Adventures of a New Year's Kiss: A Holiday Romantic Mystery (Funeral Crashing Young Adult Mystery Books) by Milda Harris Page B

dress and black boots that went to her knees. I should have worn boots. My legs were freezing.
    "Hey," Kait said to both of us and then to me. "My dress strap was being weird all night. I tried to fix it at home. Anyway, it just broke for good. Do you happen to have a safety pin on you?"
    "No," I said feeling glad that she didn't seem to notice that we were super late. "Sorry."
    Kait frowned. She looked upset. Maybe someone at the festival would have a safety pin.
    Ethan took ahold of her hand. "It's okay, Kait."
    "I have one," Kyle said and he miraculously pulled a safety pin out from his coat.
    I almost laughed. Kyle was always randomly prepared for certain things. I hugged him and said, "You're awesome."
    Kait took the pin, her whole mood changing. "Thank you so much Kyle."
    I swear Kyle blushed at the compliment.
    "Suzie, can you fix this thing for me?" Kait said. "I can't see it and I don't want it to show."
    I could swear I heard the words not in front of Ariel at the end of her sentence. Still, I understood. She wanted to look her best for Ethan too. I hooked the safety pin through the dress strap and hid it as best as I could under the dress.
    "There. That should work," I said.
    Ethan smiled at me and then at Kait. "You can't even tell it broke."
    Kait hugged me, "Suzie, you're the best."
    Now I was the one blushing. Still, I felt good inside. If Kait's dress strap breaking was the worst thing that happened tonight, that wasn't so bad. It didn't seem like a bad omen anymore.
    I felt a little lighter inside, "Let's go in."
    Everyone agreed and we all walked toward the festival. The square was a part of downtown Palos. It had an old fashioned feel. The park that we were walking into was where the ball was going to drop at midnight. Carts and booths with people selling trinkets and handmade items were set up all around. There were also vendors of hot chocolate and other snacks. Some shops and restaurants around the square looked like they were open late too.
    "Let's go eat," Ethan said. "We still have two hours and we might as well stay warm while we wait."
    I glanced at Kait. Did we have time to eat and get our plan underway? Kait nodded. I relaxed a little. If Kait thought we could go, it would be fine. Two hours was plenty of time to eat, interrogate suspects, and find my necklace. Besides, I hadn't really eaten all day because I'd been so nervous.
    "Sure," I said and Kyle nodded. "I'm starving."
    "Great," Ethan said. "Dave and Mike are meeting us there."
    Kait and I glanced at each other at the same time. I guess it was show time after all. I took a few deep breaths and followed the others to the Pickle Cafe. It was a mom and pop cafe that served sandwiches and burgers. It usually wasn't that busy, but it was absolutely packed when we got there.
    I didn't see Dave and Mike or their dates. Maybe we'd gotten a reprieve. I relaxed again until Ethan waved at someone in the back corner. This was definitely it. I took Kyle's hand in mine. I held it tightly as we made our way through the throngs of people and toward the booth and table where it looked like not just two, but all of our suspects and their dates already sat.
     
     
     

Chapter 9: Mystery Solving
     

    A round of heys went around the table. I tried to take everyone in. I was not good in large groups of people and we were now a party of twelve. This was going to be a disaster. I never usually said anything when there was this big of a group. In my head we had run into everyone separately. This was not going to be the case.
    Kait squeezed into the booth next to Troy, who had made room for her when we walked up. He was with his girlfriend, Ariel. Ethan, Kyle, and I sat in chairs that had been pulled up around a second smaller table in an effort to try and fit everyone. I found myself sitting next to Claire, who was sitting with her date, Dave. Mike and his date Sarah and Megan and her date, who I didn't know, were also there. If anyone from school saw us their