Wedding Day Murder Read Online Free PDF

chrysanthemums. They were dependable, sturdy plants, but they would hardly do as a backdrop for a wedding.
    Lucy shook her head. They’d have to check with a nursery to see what would be available then—and affordable.
    â€œWhat have you got there?” asked Phyllis, intruding on her thoughts. “You’re studying it like it’s the Ten Commandments or something.”
    Lucy chuckled. “It is the Ten Commandments according to Sue. Sidra’s getting married this August and they want to use my new gazebo.”
    â€œWon’t that be lovely,” cooed Phyllis. A single woman herself, she was unabashedly romantic where others were concerned. “I can just picture it, all covered with flowers. And Sidra. Won’t she be a beautiful bride! All in white, surrounded by bridesmaids. Have they chosen the colors yet?”
    â€œI don’t think so. I guess that’s why Sue wants to know what will be in bloom in my garden. Gosh, I wish I hadn’t planted those mixed zinnia seeds. They always give you so much red and orange and hardly any lavender or white.”
    â€œThey could use peach,” said Phyllis, “or a pale yellow.”
    Lucy considered. “You know what I think would work? Kind of a sagey green, leaf-colored, you know, not mint green.”
    â€œGood idea,” agreed Phyllis, looking over her shoulder at the list and pointing at the next entry.
    â€œIf you spray for bugs, do it the day before so you don’t have that chemical smell.”
    â€œI never thought of that.” Lucy paused, staring at the single word “lawn.” Truth be told, they didn’t really have a lawn. They had sparse patches of grass, separated by areas of pebbly, hardscrabble soil. By August, Lucy knew the little bit of green they had would be dried and brown.
    â€œWell, this wedding will be a good excuse for sprucing up our yard. It has gotten kind of shabby, especially the lawn. I’ll ask Bill to give it some fertilizer and water. That ought to green it up.”
    â€œYou can fill in with sod at the last minute if you have to,” said Phyllis.
    â€œWon’t that be expensive?”
    Phyllis shrugged. “It is a wedding, after all.”
    Of course, thought Lucy. It was a wedding. The grass would have to be green.
    â€œDon’t forget parking,” advised Phyllis. “You’ll have to rent a cop.”
    â€œThanks for reminding me,” said Lucy, adding it to the list. “We don’t want to block Red Top Road.”
    â€œNo, you don’t. My sister had a party last month and people parked in the road and the cops came and made everybody move their cars. You don’t want that.”
    Just then the door flew open and Ted marched in, his camera bag slung over his shoulder. Phyllis scurried back to her desk and Lucy guiltily stuffed the list in her purse. He glanced at her curiously through his hornrims.
    â€œIs something going on that I should know about?”
    â€œNo,” she said, reaching for the phone and dialing Bill Cranshaw’s number. He answered after the second ring.
    â€œIt’s a little late for an apology,” he complained, after she’d explained her error. “The ones you really ought to apologize to are Bud Abbott’s family. Frankly, I don’t know how anybody could have made such a stupid mistake.”
    Lucy swallowed hard. “Well, I don’t ordinarily cover the cemetery commission meetings. I was filling in for Ted—he was away for a few days, or he would have caught my mistake when he edited the story. Like most mistakes, it was a combination of factors.”
    â€œSeems to me if your byline is on the story you ought to be sure of your facts.”
    â€œYou’re absolutely right,” agreed Lucy, thinking it was about time to wind up this conversation. “In the future I will be sure to do that.”
    â€œAnd I don’t know what good a correction will