Hark! The Herald Angel Screamed: An Augusta Goodnight Mystery (with Heavenly Recipes) Read Online Free PDF Page B

closed her eyes. “Mmm … tastes like cinnamon in here. Augusta, this hot chocolate is heavenly.”
    Augusta smiled. “Of course it is,” she said.

ee St. Clair flung her crimson cloak over the back of Ellis’s living room sofa and took a stance. The Thursdays had just finished reading
Zelda
, a biography of Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald, and Zee had been acting even more flamboyant than usual. “I think we should have a caroling party for Christmas this year,” she announced, “instead of going out to dinner like we always do.”
    Jo Nell, who had just settled comfortably in the wing chair by the fireplace, sat up so suddenly she frightened Ellis’s cat, Cookie, who had been sleeping underneath. “You mean walk around out in the cold and sing on neighbors’ porches?”
    “Why not?” Zee tossed her brightly tinted curls. “We used to do it all the time. Remember what fun we had? We could have a few glasses of wine before we start, then come back to Lucy Nan’s for a covered dish.”
    “Fine with me,” I said, since it was my time to host anyway.
    Idonia looked thoughtful. “Would it be all right if I asked Mel—” she began.
    “I think it’s a great idea!” Claudia Pharr set her steaming cup of Russian tea on the marble-topped coffee table and took a calendar from her purse. “When?”
    “Would next week be too soon?” I asked. “We can work it in between rehearsals for Lessons and Carols and the candlelight tour at Bellawood … and by the way, I’m counting on some of you to help us decorate out there.”
    Nettie said she’d be glad to help decorate and would even go along with the caroling if we would agree to carry her home in a pack saddle if her feet gave out.
    I laughed. I had almost forgotten about the term we’d used as children for making a seat with four crossed arms.
    “I think I’ll be able to help, Lucy Nan, and I’d like to invite Melrose to join us for caroling if that’s all right.” Idonia spoke louder this time.
    Zee nodded. “Of course—Melrose who?”
    “Melrose DuBois—he’s someone I’ve been seeing.” Idonia sipped calmly from her cup but I noticed her hands shook slightly when she set it down.
    And then the bombardment began:
    “Where did you meet him?”
    “When did you start seeing him?”
    “Is he from around here?”
    “How long were you going to keep this from us, you sly fox?” Zee asked, perching on the arm of Idonia’s chair. “Tell us, is he handsome? What’s he like?”
    “All right! Enough!” Idonia shook her head, laughing, and told us how she had met Melrose in the produce department at Harris Teeter. He had taken her to dinner twice and they had seen several movies together, she said, and until he could find a more permanent place, he was staying with Opal Henshaw at the Spring Lamb.
    Her face flushed almost as red as her hair. “He’s merely a friend,” she stressed, “but it’s nice to have someone to go out with—something to look forward to … and well … I find Melrose pleasant company.”
    “I think that’s wonderful,” I said, “and of course you should invite Melrose to the party. I plan to ask Ben as well.”
    Benjamin Maxwell and I had been seeing one another for over a year and it hadn’t taken me long to learn that he was not only an extraordinary spinner of yarns, but sang a pretty good baritone as well.
    “There are a lot of older people here in Stone’s Throw—especially in the neighborhoods right here in town—who might enjoy having carolers come by,” Claudia said brightly.
    Ellis passed around a tray of sandwiches. “In case you haven’t noticed, we
are
the older people here in Stone’s Throw,” she informed her.
    “I hope your friend won’t have to stay at the Henshaw place long,” Jo Nell said to Idonia. “That Opal Henshaw’s queen of the skinflints—and fussy! Lord, everything has to be just so!”
    Idonia smiled. “I think Melrose just tries to stay out of her way. He said once he