“Morning.” TJ appeared in her doorway, the GoPro stick in his hand. “You ready to check this out?”
“Absolutely,” Veronica said, scooting her chair over to make room for him next to her.
He pulled a chair up, and they both looked at the small GoPro screen. Their knees touched as they slowly scrolled through the frames. Veronica found it hard to focus on the footage.
Should she ask him out to lunch? Why not? The new Veronica wanted to be more outgoing and make friends. Just do it, for crying out loud! It’s only lunch. Big deal. Say it casually. Just ask!
“So, do you have any…”
“Who is that?” TJ yelled, interrupting her, his attention on the screen.
Veronica jerked her face back toward the screen and saw a young man standing at the box of butterflies. He seemed to be reading the instructions on the side of the box. He looked around, as if to make sure no one was watching, and then slowly removed the lid. He closed it almost immediately, leaned down to look at the thermometer, and moved around the ice blocks surrounding the box. Then he walked away.
“What was he doing? It looked like he was moving the packs away. What if it gets too warm inside the box?” Veronica’s heart raced. She thought she recognized the guy from the kitchen staff. “That guy must be connected to Tanner somehow.”
“That’s Ben. He’s part of the kitchen staff. Stay here. I’m going to go get him.” TJ left and returned a few minutes later with Ben.
“What’s going on?” Ben asked.
“You tell us.” Veronica crossed her arms over her chest. “Why were you screwing around with the butterflies last night?”
Ben looked at them with a confused expression on his face. “Huh?”
“Don’t act stupid. We have you on video,” TJ said.
“Look, I don’t know what the problem is, but I don’t work for either of you. I work for Gertie, and I only answer to Gertie. I don’t even know who you two are.” Ben turned to leave.
“Did I hear my name?” Gertie appeared in the doorway. Her eyes flicked from Veronica to TJ to Ben. “What’s going on here?” The frown on her face showed she wasn’t happy.
Ben pointed to TJ. “I have no idea. I was prepping food, and this guy comes in and starts talking about butterflies and then brings me up here.”
“Gertie, the butterflies were part of a plan to catch whoever was trying to sabotage Marly’s wedding. The box is empty. It’s filled with tissue paper. We hid a GoPro camera to see who would mess with the box, and it was this kid,” TJ explained.
Veronica stood and nodded for support. They hadn’t told Gertie about the plan, figuring the fewer people who knew the better. Not to mention that Gertie was already overworked and neither of them wanted her to have something else to worry about.
“What? Good grief. You two should stick to your day jobs. You make really bad detectives. I asked Ben to keep an eye on the butterflies so they didn’t croak. The stupid temperature thing. I mean, you do realize the ice packs wouldn’t last all night, right? Ben stays overnight here. He was just doing his job!”
Veronica felt like an idiot, especially for not telling Gertie about the plan to begin with. She could tell by Gertie’s glare that she was pissed.
“Sorry, Gertie. We were trying to figure out who was trying to ruin the wedding before they do anything else. It worries me,” Veronica explained, hoping Gertie would understand.
“I don’t really know what you guys are talking about, but it sounds like you’re looking for someone shady. If so, you should probably check out the tent poles,” Ben said.
Gertie made a face. ‘Tent poles?”
“I worked for Howard’s Party Supply before I came here. We rented out the same tent you have here, the big fancy ones. And one of them collapsed on an entire bar mitzvah party. It was a mess!”
Veronica glanced at TJ. His jawline tightened, but other than that, there was no evidence of his tent phobia.
“People use tents every day for parties. That must have been a fluke,” Veronica said.
“Turns out the poles had rotted inside and buckled under the weight. Some of those poles you have downstairs don’t look much better. The ones with the red tags on them look rotted out. I’d check them if I were you. You should never use wooden poles. Use only metal poles.”
Everyone stared at him, and he shifted uncomfortably. “Can I go now?”
Gertie flapped her hand at him. “Yes. Go. Thanks for the tip on the poles.”
Ben leveled a look at Veronica and TJ before rushing out of the office.
“Well, I guess we need to buy new tent poles,” TJ said.
“No, it’s fine. We cannot get off of schedule! The tent is going up today. I’ll call the place I bought them from and get the story on the poles and which ones to use to make sure it’s safe,” Gertie replied, waving him off with her hand.
Edward suddenly poked his head into the office. He nodded curtly at Veronica and her stomach soured. He still made her nervous.
“Great job so far, Ms. St. John. It’s incredible to think that the wedding is only three days away, but I just looked at the venue, and it has come together nicely.” He looked at Gertie. “Are you ready, Gertie? Everyone’s here for a final review. And I brought your favorite thing.” Grinning, he reached into his suit and pulled out a checkbook, making Gertie giggle like a schoolgirl. She wheeled out of Veronica’s office, and Edward followed behind her, leaving Veronica and TJ alone.
“Well, it looks like Gertie is a bit preoccupied with Edward. We need to make sure the tent gets the right poles regardless of what she said. We don’t need any more disasters around here,” TJ said.
Veronica simply nodded. She was still a bit in shock over Edward’s compliment. First Marly acts friendly, then Edward gives her a compliment. All her hard work at being nice was starting to pay off with good karma.
Just as they both started toward the door, Marly popped her head in.
“I just wanted to come by and thank you for fixing everything with my wedding gown. I just came from the fitting, and it’s absolutely perfect!” Marly beamed at Veronica and then nodded to TJ. “Okay, I gotta run. We have some food tasting in the kitchen, and I don’t want the groom getting antsy. You know how he can be when he’s kept waiting! I’ll check with you later about Project Butterfly.”
Veronica, taken aback by how friendly and sincere Marly was, barely managed to get out “You’re welcome” before Marly disappeared.
She looked to TJ. “I guess she’ll be disappointed with the results of Project Butterfly.”
“No doubt. Don’t worry. I’ll put the GoPro back and maybe someone else will try to disturb them.”
“Maybe. But now I guess we better see to those tent poles before something else goes wrong.”
18
The tent lay in a giant heap in the outdoor reception area when Veronica and TJ got there. Gertie had texted her, verifying Ben’s story that the green-tagged poles were the ones to use. Knowing his thing with tents, she’d told him he didn’t have to go with her, but he’d insisted. He said he had a vested interest in making sure things went well too, and that they were in this together.
Veronica eyed the heap of canvas and poles, noticing a red tag on one of the poles.
“Excuse me,” she said as she grabbed the closest worker by the arm. “The poles with red tags on them should not be used for the tent. The poles with the green tags are the right ones.”
“Huh? Look, lady, I was just told to grab the poles, and these were the ones I found,” the worker replied nonchalantly, not seeming to care too much about what Veronica had said.
“Hey! Listen. I said use the green-tagged poles. Not the ones with red tags. I’m the one responsible for managing this wedding! Got it?” Veronica’s yelling caused the workers within earshot to stop and stare.
“Okay, okay. Geez. Sorry, lady,” the worker mumbled and called over several other employees, telling them they needed to go get the poles with the gr
een tags.
Veronica turned around to see TJ staring at her, laughing. “What?”
“That was the Veronica I remember from the cooking contest. I was wondering when she would show up.”
“Ha! Well, I’m trying to be less bossy, but this needs to be done the right way. It’s a good thing we came down here to tell them, or they would have used the wrong poles, and that would have wasted a lot of time.”
“Agreed, great job.” TJ held his hand up for a high five.
Veronica slapped his hand, and their eyes locked.
“Hey, how about we go out after work and celebrate?” His voice was lower, more serious now. “I mean, you owe me dinner anyway, don’t you?”
Veronica laughed, glad that he had made a small joke out of it so there wasn’t a lot of “this is a date” pressure.
“You’re on. I’ll swing by your office when I’m done here. Sound good?” she asked him as a few employees walked past, struggling with the giant tent poles.
“Sounds good. See you then.”
Veronica watched TJ walk away and did a little victory pump as some of the employees walking by gave her a strange look.
“Pay attention to that tent, not me!” she said to them, too happy to let their dirty looks burst her bubble. The dinner probably meant nothing, but at the very least, TJ liked her and wanted to spend time with her. If nothing else, he could be a friend. And Veronica was finding out she dearly wanted some friends.
She stood and watched as the crew started to erect the tent, paying close attention to the poles to ensure they used the right ones. Satisfied that they were on the right track, she headed back to her office, her thoughts on Ben and the butterflies. Ben had been the only one caught on the GoPro, which meant no one else tried to do anything with the box. But, surely, if Tanner’s minion was around, he or she would have done something. Maybe Gertie had been right when she’d said they didn’t have to worry about Tanner anymore. Just what had Gertie said to him?
Veronica’s mood had improved immensely. Even though the saboteur might still be on the loose, she’d thwarted another disaster and had plans for dinner. Best of all, Marly was happy! Things were all falling into place.
As she passed Gertie’s office, she heard a familiar man’s voice. She stopped and leaned back toward Gertie’s door so she could hear what was being said and try to determine who it was she was talking to.
“Well, now that everything is taken care of, how about going to dinner with me tonight to celebrate?”
“Oh, I can’t, dear. Thank you, though. I have to go meet Tanner Durcotte at one of his restaurants. We have some business to discuss. Maybe another time?”
Veronica froze. She recognized the voice. It was Edward! He had just asked Gertie out to dinner, and she had said no because she was meeting Tanner! What the hell was going on here?
She continued toward her office, shaking her head. She made a mental note to tell Gertie to stay away from both Tanner and Edward when she could talk to her alone.
She slipped back into her office and pushed the door half shut. Even the plant on her printer table was looking up. It was slowly coming back to life, some new bright green leaves sprouting off of one of the branches.
She leaned over to pull it closer to the window for more sun, and while doing so caught a glimpse of something on the street below.
The man wore a red shirt, the same color TJ had been wearing earlier today. Wait a minute. It was TJ. He was talking to someone familiar. Wait! It was Sarah.
Veronica leaned forward to get a better view, her face smashed against the window, just in time to catch TJ giving Sarah a hug and a kiss and then climb into a car with her. Her heart plummeted. TJ was dating Sarah?
She stepped back, her arm catching on a branch of the plant. It fell, and the soil spilled all over the shiny floor.
“Dammit!” she yelled as she started to scoop up the dirt with her hands.
“Uh-oh, that didn’t sound good. Need some help in here?” Harper had been lurking outside Veronica’s office when she heard the plant hit the floor.
“Stupid plant!” Veronica mumbled as she scooped up the last remaining lumps of dirt and threw them back into the pot. “I knew I’d end up killing it.”
“C’mon.” Harper said. “Take a break for a few minutes. You need to wash those hands anyway.”
Veronica stood and held her dirt-smudged hands in front of her. “Yeah, good idea. I could use a break.”
They headed to the break room. Veronica made a bee-line for the sink, and Harper headed to the vending machine. “What do you want? My treat.”
“M&Ms would be great. No, wait, Peppermint Patty. Oh screw it, M&Ms are fine. Thanks.”
Harper pushed the buttons on the machine, and it whirred into action, spitting out two packages of the candy. She handed one bag to Veronica as she sat at the table. The room was empty. There was a big break room downstairs and because most of the staff worked on the first floor, it was used more frequently.
“So, how’s the wedding planning going?” Harper sensed that something was wrong, and she wanted to know what it was, so she could report back to Tanner.
“Ugh. I mean, it’s fine. It’s just so stressful. Keeping Marly happy, making sure Gertie is happy, ensuring I’m not going over TJ’s stupid budget. And doing it all in record time.”
“I’m sure it’s crazy, trying to keep everyone happy,” Harper said, unsure exactly why Veronica called TJ’s budget stupid. It sounded more as if she was angry with him rather than something to do with the wedding. “Was TJ’s budget way off or something?”
Veronica shrugged. “I guess not. I mean, whatever. He’s just not who I thought he was. He seemed like a nice guy, but I think he’s just a jerk like the rest of them, know what I mean? One minute he’s great, and the next minute he’s a jerk.”
Harper knew exactly what she meant but remained silent as she watched Veronica pick through the bag of M&M’s. Did Veronica have a crush on TJ? If anyone knew what it felt like to be screwed over by a crush, it was Harper.
She’d been cheated on by her fiancé, and it had been horrible. She’d been blindsided and had had to call off her wedding less than a month before they were set to walk down the aisle. It had been humiliating.
Thank God for Uncle Tanner coming to her rescue, keeping her cheered up, and taking care of everything for her. He had always been so good to her, but now she had to admit she was starting to have doubts about his plans to ruin this wedding. Truth was, she was a little worried about the tags she’d switched on those tent poles.
“Yeah, I don’t date much these days. I think I’m better off just focusing on work for now,” Harper said, hesitant to tell Veronica about her failed engagement. It was humiliating telling people she had been cheated on, so she avoided talking about it as much as possible.
“Ha! I don’t date ever! I’ve only had one relationship, and that was enough for me. It was a nightmare. He was a cheater and a liar. I’d rather work too. I’m actually happy that this job eats up so much time. It keeps me busy,” Veronica said, folding up the half-eaten bag of M&Ms.
“He cheated?” Harper asked, immediately feeling a bond with Veronica. “Mine did too. It kind of makes you lose your trust in people, doesn’t it?”
“Yes! It totally does. Sorry that you were cheated on too. At least we’re both better off now.”
“Definitely better off now.” Harper smiled at Veronica. Suddenly the other woman didn’t seem the mean bitch Tanner had portrayed. She seemed nice. And they had things in common that made Harper feel they could even be friends. Well, until Veronica discovered the role Harper played in sabotaging the wedding. But, so far all those things had been fixed, and the wedding was almost here. Maybe Uncle Tanner wouldn’t have anything more for her to wreck.
“So, do you have a lot left to do for the wedding? I mean, I know there must be, but it seems like things are falling into place for you from what I’ve seen around here,” Harper said.
<
br /> “Well, there’s some weird stuff that’s been happening around here with the wedding. Almost like someone is trying to sabotage it. Earlier I was told that some of the tent poles have rot in them. There are two sets of poles, and the wrong ones were being used. I mean, can you imagine that huge tent falling down on top of everyone? I have a ton of candles that will be under that tent. It could easily catch fire if it collapsed.”
“That would have been horrible!” Harper was shocked. So that’s why Uncle Tanner had wanted her to switch the tags on the tent poles. He wanted the tent to collapse.
Suddenly she felt sick. People could get hurt. So now who was the monster, Veronica or Uncle Tanner?
“So, you’re sure the tent poles that are being used now are the right ones?” she asked cautiously.
“Yes. I called the person Gertie bought them from and found out that the green-tagged poles are the right ones, not the red-tagged ones,” Veronica replied. “I watched them start to set the tent up to make sure it was okay.”
“Oh, cool.” Panic bubbled up. She had already swapped out the tags on the poles as Uncle Tanner had told her to do. So now the green-tagged poles were probably the bad ones, assuming that’s why Tanner had wanted her to switch them. “Well, I should get back to work, I guess. I still have a lot of stuff to do for Gertie. You know how she is if you fall behind.”
“Yeah. Thanks for the chat.” Veronica waved as Harper rushed out of the room.
Harper ran out the door and down the stairs toward the outdoor reception area. She needed to check the tent poles.
“What’s going on?” she asked Bob, one of the maintenance guys, as she maneuvered around the tent poles that were now strewn around the lawn.
“We’re changing the poles on the tent. Something about some of them being unstable or something, I don’t know.” Bob sounded irritated. “Hm. Well, that’s what I came to check on. You should be using the ones with the red tags. Not the green ones.” She reached down and pointed at a pole with a green tag.
The pole in Bob’s hand clattered to the floor, and he turned to face Harper. He did not look happy. “Look, someone else just told us an hour ago that we had to use the poles with green tags. Now you come along and say use the red-tagged ones. Can someone make up their mind? We have other stuff to do!”
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