Clever is as Clever Does (The Clever Detective) (3 page)
Back at the cupcake cottage, there was a round of applause from the dwarfs as I pulled the opened FedEx box out of the trash with a pair of tweezers.
Sure enough, the return address read, “The Queen. Big Ugly Castle.”
There was even a note.
Sweetie,
I thought you’d like this apple. It’s good for the complexion.
Your Stepmother
The little man with the runny nose waved his hanky. “Snow’s evil stepmother is really in the King’s dungeon?”
“That’s right,” I grinned. “And with all the evidence we have now, she’ll stay there.”
“Thanks to Detective Alexander.” Chad gave me a wink.
“She won’t hurt anyone again,” I announced.
The friendly one sighed and shook his head. “I’m happy about that, but it won’t help our poor Snow.”
I peered across the room out the window and saw the glass casket was still there, covered with flowers. “Didn’t breaking the Queen’s mirror wake her up?”
“Oh no,” said the silly one. “Only one thing will do that. A kiss from a handsome prince.”
I glanced over at Chad. He was staring out the window. Guilt started to bubble up inside me. I stepped over to him. “Let’s go outside.”
“Very well.”
In the yard, the pumpkins were still smiling, the orange and yellow fluff bits were still falling from the popsicle stick trees, and the birds were still chirping their mournful song.
I put my hands in my pockets and studied the ground, then looked up at Chad. “I guess this is it for us, then.”
“What?” Confusion colored his good-looking face.
“We gotta do what we gotta do.” I shrugged. “Hey, what kind of a future do we have anyway?”
He blinked at me. “What do you mean, Stacey? I thought you cared for me.”
“Oh, did you?”
“Of course.”
“After the way you carry on with the ladies at the balls you take me to?”
“What do you mean?”
Now he was making me mad. “What do I mean? I mean dancing and flirting with everyone in a gown. Look bud, don’t think I didn’t see you admiring Cinderella’s slippers last night. And the way you ogled that Red Rose chick.”
Suddenly, he had a silly grin on his face. “That bothers you?”
“Of course it bothers me. If that’s all I mean to you, I might as well go back to my own world where I belong.”
He stepped close, took both my hands in his. “Oh Stacey, don’t you see? I was flirting with those ladies to make you jealous.”
“Jealous?”
“Yes.”
I rolled my eyes. He was impossible. “Now why in the world would you want to make me jealous?”
He looked at me as if it should have been obvious. “I was trying to get you to tell me you loved me.”
I did a double take. “You wanted me to say it first?”
“Of course. My father always told me I should wait for the girl to say it first. It’s only proper. How else would I know the woman was serious?”
Good grief. What century did this guy come from? Then I remembered neither of us knew that.
I folded my arms and studied him a minute. “So you want
me
to say it first?”
He nodded.
“Okay. I love you. There.”
“Oh, Stacey!” He picked me up, spun me around, and gave me a big, hot kiss. Man, that Prince’s mouth was regal.
“You’ve made me the happiest man in the kingdom.”
“I’m feeling kind of giddy myself. But isn’t it your turn, now?”
His grin turned sly and sexy. “Of course, it is. Now I can do what I’ve been waiting to do for weeks.”
“Weeks?”
He got down on one knee and pressed his hands to his burly chest. “Stacey Alexander, detective extraordinaire. I love thee. Wilt thou consent to be my wife?” Then he reached into his pocket and pulled out a box and opened it. It held a ring with a rock as big as a moon crater.
“Heck yeah.” I grabbed him around the neck and kissed him again.
We necked there in the yard for a long time, but then I had to come up for air. “Wait a minute.”
“What is it?”
I nodded toward the cottage. “What about Sleeping Beauty back there?”
He frowned. “You mean Snow White, don’t you?”
I shook my head. He was so adorable. “Yeah. If I let you kiss her, she’s going to wake up and fall in love with you.”
“Hmm. That is a problem.”
“What else can we do?” I was starting to feel guilty again. “You’re the only handsome prince in the kingdom.”
“In this kingdom, yes. But...”
“But what?”
“There is my cousin, a prince from a neighboring territory. He’s always had a thing for Snow.”
“What?” I narrowed an eye at him. “Did you know this all along?”
His evasive smile said it all. “How else was I going to get you to tell me you loved me?”
I wanted to belt him, but before I could, he picked me up and kissed me again and my heart danced up to the sky where the birds were now chirping a happy song.
A murder solved, an evil stepmother put away, a dead princess revived, and a marriage proposed. Not bad for a day’s work.
Thank you for reading
Clever is as Clever Does
. I hope you enjoyed it. If you missed the first story,
The Clever Detective
, you can find it on Amazon. Look for more stories of Stacey and Chad coming soon.
Connect with Linsey Online:
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http://linseylanier.blogspot.com
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Other Blogs Mentioned in this Story:
Pink Fuzzy Slipper Writers:
http://pinkfuzzyslipperwriters.blogspot.com
Murderati:
http://www.murderati.com
Wet Noodle Posse: http://wetnoodleposse.blogspot.com
A Final Word:
My thanks to all my wonderful blog sisters at Petit Fours and Hot Tamales and to all my writing sisters in Georgia Romance Writers.
