Read Halloween Hiccups: A Mercy Mares Cozy Mystery Novella for Free Online

a few bumps along the way, Nubbin was what you would call a curmudgeon, but lovable. He still lived in Valley Retirement Estates in Gering, Nebraska, but a lot had changed since the day I'd met him. He'd become sort of a local legend, hero in fact.
     
    Ruby swung her newly cropped red hair over her shoulder flirtatiously, telling Hank, “You better treat me right or this Irish gal will pack her bags and move across the country to become a farmer's wife.”
     
    Nubbin's face turned a beet red. “Now, that's enough of that nonsense.”
     
    If anyone could stop an argument, it was Nubbin. I had no idea that Nubbin would be traveling with Charlie, but I sure was glad to see him.
     
    “What a nice surprise to have you here with us, Nubbin.” I said, shooting Charlie a glare for not bothering to inform any of us.
     
    “It was a surprise to me too!” Nubbin answered as he hung his cane on the back of a seat and sat down in it.
     
    “Yeah, I thought it was high-time that he went on a vacation. I figured since I was going to be out here anyway, why not bring my old pal.” Charlie cleared his throat. “I guess I should have figured that we'd land smack dab in the middle of one of Mercy's situations again.”
     
    Oh, no. He wasn't pinning this on me. I didn't want anything to do with that haunted house to begin with and I surely never wanted to see Stanley's face again.
     
    “Don't blame this on me. This isn't my situation. This is Ruby's...” I started.
     
    Hank cleared his throat, reminding me not to say anything I'd regret.
     
    “I mean, I don't even like Halloween. I was at home, safely tucked away in my bed when Stanley got... Well, when Stanley...” I couldn't think of the proper way to phrase it yet. I guess I hadn't fully processed what happened.
     
    Ruby rolled her eyes. I swear, one day, those big green saucers she calls eyes, are going to roll right out of her head. “Got killed. He was murdered. Just say it, Mercy. Not saying it, doesn't make it all go away.”
     
    Everyone in the room hushed.
     
    “I'm sorry.” Ruby pulled her hair up with one hand to fan her neck. “I'm a little jumpy. I just can't believe that I was right there in the same place as he was and I didn't see or hear anything. What if I had...” Ruby shuddered to think about it.
     
    Charlie pulled a chair out for Ruby to sit down. “Let's start from the beginning. Tell me what happened.”
     
    “That's the thing,” Ruby started, looking at me, “After Mercy left, so much happened. I couldn't keep up. I had a line full of people waiting to get in and Stanley, the man who died, was throwing a fit because Mercy upset him and Hank had called me on my cell phone. I don't know what happened. I couldn't be everywhere.”
     
    “You were alone. You didn't have anyone helping you run this thing?” Charlie asked, looking over at me.
     
    I put my head down, realizing that I should have offered to help her.
     
    “Mercy has issues with Halloween. It's not her fault. She couldn't help.” Ruby tried to sound sympathetic, but I still felt like the worst friend in the world.
     
    Charlie stared at me. I'm sure he had something sarcastic to say, but didn't for whatever reason.
     
    “What's your issue with Halloween and don't tell me that you're scared?” Charlie asked.
     
    My eyes immediately fell on Hank. He understood. We'd spoken about it in private over the years.
     
    Hank nodded, leaning closer to me. In a low voice, he said, “I think it's time you tell everyone. You'll feel better once you let it go and make it known.”

Chapter Seven
                  “C'mon, it won't take too long, I promise.” I begged for the thousandth time.
     
    First, he refused to eat breakfast. Then, he declined my offer to drink some water. Now, he's refusing to step outside and get some exercise with me. If I didn't love him so much, I'd trade him in for a new one.
     
    “Why the long face, beautiful?” Margie scared me when she