One Enchanted Evening Read Online Free PDF

trying to give you a subtle warning that what her castle is really drenched in is ghosts and rumors of mayhem in times past.”
    Cindi took a step backward, looking now definitely unsettled. “Ghosts?”
    “And mayhem,” Peaches repeated. “And other things that go bump in the night.”
    If there was one thing Cinderella Alexander couldn’t stand, it was things that went bump in the night. The creaking wood in Aunt Edna’s Victorian House of Warped and Hand-Scrubbed Boards had just about done her in. Pippa knew that because she had hopped up and down on the floorboards next to Cindi’s door more often than necessary on her way to the bathroom in the middle of the night, just to hear her sister shriek.
    She suspected Karma had definitely taken note of that.
    Cindi took another step back, then turned abruptly. “Dad looks like he’s been sniffing too much of something. I’d better go rescue him.”
    Pippa watched her sister slink off, her perfect legs that went easily up to her ears carrying her away as if she’d been a black widow—perhaps a rather more nervous than usual black widow—reaching out to cover ground between her and supper in the most expedient way.
    Peaches put her arm around Pippa’s shoulders. “I tried to get rid of her for you, but I don’t think she was terrified enough to cancel her trip.”
    “I appreciate the effort,” Pippa said, trying to sound cheerful, “but don’t worry. After all, how much trouble can she possibly cause?”
    “I don’t think you really want the answer to that,” Peaches said with a half laugh, “so I won’t give it. Let me go see if there’s anything edible in the parents’ fridge. You sit there and rest. I think you’re going to need it.”
    Pippa agreed, so she sat and attempted a smile because she was, after all, going to England. Surely nothing else untoward was going to happen to her.
    Then she realized what Cindi had said.
    “Hey, Peaches,” she said before her sister got too far away. “What was Cindi talking about?”
    Peaches turned around. “What do you mean?”
    “I mean about the castle. Cindi said there was drama and you said there were ghosts.” She laughed dismissively, because she wasn’t at all unnerved by creaking floorboards or other things of a more paranormal nature. “I mean, really. You weren’t serious, were you?”
    Peaches smiled. “Well, Tess did say her castle has some strange things going on. She might have mentioned ghosts. And stuff.”
    Pippa felt her mouth fall open. “Get out.”
    “That’s probably what Tess tells the ghosts all the time,” Peaches said. “And there is a rumor about murder and mayhem, but I’m not sure if that applies to former inhabitants or if Tess knew ahead of time that Cindi was coming along for the ride.”
    “You’re not funny,” Pippa said darkly
    Peaches laughed. “I imagine you’ll know much more about it in the end than I will. You’re not afraid of ghosts, are you?”
    “I don’t believe in ghosts.”
    “Famous last words.”
    “Peaches, you’ve been reading too many novels,” Pippa said with a snort. “Let’s just leave paranormal happenings safely tucked in your romances, where they belong. I’ll stick with stuff that’s firmly grounded in reality—”
    “Like fairy-tale clothing geared to leaving women thinking they’ve stepped back in time hundreds of years?” Peaches interrupted dryly. “Yeah, you’re a realist, all right. Come on, Miss Cynic. Maybe Mom went completely off the rails and bought sugary breakfast items for you.”
    Pippa couldn’t imagine she would be so lucky, but she picked up her suitcase anyway and followed her sister over to the motor home with as much spring in her step as she could manage. Never mind that she had no apartment, no transportation, no underwear. She had a suitcase full of impossibly adorable fairy costumes, people across the deep blue sea who would appreciate them, and probably a sturdy castle guardroom she could