Pumpkin Spice Lies: A Pumpkin Hollow Mystery, book 16

walked back over to us. He was smiling. We stepped back into the apartment and he followed us and closed the door behind himself.
“Okay. Party handled.”
“What did he say?” I asked.
“He was mad. Said he had a right to have a party in his own home. I told him that he could have a party in his apartment, but he couldn’t disturb everybody else in the apartment complex. And I also said that some of his friends might be too young to drink.”
Christy laughed. “What did he say to that?”
“He got angry and said they were all old enough to drink, and when I pointed out that I could ask for everyone’s ID, he decided not to argue with me.”
“Jerk,” Christy said, looking through the window again.
“I had a great idea,” I told him and kissed him. “Christy’s going to move in with me until we get married, and then when you move in with me, she’s going to move into your house. You can talk to the landlord about it, can’t you?”
“That’s a good idea,” he said. “That way the landlord doesn’t lose any rent money, and we can vouch for her so she’ll be able to get in.”
“And we’ll get to do each other’s hair every night just like when we were little,” Christy said with a smirk. “Won’t that be fun?”
I looked at her. “Actually, I do think it would be fun. You can practice wedding hairstyles on me.”
“Well, my hair needs to be done pretty, too. You can also work on mine.”
“It’s going to be like having a sleepover every night, isn’t it?” Ethan asked.
I nodded. “I think it will be fun. We haven’t lived together since we were kids.”
“And you can do all the cooking for me,” she said.
I shook my head and turned to Ethan. “So what about that party, Ethan? All those college-age kids. There wasn’t one of them over twenty-five, was there?”
He shook his head. “I really don’t think so. Makes me wonder if Hailey attended many parties at his house.”
“We know she attended at least one,” I said. “Joey told us that.”
He nodded. “It certainly isn’t normal behavior. A man that age inviting all those young kids over for parties. I’ll have another talk with him once he settles down from having his party disrupted.”
I thought that was probably a good idea. Maybe he wanted more than a party with Hailey, and he got angry when she refused. “Do you have to go back to work?”
“I do have to get back to the station.”
“That’s a shame. I think Christy and I are going to get a pizza, and maybe we’ll even pack a few things tonight.”
Ethan kissed me. “Don’t make me sad. I really could use some pizza.”
“Maybe we’ll save you some,” Christy said.
“Deal.”
Ethan kissed me again and left. I didn’t like Frank Gillespie. There was something about him that I didn’t trust.

Chapter Sixteen
I opened up the door to the Little Coffee Shop Horrors and inhaled the scent of freshly ground coffee beans. Brian was behind the counter, and I spotted Amanda sitting at a table in the corner with their baby, Isabella.
“Oh goodness,” I said and hurried over to Amanda’s table. “You brought her!”
Amanda grinned. “I sure did. I told Brian she needed to come down and scope out the lay of the land. Someday this will all be hers, and she needs to get used to the smell of coffee beans early.”
“I want to hold that baby,” Christy said as she went to the counter and gave Brian her order.
“Of course you can hold her,” Amanda said.
“She can hold her when I’m done,” I told her and held my hands out for the baby.
Amanda handed her to me and I held her up against my chest and kissed her on top of the head. She had silky, fuzzy blonde hair and sparkly blue eyes. She smiled at me and wiggled.
“I think she likes her Auntie Mia,” Amanda said.
“Of course she does,” I said, pulling a chair out and sitting down, holding Isabella in my lap. “She’s such a pretty baby. I could just hold her all day.”
Amanda chuckled. “You can come over and hold her all day long if you want to. It’ll give me a rest.”
“I might take you up on that offer,” I said. I turned to look behind me. “Brian, can you make me a pumpkin spice latte, please?”
He nodded. “Sure thing.”
I turned to Amanda. “How are things going, Amanda? I feel like I haven’t talked to you in forever. I haven’t called because I’m afraid I’ll wake up the baby.”
She waved a hand at me, dismissing the idea. “Nonsense. Call me whenever you want to. She’s got to get used to the fact that it’s not going to be silent every time she sleeps.”
“How is she sleeping?”
She sighed. “Well, she’s getting better at it, but she’s still waking up every four hours. That’s up from every two hours, so it’s progress. I can’t wait until she sleeps all the way through the night.”
“I bet,” I said. “That has to be the hardest thing about having a newborn. No sleep.”
“That and changing diapers. Between you and me, it’s not my favorite thing to do.”
I chuckled. “I don’t think it’s something anyone enjoys. So how have you been? I mean you, not the baby.” I looked at her, one eyebrow arched. There were dark circles beneath her eyes.
She smiled. “I’m doing all right. I was a little worried about the hormonal stuff after having the baby, but it hasn’t been too terrible. If this is as bad as it gets, I’ll be fine.”
“I’m glad to hear it.” Isabella made a gurgling sound, and I looked down at