A Very Merry Superhero Wedding (Adventures of Lewis and Clarke) Read Online Free PDF

the dress!”
    “The satin will stain!”
    “Hand her the tissues!”
    The box was shoved into her hands, but the woman doing the alterations had already pressed a linen handkerchief against Tori’s cheeks. Tori took it and wiped her eyes, laughing at the attention. She glanced at the hanky . Congratulations from everyone at Princess Bridal.
    “We had them made up for moments like this,” the woman said.
    Tori laughed. “Can my mom have one?” Dixie loved to collect little mementos from her children’s milestones.
    Dixie stepped onto the dais and took the hanky from Tori’s hand, giving her the fresh one. She hugged her daughter tight. “I want to keep the one with my baby girl’s happy tears on it, okay?”
    “Oh, Mom,” Tori said. Then they both laughed and cried at the same time, and everyone went crazy to protect her dress.
    Hayley came to the rescue as she always had over the years. She called out orders and made jokes and helped push yet another emotional crisis behind them. Tori appreciated it. But this was one emotional crisis she would treasure.
     

Chapter 3
    “EVEN though a certain Grandma is being silly,” Danny said to the toddler in the back seat, “we’ll keep our word and avoid the mall. However, we’re still going Christmas shopping. I bet you’ve done about as much shopping as I have, right buddy?”
    Ben stared at Danny in the mirror, then turned away to look out the window.
    “Just as I thought,” Danny said, hitting his turn signal. “It’s only the twentieth. We have five whole days before Christmas. I bet we can get everything we need today. Men are good like that.” He turned into the bank parking lot and pulled into a space on the side near the ATM. “You stay here, I’ll be right back.”
    Even though he didn’t worry about being robbed at the mall — he wasn’t a small man and felt confident he could take care of himself — he was always extra careful with his grandson. He took his keys and locked the car. At the ATM, he turned to wave at Ben. No tantrums, good. That’s one of the things he liked about his grandson.
    Danny opened his wallet and pulled out his ATM card. Before he could slide it into the machine, he heard someone else walk up. He turned to see a young man in a dark coat, dark knit cap, and gloves walking toward him. It wasn’t cold enough outside for anyone to need their collar pulled up around their face.
    He smiled and nodded at the man, and turned back to his car. “Wrong card,” he said.
    From behind him, another voice said, “Why don’t you try it anyway?” Someone pushed him roughly toward the ATM.
    Danny turned to look at the new guy and weighed his options. This fella looked like he was up for a fight. While Danny considered how to best land his punches, the new guy opened up a switchblade knife. The odds shifted further out of his favor.
    Danny forced himself not to look toward Ben. They might get his money, but he wouldn’t give them his keys, not even at knifepoint.
    He decided to play the scared older guy. He let his hands shake and dropped his card. “You take it,” he said, “I don’t want any trouble.”
    He backed up a step toward the first man, purposely landing hard on the guy’s instep. The man cursed and shoved him. Danny let himself be propelled farther away from the ATM. Now how could he reach for his keys and get into his car before they overpowered him?
    The second man lunged for Danny and shoved him hard toward the cash machine. “Withdraw four hundred dollars. Now.” He held the knife near Danny’s face and pushed the card into the machine.
    Unfortunately, this guy seemed to know exactly what he was doing. Fine, maybe they’d leave with the money, and he and Ben could go safely home. Where he’d pour himself a stiff drink perhaps.
    Danny looked around for cameras, police cars, other people, any distraction. Seeing only the dark glass that likely covered the bank’s hidden camera, he made a point of looking