The Vampire's Mail Order Bride
“We only own parts of it now.” He made a small face like it was nothing. “But when my family bought the town, it was floundering and on the verge of bankruptcy. The winery was closed, as were most of the other local businesses. The whole idea of every day is Halloween turned things around.”
He raised one eyebrow. “It’s America’s third-favorite holiday, you know.”
She almost laughed at how official sounding his voice was. He must tell people that a lot. “Halloween candy sales topped two billion dollars last year.” Crap. The random candy fact had just slipped out. At least it was relevant.
He nodded. “The candy shop in town is one of the most popular stores, so that seems about right.”
The news that Nocturne Falls already had a sweet shop inexplicably took her mood down a notch. “I love candy. It’s kind of…” She’d been about to say, It’s kind of my dream job, but that was Delaney’s thing, not Annabelle’s. “Everyone’s favorite, I guess.” Wow, she sucked at being someone else.
She changed the subject before he asked her more about sweets. “Is there really a falls, or is that just part of the name?”
“There’s a waterfall. A few of them, but the largest is Nocturne Falls, the town’s namesake. It’s in the hills. Bit of a hike, but a popular destination.”
“Why Nocturne?”
“When the moon is especially bright, when it’s full mostly, you can see a moonbow in the mist.”
Her brows lifted. “A moonbow? Is that like a nighttime rainbow?”
“That’s exactly what it is.” His eyes sparked with amusement. “There will be a full moon while you’re here. We’ll go see it.”
“Awesome! I’ve never seen anything like that.” This place was already getting better.
He sipped his wine, still studying her. “Would you like to take a walk through town after dinner?”
“Sure.” Talking about the town would give her a topic that was less likely to cause her to blow her cover.
As if on cue, Stanhill opened one of the French doors. “Dinner is served.”
Dinner, it turned out, was served in the formal dining room on fancy china with three sets of heavy silver utensils and lots of sparkly crystal stemware. If she got through the meal without breaking something, it would be a Halloween miracle. “Do you eat like this all the time?”
Hugh looked at her, clearly unsure how to answer.
She backtracked. “I mean, it’s beautiful, but I feel a little underdressed for this much crystal and silver.”
He nodded. “It’s not often I have company. If you’d prefer something else—”
“No, it’s really nice.” And she just needed to shut up and play her part.
Stanhill brought out two covered plates. He smiled as he set hers in front of her and lifted the lid. Steak, whipped potatoes and roasted Brussels sprouts. Her stomach growled its approval, but the blood pooling on the china was a little off putting. She bit her lip.
“Something wrong, miss?” he asked as he delivered Hugh’s plate.
“I hate to say anything—” She really did. “But I think my steak might be a little underdone for my taste.” Pink was one thing, mooing when she cut into it was another.
“I’d be happy to put it back under the broiler for you.” He took her plate and disappeared with it.
Which meant Hugh was now waiting for her food to return, even though he had a full plate in front of him. He poured more wine for them, seemingly unfazed by the waiting.
“Eat, please,” she urged. “Your food will get cold otherwise.”
“That wouldn’t be very gentlemanly.”
She shrugged. “You can open a door for me later.”
He smiled. “You’re different than what I’d thought you’d be. Not that I had any real idea having only just found out about you.”
Music to her ears. “What did you think I was going to be like?”
He stared at his wine glass for a moment before answering. “If I’m honest, desperate. You don’t strike me as desperate at all. And certainly not a woman whose only thoughts are finding a husband.”
“So not a bridezilla?”
He laughed. “Not at all.”
What he didn’t know was that she really was desperate—desperate to stay alive. Desperate to get married? Not so much. “That wouldn’t be a very healthy existence, would it?”
“No.” He lifted his glass. “I like you, Annabelle Givens. After Didi told me what she’d done, I was furious.”
“Didi is your grandmother?”
He nodded. “It’s her nickname. Her real name is Elenora.”
She lifted her glass to return his toast, and they both drank. The crystal was paper thin and glistened like a prism. She set it back down carefully. “I can understand being upset with someone else making life decisions for you. Why did she do it? Because she wants you to get married and have grandbabies?”
He nodded “Exactly.”
“So why did you agree to it? You’re a grown man. You could have said no.”
His mouth thinned almost like he was embarrassed. He covered it by drinking his wine.
A second later, Delaney figured it out. He was a wealthy man who didn’t seem to have an actual job and whose family had rebuilt the town of Nocturne Falls. The picture was as clear as the goblet she was drinking from. “She threatened to take away your inheritance, didn’t she?”