Suzy waltzed into the kitchen dressed in an immaculate black pencil skirt and fitted white blouse. "Something's burning." She wiggled her nose like Samantha from
Bewitched
.
"Amber's getting married!" Mum said to her, bursting with excitement.
"Really?" She raised a perfectly plucked eyebrow. "When?"
"Next week," I said. "We're going to go abroad and do it. And we'd like you to come, as well. We're going to fly everyone out."
"Why so soon?" She tilted her head, waiting for an opportunity to analyze me again.
"We're sick of waiting."
"You're the world's worst procrastinator and biggest commitment-phobe I've ever met, and now all of a sudden you're rushing to get married," Suzy said.
"Well, you're always moaning at me for being a commitment-phobe, so now you should be happy."
"It's because you might change your mind, isn't it?" Suzy raised a knowing eyebrow. "If you wait, you think you might change your mind."
"Stop trying your psychoanalyzing rubbish on me," I said. "Even I can't work out what's going on in my head, so there's no way you'll be able to."
"I'm just trying to help." Suzy stuck her nose in the air. "I don't want you to do something you'll regret."
"You're the one who keeps telling me to face my fears and make a decision, and now I've made one! And the only thing I'll regret is if I don't marry him as soon as I can." I resisted the urge to stick my tongue out and say,
So there!
Nothing was going to aggravate me when I was planning my wedding. I was too happy that we were both alive to be doing it. "Oh, and I'll also regret it if I have to give up chocolate forever, so as of now I'm officially a chocoholic again."
"What about a wedding dress?" Suzy asked. "Where are you going to get one so quickly?"
"I've got one from Umberto Fandango."
"I can't believe you got a Fandango dress. He's got a waiting list a mile long!" Suzy frowned. That was her normal face. I couldn't remember the last time she'd actually cracked a smile. Oh, wait, there was that one time when she was little and she pulled the legs off a cricket with a manic grin. See, I told you psychiatrists were as nutty as their patients!
Mum hugged me. "You will look beautiful." She clapped her hands together. "This is so exciting."
"Where are we all going, then, for the wedding?" Suzy asked. "I need to know what to pack."
"Somewhere hot, where you can thaw out a bit." I grinned at her and stood up to leave. "Don't worry about the breakfast, Mum. I need to go home and trawl through the internet for some travel websites. I'll give you a ring as soon as I know the details." I kissed Mum on the cheek and bumped shoulders with Suzy.
"Of course, honey. Oh, I'm so happy for you. I need to sort your dad's tux out now," she gushed.
* * *
I let myself into Brad's house, where almost twenty-four hours before I'd been so close to losing him.
Marmalade glanced up from his snoozing on the sofa, then closed his eyes again. He obviously had the hump because I'd left him alone for so long. I sat down next to him and kissed the top of his head. He stretched, his eyes half open.
"So, where should we go and get married?" I asked him, switching on my laptop to Google wedding packages abroad.
Marmalade yawned.
"You're no help."
As I waited for the laptop to connect to the internet, I thought about Brad in a tux. I'd never actually seen him wearing one, but he would look pretty damn hot. A few different role-playing scenarios sprang into my head. A James Bond scene with me as a sexy spy was coming up trumps so far. Definitely not one that had any voodoo in it, though. Or, I know, maybe I was a jewel thief with a priceless diamond concealed somewhere and Brad had to find it. With his tongue! Ooh, hold that thought!
The Google search engine sprang up on the screen.
Last chance. I could spend countless hours worrying if it was all going to work out with the man I loved, the man I'd nearly lost, or I could take a chance on love and hang on to him forever. No contest. I wasn't wasting any more time.
Let the wedding begin! Muwahahahaha!
* * * * *
* * * * *
About the Author
Sibel Hodge is the author of bestselling romantic comedy
Fourteen Days Later
. She has eight cats and one husband. In her spare time, she's Wonder Woman! When she's not out saving the world from dastardly demons, she writes books for adults and children.
Her work has been shortlisted for the Harry Bowling Prize 2008, Highly Commended by the Yeovil Literary Prize 2009, Runner-up in the Chapter One Promotions Novel Comp 2009, and nominated Best Novel with Romantic Elements in 2010 by The Romance Reviews. Her novella Trafficked: The Diary of a Sex Slave has been listed as one of the Top 40 Books About Human Rights by Accredited Online Colleges.
For more information, please visit
http://www.sibelhodge.com/
* * * * *
OTHER BOOKS BY SIBEL HODGE
Amber Fox Mysteries:
Fashion, Lies, and Murder
Money, Lies, and Murder
Voodoo, Lies, and Murder
Other Works:
Fourteen Days Later
My Perfect Wedding
The Baby Trap
How to Dump Your Boyfriend in the Men's Room (and other short stories)
It's a Catastrophe
The See-Through Leopard
Trafficked: The Diary of a Sex Slave
Non Fiction:
A Gluten Free Taste of Turkey
A Gluten Free Soup Opera
Healing Meditations for Surviving Grief and Loss
If you enjoyed the Amber Fox series, check out these other funny, romantic mysteries from
Gemma Halliday Publishing
:
‘Scuse Me While I Kill This Guy (Greatest Hits book #1)
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Death by Chocolate is her favorite dessert. And those knitting needles aren't just for craft projects. To most people, Gin Bombay is an ordinary single mom. Then again, they don't know she's from a family of top secret assassins. Somewhere between leading a Girl Scout troop for her kindergartner—would nooses count for a knot badge?—and keeping their puppy from destroying the furniture, Gin now has to take out a new target.
But you can pick them off
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Nearly Departed
Victoria Spring
hates
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As the co-founder of SPRING CLEANING, most of the hard work should be covered by her business partner & brother, Jerry. And it was...until he was shipped off to Afghanistan and declared missing in action over two years ago. Determined not to disappoint her parents, Vicky keeps the business afloat "just until Jerry gets back." But when she agrees to clean up the murder-suicide of three college students, she knows she'll need help. Ex-cop Smoke Barclay is more than a little mysterious, but he has great references, passed the puke test, and has a decent hand shake, so he's hired. Smoke's help should make this job a breeze, but when the ghosts of the three victims show up at the scene claiming all three were murdered by someone still on the loose; Vicky knows
nothing
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Helping the ghosts move on means finding out what really happened to happened to them...even if it means Vicky may be the next victim.
Queenie Baby: On Assignment (Queenie Baby book #1)
Meeting your hot new boss in a bar while singing karaoke—bad. Being fixed up with your old high school boyfriend by your meddling sister—annoying. Making out in your sister's minivan with said boyfriend—embarrassing. This week is shaping up to be a doozy for aspiring singer/songwriter Diana Hudson.
'On the wrong side of thirty' according to her mother and still living the bohemian lifestyle of a musician, Diana is having a double martini day. Although a sought after performer on the not-so-happening Annapolis, Maryland bar scene, Diana works as a temp at Greene's Staffing to pay the bills. Her assignment this week: help the cape-wearing Mr. Vann Pyre find love online. Unfortunately for Diana, the only man in her life for months has been Max, her fluffy, white Shitzu-Poodle with a crooked overbite and a bad attitude. But unexpectedly, Diana finds herself up to her chin in men. Her mysterious new boss, Mark Greene, smells so good she'd like to hang him from her rearview mirror, and her chiseled, super-sexy high school sweetheart, Rick Ellis, is back to sweep her off her feet. When Diana's love life goes from nonexistent to off the charts, will she give an old romance a second chance? Or will she take a chance on new love?