Harlequin Holiday Collection - Four Classic Seasonal Novellas

Army medic and Nana’s as a nurse, they were probably the last people who’d be shocked by a corpse floating around the inn.
    Besides, their favorite movie was Weekend at Bernie’s, followed in close second by the film version of Clue.
    So she had no doubt they were enjoying the hell out of this. Even though the tension had Holly ready to either scream or throw up.
    Her grandparents sat at the kitchen table, sipping tea, looking completely at ease. Beside the stove, stirring a large pot of fragrant apple cider, was Regina.
    “Who screamed?” Zach asked in blunt concern.
    “Screamed? What are you talking about?” Regina wasn’t a very good actress. Fortunately, her black-ringed eyes looked very small from across the room. Hopefully Zach couldn’t see the way they were frantically shifting, as if she wanted to find the closest exit and go.
    “Somebody screamed,” he insisted.
    Nana cleared her throat, smiling sheepishly. “I am afraid I may have…yelped a bit.”
    Yelped. Riiiigght.
    “I was just startled, you see, when I opened the door to the old pantry.” The elderly woman gave Holly a look of warning. “There was a big mouse in there.”
    Oh God. They’d put the corpse in the pantry. Right now, a dead guy was cozying up to Mr. Clean and inhaling Clorox.
    The dead don’t inhale, stupid . She was losing it. Just out and out losing it.
    But there was one silver lining. Thankfully, they used the old pantry as a cleaning closet and it contained only household supplies. If there’d been any food in there, Holly would be looking at a big run to the dump. And a huge bill at the market.
    Her grandmother was so angelic looking, the classic, textbook little old lady. Anybody would fall for that delicate smile, that kindly expression.
    Anybody except Zach Weldon.
    Because the guy who’d already proven himself intuitive enough to realize Holly still wanted him now showed he could spot a phony. Holding Nana’s stare for one long moment, he suddenly swung around and stalked across the kitchen to the pantry door.
    “No!” Four voices shrieked in unison.
    But he ignored them and yanked open the door.

Chapter Ten
    Something odd was going on with Holly’s elderly grandparents and that kooky maid, but Zach had pretty much given up on the idea that a dangerous criminal was hiding out here, waiting to retrieve whatever he’d hidden in the Christmas tree Holly had brought home this morning. So when he opened the door to the pantry in Holly Cavanaugh’s Inn, he didn’t really expect to see one of them.
    Boy was he wrong.
    “Oh my God,” he said, immediately recognizing the man from the photos splattered all over the news recently.
    If he’d thought he was about to come face to face with a dangerous jewel thief, he’d have at least grabbed something to use as a weapon. Fortunately, though, the guy in the pantry—who he knew was Leo “Teenie” Meaney—didn’t appear armed or particularly dangerous.
    In fact, he didn’t look particularly… “Holy shit. He’s dead.”
    “I can explain,” said Holly, coming to stand with him in the pantry, half-closing the door behind her.
    Zach couldn’t take his eyes off the body lying on the floor of the pantry, tucked neatly between a mop-laden bucket and an industrial-sized bottle of floor wax. “They did come up here after the tree,” he whispered.
    Holly tilted her head in confusion. “What?” Shaking his head slowly, trying to clear his brain of the image of the dead little thug in the closet, Zach finally managed to look away. Holly’s pale face, wide eyes and quivering mouth caused something to twist deep inside him.
    He reacted instinctively, reaching for her, pulling her close. She hesitated for the briefest of moments, then melted against him, letting him support her.
    He suspected—just like when they’d been together—she rarely had anyone else to do it.
    “What happened, Holly?” Zach murmured, whispering into her hair as he continued holding her. The door of the pantry blocked them from the view of the others in the kitchen and he kept his voice low. “Did you…have to defend yourself?” The very thought of it made him shake with fury, but he maintained his calm, knowing somebody had to in this crazy house.
    He’d finally realized just how insane it was. Now he knew who had been sitting beside Holly’s grandfather in the living room. And who that grandfather and the maid had been supporting as they’d walked here to the