Rose, Zoe’s best friend, matron of honor, and current makeup artist, had arrived from New Mexico in time for last night’s rehearsal. “Look up.”
Zoe obeyed, hoping to avoid being jabbed in the eye. “I can do my own makeup, you know.”
“Look at your hands.”
Zoe lowered her gaze to her trembling fingers and had to admit, she’d no doubt botch the job.
“I said look up.”
“You also said look at my hands.”
“I didn’t mean right at this moment.”
Zoe sighed, kept her gaze on the ceiling, and tried not to blink as Rose did her thing.
The door crashed open. Zoe didn’t have to shift her eyes to know it was Kimberly.
“You stay right here and guard this door,” she said to some hapless guest. “Don’t let anyone in without my approval, especially the groom. He must not see the bride before the wedding.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Zoe recognized Logan’s voice—Rose’s eighteen-year-old son.
The door slammed and Kimberly, attired in a gold lame dress and jacket, bustled toward them. “Aren’t you done yet? The photographer’s here and no one wants to see wedding photos of a bride in a bathrobe.”
Rose lowered the mascara wand. “There. Finished.” She turned to Kimberly. “What do you think?”
Zoe cringed, expecting a harsh review.
But Kimberly nodded as she inspected Rose’s handiwork. “Very nice. I can’t remember the last time I saw makeup on my daughter’s face. Good job.” She snapped her fingers at Patsy who was poking at her sprayed updo, the result of an early morning trip to the salon—something Kimberly had arranged for all four of them. “Bring the dress over here. We need to help Zoe into it, so her hair doesn’t get mussed.”
Minutes later, Zoe stood in front of the full-length mirror while her mother clipped her veil in place. All she’d need were glass slippers to complete the Cinderella fantasy. She already had the dress and Rose, Patsy, and Kimberly flitting around like woodland birds helping her get ready.
Kimberly huffed an exasperated sigh. “I don’t know why you didn’t listen to me and let your hair grow out. You’d look lovely with an updo.” She touched her own highly sprayed blonde chignon.
Patsy elbowed her. “She looks lovely just the way she is.”
Kimberly added one final hairpin to anchor the veil to Zoe’s short curls, stepped back, and smiled at the mother-daughter reflection. “Yes. She absolutely does.”
The rare compliment brought a rush of heat to Zoe’s eyes. She reminded herself—no crying before the wedding. No streaking Rose’s makeup job.
There was a knock at the door, and Logan opened it a crack. “Zoe has a visitor.”
“Who?” Kimberly demanded.
Lauren squeezed past the teen. “Me.”
“Let her in,” Zoe said, contradicting her mother who ordered the reporter out. Kimberly glared at Zoe in a silent game of chicken, but Zoe held firm.
Kimberly threw her hands up in dramatic defeat. “Fine.”
Lauren entered and looked at the other women. “Would you mind giving me and Zoe a minute? Alone?”
Zoe made a shooing motion. “It’s okay. Go make sure everything is okay upstairs.”
Kimberly opened her mouth to protest. Zoe gave her “the Look.” The one Kimberly had given her many times as a child. Surrendering, Kimberly gestured to Patsy and Rose. “Come along, ladies.”
Once the door closed and Zoe and Lauren stood alone, the reporter smiled, tears glistening. “You look amazing.”
Zoe smoothed the snug bodice. “Does it look too tight?”
“Not at all. Pete is going to be so dazzled he won’t be able to say his vows.”
Zoe laughed. “I hope not.”
They fell into a silence that Lauren eventually broke. “I wanted to apologize.”
“You don’t—”
“Yes. I do. If I hadn’t been so trusting, I’d never have let Jenna know the details of your investigation.” Lauren choked. “You almost died. Again. And again, it was my fault.”
“She fooled us all. Even Pete.” Zoe thought back over the last week, most of which she’d been too swamped with last minute wedding plans to fully comprehend. “Any news on Dustin Landis?”
“The legal wheels are rolling on his release. He should be free and completely exonerated by the time you get home from your honeymoon.”
“Good.” Pete had told Zoe about Jenna’s confession, although he wasn’t privy to the details of the deal she’d cut with the FBI. There was even buzz about “antisocial personality disorder” and an insanity defense. “How about the DLK?”
“Since the feds now have a name and face, thanks to Jenna, it’s only a matter of time before they catch him.”
Zoe hated the idea of Jenna getting a light sentence after the havoc she’d wreaked, even if it meant taking a serial killer off the street.
“Not to change the subject or anything…” Lauren lifted her chin. “Who did you decide is going to walk you down the aisle?”
Zoe sighed. “No one. Pete’s sister had a heckuva time getting Harry to put on his suit this morning and told me he was combative about leaving his room.” She shook her head. “Alzheimer’s sucks.”
“No argument there. What about your stepdad?”
“We’ve been through this before.”
“Yes. But there’s something you need to know. I promised I’d never divulge my source, but I owe you. For the whole almost-getting-you-killed thing.”
“What are you talking about?”
Lauren returned to the door, turned the knob, and opened it a crack to peer out before facing Zoe again. “You’ve asked me over and over who told me you had a brother and who gave me the name of his birth mother.” Lauren swung the door open. Tom Jackson stood there in a black tuxedo, his over six-foot-tall frame filling the doorway. “Meet my source,” Lauren said. She looked up at Tom. “Talk to her,” she said to him before slipping out.
Zoe stared at her stepdad, her mind racing through the years and months. It made perfect sense. She’d known Kimberly would never share the information. But Tom had been Zoe’s father’s best friend all through school and beyond. He would’ve known everything. She should’ve figured out he’d been behind the search to find Scott.
Tom took one step inside and closed the door behind him. “You look beautiful,” he said, his deep baritone raw with emotion.
“Thank you.” Zoe’s voice cracked. She swallowed. No crying before the wedding. “I didn’t think you’d be here.”
His moustache twitched, not quite hiding a fleeting, sad smile. “I almost wasn’t.”
“Mother talked you into it,” Zoe said flatly, wishing like hell his presence was his idea.
“She can be persuasive.” This time the grin made it all the way to Tom’s dimples and stayed there.
Zoe’s tear-laden laugh caught in her throat. “You can say that again.” She thought of her mother last Saturday in front of Pete’s house. Imploring her…and Tom…to patch things up. What had Kimberly said?
Sometimes now is all we have.
In unison, Zoe and Tom both said, “I’m sorry.”
Zoe shook her head. “I’m the only one who needs to apologize. I should never have doubted you.”
“And I shouldn’t have been such a stubborn jackass. You’re my daughter. Not by blood. But in here.” He thumped his sternum.
“You gave Lauren the information about Scott’s mother.”
Tom nodded. “Kimberly said you’d found your brother. But then Patsy told me what really happened. Kimberly mentioned meeting Lauren last winter when she was back here turning over the farm to you, so I tracked her down and gave her what information I knew. It wasn’t much, but I figured her being an investigative journalist and all…” His voice trailed o
ff as if he’d run out of steam. He cleared his throat. “I thought you could use a big brother. I’m sorry about how that worked out.”
“What I really need is a dad.”
Tears brimmed in Tom’s eyes, and he opened his arms wide.
Zoe crossed the room in three strides, her gown swishing, and flung herself into his embrace.
“I hear you’re in need of someone to give you away,” he said, his voice muffled by her veil. “I’d be pleased if you’d allow me the honor.”
So much for not crying before the wedding.
The strains of organ music drifted down the stairs as Tom, Zoe, and her two attendants prepared to ascend to the small sanctuary where Pete’s and Zoe’s closest friends awaited. When the music changed, Patsy started up the steps. A moment later, Rose followed.
Zoe’s heart threatened to burst through her chest. This was it. The moment she’d thought would never happen. Not to her. And with Pete, the man she’d so long held at arm’s length, fearing anything more would ultimately ruin a beautiful friendship.
“You’re shaking,” Tom said, smiling through his moustache.
She looked down at her bouquet of red and white roses. The flowers trembled. “I guess I am.”
“Do you need me to carry you up the stairs?”
“No, I think I’ve got this.”
Another change in the musical prelude was her signal to gather her long skirt and start the climb. One flight to a landing. A turn. And then a few more steps to the back of the aisle. She looked down at her feet in her white satin high-heeled pumps as she continued upward, careful not to catch a toe in her gown’s hem or miss a step.
When they reached the top, Harry stepped into view with his cane. “Well, hello, Sunshine.” His eyes shone, as bright and clear as she’d ever seen them. “Mind if I help give the bride to my son?”
Zoe looked up at Tom. He leaned closer to her ear and whispered, “I forgot to mention. I’m not the only one giving you away.”
She came back to Harry. “I don’t mind at all.”
Harry switched his cane to his other hand and offered an arm. With one hand tucked into the crook of his elbow, the other clinging to her bouquet, Zoe watched as Tom positioned himself opposite Pete’s dad, a hand on the small of her back. The transition was so smooth, they had to have rehearsed it.
“Ready?” Harry asked.
“Ready,” she replied and lifted her gaze to the church pews and her and Pete’s friends.
Most gathered toward the front. One man sat alone in the back row.
Scott rose and turned, wearing a tux and a smile. Zoe gasped. Harry and Tom stopped, and Scott stepped into the aisle. “I see you don’t need me to give you away, but I wanted you to know I’m here.”
Her mind swam in a sea of emotion. Happiness. Gratitude. Disbelief. Tom and Scott. The man who’d raised her after her father’s death and the brother she’d only recently met. Neither of whom she’d expected to be here on her big day.
Harry gestured behind Zoe with his cane. “The more the merrier, son.”
She caught Tom’s nod of agreement.
Scott stepped behind Harry, one hand resting just above Tom’s and the other on Harry’s shoulder, steadying the older man.
Zoe laughed. She wondered if her brother’s appearance was part of the plan and they’d worked out the details of who stood where, three of the men in her life escorting her toward the fourth.
“Let’s do this,” Scott said.
The aisle stretched before her. Large red and white satin bows decorated the ends of each pew. Zoe caught a fleeting glimpse of Pete before the guests rose from their seats, blocking her view. The music guided her forward as she scanned the faces in the crowd. Mr. and Mrs. Kroll, her former landlords, and their son, Alexander. Seth and Abby, reconciled and a couple in love once again. Kevin and Nate from the Vance Township Police Department. All of her old crew from the ambulance service, including Earl and his wife and kids. Sylvia Bassi held a tissue to her face. Logan and Allison stood next to her. In the front row, Kimberly beamed on the left side. Nadine, Pete’s sister, with her husband on the right.
But all the faces became a blur when Zoe grew close enough to see her groom. She knew Patsy and Rose had taken their places, while Rose’s husband, Miguel, and Wayne stood next to Pete, but in that moment, her groom—the most handsome man she’d ever known—was the only one she could see. And she knew, no matter how long she lived, she’d never forget the look of adoration in his eyes.
The organ fell silent and the minister looked at Zoe and Pete and then out at the congregation. “Welcome, everyone. We are gathered here on this lovely Saint Valentine’s Day to celebrate with Zoe and Pete as they proclaim their love and commitment to one another in front of you, their family and friends. We gather to rejoice with them and for them, in this new life they now undertake as one.” He brought his gaze to Zoe. “Who gives Zoe to be wed to Pete?”
In unison, Tom, Scott, and Harry said, “We do.”
She wondered if they’d had their own private rehearsal, one she hadn’t been invited to.
Scott guided Harry to his seat with Nadine before joining Tom and Kimberly.
Pete moved to Zoe’s side, his face lowered toward her. “You’re beautiful,” he whispered.
Not part of the script. Her cheeks warmed.
The minister looked at them. “You have chosen to write your own vows. It’s with these words you express your binding promises to love, honor, and cherish one another. I invite you to now face each other and declare your intentions.”
Zoe handed her bouquet to Rose before facing Pete and taking his hands. All part of the rehearsal. But they hadn’t recited their vows at last night’s practice.
Pete cleared his throat. “Zoe, my love, I promise to be with you through the good days and the bad. Through the inconveniently timed emergencies and through the cases we solve together.”
A ripple of laughter rolled from their gathered friends. Zoe smiled. Some of them knew the truth of those words while a few only saw the humor.
“In sickness and in health,” Pete continued. “Or in our case, in bullet wounds and poisonings. I guess we make a pretty good pair. I get shot and you patch me up. Which I have to say, I much prefer over you being the one in harm’s way. But you know I will come to your rescue anytime you need me. I vow to give my life to keep you safe.” He tipped his head closer. “And I will spend every breath loving you and protecting you until the day I die.”
She hadn’t thought it possible to love him more, but right then, looking into his icy blues, she knew better.
“Zoe?” The minister said. “Your turn.”
She fought to remember the words she’d rehearsed over and over, every moment she’d been alone for the last month. “Pete, I will walk at your side in the sunshine and in the rain.” She winced. “That sounded a lot better in my head.”
Pete smiled, and a titter of laughter floated over the congregation again. “Just talk to me,” he said, his voice soft and husky.
Zoe drew a breath. Calmed the clamoring inside her brain. And spoke. “I love you more than I can ever say. I think I fell in love with you that first time we met, searching for a little boy in a blizzard, but I settled for being friends. You’ve been with me through thick and thin. You taught me to trust. Thanks to you, I know I can do anything. And if I can’t…if I fail…you’ll be there to catch me when I fall. I hope you know that I will walk through…” She stopped before saying “hell” in church. “I will walk through fire to save you. But I’ll also do the little things. I’ll make your favorite meatloaf, and I’ll keep the cats from sleeping on your clean uniform.” Another round of laughter. “I promise I will love you and stand beside you and stand up for you every minute of every day…until I take my last breath.” She sniffed back the tears collecting in her throat and glanced at the minist
er. “I’m done.”
He gave a nod. “May I please have the rings.”
Miguel and Rose stepped forward and handed over the two gold bands.
“These rings are circles made of precious gold, representing the preciousness of your unending love. It is the seal of the vows you just made to each other.” He handed the smaller one to Pete.
Zoe offered her left hand.
Pete inhaled and slid the band on her finger. “I give you this ring as a symbol of my commitment and undying love.”
Zoe accepted the larger band from the minister and repeated the pledge.
The minister took their hands in his. “Pete and Zoe, you have come to this place today of your own free will and have declared your love and commitment to each other in front of these witnesses. By the power vested in me, I now pronounce you husband and wife.” He winked at Pete. “Chief Adams, you may kiss your bride.”
Zoe stood alone at the rear of the church’s social hall watching her guests finishing their slices of cake. The structured part of the day was over. Allison had caught the bouquet, much to Rose’s dismay. Kevin had come up with the garter. The traditional cookie table looked like starving vultures had attacked it, and the cake had been cut.
Most of the reception would be repeated in Florida next week, except with Kimberly running things, it would be much grander than a Ladies Aide luncheon in a church basement. And there would be no cookie table.
“Are you okay?”
Zoe turned to a concerned Rose. “I’m terrific. Just…drained.”
“I hear ya.” Rose had married Miguel last summer in an even smaller outdoor wedding. “There’s all this buildup to the big moment and then bam. It’s over.”
Zoe brought her gaze back to the folks seated in the hall. “Nope. It’s beginning.”
“That too.” Rose bumped Zoe’s shoulder. “What’s this I hear about you getting a big inheritance?”
Zoe snorted. “Maybe. Maybe not.” Franklin’s bequest promised to be tied up in litigation for the foreseeable future. His attorney assured Paulette and Zoe that, in time, they’d win the case, especially since he had personally drawn up the document and could attest to its legitimacy. Loretta, however, wasn’t giving up the financial windfall without a fight.
TIL DEATH Page 28