Page 134 of Fall Into Temptation
Emma grabbed Eva’s arm and sniffled. “So beautiful,” she whispered.
Pregnancy hormones had taken her stalwart sister hostage.
“Keep it together,” Eva hissed.
Mason nodded. “And you’re wearing this for me?”
Ellery’s deep violet lips curved. She wiped a tear away with the lace of her glove. “I thought you’d want a bride on your wedding day.”
“I love you just the way you are,” Mason said, tenderly brushing another tear off her cheek.
A collective “awh” rose up from the spectators.
“Hang on! Now just hang on one minute.” Bruce pushed his way through the crowd. “You mean to tell me that you love this man so much you’d dress up as atraditionalbride on your favorite day of the year?”
Ellery nodded.
“And you,” he pointed a clown finger at Mason’s ghoulish face. “You did this… this corpse groom weirdo look for her?”
“Sure did.” Mason’s head bobbed until Eva thought he might lose his hat. “She deserves a wedding day to remember forever.”
“Beautification Committee assemble,” Bruce screeched.
Eva and Gia shared a glance and shrugged. The Beautification Committee members huddled up like an offensive line under a tree decked out with fake sparkly tarantulas.
“We may haveslightlymisjudged this relationship,” Bruce announced.
“Gee. You think?” Bobby rolled her eyes.
“I’m not afraid to admit when I’m wrong. It’s happened once before. I think what we witnessed here really takes us into Article Seventeen, Sub-Section L.”
Eva glanced around the circle at the nodding heads. “What’s in Sub-Section L?”
“Well, essentially it’s an emergency dispensation,” Bruce said.
“Meaning?” Gia asked.
“Meaning, the Beautification Committee would grant an immediate, unrescindable approval,” Wilson explained through his canary costume beak.
“I second the motion,” Eva said quickly.
“Third,” Gia jumped in.
“All in favor of granting an emergency dispensation in the matching of Ellery Cozumopolaus and Mason Smith?”
“And reinstating Ellery to the Beautification Committee,” Bobby added.
The ayes were unanimous.
CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
It was a beautiful ceremony. Ellery’s mother and father walked her down the black velvet aisle dressed as werewolves. Her father had to wipe away tears with his furry paws as he handed his daughter over to her corpse groom. Donovan, his arm heavy and firm around her, stroked Eva’s shoulder with his thumb during the vows the bride and groom wrote.
Ellery vowed to always keep surprising Mason and learn to golf while he promised that he would buy more black shirts, and not only would he go to Demon Con with her, but he’d let her pick his costume.
They sealed their commitment with a hair-raising, make-up smearing kiss that brought the wedding guests to their feet. While the happy couple posed for pictures with Niko, the guests were free to find their coffins and refill their glasses.
Eva picked up the solar powered calculator at her place. “Looks like Mason had a say in the favors,” she noted.
