Manor House, many, many hours later

Honey dozed lightly in the warm cocoon of Brian's arms. She resisted falling asleep, rather going into a trancelike state. She was limp, drained of energy, but in an OMG good way.

How was she ever going to say goodbye to this man? She heaved a deep sigh, warm and content and drowsy.

"I'm proud of you, Honey," he said, brushing a butterfly soft kiss on her forehead.

Honey's feminist foremothers would have been aghast at how much pleasure she took from those simple words.

"You don't think I made it worse?"

"Cut yourself some slack, Honey. You stood up to your father. More than anyone else, I know how much that took for you. I'm proud of you."

She smiled, absorbing the gruff reprimand and his pride with equal pleasure. His dark voice tantalized her senses as though it were a caress of gentle fingers. She liked it when Brian got all growly and bossy.

Liked it too much.

"I can't believe it. We solved the case, Trixie is back in our lives, and I quit my job. What could possibly be next?"

"Well," Brian said, his voice echoing in his chest with a decadent rumble. "I believe I have some plans for your future – both immediate and long term."

Honey giggled. "If your future plans are anything like our immediate past plans, sign me up."

"I was hoping you'd say that," Brian said, pulling a small blue box from beneath the pillow. "Marry me, Honey Wheeler."

Honey stared at the exquisite ring in the box. "How did you?" she asked. "I mean, yes, of course. .God. Yes, Brian!"

Brian smiled with smug relief and slid the ring on her finger.

Meanwhile, at Crabapple Farms

Jim held Trixie with reverent care as they snuggled on the couch. "Tell me about this job interview," he invited. The fire Jim set popped and sparked in friendly invitation and the distant sound of Bob playing Zombies take Manhattan in his room completed the ambiance.

"If I get it, I'll be working with my dad at the bank," Trixie said, sleepily burrowing into Jim's arms. "But some travel will be required to examine any possible questions on counterfeit bills in circulation.

"You'll be here, though? In Sleepyside?"

Trixie nodded, her fingers splayed against the soft worn cotton of Jim's T-shirt. Exhaustion beat at her as the tension that had driven her for more than a decade faded and resolved.

"Maybe you could come up to the farm for the weekend?" he asked. "We could go riding." Trixie grinned at his deep voice deep and suggestive suggestion.

Arraignments, lawyers, and sentencing were tomorrow's troubles – troubles she couldn't and wouldn't own and worry about. Her task was done. Emma Ray's spirit could rest easy and hopefully the Kettner's could find closure at the end of this long chapter.

a/n

What started out as a Halloween story finally finished up at Christmas.

Maybe next time, I should start a Christmas story and finish it up by Halloween.

I've had some ups and downs in writing this including losing pages of edits on two separate occasions. Lesson learned: In God we trust, all others back up multiple copies!

I self-edited so, naturally, any and all mistakes belong all to me, me, me.

Rachel Zoe is an American fashion stylist best known for working with celebrities, fashion houses, beauty firms, advertising agencies, and magazine editors.

Olcay Gülşen, also known as OJ Gulsen is a Dutch fashion designer. She is the owner of fashion label "SuperTrash".

Christian Louboutin is a French footwear designer whose footwear has incorporated shiny, red-lacquered soles that have become his signature.

A boilermaker is a mixed drink. In American terminology, the drink consists of a glass of beer mixed with a shot of whiskey.

Chit (definition) a short official note, memorandum, or voucher, typically recording a sum owed. As used in the US Navy, it's an official form asking for leave.

Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech, 1st Marqués de Dalí de Pubol (May 11, 1904 – January 23, 1989), known as Salvador Dalí was a prominent Spanish Catalan surrealist painter born in Figueres, Spain. Dalí was best known for the striking and bizarre images in his surrealist work.

Interrogatories are a formal set of written questions propounded by one litigant and required to be answered by an adversary, in order to clarify matters of fact and help to determine in advance what facts will be presented at any trial in the case.

Rubbermaid is an American manufacturer and distributor of many household items. It is a subsidiary of Newell Rubbermaid. It is most well known for producing food storage containers and trash cans. Additionally, it produces sheds, step stools, closets and shelving, laundry baskets and other household items.

Skee ball (also spelled skeeball or skee-ball; sometimes called skee roll) is a common arcade game and one of the first redemption games. It is similar to bowling except it is played on an inclined lane with fist-sized balls and the player aims to get the ball to fall into a hole rather than knock down pins. The object of the game is to collect as many points as possible by rolling balls up an incline and into the designated point value holes.

Cornhole is a bean bag toss lawn game in which players take turns throwing bags of corn at a raised platform with a hole in the far end. A bag in the hole scores 3 points, while one on the platform scores 1 point. Play continues until a team or player reaches the score of 21.

D. Kim Rossmo is a Canadian criminologist specializing in geographic profiling. He joined the Vancouver Police Department as a civilian employee in 1978 and became a sworn officer in 1980. In 1987 he received a Master's degree in criminology from Simon Fraser University and in 1995 became the first police officer in Canada to obtain a doctorate in criminology. His dissertation research resulted in a new criminal investigative methodology called geographic profiling, based on Rossmo's formula.