Sweet Holiday Romance Books 1 - 4

Chapter 5

5

“But won't my skin have to be green?" Eve asked as she stood in front of the full-length mirror.

"Technically, yes," Belinda answered.

"I don't know that I want to paint myself green.” Eve screwed up her face at the idea as she looked at her reflection. She wore a long sleeved, mid-calf, tight fitting black dress, which Belinda had picked out as the basis of her Halloween costume. Belinda stood next to her wearing a white glittering cocktail dress that poofed out at her waist like a 1950's prom dress. She had found both of these gems at the thrift store and was presenting Eve with her Halloween costume concept.

Belinda wanted them to have partner costumes for her party, which wasn't a totally abhorrent idea to Eve. They were to be Glinda and Elphie, from the popular musical, Wicked. Eve would be Elphie, the green skinned wicked witch in the making with a long, black dress. Belinda would be the good witch, Glinda, with a white dress, tiara and magic wand.

Belinda was a talented seamstress, who made many of her most over the top and fashionably outlandish outfits either from scratch or from altering existing pieces. There was no question Belinda could make the appropriate alterations to these thrift store dresses and turn them into the desired witch outfits. Eve just wasn't sure she wanted to paint herself green as part of the bargain.

"We'll do it in a pretty way," Belinda explained. "I'll have to wear some glitter makeup to be Glinda. We'll just tint some of it green and you can use that."

Eve looked at her friend with some uncertainty. Was one shade of green really better than another?

"Don't worry," Belinda reassured her. "I know you want to look smashing for Chip." Belinda looked at her own stocky, abundantly curvy figure in the white cocktail dress and smoothed her hand over the material. "We all do."

"We all do? That's kind of pathetic, don't you think?" Eve asked.

"It's not pathetic," Belinda answered. "He's the biggest thing to visit this town in months! It gives us all something to shoot for, even though everyone knows you're the one with the best chance of hooking him."

Eve's stomach twisted in an excited knot at Belinda's comment, then she shook her head in denial. "I don't think that's true. Besides, is hooking a man something we should be worrying about as modern, intelligent women?"

"Hooking that man is any woman's dream, no matter how modern and intelligent she is," Belinda declared. "He's tall, dark, handsome, rich, I mean what else can you ask for?"

Funny. Kind. Well-read. Intelligent. A whole slew of attributes flooded through Eve's mind, but she didn't say them out loud. Tall, dark and handsome weren't anything to sneeze at and she had to admit that the idea of hooking Chip gave her serious butterflies.

"So, are you good with your costume?" Belinda asked.

Eve sighed and took another look at their reflection. She looked meek and pale in the black dress, especially next to Belinda with her bouncing white gown and the bright makeup she always wore. Still, the black dress did fit her well and it was better than dressing up as a clown or a French maid.

"Yes, seeing as you already bought it and I have no clue what else to wear, this will be just fine,” Eve said.

"Great! I'll take it home and fix it up. You can try it on again before the party to make sure it works. And I have a hat you can use!"

Perfect. A witch's hat and green glitter makeup. Eve wasn't sure if her Halloween costume would be what you'd call man magnet material.

As they shopped at the local Walgreens for party decorations, Belinda chatted happily about all of the RSVPs flooding in for her party. She picked up a fake, plastic pumpkin with an electric, blinking light inside and showed it to Eve.

"What do you think?"

Eve wrinkled her nose. "Why don't you use real pumpkins?"

"I don't have enough time to carve a bunch of real pumpkins. Besides, they're not as bright." Belinda tossed five of the plastic, blinking pumpkins into her shopping cart. "Do you have pumpkins this year? You could bring them to the party...maybe we could have a pumpkin carving contest!" Belinda became instantly jazzed at her idea.

Eve shook her head, "No. I kind of failed at the garden this year. Some volunteer pumpkin plants grew, but I didn't take care of them." Belinda looked disappointed at Eve's confession. "I am going to that pumpkin patch south of town with the school tomorrow. I could pick some up for you," Eve offered.

"You're going to the pumpkin patch with the school?" Belinda asked.

Eve felt her cheeks get hot. She knew Mr. Mur–Atticus had only asked her to come along to be nice, because he knew about her taking part in the school traditions with her father for so long. But she had a feeling Belinda would read something into his invitation, like it was a budding romance.

"Yeah," Eve shrugged nonchalantly. "They asked if I wanted to come on their field trip, since I've gone with them for so many years." Belinda seemed to accept this explanation. Either that or she was distracted by the several options of Halloween garland she was inspecting; black cats, ghosts or witch hats. "That reminds me," Eve recalled, "Did you know that my Dad told everyone our house was haunted?"

Belinda looked at her with some curiosity. "Yes, you didn't?"

"No!" Eve was half amused and half frustrated. "Since when?"

"Since...always, really," Belinda responded, searching her mind for the answer. "I've always known your house as the haunted house."

"You can't be serious," Eve flat out denied her friend's statement.

"Everyone knows it's the haunted house," Belinda continued. Suddenly, her eyes flew open. "It would be a great place for a Halloween party!" She reached out and squeezed Eve's arm as she jumped tiny jumps up and down in glee.

"No," Eve answered automatically, shaking her head to emphasize the point. She couldn't imagine anything more awful than a bunch of costumed adults drinking and playing stupid Halloween games in her house. She was not a party kind of person and it was not a party kind of house.

Belinda's face fell. "Oh, but I already gave out the invitations with my address." She looked a little heartbroken.

Relieved to be off the hook, Eve tried to cheer her up. "Your house is great for parties. You've got that big basement room and the great sound system."

Belinda perked up a little at the compliment and smiled. "You're right. My house will be fine. But next year you need to throw a party! Nothing more fun than a Halloween party at a haunted house."

"My house is not haunted," Eve insisted.

Belinda nodded condescendingly and patted her friend's arm. "Okay, Evie, whatever you say."

Later that night Eve relaxed on her lumpy yet comfortable living room sofa. Hazel and Sabrina curled up next to her, one on either side, both of them breathing deeply as they slept. With a hot cup of pumpkin spice tea in one hand and a worn copy of Dickens' Nicholas Nickleby that she had grabbed from the bookstore in the other, Eve was happily settled in for the night. The weather had cleared up today and though it was cold, almost freezing, the night sky was brilliant, thick and black and hung with a giant globe of a moon that lit up her trees and yard in a cool blue light.

Eve tried to focus on reading, but was continually interrupted by her thoughts. Foremost on her mind was Chip. This distressed her, as she believed she had spent far too much of her life dreaming and worrying and fussing over that man. This was nothing new. He had always gotten under her skin and this time was no different than when they were in school together so many years ago. What distressed her about the whole situation was she was fairly certain he hardly ever thought of her at all. All of her fantasies, good or bad, about meeting up with him at the Halloween party were just that, fantasies. It was entirely possible Chip wouldn't even show up at the party. He was famous for being aloof and noncommittal.

Eve sighed and took a sip of her tea. Sabrina rolled onto her back and snuggled her face into Eve's thigh, asking for a tummy rub. Placing her book face down in her lap, Eve stroked the cat's rounded belly and Sabrina rewarded her with loud purring. A sound like boards creaking came from upstairs. Eve paused and listened.

The creaking stopped. It was the house settling, she was certain. This was an old house, over 130 years old. You can't live in an old house and not hear it occasionally creak and moan. She'd heard these sounds her whole life and never thought twice about them until now.

Sabrina rolled over and sat up, looking at Eve haughtily with her deep gold eyes. Her purring had stopped abruptly when Eve stopped stroking her belly. The cat butted her soft head against Eve's shoulder and pushed hard, trying to get her attention.

"Do you hear anything funny?" Eve asked Sabrina as she gently scratched behind the cat's ears. Sabrina answered with more purring. The commotion woke up Hazel who immediately wanted Eve's attention as well. Eve placed her tea on the side table and pet both cats to their great delight. She looked around her well-worn living room.

In addition to the lumpy green and yellow floral sofa where she sat, there was a giant, dark green, lumpy chair and an ottoman to match. The well made and roughly used heavy wood coffee table sat in the center of the room right in the middle of a large, blue and green Persian style rug. An antique secretary sat against one wall and the large original fireplace took up most of another wall. It wasn't usable anymore, because the chimneys were too delicate to risk starting a fire, but the deep green tiled hearth and antique wooden mantle with a long beveled mirror across the top were gorgeous even without a fire in the fireplace. Tall, fat candles were set up inside the fireplace and Eve lit them on nights like this with beautiful results. In addition to the furnishings there were various knick knacks, tons of framed photos, many of her and her father, and books, of course, books everywhere.

Eve smiled. Her home had never made her feel anything except warm and happy. There was no way it was haunted and, if it was, she had never noticed. All she could feel in this space was love, the love of her parents, the years she'd grown up here with her father reading to her and cooking and laughing, the comfort she'd felt returning home even after his death. It was a good house and she refused to let some goofy rumors make her think otherwise. In that moment, she categorically dismissed any thought of haunting. This was her home and Eve could never imagine anything bad ever happening to her here.