by Rita Herron
Alison rose from her desk, dropped a towel on the wooden floor and mopped up the moisture. "I know. I'm so sorry, Vivi."
"It isn't your fault, but it's unbelievable. We've been having a drought for six weeks, and Mother Nature chooses the day of my wedding rehearsal to end it!"
Alison sighed. "Hey, look on the good side – maybe the rain'll stop by tomorrow, and the flowers outside will look even prettier."
Vivica flopped onto the love seat and slapped her hands down on the cushion. "I hope so. I had my heart set on that outdoor reception."
"It's always good to have a backup plan." Alison patted her arm, meeting her gaze. "At least everything else is on schedule."
"Oh, my gosh, you're upset over Brady, aren't you?"
Alison froze. She'd forgotten about her puffy, swollen eyes. Even the cold compresses Mimi always recommended hadn't helped. "I … Brady wrote me a goodbye letter."
"He's an idiot." Vivica planted her hands on her hips. "But you aren't going to give up yet, are you, Ali?"
Alison forced a smile, coaxing Vivica to sit back down. "He said he was leaving, that he wasn't sure what he was going to do about the Air Force, then told me we were through. What else can I do? I have to have some pride."
Vivica balled her hands on her hips. "I'll have another talk with him."
"No, Vivi." Alison caught her before she could leave. "If Brady wants me, he has to decide that for himself. Besides, today and tomorrow are your special days. I don't want anything to spoil them."
Vivica's lips turned down. "Speaking of which, Joe didn't call this morning like he said he would."
"He made it into town, though, didn't he?"
"According to Brady, he went out with the guys last night."
"A bachelor party?" Alison couldn't help but wonder what Brady had been doing at the party. Celebrating his freedom?
"Yeah." Vivica worked the engagement ring up and down her finger. "I hope he's not getting cold feet."
Alison circled her arm around Vivica to console her. Of course, with the little she knew about men, she wasn't sure she could be of any help.
* * *
Brady spent the morning showing his mother's friend, Fred Fairbanks, how to operate the major equipment in the shop. Thankfully, the older man had experience preparing materials for presentations from his former company; Brady's mother had forgotten to mention the fact that the man had worked at a print shop in Atlanta for fifteen years. She'd also forgotten to mention that he had taken a personal interest in her. And if the way his mother kept blushing was any indication, she returned the feeling.
Brady was glad. His mother had been a good wife to his father, had grieved for him for years. Now she deserved some happiness, not to live the rest of her years in loneliness.
As he would probably do.
Plus, Mr. Fairbanks would be a great asset to the shop, and Brady could return to the Air Force without worrying about her. His mother had accepted the news that he would be leaving amazingly well.
He had spent most of the day trying to put Alison out of his mind. But he would see her at the rehearsal at seven o'clock.
The clock chimed five now. His mother had left early to dress for the rehearsal, and Fred had gone home to his remote control. Johnny and Bobby Raye strode through the door drenched to the core, despite the fact that they were wearing raincoats.
"Hey, man, wondered if you'd like to hit the Pug for a while," Johnny said.
Bobby Raye swiped water from his beard.
Brady hesitated, considering his options. He could kick back a few beers with them before the rehearsal. Then again, Vivi would kill him if he showed up drunk at the church. And he had to pick up Joe.
"No, thanks, guys, I have to drive Vivica's fiancé to the rehearsal tonight."
"Well, we'll be there later if you want to stop by," Johnny said.
Brady hesitated again, troubled when the men left. He had made the right decision about not returning to take over his father's business. He hoped he'd made the right decision about Alison.
* * *
Alison met reverend Barnes at the front of the chapel. He was gray-haired, in his sixties and slightly hard-of-hearing, but everyone in Sugar Hill adored him.
"You're right on time, Reverend," Alison said. "I think the bride and groom are downstairs talking. They should be up any minute."
"You say you need a menu?"
Alison patted his hand, gesturing for him to turn up his hearing aid. "No, I said they'll be up in a minute." She glanced at her watch. "I'll go check on them."
"No, I don't need a check," the reverend said. Alison chuckled and walked down the aisle of the chapel. She spotted Vivica and Brady's mother in the vestibule chatting with Donna and Tammy, friends of Vivica's from the hospital who were bridesmaids. Two young cousins – Priscilla, the flower girl, and Devon, the ring bearer – were there, too.
"I have them all under control," Mrs. Broussard said. "I've been explaining how they should walk and carry themselves during the ceremony."
Alison nodded. "I'll get Vivica."
She rounded the corner to the bride's room, but loud voices echoed from inside, and she halted.
"Vivica, I don't care more about my job than you," Joe said, "but this project I'm working on is a million-dollar deal, and I had to call and check on it."
"Just like you had to stay out all night after that bachelor party. Exactly what happened last night, Joe?"
Alison closed her eyes, hoping Joe didn't have some horrid confession to make that might destroy Vivica's happiness.
"Nothing," Joe said, his voice edgy. "I had a little too much to drink and crashed at Curt's place. Don't you trust me, Vivi?"
Footsteps sounded behind her, and Alison opened her eyes and saw Brady descending the steps. Dressed in pleated chinos and a white shirt, he nearly took her breath away.
She had to get over him.
Vivica's voice broke the silence. "I do trust you, but I know how guys are when they get together."
"You know, if you're going to question everything I do, maybe we should rethink this marriage," Joe said.
Vivica's voice rose. "You want to call off the wedding?"
Brady sent her a panicked look and whispered, "What's going on?"
"They're having a squabble."
Brady winced. "Maybe we'd better try to pull things together."
"Right." She moved forward and knocked on the door: "Vivi, it's time to start the rehearsal."
The door swung open and Vivica appeared, her eyes slightly red from crying. "He wants to cancel the wedding."
"I never said that!" Joe exited in a rush. "Women! How does anyone understand them?"
Alison glanced at Brady for help.
"I'll go talk to him," Brady offered.
Alison nodded. "Vivi and I will be up in a minute."
As soon as the men left, Alison grabbed Vivica's hands and pulled her to the small Victorian settee in the corner. "Listen, Vivi, every bride gets nervous before the wedding. That's normal, so take a deep breath and try to relax."
"Relax? But what if he spends all his time at work and ignores me?"
"Has he ignored you while you've been dating?"
Vivica's chin wobbled. "No, but this week he's been gone and he didn't call—"
"Vivi, he's been swamped because he's trying to tie things up so you two can go away for your honeymoon." Alison handed Vivi a tissue. "Now, dry your eyes and let's practice your wedding before Reverend Barnes falls asleep in the pulpit."
* * *
Brady spent ten minutes coaxing Joe to calm down. "Look, man, did something happen last night?"
"No." Joe paced the tiny room. "I behaved myself, if that's what you're thinking caused this. But your sister has been a basket case lately. Complaining that I'm ignoring her when I have to work overtime. I was trying to get a bonus to take her on a nice honeymoon."
Brady's respect went up a notch. "Listen, a wedding's the biggest day in a girl's li
fe. They dream about it for years. I'm sure Vivi's just nervous. She wants everything to be perfect."
Joe ran a hand over his hair. "Well, if she expects me to be perfect, she's going to be disappointed."
Brady grasped Joe's shoulder and guided him toward the front of the church. "Just think, tomorrow night the ceremony will be over, you two will be on your honeymoon and everything will be great."
Joe nodded and took his place. Dave and Curt, the ushers, filed in. Brady frowned when Thomas moved to the front to stand beside Joe. Jealousy balled in his stomach as he realized the implications: Thomas was the best man and would escort Alison down the aisle.
Brady took a deep breath. They would only be walking together – no big deal. It wasn't as if Thomas and Alison were getting married.
Not yet, anyway. But Thomas wants her to marry him and it's just a matter of time before she agrees.
Because you're getting ready to walk out of her life and leave her free.
* * *
Alison shuddered at the dark scowl on Brady's face as he approached them. She said a silent prayer Joe hadn't changed his mind about the wedding – and that Brady had changed his about the divorce.
But he passed her without a word, extended his arm and let Vivica take it.
The rest of the rehearsal was a disaster. The pianist played the wrong music. The ring bearer chased the flower girl down the aisle, snatching her flowers. Donna tripped over her own feet and almost broke her nose. Tammy broke out in hives. And the preacher started the ceremony by reading a passage from a funeral service.
"Relax, everyone," Alison said calmly. "This is the reason we have rehearsals, so we can iron out all the details." She directed everyone to their places for another practice round.
The second time things went much smoother, except Mrs. Broussard burst into tears when the preacher asked who was giving Vivi away. It took Brady ten minutes to calm her.
"This is a bad omen, isn't it, Ali?" Vivica whispered.
"No, don't be silly. I've had much worse catastrophes happen and the wedding still came off."
"Like what?"
Alison struggled to think of something before Vivica panicked. "At Darma's wedding last month, the bride walked down the aisle with her dress caught in her panty hose."
Vivica giggled. "I'll kill you if you let me do that."
Alison laughed. "Don't worry, your wedding will go off without a hitch."
* * *
An hour later Brady was exhausted from his mother's dramatics and the whole formality of the ceremony. And he was irritated as hell at the way Curt and Dave and Thomas kept eyeing Ali. Did she have to be so nice to everyone?
Dammit, she was his wife.
He felt like telling them so, ordering them to keep their eyes and hands off, but knew he didn't have the right.
The reverend summarized the ceremony. "Then I'll pronounce you man and wife and tell you to kiss the bride." The piano music started and the couple sailed down the aisle. Ali smiled and took Thomas's arm. Vivi's friend Donna walked down the aisle with Dave, a scratching Tammy with Curt.
Brady escorted his mother, gnawing at his cheek the entire way.
"Don't you think Thomas and Alison make a nice couple?" his mother said on the, way to the restaurant for the rehearsal dinner. "I bet they'll be getting married next."
Brady drove like a maniac, imagining Emerson and Alison getting married, then imagining them doing all sorts of lurid things in Emerson's car. His irritation snowballed during the rehearsal dinner. Not only did Alison get sandwiched in by Curt and Dave and Thomas at the table – he'd thought the men were going to get in a fight over who would sit by her – but his sister kept singing her praises as if trying to pair her up with one of them.
"Ali has been great," Vivica said, beaming a smile at Curt and Dave. "Of course, we've been best friends since high school."
"That's right," Alison said, totally ignoring Brady and enjoying the other men's attention. "We played softball together and—"
"Swam on the swim team," Vivi finished.
"I heard you were a great breaststroker," Joe said.
"She still is," Vivi interjected. "She swims every day at the rec center."
"Really?" Curt sipped his wine and angled his head to grin at her. "I swam in high school and college."
"You did?" Alison swiveled to study him. "Where did you swim?"
"Cal Berkeley. 'Fly's my best stroke. I'm more of a distance swimmer than a sprinter, too."
"Curt and I were on the team together at Berkeley, Ali," Thomas said.
Brady shifted and swallowed his bourbon. Dammit, no man called his wife Ali but him.
"Thomas was an awesome breaststroker," Curt said, gesturing toward Thomas. "We used to call him Speedo." They all laughed.
"You had to give up swimming for med school, didn't you?" Alison asked.
"Yeah, the schedule was just too much." Thomas placed a hand near her back, and Brady nearly lurched out of his seat. They had too damn much in common.
For the next fifteen minutes, they talked about sports, best times, Olympic trial cuts and different coaching techniques. Finally Dave joined in with a long story about a safari he'd taken to Africa and how he'd swum with crocodiles.
"Wow. I've always wanted to travel," Ali said.
"I thought you preferred small-town life," Brady cut in.
Ali's dark eyes narrowed. "People change when they grow up, don't they, Brady?" She turned back to Dave. "Where else have you been?"
Dave poured Alison another glass of wine. "Let's see, I spent some time in Australia…"
"Joe's friends certainly are interesting," Mrs. Broussard whispered.
Brady grunted.
"They seem like such nice young men, too. All with degrees and good jobs."
She wouldn't have thought they were so nice if she'd heard them at the bachelor party.
"And they seem awfully taken with Alison." His mother twittered. "She may have her choice of them to marry."
Brady chewed furiously as his future flashed in front of him: he was retired from pushing paper in the Air Force, still a bachelor, living at home with his mother. While Alison was happily married, with three or four kids, and had forgotten all about him.
Dammit, he didn't think he could stand it.
* * *
Alison felt heat scalding her neck as she and the rest of the wedding party rose to leave the restaurant. Brady had stared at her like a protective father – well, his look hadn't been totally fatherly – during the entire meal.
But darn it, he didn't want her, so she might as well try to move on with her life.
Not that any of the men, no matter how attentive they'd been, had interested her beyond polite conversation.
She saw her mother and father pulling up to the restaurant.
"Thanks so much for everything, Ali." Vivica hugged her. The bridesmaids rushed away to get their beauty rest, but Curt and Dave lingered in the parking lot along with Brady, while Thomas went to get his car.
"Do you need a ride home?" Curt asked.
"I appreciate the offer," Alison said, "but Thomas is driving me."
"How about a nightcap somewhere?" Dave suggested.
"We could go to a club," Curt said hopefully.
Ali glanced at Brady, her stomach clenching at his brooding expression. Her parents were approaching, too, her father's hand resting on her mother's lower back.
"I'm going to call it a night, guys. I have a lot to do tomorrow before the wedding." She gestured toward her parents. "Besides, there are my folks. I want to speak to them. Good night."
The guys lumbered off, looking disappointed, but Brady remained, a sullen expression on his face.
"Janelle, Dad, what are you doing here?"
Her father clutched his lapels with his hands. "Your mom just bought a car from me, so I'm taking her to dinner."
Her mother gestured toward Brady. "I was going to call you two tonight, anyway."
"Oh
?" Alison twisted her hands together. "Something wrong?" Maybe the divorce couldn't go through for some reason.
"No, everything's on schedule. The divorce will be final tomorrow."
Alison fought a reaction, but the chicken Parmesan she'd eaten for dinner gurgled in her stomach. Brady stood ramrod straight with that military expression on his face. If they'd been at the pool, she'd have pushed him in again.
An odd look softened her mother's face. "You two do still want it, don't you?"
Alison hesitated.
She thought Brady hesitated.
But she sensed Brady was going to say yes, and she refused to beg or tell him about the technicality – he might think she'd purposely seduced him to make the agreement null and void – so she lifted her chin and strove for dignity. Then she nodded, said good-night and hurried to meet Thomas at his car.
* * *
Chapter 19
« ^ »
Brady watched Alison leave with Emerson, a wave of anxiety knotting his stomach. He'd finally succeeded in convincing her they should get the divorce.
He should feel relieved.
Instead agony rippled through him.
"Brady?"
He didn't realize the Hartwells were still standing in the parking lot. Wiley Hartwell cast him a questioning look.
"So, I guess I was right four years ago," Alison's father finally said, pulling on his chin. "You're not the right man for my girl. She deserves someone who'd fight for her." Wiley shook his head in disdain and left him standing on the sidewalk.
Brady limped to his car, then drove out to the lake. Dammit, he was doing the best thing for Alison, wasn't he? He sat on the bank, pulled out one of Alison's letters from his pocket and began to read.
Dear Brady,
I've been writing you for months now and I don't understand why you won't write me back. I miss you so much. When I read your letters, I can hear your voice saying the words to me. But now I feel so empty inside and I ache to hear you just say my name. Please, Brady, write and tell me what's going on. I had a nightmare last night that you'd been hurt and you were gone forever, and I woke up crying. I don't think I could go on without you.