“I don’t know, Lisa. I don’t know anything!”
“What about your mom? Was she here too?”
“I don’t think so. Her name wasn’t on the note, and Father just said a man handed it to him. He didn’t mention anything about a female companion. I don’t know where my mom is. But if he’s still alive, surely she is too.” I hoped I was right.
“Michael is trying to find Father and I’m supposed to get cleaned up so we can continue with the reception before we investigate further. Only I don’t know how I can do that. I’m freaking out!”
“Of course you are. Who wouldn’t be?” Carley agreed and reached into her purse and pulled out a mini hair dryer. “Always prepared,” she said in response to my startled look. “Now hold still while I blow this sand out of your hair real quick. Then we can figure out how to find your dad.”
The hot air hit me and I flipped my head over, letting Carley shake the sand out of my hair. I studied my long, light brown hair as it fell in waves, thankful for the recent highlights that now glistened in the harsh fluorescent light. Lisa gently wiped sand off my arms and back, and I shook off my dress, taking care not to shake loose any of the beading lightly scattered around the skirt.
“Well, really, you shouldn’t jump to conclusions yet,” Lisa yelled over the hum of the dryer.
“That’s just what Michael said!” I exclaimed.
“And he’s right. This whole thing could be a spoof. Tonight is your night. You just got married! Celebrate it! If the person who spoke to Father really is your dad, he’s been hiding for almost two years. He’s let everyone in the world think he and your mom are dead. He left you high and dry when his estate was almost taken away from you. He let you almost get killed trying to get it back and defend his honor. Then he comes to your wedding and leaves before you can see him? Something’s not right with that. Any of that. He can wait. I’m sorry, but he can wait.”
Lisa crossed her arms and went silent. I brought my head back up and could see the anger emanating off her, tears forming in her bright green eyes. Carley turned off the hair dryer and pulled out a curling wand and hairspray from her seemingly bottomless purse.
“If your dad’s been hanging around these past two years while you have suffered so much…well, I’m sorry, but I’m gonna have to kick his ass.” Lisa’s body was shaking as she tried to keep her emotions in check, and a tear slid down her cheek.
“I have to agree, Emily,” Carley said. She began to curl random sections of my hair with ease. Steam radiated off the curler, and I got a brief whiff of seaweed. “I never knew your dad, but if he’s still alive and hasn’t been in touch, that’s not cool. And illegal. You can’t be declared dead and keep on living somewhere else. Whether it’s him or someone else impersonating him, why don’t you have Fritz look into it?” She put the curler down, tied my hair back in a loose ponytail at the nape of my neck, pulled a few tendrils loose, and began to spray. “That’s his specialty. And that way you and Michael can celebrate your honeymoon, knowing things are in good hands. Fritz will get things settled. You know he will.” She continued to coif my hair and reapply my makeup with ease. Thank God for this woman. I would look like a peasant without her.
I thought about what she said. I had hired Carley’s Uncle Fritz late last year to help me sort out my dad’s estate when he’d been accused of fraud and all assets were frozen after his (supposed?) death. As a private investigator, Fritz had access to all kinds of information it would have taken me years to get. He’d helped me find the people responsible for nearly bilking my dad out of all of his money in a night I will never forget.
I was convinced Fritz could find anyone and anything. He was the obvious choice to look for my dad. I just had to convince him that the note was real and I wasn’t out of my mind first. And I had to hope he wasn’t already committed to another case.
“Good idea, Carley.” I was beginning to feel like I had things under control already. “I will talk to Fritz and see what he says.”
“Whoa. Uh, you’d better talk to Michael first,” Lisa said, sniffing and fanning her eyes to dry her tears. “Remember the last time you worked with Fritz.” Lisa was referring to the night in which I found out who had tried to cheat my dad and ruin his legacy and had nearly died proving it.
“Of course I will talk to Michael first.” I looked in the mirror and wiped my hands lightly over my face and arms one more time. “We’re a married couple now. All decisions like this should be made together.” I turned around and gave both of them a smile to seal the deal, deciding it was time to head back outside to face the crowd and Michael. I knew Michael would support me in anything Fritz might want to do in order to find my dad if he was, indeed, alive. At least, I hoped he would. After all, there won’t be any guns and hostage holding this time, I thought to myself. Right? Well, I’d certainly make sure of it.
●CHAPTER 4●
THE GIRLS AND I made a pact not to speak of things again until after the reception when Michael and I had decided on a plan of action. Our guests didn’t need to know the full extent of what had gone on. For now, we were telling everyone that I had just become light-headed and fainted, and that my vows nearly got swallowed up by the ocean.
Now I just had to find Michael and square things away with him. He was easy to find, as he stands about a head taller than most people. I spotted his sandy-blond hair right away, nicely trimmed up for the wedding. He was looking all gorgeous in his tuxedo, standing casually by a table filled with his family, laughing at something. A grin lit up his face. My heart skipped a beat, and I couldn’t help but smile.
“Hey, you,” I said, walking up and putting my arms around his waist. He turned his face to me and the clinking of the glasses began again, turning his small peck into a deep, lingering kiss. I didn’t mind at all but found myself blushing.
“Did you find out anything?” I asked quietly when we came up for air. “Did you find Father McDermott?”
“No such luck, and I’m afraid we won’t be able to speak to him for a while.” He took my arm and led me away from the table toward the stage. “I’ll explain in a minute. Right now, Shaniqua says we have to say something and make a toast.” He glanced up at our wedding coordinator, who was motioning at the two of us. Tall, dark, and beautiful, Shaniqua was a force to be reckoned with, and that’s how she ran events such as this so smoothly. “People have been clamoring for an announcement of some sort so they can raid the food line. We’ve got a bunch of hungry people here, and my nephews aren’t going to be able to sit still much longer.”
As one of seven children, Michael has a host of nieces and nephews ranging from age two to twenty-two. The smaller children were running amok on the beach, under the watchful eye of their older siblings. I looked around and noticed that all of the appetizers had indeed been devoured, and only empty dishes remained. It was late in the day, and I got a strong sense that we’d have a small riot on our hands if people weren’t fed a proper meal soon.
“Okay, that makes sense. People are hungry and need to be fed. Let’s start the line.” I headed over to the buffet, enticed by the smells of roasted chicken and smoked salmon. As I eyed the immense amount of decadent food, I realized for the first time all day that I was starving.
“Hold on there,” Michael said, stopping me. “Not quite yet. We’ve got to make announcements. You know, thank people for coming. Tell them how overjoyed we are at being married. Invite them to enjoy themselves all evening with us. Well,” he started, getting a sly grin on his face and nibbling my ear, “all evening meaning the next couple of hours. Then it’s just you and me and a nice king-sized bed…or maybe we take a tumble in the sand if you’d prefer. Ooh, or even an isolated cave in the water. Or maybe a hot tub. Or maybe all of the above.” He wiggled his eyebrows. “Damn,” he continued, taking a deep breath and slowly exhaling. “I need a cold shower. This could get embarrassing quick.”
As my poor husband struggled to think innocent thoughts and compose himself,
I squeezed his arm, then walked onstage myself, eager to get things going. I had a word with Shaniqua, and a minute later, Michael joined me, fully able to stand upright without creating a scene.
We went to the microphone and thanked everyone for coming and joining us on our amazing wedding day. I made a joke about fainting at the thought of no longer being a single lady. Michael said he hoped he’d be as much fun to live with as ten sorority girls. It was hard to believe that was my life just a few short months ago, but I was overjoyed about what lay ahead.
Once the toasts were finished, we headed to the buffet line. I was eager to pepper Michael with questions about why we might not be able to speak to Father for a while.
“Spill it,” I whispered to him, taking a plate and asking the server for roasted chicken.
“Well, it’s not what you want to hear—”
“Oh honey, you look gorgeous!” my mother-in-law interrupted, appearing behind me. Tall, slender, and regal looking, you’d never have guessed this woman had given birth to, and raised, so many children. “You poor thing. You take a tumble in the sand, but twenty minutes later, you look as good as new.” Michael nearly spat out the piece of salmon he had snatched from his plate.
“You took a tumble without me?” he mouthed as I stifled a giggle.
“Well, thank you,” I said to his mom, trying my best to ignore him. “The fainting was unexpected. I’m hoping for a more uneventful evening from here on out.” I continued down the line as the servers piled my dish high with vegetables and potatoes.
“I should hope uneventful isn’t what you’re going for,” she continued without looking at me. “It is your wedding night, after all.” A small smile played at the corners of her mouth, and I found myself once again blushing. And speechless. Awkward!
She continued talking. “Boy, I sure am glad Father was able to squeeze the wedding in before he left.” Stopping at the bread bowl and considering her choices, she settled on whole grain. “A silent, three-week retreat to the Holy Land!” she exclaimed. “No cell service, no email. Why, I think we should all do that once in our lives. And to fly out just after celebrating a wedding! The man must be exhausted. Good thing he has a long flight. Hope he gets some sleep on the plane.
“Are you done, dear?” She paused and looked at my plate as I stood there, unable to move. “You must really like bread.”
I looked down at my plate to see a mound of food covered with six rolls. I had totally lost track of what I was doing when she blind-sided me with the fact that the only person who may have seen my dad was now on a plane to Jerusalem, of all places, unreachable for the next three weeks!
Panicked, I looked over at Michael. He nodded with a frown. “See what I mean?” he said. “Not what you wanted to hear.”
I managed to eat my plateful of food, sans the six rolls (I ate two and Michael took the rest), while trying to act as if everything was completely fine. Michael kept squeezing my hand under the table, whispering that it would all work out. We made it through several more toasts, one roast from his nephew Matt, whom I adore, and a lot of hugs and tears. It was a beautiful evening. The cool, crisp breeze swirled around us, the smell of the ocean filled the air, and the waves quietly pounded behind us. It was an incredible time shared with friends and family. Except for the mystery of my parents’ whereabouts, everything was perfect. However, I could not shake the anxious feeling that I knew would consume me until I had answers. Still, I did my best to enjoy the evening. How many of my own wedding receptions would I get to experience, after all? I hoped just this one.
Michael and I mingled with our guests, laughing and telling stories of what brought us together; how when I first met Michael, I made a good impression by whacking him in the head with a door.
“I thought you had broken into my house,” I said in my defense. “What’s a girl to do? But you still fell in love with me anyway.” I smiled. “Well, maybe not right away…”
Several of my former sorority girls were in attendance, and they giggled over who they thought would catch the bouquet.
“I’m staying as far away from that as I can,” said Maria, by far the most fiercely independent of the group. But it didn’t stop her from scanning all of the attractive males in attendance from head to toe. I loved Maria and her take-charge attitude.
“Ooh, I want it! I can’t wait to get married!” Candy said. “But then that means I need to find a boyfriend first…” Candy’s last relationship hadn’t ended so well. Her ex-boyfriend, Shiner, was the one who had tried to take my dad’s money and had held both her and me hostage while he raged about the unfairness of possibly losing all that cash. Thankfully, he was now in jail.
Michelle just stood there, smiling and not saying anything. Instead, she watched her boyfriend, Chris, play with Michael’s nieces and nephews, a little twinkle in her eye.
All three of those girls had graduated the previous spring and were still getting used to life after undergrad. They didn’t know yet where life would take them, but I knew we’d all manage to stay in touch. We’d gone through too much in the past year not to.
Before I knew it, the band started up again, and it was time for the first dance. While we’d been mingling, I’d been thinking a little bit about just how we could get to Father sooner than three weeks from now. I was desperate to find out more information about my dad. I had come up with a little plan that would require a slight detour before our honeymoon and just had to convince Michael it was the right thing to do. But I wasn’t at all certain that I could.
Acting as the master of ceremonies, Shaniqua got things going by introducing the band and welcoming Michael and me onto the small, temporary dance floor for our first dance. She had everything completely under control, having done this very thing hundreds of times for clients, and I felt better knowing it. Lights glittered around us as the crowd hushed and the band began to strum the first chords of an old Dixie Chicks song I had picked in homage to Michael’s Texas roots. Michael took me in his arms and held me close, his warm breath in my ear. I could feel his solid muscles through his tuxedo shirt, his heart beating against my own chest. He took my hand and tilted his head down so that his lips hovered just over mine as we began to dance to the music.
“Are you having a nice time, Mrs. Drake?” he whispered. “Or would you prefer I whisk you away from here to someplace we can be alone? Maybe a nice, secluded resort nestled in the mountains?” He grinned and his lips touched mine just briefly, teasing me. My breath became shallow and my body wanted to melt into his. I knew I had to say something about my plan before I completely lost my ability to think clearly. After all, we were leaving for Colorado in the morning, and tickets had to be changed. But right now, I could only focus on my husband and his body touching mine.
I swallowed and pushed my lewd thoughts to the back of my head, promising myself I’d get this over with quickly and make it as painless as possible.
“I cannot wait to get to the mountains.” I smiled, looking up at him with my best puppy dog eyes. “But I’d feel so much better if we could get something settled first.” I felt Michael tense up just a bit, but I forged on. “I think that I just wouldn’t be able to put all of my focus on our honeymoon if I was still wondering about my parents.” Michael nearly went still. This wasn’t going so well. “I think maybe we could just take a quick detour to the Holy Land before we go to Colorado, speak to Father, maybe see a few sights, and then be on our way. That way I’d have some peace of mind and—"
“We are not having our first fight as a married couple at our wedding reception,” Michael said with a forced grin.
“Smile for the camera!” The photographer interrupted us from out of nowhere, blinding us with her flash. We complied and gave her our biggest smiles, hoping no one would notice the mounting tension between us.
“Then don’t disagree with me,” I joked with Michael, trying to lighten the mood. “We can hop on a plane to Jerusalem, find Father in the Holy Land, and be back to enjoy a few day
s in the Rockies.”
“You don’t just ‘hop on a plane to Jerusalem’ and then cruise on over to Colorado. You’re turning a two-hour flight into a forty-eight-hour nightmare.” He paused and closed his eyes briefly, clearly trying to contain his building frustration. “Besides, we are not spending any time on our honeymoon in the Holy Land.” Michael stared into my eyes, his face relaxing and his gaze intense with longing. “I plan on doing lots of unholy things to and with you while we are on our honeymoon, and it wouldn’t be appropriate.” I’d been holding my breath waiting for his response and found I was becoming dizzy at his words. He started nuzzling my neck, his five o’clock shadow gently grazing my skin. I closed my eyes briefly and let out a sigh, letting my mind wander for just a bit, a smile playing at my lips. When I looked up, I was startled and embarrassed to see his mom’s gaze fixed on me, one eyebrow raised.
“Michael,” I giggled, “you need to stop it!” I made a half-assed attempt to pull away. “Your parents are watching.”
“It’s called the art of seduction, Emily. My parents know all about what’s going on. They do have seven kids, you know.” He kept tracing kisses up my neck.
“Oh, you are disgusting,” I joked. “Parents don’t have sex. My parents only did once…and they didn’t enjoy it.” Lisa and I had always said this growing up, refusing to believe that our parents could be sexual beings.
“Okay, babe. Whatever you say.” Michael’s low voice whispered in my ear, making my knees weak. “Well, except for going to the Holy Land. We are not doing that. I have much more fun things planned…” I snuggled deeper into him as he whispered just what he had in mind for our honeymoon, letting his strong arms keep me standing as my body melted at his words. How much longer was this reception?
●CHAPTER 5●
The Naked Truth Page 2