Changes to the Recipe (A Cookie and Cream Cozy Mystery Book 4) Read online

  “That’s right.” She laid her head back against his shoulder, feeling the warmth of each breath he took against her neck. “Your happiness is important to me.”

  “Well, I want you to be happy too, Cookie. So…” He turned her around so they were facing each other, and dropped down to one knee, still holding her hand. “Karen Williams, will you marry me?”

  Emotions of joy and happiness and love bubbled up inside of her. Just when she thought the moment couldn’t get any better, Cream hopped up with his front paws on Jerry’s leg, his ears perked up as he begged her to say yes.

  “You silly man,” she laughed, “you already asked me this. I already said yes!”

  “True. However,” he said, “I made you wait a year, and I think there’s some sort of statute of limitations on things like this, so I’m asking again. Also, I didn’t have everything all set and ready to go last time like I do now.”

  Cookie gasped. “All set up… and ready to go?”

  “Sure. I have Reverend Smith out there, and he’s just waiting to say a few words over us and make things official. You know. Like I should have done already.”

  “Really? You really mean it?” Cookie had just gotten to a point where she had accepted they would never make that final step. Now here they were, with literally just a door between them and a wedding. “But you said there were dozens of other people out there?”

  “Uh, yeah.” He wobbled a little on his one knee. “Cookie, you didn’t actually answer my question.”

  “Oh! Oh, Jerry, yes, you silly man of course I will marry you!”

  With a sigh of relief, he stood up, and hugged her tight, and kissed her lips. Cream barked and trotted around them in circles.

  Out in the dining area, Cookie heard a cheer go up, echoed from dozens of voices.

  “Jerry, who on Earth is out there?”

  He pulled her over to the swinging kitchen door and pushed it open. “Come and see.”

  Cookie couldn’t believe her eyes.

  There were people everywhere. All the chairs were full, and in between the tables people were standing, talking and laughing, obviously having a good time. She saw everyone she knew. Mayor Fieldberg was there talking to her good friend Jessica. Not far away, she even saw Benjamin Roth, dressed to the nines and leaning on a cane. She wouldn’t have believed it if she hadn’t seen it, but even Benjamin was smiling and enjoying himself.

  Kyle and Kevin were there, as well as several other people from the Cedar View Retirement Home. There were members of the police force, in their very best civilian clothes. Felix and Hank and a few of the other selectmen from the town council were huddled together in a corner. She saw lots of her favorite customers as well, people she had known for years and who were very dear to her.

  Near the front of the crowd, she saw her wonderful daughter, Madison. She was in a lovely purple dress, and she’d done up her hair and makeup too. Obviously, she’d known what Jerry was up to and she’d managed to keep it a secret. In her arms she held her baby boy. Cookie’s grandson carried his father’s name as a testimony to how much the family loved both their new addition and the man they had lost over a year ago. Little Joseph was in a white onesie with a cute tuxedo design on the front. He was cooing, and laughing, and stretching himself around to look at everyone. He was a good baby, and Cookie had no doubt he would grow up to be a good man.

  Feeling tears brimming in her eyes, she held her arms out for Madison to come give her a hug.

  “I can’t believe you’re here,” she told Madison. “I can’t believe any of this! Jerry did all this? For me?”

  “He had some help,” Madison told her quietly. Holding her son kept her arms full, and so she nodded to someone else who Cookie hadn’t noticed yet.

  Behind Madison was her daughter Clarissa—Cookie’s granddaughter—smiling and bouncing on her heels. She was in a dress as well, which was a small miracle considering she practically lived in jeans and t-shirts. Her auburn hair had been cut short and done up in curls and she looked so grown up.

  “Hi Grandma,” she said, with a little wave of her fingers. “Surprise!”

  Cookie hugged her tight, and everyone cheered again.

  “I can’t believe you’re here,” Cookie told her. “And Hamish? Did that boyfriend of yours make it?”

  “He wanted to, Grandma. He really did,” Clarissa explained. “He’s just so busy at his new job and he couldn’t get away. But, he sent a cake. He spent four days making this cake, Grandma. You should have seen him. He was so worried it wouldn’t live up to your standards!”

  She saw it when Clarissa pointed it out on the bakery counter, settled neatly beside the cash register on a round plastic bottom with four stout support legs. It was a thing of beauty. Four tiers, white icing accented with pink piping and silver candy beads. On top, the wax figures of the bride and groom stood side by side.

  The bride was wearing a chef’s hat and apron. The groom was wearing a police officer’s uniform.

  “Hamish didn’t know,” Clarissa explained. “About Jerry retiring, I mean. He didn’t know about it in time or he would have put a different groom on the cake. Mom was explaining it to me. I leave town and miss all the excitement. Um, I’m sorry about your friend, though.”

  “So was I, dear. Thank you.” Now her tears were bittersweet and she needed to stop before she ruined her makeup. “Don’t worry about the cake topper. It may not be as far off as you think.”

  “Oh?” Clarissa asked, all burning curiosity. “Did something happen?”

  “Yes. Something wonderful. Your mother will explain, dear. Right now… I think I’m about to get married!”

  She turned back to Jerry, standing there so handsome in his tuxedo. From the front pocket, he took out a purple box no bigger than the palm of his hand. He opened it slowly, and there, nesting inside in a pillow of velvet, was a silver ring the same color as her engagement ring, with thin gold lines all around the outside that looked like leaves on a vine.

  It was absolutely gorgeous.

  He put it away again, because the ring was for later, after they recited their vows and said their I dos. She took his hand, and he turned them to the front of the bakery where the good Reverend Smith was waiting, a bible in his folded hands and a smile lighting up his eyes.

  “I’m ready,” Cookie told Jerry.

  “You better be,” he whispered. “I don’t want to wait another year.”

  Cream followed them and after acknowledging the guests with a brief round of barking, sat down right between Cookie and Jerry, insisting on being a part of the services. He’d been such a big part of Cookie’s life, and such a dear friend, that she couldn’t imagine doing this without him.

  Reverend Smith cleared his throat. “Good morning, Cookie. So glad you could join us. Now, since we’re all finally ready to begin.”

  Soft laughter filtered through the room, and then everyone silently watched as the Reverend lifted his hands toward Heaven.

  “Dearly beloved,” he said. “We are gathered here today in the sight of God, and of family, and of friends, to join this man and this woman in blessed wedlock. May God shine his love down upon them for the rest of their lives, and may their days be filled with love, and with laugher, and with the comfort that each of them will bring to the other.”

  Cream barked, seconding that thought. Everyone laughed as the service continued, and Cookie’s dream of being Mrs. Jerry Stansted finally came true.

  Yes. Life in Widow’s Rest would never be the same again.

  -End-

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  Strongly influenced by authors like James Patterson, Dick Francis, and Nora Roberts, Kathrine Emrick dreamed of being an author for the majority of her life.

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