Wedding Bell Blues (27 page)

Mom nodded, taking a deep breath. “Absolutely.”

“Great.” Allie began rummaging along the rack, looking for her size. “Let’s try these suckers on. I’ve got bread to bake.”

Ten minutes later the three of them stood staring into the three-way mirror. Pastel linen wasn’t nearly as breathtaking as satin, but they actually didn’t look too bad.

Mom smiled. “Y’all look lovely.”

“As do I.” Docia stepped out of the dressing room. The voile wrapped lightly around her bosom then dropped to a deep flounce at her ankles. Flowers rioted across her body.

She looked terrific.

Janie grinned. “Oh Docia, it’s actually going to work, isn’t it?”

“You bet, toots.” Docia studied herself in the mirror. “Let’s go for it.”

Siemen wasn’t particularly upset about Lars’s shredded tux, but then again he was getting paid for it. Cal, Pete and Lars stared glumly at the clothing racks. Daisy was busy charming Siemen’s sales staff.

“Why do we need new clothes?” Lars raised an eyebrow. “Why can’t we just wear something we’ve already got?”

“I think we have to match.” Cal sighed.

“Match?” Lars raised an eyebrow. “We’re going to look like a boy band.”

“We already did. Just a very formal boy band.”

Pete took a breath. “What about Erik?”

Cal’s grin faded. “Erik’s not part of the wedding.”

“Is he invited?” Lars moved to catch Daisy as she started to climb into the window with the manikins.

Cal shrugged. “I haven’t decided yet.”

Pete wandered around the shop, poking at hangers. He hated shopping. Nothing ever fit, and he always looked like the Hulk in mid-transition. Once he found something that actually worked on his body, he tended to buy in multiples.

He paused. Multiples.

“Blue blazers,” he muttered.

“Excuse me?” Cal folded his arms across his chest.

“Blue blazers. Navy. You’ve got one, right?”

Cal frowned, thinking. “Yeah. Actually, I’ve got a couple, I think.”

“I’ve got at least that many. And I brought one with me. Lars?”

Lars shrugged. “I don’t know. I’ve never counted. Every man in the country has a blue blazer, and I might have brought mine along, too. So what?”

“So Wonder and Horace probably each have one of their own.”

“Right.” Cal stood. “Blue blazers and khakis. The national male uniform. Gentlemen, we have our boy band.”

“Yep.” Pete grinned for the first time since they’d entered Siemen’s.

“Shirts.” Lars was frowning.

“Blue Oxford cloth.” Siemen began pulling shirts off the rack. “You want something everybody’s got, that’s it. And if you don’t, I do. In every size.”

Lars removed Daisy from a bin of plastic hangers before she could become too entangled. “So what else do we need? Socks? Shoes?”

“Ties.” Cal began flipping through the rack. “We each need a new tie. One that matches.”

“Right.” Pete stood at his elbow. “I suppose Bugs Bunny is out.”

Cal made a disgusted sound. “This is my wedding, damn it!”

“Dignity. Right. Definitely Elmer Fudd. Oh, man, look—Siemen’s got one with the Tasmanian Devil!”

Cal put a hand on Pete’s chest and pushed him away. “Hell, Daisy would be more helpful.”

“Okay, you asked for it.” Lars slung Daisy under one arm and carried her to the tie rack. “Okay, Dais, which one do you like?”

Daisy stared down at the rack and smiled beatifically. “Da!” she cried, reaching for a bright red tie with gold stripes.

Cal nodded, moving the tie out of her reach. “Looks like the Iowa State colors. Da it is.”

Lars grinned. “Speak for yourself, bro. As a U. of Iowa man, I’ll find my own.”

By the time the rehearsal started, Janie had decided that maybe the whole wedding train wreck had turned around. They’d had almost ten disaster-free hours—a record. Maybe the fates didn’t suck after all.

Morgan had dragooned some of the vineyard workers into rearranging the patio chairs to create a small wedding space at the far end, shaded by some ancient live oaks and a trellis with some grape vines. Reba had rallied enough to start decorating again, stringing swags of chiffon along the aisles between the folding chairs she’d brought over from the Woodrose. “I’ll get some flowers over here tomorrow,” she told Janie. “I don’t want them to sit out in this heat until morning.”

She and the judge worked out the details of the ceremony while Lars kept Daisy from trying to ride Olive, who hid under the chairs.

Asa and Millie Toleffson sat at the back watching the chaos beneficently—at least in Asa’s case. Millie looked glum, as usual, but she also looked a little nervous. Janie wondered if she was worried about the wedding coming off. More likely she was worried about Erik Toleffson, who sat on her other side. His brothers hadn’t exactly ignored him, but they hadn’t said much to him either.

Erik wore sunglasses in the late afternoon glare, the dark lenses hiding his eyes. The sunlight made his face look weathered, deepening the lines around his mouth. He sat silently beside his mother and stared at the vineyards. Janie thought he was trying not to draw attention to himself.

Docia glowed. She wore jeans and a denim shirt knotted under her breasts, with an expanse of alabaster skin showing above her waist band. Cal kept one hand planted at the small of her back, as if he couldn’t bear to stop touching her.

Whenever Janie looked at them, a tightness began in her throat and a prickling in her eyes that threatened to turn into tears. She told herself repeatedly that being envious of her best friend was not an attractive trait. It didn’t help. Docia had found her prince. Janie just hoped it wasn’t one to a customer, at least in her case.

Pete laughed with Horace over something the judge had said. Janie took a moment to study him. His dark, curling hair was like his brothers—all three of them, now that she’d seen Erik. But his jaw was different, more square. And his eyes. Cal had the kindest eyes. Lars’s eyes were always laughing, now that he’d found Daisy. Erik’s eyes were watchful. Pete’s eyes were… She tried to think. Pete’s eyes were strong. Steady. Whatever was wrong, Pete would do something about it. Whoever was hurting, Pete would be there to help.

A protector. A guardian. Janie watched him reach over to free Olive from a grape vine. Was that how he saw her? Another stray pup who needed to be looked after? To be rescued?

Well, he
had
rescued her, in a way. Two nights in Pete’s bed had cured her of settling for anything less. No more Otto Friedrichs for her, no matter what Mom thought.

Unfortunately, no more Pete Toleffsons either. Not after tomorrow. Janie had no illusions about the likelihood of his staying. He hadn’t made any promises, after all. And she wasn’t going to demand any.

And really, that was perfectly okay. She didn’t hold it against him—it wasn’t his fault she’d fallen for him. She’d just have to get over it. Move on. She had a life to build on her own now.

Pete looked up, his dark eyes meeting hers across the stone-covered patio. One corner of his mouth inched up in a crooked smile. A quick tremble of goose flesh moved along Janie’s arms. Get over it.
Yeah, right.

“Okay, let’s get this shindig started,” the judge called.

Reba gestured from the end of the aisle. “Wedding party back here, please.”

Janie trooped along after Allie and Bethany, keeping her head down. Maybe if she didn’t look directly at Pete, she wouldn’t be distracted.

“Line up, now,” Reba called, “boys and girls. And Lars.” Her mouth flattened slightly as she contemplated the uneven numbers.

“I’ve got my partner.” Lars swept Daisy up into his arms again, as much to keep her from stampeding after the winery cat as to walk down the aisle with her.

Reba gave him a long-suffering look. “Fine. We’re going to use recorded music for now, but we’ll have the string quartet tomorrow. Just walk down the aisle together in time to the music.”

A recording of Handel began to play over the loudspeaker, and Pete put his hand on her arm. “Shall we?”

She took a deep breath and looked up at him.
You can do this.
“Let’s.”

The judge was a comedian. Pete had been through that enough times in his life—laughing at judges’ jokes even when they weren’t funny. Fortunately, these jokes weren’t all that bad.

The judge also made a couple of oblique references to the local county attorney and his need for good staff. Pete had given him a version of his Idiot Smile and pretended he didn’t know what he was talking about. He already had a job, didn’t he? A job he’d be going back to when all of this was over. So what if he had a hollow feeling in his gut whenever he thought about Des Moines.

Beside him, Janie seemed to vibrate with life and passion. Pete tried to concentrate on his best man duties, such as they were. Just being next to her was giving him a contact high.

The judge made a joke about losing the ring, and Pete was jerked back into the wedding again. Was he supposed to be carrying a ring right now? Something from Crackerjacks maybe? He patted his pockets surreptitiously.

Cal put his hand on Pete’s arm. “Don’t sweat it. I haven’t given it to you yet.”

“Oh.” Pete nodded. “Well, good.”

Janie looked up at him with a faint smile. She probably thought he was a halfwit.

He wondered if he could lure her back to the apartment again tonight. Of course, her mother might come looking for him with a shotgun and a quick jaunt to the justice of the peace if he did.

Would that be so bad?

A quick jolt of adrenaline sped through his system.
Later
. He’d think about all that later. Right now he had a wedding to get through. Cal’s wedding.

“Okay, after I pronounce you husband and wife, you all recess back up the aisle.” The judge grinned at them.

Docia stuck out her lower lip in a pout. “What, no kiss?”

“Sure, yeah, of course. I just figured we’d skip it for now.”

“Skip my favorite part?” Cal wrapped his arms around Docia and bent her over backward in an enthusiastic kiss that made her lift one foot off the ground.

“Looks good to me.” Horace pulled Bethany into his arms.

Wonder stood blinking at Allie for a moment, then bent his head and pressed a somewhat decorous kiss on her lips.

Janie looked up at Pete expectantly.
Holy crap!
He stared down at her full pink lips, remembering what they’d felt like on other parts of his body. He probably shouldn’t kiss her. If he did, he had a feeling he wouldn’t stop there. He reached for her hand, pulling her gently toward him. She raised laughing eyes to his.

“Ma!” screeched Daisy.

“Shit!” Lars muttered.

Pete stopped inches from Janie’s lips. It took all the control he had to raise his head. Even then, he couldn’t bring himself to let her go.

Sherice stood at the end of the aisle watching them.

Daisy wriggled desperately in Lars’s arms. “Ma!” she yelled again.

After a moment, Sherice began undulating toward them, smiling a faintly bored smile. “Hi, baby,” she cooed, “come over here to me.” She extended her arms.

Lars slowly lowered his daughter to the ground and then watched her toddle into her mother’s embrace.

Sherice lifted the child, pushing her black curls back from her eyes. “Ooh, you’ve gained weight, baby. Daddy must have been feeding you junk. We don’t want you to get fat now, do we?”

She fixed Lars with a quick, dead-eyed stare, then turned and began walking back up the aisle again, much more quickly. “You better have dinner with me tonight, baby. Mama will make sure you get the right food. And a nice place to sleep.”

“Goddamn it, Sherice,” Lars growled.

“Watch your language in front of the baby,” Sherice said automatically. “She’s coming home with me, Lars. I’m her mother. You don’t really want to make a scene with me, do you? You’ll frighten the baby.”

Pete was suddenly aware of Mom standing at the end of the aisle. “But Sherice, you’re staying for the wedding. You promised.” She reached tentatively toward Daisy, who stared at her wide-eyed.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Sherice snapped. “Babies don’t belong at weddings. And I’m going home.”

“But you said…” Mom’s eyes darted between Sherice and Lars.

“Whatever I said, Daisy’s not staying and neither am I.” Sherice turned toward the parking lot.

Pete was beside her in three strides. He took hold of her arm, his fingers clamping like a vice. “Put my niece down.”

Sherice stared at him. “You can’t stop me. She’s my daughter. You’re just her uncle.”

“Put her down, damn it.” Pete worked on keeping his voice level.

Daisy began to whimper. “Daisy,” Lars murmured from behind him, “sweetheart.”

The whimpers rapidly became sobs and then wails. Sherice glanced down at Pete’s hand and then back up again. She tightened her hold on her daughter.

“Daisy, honey.” Lars was standing beside her now. He reached out to stroke his daughter’s hair. “Don’t cry. It’s all right.”

Daisy dropped her head to Sherice’s shoulder, staring at her father as she caught her breath in ragged sobs.

“Let her go, Pete,” Lars said.

“Lars…” Rage closed his throat.

“No, Pete, just let her go.”

Slowly, regretfully, Pete dropped his hand. Sherice gave him one last look of searing contempt, then turned back toward the parking lot.

“Lars.” Mom stared at them, her lips trembling. “I thought…she said… She just wanted to see Daisy, that’s all.”

“It’s okay, Mom.” Lars sighed.

“I didn’t…I never meant…”

“I know.” Lars patted her shoulder awkwardly. “It’s okay.”

Beside her, Dad took a deep breath. “Come on, Millie, this is our fault. We’ve got to fix this.”

“Let it go, Dad.” Lars straightened. “It’s my problem. I’ll take care of it. All of you go on to the rehearsal dinner.”

The wedding party milled around them uneasily. Cal held Docia against him as if he was afraid she might bolt.

“Go on,” Lars said again. “I’ll come later.” He walked toward the parking lot where Sherice was loading Daisy into a car seat.