Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    The Greatest Gift: Darcy Sweet Mystery, #10
    The Greatest Gift: Darcy Sweet Mystery, #10
    The Greatest Gift: Darcy Sweet Mystery, #10
    Ebook113 pages1 hour

    The Greatest Gift: Darcy Sweet Mystery, #10

    By K.J. Emrick

    4.5/5

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    While helping her mother with last minute preparations for her wedding, Darcy Sweet gets an urgent call from a good friend of her Great Aunt Millie.

    Someone has been rearranging the furniture inside Belinda Franco's home and Belinda believes that it is the ghost of her dead husband, Dominic.  She asks Darcy to communicate with him to find out why he is suddenly causing mischief.

    Darcy isn't convinced that it is Dominic. Is it just a case of a naughty ghost causing havoc or is there more to it?

    With the unexpected help of her estranged boyfriend Jon she plans to get to the bottom of the mystery. Is there a chance that they can solve their own problems while also solving Belinda's problem at the same time?

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSouth Coast Publishing
    Release dateJul 9, 2014
    ISBN9781501479076
    The Greatest Gift: Darcy Sweet Mystery, #10

    Read more from K.J. Emrick

    Related to The Greatest Gift

    Titles in the series (21)

    View More
    View More

    Related ebooks

    Mystery For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Wise old Mrs Merrow

      Jul 27, 2020

      Littlesea was everything the description said: a white stone cottage with beams and higgledy-piggledy walls and steps away from a tiny quay in a private bay. It would have been the perfect spot for honeymooners had it not had just the one single bed

      8 min read

    • Article

      Coming Soon...

      Dec 15, 2020

      David Tennant stars as Phileas Fogg in this new adaptation of Jules Verne’s novel. Phileas is joined on his voyage by sidekick Passepartout (Ibrahim Koma) and journalist Abigail Fix (Leonie Benesch).  The cookery show returned earlier this year afte

      1 min read

    • Article

      Stranger Danger

      May 18, 2022

      Stranger Danger
      10 min read

    • Article

      Mum wrote her KILLER’S NAME IN BLOOD

      Apr 7, 2021

      Loretta Jones’ four-year-old daughter, Heidi, was her world. A single mum, Loretta, 23, doted on her little girl. Thick as thieves, Loretta and Heidi loved to play games and eat ice-cream. When Loretta ironed, she’d set up Heidi with her own toy iron

      3 min read

    • Article

      MATERIAL Girl

      Jan 31, 2021

      MATERIAL Girl
      2 min read

    • Article

      A Perfect Wedding

      Apr 6, 2020

      A Perfect Wedding
      5 min read

    • Article

      Building SANDCASTLES

      Jul 15, 2020

      Building SANDCASTLES
      6 min read

    • Article

      Love Sounds

      Oct 10, 2022

      My daughter’s getting married. She is thirty-two and beautiful. I remember—it seems like just the other day—when she was sprawled and breathless. There she was, flat on her back, covered by pink panda pajamas, the odor of sleep drenched in her pillow

      13 min read

    • Article

      Just Friends

      Nov 2, 2020

      What about Seb?” Cressida Wright’s best friend Lauren lowered her sunglasses as she posed the question, taking a pointed look across the sun loungers and out towards the pool where Sebastian Brown swam. Lauren and Cressida had been talking about Cres

      5 min read

    • Article

      A Perfect Wedding

      Aug 2, 2021

      The door bangs, the house trembles, I hold my breath: Bridezilla is home. My son coined the phrase and normally I try to minimise teasing between my children (a lifetime’s habit, a lifetime’s work) but frankly, I agree with him. A blood-curdling scre

      5 min read

    • Article

      The Shortest Day

      Oct 13, 2017

      The Shortest Day
      10 min read

    • Article

      The Wedding PLANNER

      Jun 30, 2021

      The Wedding PLANNER
      9 min read

    • Article

      Blue Stars In THE OCEAN

      Aug 3, 2022

      Blue Stars In THE OCEAN
      6 min read

    • Article

      Drawn to THE MOORS

      Feb 8, 2022

      Drawn to THE MOORS
      11 min read

    • Article

      Mothers’ Meeting

      Jan 4, 2022

      Mothers’ Meeting
      11 min read

    • Article

      Killer DRESS

      Apr 13, 2021

      Killer DRESS
      6 min read

    • Article

      The DIRT LADIES lunch

      Sep 22, 2021

      The DIRT LADIES lunch
      2 min read

    • Article

      The winds OF CHANGE

      Jan 19, 2022

      The winds OF CHANGE
      11 min read

    • Article

      Dear David

      Dec 28, 2023

      Dear David
      3 min read

    • Article

      Ps. I love You

      Dec 8, 2022

      Ps. I love You
      3 min read

    • Article

      All For A GOOD CAUSE

      Jul 7, 2022

      Sorry I’m late!’ said Emily as she arrived at her friend’s house just before three. ‘It’s OK. We’ve got plenty of time,’ said Chrissie. ‘I’ve got your costume all ready. It won’t take long to do your hair.’ Emily sat down at Chrissie’s dressing tabl

      6 min read

    • Article

      Love Story

      Nov 14, 2022

      Love Story
      6 min read

    • Article

      A double LIFE

      Sep 13, 2022

      A double LIFE
      6 min read

    • Article

      Follow Your HEART

      Mar 30, 2022

      Follow Your HEART
      9 min read

    • Article

      The Christmas GETAWAY

      Nov 8, 2023

      The Christmas GETAWAY
      9 min read

    • Article

      Goodwill to All Men

      Jan 7, 2022

      Goodwill to All Men
      5 min read

    • Article

      The DATING GAME

      Apr 2, 2024

      The DATING GAME
      8 min read

    • Article

      Salt On The WIND

      Apr 1, 2020

      Salt On The WIND
      6 min read

    • Article

      Pearls before SWINE

      Feb 9, 2022

      Pearls before SWINE
      5 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for The Greatest Gift

    4.5/5

    3 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      The Greatest Gift - K.J. Emrick

      CHAPTER 1

      The Heaven's Touch Dress Shop in Oak Hollow had promised to stay open late on Saturday. They would be happy to accommodate Darcy's request, as long as Darcy's mother promised to buy her wedding dress and the bridesmaid's gowns from them.

      Eileen Sweet hadn't been interested in wearing a wedding gown at all, at first. She reminded her two daughters that this was her second wedding, and she was fifty-seven years old after all. A little old for all the trappings of white dresses and lace. Those had been her words. Darcy and her sister Grace had argued that every bride needed a special dress, but Eileen held her ground.

      After a week of trying to convince her, they had worn their mother down and convinced her that her fiancé deserved a bride in a white dress. Darcy had met James Bollinger now, finally, and she had to admit she approved of the man as a future husband for her mother. He might not ever replace her father, but then what man ever could?

      At any rate, the wedding was in two weeks. They needed to get their dresses now.

      James was a tall man with a warm smile. He had this faint British accent that emphasized the stiff way he held himself and his neatly trimmed dark hair and moustache. In a different decade, Darcy might have described the man as dapper. He had a warm smile, though, and he made Darcy's mother laugh. Darcy couldn't remember the last time she'd heard that sound.

      I like this one, mom. Grace, holding one hand under the bulge of her belly, held a dress up in the other. It was pretty and low cut and would have left their mother's arms and shoulders bare. The lace across the bosom trailed down to the waist, and Darcy could see how long the train of it was.

      Eileen raised an eyebrow. I think that might show off a bit more skin than I'm comfortable with, Grace dear. Remember, I'm not young anymore.

      Darcy's mother was a very proper, old-school woman. She always kept her silver hair done up and neatly tucked in place. She had spent half an hour getting ready to leave Darcy's home in Misty Hollow this afternoon, putting on pressed slacks and a matching blue top and a string of pearls, even though they were going to be the only ones in the dress shop.

      You'll always be young to us, Darcy offered. She had to agree with her mother, though. Something a little less revealing might be more her style.

      Oh yes. Well, the store clerk said, I think I have just the thing for you, Miss Sweet. Do hold on right here.

      Darcy met Grace's eyes and could tell they were both thinking the same thing. The nice saleswoman had gone after just the thing for their mother four separate times now. One dress had been pink, one had sported a high choking collar, and the other two had been straight out of the nineteen-seventies.

      On a whim, Darcy picked a dress off the rack and held it up in front of her. Turning to one of the many mirrors in the store, she imagined herself wearing it. The plunging neckline might be too much for her, but she liked the lace and the three-quarter sleeves. Her long, dark hair would settle just so over the shoulders, and if she wore green earrings to highlight the color of her hazel eyes…

      Grace stepped into the reflection behind her. Maybe we can get one for you while we're here, sis.

      Darcy snorted and put the dress back like she hadn't just been daydreaming about it. Her jeans and sleeveless red top suited her just fine, thank you very much. I'd need someone to get married with before I could wear it, don't you think? A wedding dress isn't something you buy for the fun of it.

      With a mischievous grin, Grace shrugged. You know Jon will come back. If he doesn't, there's always that Lorne guy you told me about from college. I saw the letters he wrote you.

      Darcy gasped. You little sneak. When did you see those?

      Grace checked out her profile in the mirror, running a hand over the swollen curve of her belly. Her hazel eyes were a shade darker than Darcy's. Now, they shone with amusement. You can't hide anything from a police detective like me, sis. Especially not when you keep the letters on your kitchen table.

      Darcy felt her cheeks heating. Lorne and she had reconnected at a friend's funeral less than two weeks ago, and since that time they had written several letters and e-mails back and forth. It was more complicated than that, of course. The friend whose funeral Darcy had gone to attend, Chloe Marrin, had been Lorne's fiancé. On top of that Darcy had proven that Chloe had been murdered. If that wasn't enough, Darcy kept putting Lorne off because she was holding onto the hope that Jon Tinker would come to his stupid senses and come back to her.

      If only wishing for it could make it true, she thought.

      The saleswoman came out from the back room just then, saving her the further embarrassment of trying to explain to Grace that Lorne had already offered to come visit next week.

      The woman who had been searching through the store's entire stock to find their mother the perfect dress was also the owner of the Heaven's Touch Dress Shop. Helena was her name. She was a short woman with Asian features and olive skin and a smile that seemed to be a permanent feature.

      This, she said, "is the dress. The dress. For you."

      In her hands she held a cream colored gown. It had a ruffled neck, and long sleeves with flared cuffs. A lace pattern sewn across the front. A flared skirt had a smooth, short train.

      It was gorgeous.

      Oh, Mom, Grace said, it's perfect. You have to wear that one.

      Darcy could see how much her mother liked the dress. It was written on her face and in her eyes. Still, her mom cleared her throat and stuffed her hands into her pockets. For just a moment, Darcy could see something of herself in her mother's heart-shaped face. I don't know, she said, even though it was obvious that the saleswoman had gotten it right this time.

      It is definitely for you, Helena said. You will look so lovely in this. Yes. Come try it on in the dressing room.

      Eileen allowed herself to be led to the back of the store, behind a gauzy white curtain, with an uncertain look back at her daughters.

      She'll make a beautiful bride, Darcy said when the curtain closed again. I'm very happy for her.

      Yeah, Grace agreed. Weird, isn't it? We went from dreading every time she showed up in our lives to being a part of her second wedding almost overnight.

      Not quite that quickly, Darcy pointed out. I mean, Mom is still Mom, and she probably always will be. But her man James has definitely changed her. She's a lot easier to be around now.

      More so than when we were girls, right?

      Right. She laughed together with Grace then went back to looking at the stock of dresses. It was like being a little girl playing dress up, in a lot of ways, with the pretty white and off-white gowns all around them.

      One in particular caught her eye. Pleats and sequins down the gown, cap sleeves with white floral designs on them. Taking it off its rack, she held it up to herself. It was every girl's dream to get married in something like this.

      You'd look pretty in that one, Grace said.

      Think so? Darcy asked.

      I bet any man would be happy to stand next to you in that.

      Darcy sighed and turned to the mirror. There's only one man I'm interested in having next to me…

      Jon Tinker.

      He was here. Standing there in the entrance to the shop.

      She had to blink several times

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1