Vendors were coming out of the woodwork. Jackie and Janelle helped field phone calls as they set up interviews, and just as Olivia had planned, Tina soon got in contact with her.
“Olivia, I just heard the wonderful news! Your wedding is back on, and I feel truly terrible about giving you a hard time over this whole curse thing. Why don’t you let me make it up to you? I’ll help you plan your wedding for free!”
It was all Olivia could do not to roll her eyes. Now that she knew she’d been duped by one wedding planner, it was all she could do to pretend to be duped by another. Of course Tina wanted to help her for free. She wanted Candlelight Farms to be the wedding planner that helped organize the most notorious and exciting wedding of the year.
And the free publicity on the town's webpage was more than an added bonus.
“Tina, thank you so much,” Olivia gushed. Leaning against the counter in Happy Endings, she gave Jackie and Janelle a thumbs-up sign. “I knew you would come through for me.”
“Shall we get together this afternoon?”
“Actually, I was already gathering the wedding party at Happy Endings for a little celebration tomorrow afternoon. Maybe we could stop by afterwards? I know it seems silly, but after Lacy just took over the planning, I really want you to get a sense of my friends and me. I want this wedding to reflect my values.”
“Of course,” Tina laughed. “Sweetheart, you’ll find that I’m nothing like Lacy. I’d love to get to know your wedding party.”
Tina was nothing like Lacy. One ruined people’s reputations. The other was a cold-blooded murderer.
After setting up the time, Olivia grinned.
Janelle frowned in response. “I had no idea that you were having everyone over tomorrow to celebrate.”
“I’m not, but I want to make sure certain people are at that appointment with me when I go.”
“Really? Who?”
Olivia shrugged. “I think Andrew’s groomsmen should be more involved with the wedding.”
“Brett? He doesn’t seem the wedding type.”
“No,” Olivia said with a sly smile. “But I think Sheriff Nick Limperos will be very interested in meeting with Tina.”
“What do you think he’s going to do?”
“Nothing. But I want him to be there when Tina confesses to killing Lacy McBride.”
She winked as Lady Celeste walked in, and her good mood swelled. Everything was all coming together, and she was going to put those nasty rumors that she was a cursed bride to rest. As the psychic leaned over the display case to look at the selection of cookies, Olivia sauntered over to her.
“Good morning, Lady Celeste!”
The older lady, dressed in a blindingly neon orange dress with lime green geometric shapes and a matching headscarf, smiled brightly as she looked up. “My dear, Olivia! How are things? Your string of bad luck isn’t holding, is it?”
“As a matter-of-fact, I’m about to reveal Lacy McBride’s real killer,” she said almost smugly. It felt good to finally be able to close the case.
Celeste raised an eyebrow. “That’s nice, dear.”
There was something in her voice that gave Olivia pause. The psychic was obviously not convinced that Olivia was ready to wrap everything up. “I’m serious. I know who killed Lacy, and it’s not the Bride’s Curse.”
“I believe you.” A knowing look crossed the old woman’s face, and Olivia blinked.
Afraid that she might not like the answer, she pressed on. “So that’ll be it. No more cursed bride. Just another murder in our small town.”
Celeste frowned disapprovingly and tapped a long bright-orange nail on the glass of the display case. “Murder is never something to celebrate.”
“Seriously?” Olivia asked in exasperation. “You can’t just admit that you were wrong?”
“If I recall, your problems began before the murder. Maybe this will solve everything, or maybe there is something else going on that you aren’t willing to acknowledge.”
“That is not how this works,” Olivia insisted. “I set out to solve this case so the wedding community wouldn’t believe in some ridiculous curse and continue to back out. That’s exactly what I plan on doing today, and it would mean so much to me if you could support me on this, Celeste.”
“Of course, dear. I’m sure everything is going to work out splendidly for you. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve been craving one of these fudge chocolate cookies all day.” Just like that, Lady Celeste dismissed her.
Her mood dampened, Olivia slumped back to Jackie. “I’m starting to think that woman hates me.”
“Cheer up,” Jackie laughed. “She’s just old and stubborn and doesn’t want to admit when she’s wrong. Vendors are beating down the door to help with your wedding, so I think it’s safe to say that the Bride’s Curse has been laid to rest once and for all.”
“You’re right.” Olivia pushed her shoulders back and nodded. Putting Lacy’s killer behind bars was the only thing left on her to-do list, and by the end of tomorrow, she and Andrew would be feeling the bliss.
The Bride’s Curse would be nothing more than a distant memory.
The next afternoon, Andrew, Olivia, and Goodwin stood outside of Candlelight Farms. Brett, Nick, Patrick, Janelle, and Jackie were already gathered inside and looking over the display items.
“Are you sure you want to do this?” Andrew asked quietly.
Ever since she’d come up with the plan, he’d tried to talk her out of it. He wanted to spend more time searching for evidence, but Olivia knew that they didn’t have more time. Patricia was about to be transferred to the county jail for booking, and Olivia couldn’t let things go that far. “It’s not like it’s going to be real,” she pointed out. “We just need to throw Tina off balance.”
“Real or not, I still don’t want to do it.”
She sighed. As much as they’d been fighting lately, she figured it would be no hardship for them to fake a fight in the middle of the store. “Look, we’ll just argue about wanting Goodwin in the wedding, and we’ll go from there. It’s going to be fine. Just focus on the mission. We want to steer the conversation to Lacy and get a reaction out of Tina. It shouldn’t be that hard. You hated Lacy.”
“Fine.” His lips were set in a hard line, and he wouldn’t even meet her eyes.
Gripping Goodwin’s leash, she watched as he marched into the store. Worry settled over her. He should have been pleased that they were closer to getting married, but he seemed even more anxious.
Just what was going on with him?
“There’s the very not cursed bride!” Tina announced when Olivia walked through the door. A cheer went up in the crowd, and Olivia blushed.
“Seriously, this whole curse thing is ridiculous,” she muttered. “I’ll be glad when people aren’t talking about it.”
“Then we’ll need to give them something else to talk about.” Tina passed out glasses of champagne while Rachel arranged the wedding planning books on the table. “And your wedding will be so sensational that everyone will forget all about the curse. I have been getting calls all morning from vendors who want to participate, and I've managed to track down your wedding dress. You are one popular bride.”
“That’s good. That’s how it should be.”
Goodwin pulled at the leash when he saw the wedding cake displays. “Goodwin, stop! They’re not real,” Olivia laughed.
“Do you have to bring that dog everywhere with you?” Andrew snapped.
The room grew silent. Olivia had already warned the group what she and Andrew had planned, but she suspected none of them had ever heard Andrew actually fight with her.
Tina cleared her throat. “I love dogs,” she said as she tried to cut through the tension. “Are you going to have him in the wedding?”
“No,” Andrew said at the same time that Olivia said, “Yes.”
“What do you mean, no?” Olivia asked indignantly. “Goodwin is family, and I want family to be in the wedding.”
<
br /> “My mother is family,” he said grimly. “But you don’t see her here, do you? You haven’t even tried to include her, yet you’re going to have that mangy mutt in the wedding!”
What? His mother? Where did that come from? “I’ve been in touch with your mother,” she pointed out. “Which is pretty big of me, considering that you’ve done nothing to bridge the gap between us. She hates me!”
“You spoke to my mother?” he asked sharply. “When?”
Jackie interrupted. “Guys. We have a mission here, remember? The wedding.”
“Yes, this ridiculous wedding,” Andrew sneered.
Olivia narrowed her eyes and glared at him. “You know, you keep muttering things under your breath. Why don’t you actually try talking to me?”
“You want me to talk to you?” He rounded on her suddenly, and she was taken aback by the fire in his eyes. “Fine, let’s talk. Why don’t we talk about how the wedding of fifty people is now five hundred people? Or maybe we could talk about how the small private ceremony is now suddenly going to be on the website for the whole town!”
“That is not my fault,” she snapped. “That’s all Mayor Henderson’s doing.”
“You could have said no, Olivia. All of this could have been avoided if you’d just said no!” Andrew’s voice rose to a shout, and she gasped. Things were hitting just a little too close to home. Was he insinuating that none of this would have happened if she’d just turned down his proposal?
Her voice quivered just a little bit, but she plunged forward. “Where were you when I was planning everything? I kept asking you what you wanted, and you said whatever I wanted. Now that I’m showing you what I want, you’re freaking out.”
“I never got a chance to have an opinion because you let a perfect stranger take charge. You’re acting like this wedding is a battle—rather than a ceremony that will affect the rest of our lives.”
“And you’re acting like you don’t want to even get married!” There was a shift in his eyes, but she kept going, terrified of what he might say next. She had to focus on the plan and not on Andrew. “And that’s just fine. I bet Tina wouldn’t even be able to handle this wedding, anyway.”
Almost on cue, Tina straightened belligerently. “Excuse me?”
Olivia ignored her. “I chose Lacy because that woman knows how to get stuff done. What’s wrong, Andrew? Does my independence scare you? Is that why you hated Lacy?”
“Enough!” Tina snapped. “If you two want to fight, you are welcome to do it outside my establishment. I will not have you dragging my name through the mud.”
Olivia whirled around and pointed an accusing finger at her. “Is it really through the mud, Tina? You refused to help me from the beginning. Your supposed tips were all about hiring people in Lowell. You obviously knew that you weren’t up to Lacy’s standards.”
“Lacy did say that you were second-rate,” Rachel added dryly.
Tina turned purple with rage. “How dare you! Do you have any idea the things she said about you?”
Rachel shrugged. “That’s because I left her and not the other way around.”
“Because that bitch stole your idea! Just like she was trying to steal that venue from me, but you had the nerve to go crawling back to her and ask for a job!”
Rachel paled. “You knew why I was going to see her?”
“Of course I knew about it. You think you can pull one over on me? You thought that I would believe that you just wanted to use some of her vendors? I knew from the very beginning.”
Olivia’s heart hammered in her chest. Tina had just admitted that she knew Rachel was going to see Lacy, but that was only half the battle. It was good, but it wasn't the incriminating confession that they needed. Olivia took a deep breath and tried to push her over the edge. “You told her to use Patty Cake's.”
“Lacy might have hated Patricia, but even she couldn’t deny that Patricia was a genius baker. Lacy was always getting people to bring her cupcakes on the sly.” As soon as the words were out of her mouth, Tina realized what she’d said. All the blood drained from her face. “Patricia knew that,” she said hastily.
Olivia took a step closer to her. “You knew that Rachel wanted to get back in Lacy’s good graces, and you encouraged her to use Patricia to do it.”
“No,” Tina muttered and shook her head.
“She’s lying!” Rachel cried out. “She told me that Lacy loved Patricia’s almond cake!”
Tina’s face grew dark. “Shut up.”
Olivia handed Goodwin’s leash to Jackie and advanced on Tina. “You planned the whole thing. It was never about humiliating Lacy. You wanted her business. With Lacy out of the way, the venue and all of those exclusive weddings would be yours. You set Patricia up.”
“No!” Tina screamed. She pointed her finger at Rachel. “I was setting her up! She’s just like Lacy! God, the two of them were a nightmare together, and she’s turning out to be just as bad. With Lacy gone, Rachel will be easily pushed out of the way, and that damn venue will be mine!”
The whole shop fell silent, and Tina’s eyes grew wild when she realized she'd just confessed to the murder. Suddenly, her arm shot out and she grabbed Olivia. Andrew shouted and lunged, but Tina had already grabbed for the cake knife on the table. “I’ll make you pay for this!” she hissed.
Suddenly, a huge silver platter came crashing down on Tina’s head. Staggering, she loosened her grasp just enough for Olivia to wrench away and move back into Andrew’s protective arms. Goodwin barked sharply and jumped, brought up short by his leash. Rachel shrugged and brought the platter down again. Tina moaned and fell to the floor in an unconscious heap.
For a moment, everyone was silent as they tried to process what had just happened.
“We did it,” Olivia said at last in disbelief. She still couldn’t believe that it had worked.
“I am not a bitch,” Rachel snarled at the unconscious body and stepped aside. She looked pointedly at Nick. “Are you going to arrest her?”
Olivia couldn’t help it. Laughter bubbled up in her throat. Everyone stared at her, and she shook her head. “I’m sorry. It’s just that Tina was right. Rachel, you are going to be just like Lacy.”
“If you mean a kick-ass wedding planner, then, yes. But Lacy bulldozed over a bunch of people to get the top, and I’m not going to do that.” A smile crossed Rachel’s face. “As a thank-you for saving your life, the least you could do is let me help finish planning your wedding.”
Olivia looked up at Andrew and smiled. “We do owe her that much.”
Nick pulled out his handcuffs, and everyone cheered. For one dazed moment, Olivia couldn’t believe that they’d pulled it off. She’d done it. She’d actually figured out who the killer was and had brought her to justice. Maybe instead of a dog-walking business, she should look into private investigating.
Andrew would just love that.
20
Rose held the gun steady. "You helped him kill his wife, and when he refused to pay you, you murdered him, too. You almost had me fooled, you know? You almost made me think that you were innocent. You know how you messed up?"
He looked at her with hatred in his eyes. "I don't care," he spat.
"Only a cleaner would wipe the dirt away from my windows. You just couldn't help yourself."
"Rose!" Hank burst in, gun drawn. "My God, are you okay?"
She lowered her weapon and stared at him. There was so much that she wanted to say, but she couldn't even begin to formulate her thoughts. Emotions weren't easy for her.
Murder was different. Murder, she could do.
"I believe that Chad here has something that he wants to confess."
The next few days were perfect. Every person Olivia passed on the street congratulated her on her upcoming wedding, although she would have preferred if they’d congratulated her on collaring the real killer.
Rachel turned out to be a pretty decent wedding planner. Olivia told her what she wanted, and Rachel would po
int out if she thought that it would work or not.
Olivia tried to include Andrew, but he remained distant. Rachel didn’t seem concerned. “Men don’t usually want to be involved in a wedding,” she said with a shrug. “I wouldn’t worry about it. As long as they show up, that’s all that matters.”
But Andrew wasn't just any man. He was Olivia’s fiancé, and up until the wedding planning had started, he’d always supported her and tried to help. Olivia had thought he’d feel better once she told him that she was willing to have a fall wedding, but he’d just nodded his head and walked away. Nothing seemed to bridge the gap between them.
Using Tabitha's suggestions, she managed to secure the perfect present for Andrew online. She was so thrilled about crossing that off her list that she didn't even mind when Janelle got her up early one morning to sign the final papers on the brownstone.
Monday morning, before Andrew had to leave for work, she woke him up with a soft kiss. “Hey, Janelle just called. I’m going in early to sign the papers for the brownstone. Want to come with me?”
“Really?” he glanced blearily at the clock. “You’re going to do it? No excuses, this time?”
“No excuses. Come on. It’s pouring down rain out there. Do you think you can give me a ride on your way to work?”
“Sure. Just let me take a shower.”
Twenty minutes later, they were pulling up to the bakery. The streets were still empty, and he had no trouble finding street parking. Grabbing the car door handle, she wrenched the door opened and jogged to the awning. “Olivia!” he protested as he joined her. “Why didn’t you stay in the car?”
“And give myself the chance to convince you to drive away—with me still in the car? Way too dangerous. I just want to hurry up and get this over with.”
Andrew just stared at her while the rain poured around them. “Just hurry up and get it over with?” he asked hoarsely.
Till Death Do Us Bark (Happy Tails Dog Walking Mysteries Book 2) Page 15