe he actually gave me a Schlitt? I thought we were going to just hang onto it, then on Halloween he just placed it right there on my finger. It’s the biggest Schlitt diamond.”
    “What? Um…well, Leigh, I’m just going to say it. What the hell are you talking about?”
    “Oh! I thought Hunter told you the whole story about the Schlitt house and the Schlitt jewelry collection we found here.”
    “No…No, he didn’t” Moon’s expression reflected her change from awestruck to complete befuddlement. “Schlitt house? You did say ‘Schlitt house’ right?”
    “Yeah, this place. It’s actually an old historic house. Hunter was able to get it in some sort of auction. Dirt cheap, too. Thanks to some ghost…I mean some good luck, we came across a stash of valuable jewelry. Some of it we sold to renovate the kitchen, repaint all of the rooms, and get all of the plumbing redone. We gave a few pieces away and one big one to a charity fund I started. That one I was saving to pay for our wedding and honeymoon, but Hunter’s heart is pretty generous….” I’m afraid my head sank when I said that to Moon. I had been holding off on the wedding planning because I didn’t want to add any stress until after the holidays. The reality is it was killing me not to get moving on my grand plans. But there were some family issues that would need to be ironed out—my family, their issues.
    “And this one he saved and surprised you with?”
    “Yes! Yes he did. It was during a ball that we attended over Halloween. Moon, it was the most romantic thing ever. On a balcony, under the full moon…It makes me almost cry remembering it. Hunter actually got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. It was like a fairy tale.”
    “That takes me back to my first question. Are you sure this is my brother we’re talking about?” Moon laughed and gave me a tight hug and a kiss on the cheek. “I am so happy for you both. I wish Burt and I could get that magic spark back. Having four kids seems to have made us lose focus on ourselves, I guess, but I’m taking the kids over to my aunt’s this afternoon. Burt and I are going to spend some time together. We haven’t