Page 59 of Holiday Hook Up

“Can you all come up here?” asked Abby.

Josh raced up the stairs, followed by Caitlin and Bethany. Halfway up stood a barefoot Abby, bending down and rolling up her jeans.

“Where the hell are your shoes?” Josh was the first to ask the obvious question.

“We were all in Brandon’s office doing some research on B&Bs in Sweet Ridge, Texas.”

“Then why are your pant legs soaked?” Caitlin asked. “Did a pipe burst in a bathroom?”

“No.” Abby looked straight at Bethany. “I think there’s something you should see.”

“Me?” Bethany felt a cold shiver down her back. The hope chest was in Brandon’s office. Did whatever Abby thought she should see have to do with it?

Abby glanced down the stairs. “Where’s Adam? He might be interested, too, since it’s his relative causing all this chaos.”

Caitlin’s eyes widened. “Is Mary up there?”

Abby ignored her, staring at Bethany. “Where’s Adam?” she repeated.

“He had to leave.” Bethany paused, adding, “He got an emergency call from the fire station.”

“Rats.” Abby snapped her fingers. “I was really hoping he’d be able to get his distant cousin under control before she does some serious damage. It’s not like I can whip up a cash spell to pay for renovations.”

“What has Mary done?” Josh moved forward, but Abby threw her hand up.

“Wait. Before we go in, what you are about to see, I need you to swear you’ll keep your trap shut.” She glared at Caitlin.

“Why are you singling me out?” Caitlin asked, hands on hips.

“I don’t know.” Abby mirrored Caitlin’s stance. “Maybe something to do with your big mouth.”

“Oh, please. Might I remind you it was you that blabbed to Josh a couple months ago that Adam and I were getting married.”

“What?” Bethany asked.When had that happened?Granted, she’d gained access to their inner circle only recently, but news like that would have spread around town well beyond their little group.

She took a step down. Maybe she didn’t need to be in this inner circle after all, and she certainly didn’t want to know what was upstairs because clearly it had rattled Abby.

Bethany turned to Caitlin. “You were going to marry Adam?”

“Sort of.”

“There was no ‘sort of’ about it,” Abby scoffed, counting off on her fingers. “You had the minister, the cake, a dress, Adam was in a jacket and tie . . .”

“Yes, but let’s not forget who I did exchange vows with that night.” Caitlin kissed Josh on the cheek. “Truth.”

“Truth,” he repeated, moving his lips over Caitlin’s.

Bethany stepped passed them. The newlyweds could stop their inside “truth” babble right now. She wanted to go home, but since her ride was long gone, she’d need to catch one with one of the couples, and that probably wasn’t going to happen unless she got up the courage to let Abby show her whatever it was that was upstairs. “Abby, what do you need me to see?”

“Yeah, Abs, enough with the suspense. We’ll all keep a lid on whatever it is,” Josh said. “If it’s Mary, I want to say ‘hi.’ Let’s go.”

“Okay, okay.” She motioned for them to pass her. “Go take a look for yourself in the guestroom to the right. Just be careful if your shoes are expensive.”

Bethany raced up the remaining steps and was the first to reach the doorway. She peered in.

She didn’t know what she expected to see, but certainly not what was in front of her. Brandon and Josh were in there with shoes and socks off, pant legs pulled up. Both men were pushing mops while Emma was on her knees, wiping up water under the full-length mirror with paper towels.

Caitlin passed her and stepped around a puddle. “Where did all this water come from if a pipe didn’t burst?”

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