Good Buy Girls 05 - All Sales Final by Josie Belle Page A

that hung over her shoulder. It was auburn, a nice plain red with some brown and blond mixed in, but mostly it was red. She couldn’t help but be flattered by Sam’s description, however. Given that he used to call her “Carrots” when they were kids, she certainly appreciated how much his view of her had changed.
    “Well, since you feel so strongly about it, the hair is down,” she said.
    “See how much we’re getting done with the wedding?” he asked. “What else?”
    “My dress,” Maggie said. “I don’t have a dress.”
    “You’ll find one,” Sam said.
    “I don’t want to wear white,” Maggie said. “It seems silly since I have a grown daughter and all.”
    “Darling, you could show up in a plastic garbage sack and still be the most beautiful woman in the room,” he said. “It’s your day, wear whatever you want.”
    “Careful, I may just take you up on that,” she said. “What about you? Suit or tux?”
    “My mother has been lobbying for a tux,” he said. “My brothers have been pushing for Hawaiian shirts and a backyard barbeque.”
    “I like the way they think,” Maggie said. “But I’m glad to see you’re getting squeezed by your loved ones as well.”
    “It does seem like everyone has an opinion about our wedding. Except for the bride that is,” he said. He shifted Maggie so that he could see her face. His gaze was scrutinizing—his detective’s expression—when he looked at her. “Is there something you want to talk about?”
    “What do you mean?” she asked.
    “Are you having second thoughts?” he asked.
    “What? No!” she insisted. “What makes you think that?”
    “Let’s see, we’re a few weeks from our wedding and you seem undecided about everything and we’ve just bought a house that you are certain is haunted. It all makes me think maybe you’re just not ready for marriage and a house, or more accurately, a life together.”
    His face was calm. There was no accusation or hurt showing on his handsome features, but Maggie knew Sam Collins and she knew his tough guy exterior would never let him show it if he was feeling hurt by her waffling.
    “Oh, Sam,” she said. She placed her hand on the side of his face and stared into his eyes so he would know the truth of her words. “I am absolutely positive that I want to spend the rest of my life with you.”
    “But,” he prodded.
    “But there are just so many decisions to be made,” she said. “I’m not a big fan of change. I mean leaving Doc Franklin’s to open my shop was the biggest change I’d made in forever and I sort of thought it would be the last. Then you came along . . .”
    “And blew that all to heck,” he said with a grin.
    “In the best possible way, yes,” she agreed. “I will find the right dress and I will nail down the details, I promise.”
    “I can help,” he said. “Anything you need, even if it’s taking on the moms, I can make it work. You know the only thing that matters is that we’re making a lifetime commitment to each other. The rest is just details.”
    Maggie smiled as she relaxed against him. Sam was right. What mattered most was right here in this room.
    “Feel better?” he asked.
    “I do,” she said. Then she laughed. “See? I do flies right out of my mouth when I’m with you.”
    Sam gave her a solid squeeze. “Good. Now, about the house, nothing strange has happened and we’ve been here for two hours. Even Marshall Dillon has calmed down. How are you feeling about this place?”
    Maggie glanced around the room. It felt cozy instead of creepy, and at that moment, she had a hard time believing that there could be a presence haunting them.
    Maybe Ginger and Claire had been right from the very beginning, maybe she was just having wedding jitters. Now that she and Sam had ironed out some of the wedding wrinkles, she was feeling very peaceful about the whole matrimony thing and that included the house aswell. She and Sam could have a very happy life here