Ghostly Wedding (A Harper Harlow Mystery Book 17) Read online

  “Is that a big deal?”

  “The dress? I should think so, unless you want me to get married naked.”

  “I would be fine with that. I think our guests might feel differently, though.”

  “Yeah.” Harper made a murmuring sound as she traced a heart above his heart. “It’s just a formality. I need to make sure the dress fits and that none of the beads have come loose. Then that’s it. I bring it home and put it in the closet until the big day.”

  “That doesn’t sound so bad.”

  “It could be worse,” Harper agreed. “Zander is going with me, though.”

  Ah, Jared mused, that was the source of her anxiety. Zander may have been Harper’s best friend, but he’d been a constant source of turmoil over the last few weeks. He’d managed to fill Harper’s stomach with squirming worms, to the point where Harper often felt sick to her stomach, and now everybody was walking on eggshells around everybody else.

  “You don’t have to go with Zander,” Jared offered, searching for a way to alleviate some of her stress. “I can call Mel, tell him I’ll be late. I’ll go with you. I haven’t seen the dress yet anyway.”

  “There’s a reason for that.” Harper was completely awake now and the look she pinned him with as she propped herself on her elbow was dark. “It’s bad luck to see the wedding dress before the ceremony.”

  Her serious face made him grin. “That’s kind of superstitious, don’t you think?”

  “I can see and talk to ghosts. If anybody has a right to be superstitious, it’s me.”

  “That’s fair,” Jared agreed, brushing his fingers through her flaxen hair. She was so beautiful there were times he wondered why his heart didn’t explode when he was looking at her. “I don’t have to see the dress, though. I can hide outside the dressing room and talk to you while you’re trying it on.”

  “That’s not really how it works.” Harper rested her chin on his chest and regarded him. “It’s a nice offer, though.”

  “Yeah?” He stroked his hand over her hair, debating. Just how far did he want to take this conversation? He’d been meaning to talk to her about the nervous energy clinging to her these days and yet he kept pushing it off in the hopes she would settle. That didn’t look likely today. “You still want to marry me, right?”

  Harper was taken aback. “What are you talking about?”

  Jared tried to ignore the fact that she hadn’t really answered him. “Getting married.” He searched for the right words. “You haven’t exactly been happy the past two weeks. That’s not because you’re regretting agreeing to marry me, is it?”

  Horror washed over Harper’s face. “Is that what you think?”

  Jared shrugged. “I don’t know. I’m just a little worried.”

  And that, Harper realized, put things into perspective. “I’m sorry.” She meant it. “I didn’t mean to make you worry. I’m just ... tired.”

  “Of me?”

  “Don’t be ridiculous.” She made a face that warmed Jared to his very core. “I’m tired of Zander ... and my mother ... and tiny little details.” She found his hand and gripped it tightly. “I could never regret marrying you. I don’t understand how you could possibly think that.”

  “You’ve been crabby.”

  “At them, not you.”

  Jared arched a challenging eyebrow.

  “Okay, maybe I’ve been a little short with you at times,” Harper hedged, blowing out a sigh. “I didn’t mean for things to go that way. You have to believe me.”

  “I believe you. It’s not a big deal.” The last thing he wanted was to ruin what had been one of their more comfortable mornings in recent memory, so he decided not to push. “We have a few minutes left. Why don’t you come over here to cuddle?”

  Harper’s snort was dubious. “Cuddle? Is that code for something?”

  He shook his head. “No. I just want to hold you. It doesn’t feel like we’ve had much time together over the past few weeks.”

  And that was an even worse slap, Harper realized. “Oh, geez.” She pressed herself to him and hugged tight. “I’m sorry. You should’ve told me I was being a bridezilla before this. I probably would’ve been mad at the time, but I would’ve gotten over it sooner and focused on you. I apologize.”

  He kissed her forehead, the frayed edges of his nerves settling. She was his favorite person in the world and that would never change. “I don’t need you to focus on me. I know you have stuff that needs to be done. I just ... you’ve been agitated.”

  “Blame Zander.”

  “Oh, I do.”

  That made her laugh, and when she lifted her eyes to meet his, there was nothing but love reflected back. “I really am sorry. Zander and my mother have been making me crazy. Even though I told them we wanted a small wedding they keep trying to sneak in big-ticket items and it’s making me crazier than a Kardashian who can’t find a mirror.”

  “Just tell them no.”

  “Have you ever tried fending off my mother and Zander when they decide to work as a team?”

  “No, but ... .” Jared trailed off, understanding washing over hm. “Do you want me to talk to them?”

  Under different circumstances, the question would’ve made Harper laugh. Since she recognized he was being heart-stopping serious, all she could do was shake her head. “They’ll run over you, back up, run over you again, and then chew on your masticated bones. You can’t take them on.”

  Jared narrowed his eyes. “I could beat both of them with one arm tied behind my back.”

  “Keep telling yourself that. Maybe it will make you feel better.”

  Now it was Jared’s turn to be annoyed. “Are you saying I can’t take them?”

  “I’m saying they’re both pains in the behind,” Harper replied. “They know exactly what they’re doing to drive me crazy. They’re good at it.”

  “Which is why you should let me talk to them?”

  Harper’s smile was rueful. “I’m pretty sure if I left you in a room alone with them for any stretch of time that you would not only run away from them screaming but me, too.”

  He shook his head, firm. “Nothing will ever make me run away from you.” He leaned in and gave her a soft kiss, running his hands up and down her arms as he debated how to soothe her. “You know I love you, right?”

  “Of course you love me. What’s not to love? I mean, the neurotic mess I am right now aside, normally I’m pretty chill and easygoing.”

  “You are,” Jared agreed. Despite her bold words, he was determined to make things easier for her. If that meant sitting down Zander Pritchett and Gloria Harlow and giving them a good talking to before the day was out, he would try to find a way to make it happen. “I’m sorry they’re making life so difficult for you.”

  “You and me both.” Harper sighed as she burrowed into his side. “How long until the alarm goes off?”

  Jared checked the clock on the nightstand. “Fifteen minutes.”

  “That’s probably enough time.”

  “Enough time for what?”

  “For you to make me forget that my mother and best friend are giving me an ulcer.”

  He didn’t miss the flirty tone of her voice, which had his lips curving. “What did you have in mind?”

  “Well, how does this sound?” She leaned in and whispered a suggestion dirty enough to have his eyes crossing.

  “That sounds like the best offer I’ve had all day.”

  “Somehow I knew you would say that.”

  HARPER SPENT THE MORNING DOING PAPERWORK at Ghost Hunters, Inc., the business she owned with Zander, and then headed off to the dress store on the east side of town. Zander suggested she go to a fancier boutique in Oakland County when they first started looking, but Harper opted to shop locally. She wanted a simple dress, nothing too overblown or fancy. She found exactly what she wanted in Stella Markham’s shop, and she was so happy with the dress, she found herself smiling as she strolled into the store.

  “Hello, eve
rybody,” she called out when she found Stella and Zander talking in the middle of the showroom.

  “You’re late,” Zander shot back darkly.

  “Like two minutes,” Harper said defensively. “I was finishing up paperwork at GHI. We’re almost completely caught up.”

  “Great.” Zander put his hand to Harper’s back and prodded her toward the dressing rooms. “Get naked.”

  Harper made a face. “That’s kind of rude. Don’t you want to ask about my night last night?”

  “Not really. I’m assuming Captain Bossypants brought home dinner and then you did the dance of the dirty people.”

  Harper rolled her eyes. “I had a weird dream. Don’t you want to hear about my dream?”

  “No.”

  “You were in it. It started when we were kids and you made me dress up as a bride. It was that time you stole your mother’s veil and she threatened to smack us around with the flyswatter after the fact.”

  Zander brightened. “That was pretty funny.”

  “Then the dream turned into a nightmare because you somehow ended up with the flyswatter and were chasing people at the wedding when they didn’t compliment the cake. The first part was fun, though.”

  The gleam in Zander’s eye had Harper taking an inadvertent step back.

  “I didn’t think about a flyswatter,” Zander mused. “That might be a good idea. I bet I can get a white one so it doesn’t clash with your dress.” He gave her a light shove toward the dressing rooms. “The dress is already waiting for you. Let’s make sure it fits, huh?”

  “Fine.” Harper was a little disappointed that Zander didn’t want to talk about her dream. The first part had been fun, a walk down memory lane. The second part had been disturbing but nowhere near as disturbing as the dream from several days before where he’d demanded a cake that looked just like him for her wedding to Jared.

  It took Harper a few minutes to get into her dress, and when she exited the dressing room, she found Zander and Stella sipping champagne and having a good time. They seemed far more interested in each other than her.

  “What’s this?” she demanded as she stalked into the room.

  “Snacks,” Zander replied, placing his champagne flute on the nearby table and standing. “You can have some as soon as you’re out of your dress. There’s aerated chocolate, too.”

  “Really?” Harper lifted her nose and sniffed. “I love aerated chocolate.”

  “I’m well aware.” Zander’s eyebrows were knitted as he studied her up and down.

  “It looks okay, right?” Harper pressed when nerves got the better of her.

  “It looks amazing,” Zander confirmed on a shaky breath. “You look amazing.”

  She studied his face, confused. “If I look amazing, why are you so sad?”

  To her utter surprise, rather than answer, Zander burst into tears. “You’re just so pretty. I always knew you were going to be a beautiful bride.” His expression was morose when he met her gaze. “You’re going to be a prettier bride than me.”

  The love that had been bubbling up for her best friend only moments before vacated and Harper glared at him. “Oh, so this is about you.”

  “Don’t be ridiculous.” Zander dug for a handkerchief in his pocket and dabbed at his cheeks. “This is about us. You’re getting married, and in a few days. After that you won’t be my Harper any longer.”

  Despite her earlier agitation, Harper felt a small tug of pity for her best friend. She decided to embrace it. “I’ll always be your Harper. I’m just Jared’s Harper, too.” She cocked her head, considering. “I’m also my Harper. I guess it’s fair to say I belong to three people.”

  “But I’m the one who has the biggest chunk of your heart, right?”

  “It’s not a competition.”

  His eyes narrowed to dangerous slits. “Right?”

  She wasn’t going to allow him to back her into a corner. “Do you have some things you want to check, Stella?”

  “I’ve been over all the beadwork ten times,” Stella reassured her, abandoning her champagne and chocolate to circle the dress. “You’re about three pounds lighter than you were when you were fitted but that’s normal when it comes to weddings. You might try to eat a lot of pizza and candy over the next few days to put it back on, though. As it is, I don’t think people will notice.”

  “So, it’s good?” Harper found she was relieved to be able to mark an item off her wedding checklist. “That’s great.”

  “I still think a veil might be cute,” Stella pressed. “I know you said you didn’t want one ... .”

  “I don’t.” Harper was firm on that. “It’s going to be a casual ceremony. The dress is going to be the fanciest thing.”

  “I’m going to be the fanciest thing,” Zander countered. “As for the veil ... .” He trailed off as he regarded her and sighed. “You’re going to be the prettiest bride who ever walked the planet regardless. You don’t need a veil. It will just detract from that face of yours.”

  Funnily enough, Harper thought that might’ve been the sweetest thing Zander had ever said to her. She reached over and squeezed his hand before heading back to the dressing room. “Let me tell you about my dream,” she started.

  “I remember the day with the veil,” Zander said as the dressing room door shut, a nostalgic smile on his face. “My mother threatened to tan my hide when she caught us with it.”

  “She didn’t, though,” Harper noted. “Instead she made a new veil out of newspaper and let me run around in that.”

  “She let us watch a whole string of famous weddings that she had on VHS, too,” Zander added. “That was still a thing back then, VHS tapes that you had to rewind.”

  “I remember, although I think your mother held on to VHS tapes longer than almost anybody else.” Harper grinned at the memory as she carefully hung up her dress. “We watched the wedding of Luke and Laura on General Hospital.”

  Zander chuckled. “She did love her soaps.”

  “And we watched Princess Diana’s wedding to Prince Charles,” Harper added. “I didn’t understand at the time why she taped a royal wedding, but she was really into it.”

  “That was a beautiful wedding.”

  “My favorite was the A Different World wedding. Dwayne and Whitley. I freaking loved that wedding.”

  “Me, too,” Zander agreed. “It was dramatic and amazing. I also liked Becky and Jesse on Full House. I want to sing to Shawn the day we get married.”

  Harper snorted as she returned to the front of the shop with her dress safely tucked away in a zipped bag. “You can’t sing.”

  Zander made a face. “I could totally sing. I’m good at it.”

  “You sound like a frog croaking his life away,” Harper countered. “I should know. I’ve heard you sing a million times.”

  “I’m an amazing singer,” Zander shot back. “I could totally go on The Voice if I wanted.”

  Harper honked out a laugh that was halfway to a snort. “Oh, please. I love you dearly, but you couldn’t even make it on Star Search, let alone The Voice. Don’t be ridiculous.”

  “Do you believe this?” Zander jabbed his thumb toward Harper while holding Stella’s gaze. “She’s calling me a bad singer.”

  “All I have for reference is that talent show from when you guys were in high school,” Stella replied. “I made the costumes. I believe you sang then.”

  “I did.” Zander took on a far-off expression. “I sang like Celine Dion.”

  Harper worked overtime to hide her eye roll ... and failed. “You sang the song from Titanic and everybody wanted to go down with the ship rather than listen to you for another second.”

  Annoyance kindled as Zander straightened and jabbed a finger at her. “You take that back.”

  “I can’t. I promised to always tell you the truth.”

  “The truth is that I’m an amazing singer.”

  “Yeah, that’s not the truth. In fact ... .” Harper trailed off, her eyes going to t
he street, to where a very loud red car was zooming down the road.

  “That’s not very safe,” Stella noted, following Harper’s gaze. “The speed limit out there is twenty-five.”

  “And he has to be going at least eighty,” Harper said, cringing when the sound of someone screaming made her lean to the side in an attempt to see the car more clearly.

  To her utter horror, the car showed no signs of slowing. Instead, it barreled through the red light at the intersection ahead ... and careened directly into a man who was crossing the street.

  Harper couldn’t hear the noise the collision made, although she could imagine it, and she had to press her eyes shut when the body flew up into the air. She didn’t want to picture the landing.

  When she forced her eyes open a second time, it was over. The car hadn’t slowed down, instead speeding toward the other end of town. As for the man who had been crossing, he was on the ground, and not moving.

  Harper made up her mind on the spot as she dropped the dress on a chair and started for the door. “Stella, call 911. Get Jared and Mel out here.”

  The woman nodded without hesitation. “Where are you going?”

  “To see if I can help.”

  “There’s no way he survived that,” Zander argued. “The hit was too hard.”

  “I still have to try.”

  And, because he knew that was true, Zander gave chase. There was no way he would let Harper head down there alone. She was his best friend. He would be there for her, no matter what.

  2

  Two

  Harper was out the door first. She had long legs and raced toward the prone figure in the intersection. She didn’t have to look over her shoulder to know Zander was following. Even though he would likely complain after the fact, they were a unit when it came to running headlong into trouble.

  All traffic had come to a standstill, drivers putting their vehicles into park and poking their heads out windows to gawk. No one approached the man except for Harper, and when she drew close, she had no doubt it was already too late.