“Red tags! Use the poles with the red tags. And if anyone else comes along and tries to change it, you tell them Gertie said use the red tags!”
Bob’s brows flew up. “Okay. Sheesh. Don’t get your panties in a wad.”
She stood with her arms crossed and waited for them to start swapping the poles out, ensuring that they used those with the red tags. Her heart filled with regret.
She’d come to like working for Gertie. The old lady was feisty and kind and smart. She even reminded her of Auntie Emily a bit. She looked a lot like her from a certain angle. And after talking to Veronica, now Harper knew she wasn’t as horrible as Uncle Tanner had made her out to be. She didn’t know what Uncle Tanner’s issue was, but she did know that Veronica wasn’t the person Uncle Tanner pictured.
Veronica and Gertie deserved for this wedding reception to go off without a hitch, and if that meant Uncle Tanner would be angry with her because she’d made sure that this tent wasn’t going to crumble down on top of everyone, then so be it.
Tanner straightened his tie in front of the mirror. He supposed he wasn’t too bad looking. His hair, or what was left of it, had that salt-and-pepper look, and he wasn’t too grossly overweight. He stepped back and smoothed the suit jacket. It was his best suit. For some strange reason, he wanted to look good for his dinner with Gertie.
He’d spent most of the day eagerly awaiting the dinner. For the first time since Emily had died, he was actually looking forward to something. And for the first time in a long time, he discovered that someone’s opinion of him mattered. Gertie’s opinion.
After he’d met her in his restaurant, she’d called him, and they’d talked on the phone for a long time. What about, exactly, he could not recall. He remembered only that her voice was soothing, her words made sense. Unlike most of the people he’d met in his businesses, she didn’t judge him. She restored some of the hopeful feelings he’d had years ago.
What had happened to make him so bitter and angry? Life had beaten him down, but as Gertie had pointed out, that was no reason for him to try to bring others down. Look at Gertie and all the obstacles she’d had to overcome. It made him feel ashamed that he’d resorted to bringing others down when Gertie had much more challenging obstacles to overcome and did so while remaining positive and even working hard to help others.
Tanner remembered the last text he’d sent to Harper about the tent poles. He almost wished he hadn’t done that. It would ruin the wedding, and if the wedding was ruined, Gertie would be ruined. Or maybe not. Maybe Gertie would be okay. It was just one event. Marly might not be too happy, but she deserved that, right? And Veronica too.
But Tanner didn’t feel exactly like that was right anymore. Maybe he should text Harper and call off the pole-switching. Nah, better to wait until after dinner. No need to make any drastic decisions right this minute.
19
Veronica stared at the empty M&M wrapper in her trash barrel. Stupid candy. That was pretty much her only vice. Well, that and now the lip balm. At least lip balm didn’t have any calories! She would have to spend extra time working out to burn off those M&Ms or make one hundred extra trips up and down the stairs here at the office.
She wished she hadn’t eaten them but was glad that she had had Harper to talk to. She congratulated herself on cleverly trying to wangle information out of Harper by mentioning the tentpole incident. She’d wanted to see if Harper knew of anyone suspicious who might be causing the problems, but she’d seemed clueless, so Veronica hadn’t learned anything.
She kind of liked Harper. She seemed really down-to-earth, and they actually had a few things in common. Veronica had never had many friends. Or any, for that matter. She had typically kept to herself her whole life. The other kids had teased her mercilessly when she was growing up, so as an adult, she had developed defenses to push people away.
Maybe it was time for her to stop being so standoffish when it came to making friends. It seemed she might enjoy being friends with Harper and maybe even Marly. Not TJ, though.
She checked the soil in her office plant. She’d put all the dirt back and packed it in. The plant seemed none the worse for it. Luckily the pot was plastic and hadn’t broken. She avoided looking out the window, afraid of whom or what she might see below this time. She had seen enough earlier!
She glanced down at her watch. It was almost time to go home. She had spent a few hours updating spreadsheets for the wedding and looking out her office door more than she probably should have. Every time she had heard footsteps in the hallway, her heart had skipped a beat. Was it TJ?
But it hadn’t been. Her “date” with him obviously wasn’t going to happen because he apparently was still with Sarah. She was being stood up. She shut down her computer and let out a heavy sigh.
Wait. What if she bumped into TJ on her way out of the building? What if he was standing there, kissing Sarah? That would be so awkward. She grabbed her purse and decided to leave through one of the side doors to avoid him.
She exited her office and briskly walked down the hallway to the elevator.
Ding!
Shoot! Someone was getting off! She ducked into an empty office, cautiously pulling the door almost shut behind her. She didn’t want to risk seeing TJ if he was in the elevator. She left the door open a crack to see if she could hear anything or catch a glimpse of who it was.
The elevator doors slid open and voices filled the hallway. She recognized Gertie’s voice immediately. But who was the man with her? His voice sounded really familiar, but she was having a hard time placing it. She listened for another minute. Wait. It was Tanner Durcotte!
“As always, I enjoyed our talk Gertie. When will I see you again?”
“I’m busy with this wedding stuff the next few days. I’ll be in touch, though. Now remember what we talked about. I don’t need you to walk me to my office. Thank you, sweetie!”
Veronica peeked out from behind the door and saw Tanner standing in the hallway watching Gertie wheel away. She pulled back inside as he turned to get back into the elevator, but not before she saw the goofy lovestruck look on his face. What the hell was going on around here?
She’d forgotten to warn Gertie about Tanner, and now they’d been out on what appeared to be a date. The last thing she needed was a confrontation with Tanner right now, so she stayed put until she heard the elevator doors swoosh shut.
As soon as she heard the elevator start, she came out of hiding and hurried to the window. She wanted to make sure Tanner actually was leaving. By the way he’d looked at Gertie, she didn’t doubt he might double back inside, and she didn’t want to cross paths with him.
Tanner didn’t come back inside, but he didn’t leave either. Instead of getting into a cab, he walked around toward the gated side of the building that led to the back reception area. She watched as he punched in the code and opened the gate, looking around quickly before he disappeared behind the fence.
Who gave him the code to the gate? Certainly not Gertie. Then her heart jerked in her chest. If it was Tanner who had been messing around with the wedding, then he had a contact inside. That person could have given him the code. And now Tanner was in the reception area, where they’d just finished setting up the tent.
Veronica rushed to the elevator and mashed her thumb into the button repeatedly. She needed to get down there before Tanner ruined something else.
Harper ordered her second beer and leaned back on the barstool, relieved that the right tent poles were being used. Luckily she had talked to Veronica or something really bad could have happened. The tent was so huge that if it collapsed on all those people, someone was bound to get hurt. She couldn’t live with herself if that happened.
She sipped her beer, and her phone went off, signaling an incoming text from Tanner. Her stomach knotted. She had hoped that he was done with all this “let’s ruin the wedding” stuff after not hearing from him in a while.
I can’t go through with ruining the wedding. It’s wron
g. I’m going to make it right tonight.
Good. He’d finally come to his senses. Wait, what did he mean by “make it right?” What was he planning to do tonight? Usually he had her do all his dirty work because she had access to most of the building… wait, she’d given him the code to the outdoor area. That wouldn’t get him in to the building, though.
She sent a quick text asking what he was talking about and then stared at her phone for the answer while her anxiety ratcheted higher.
He wasn’t answering. This was not good.
The code she’d given him led to the outdoor reception area. The one where the tent was. He must be thinking that the rotted poles are still being used to support the tent. He doesn’t know that she’s already switched them. She had to stop him before he switched them back!
20
TJ rushed back into the building. He didn’t want to be late for his date with Veronica. He didn’t have any work to do that afternoon and had just tagged along with Sarah, Marly, and Jasper on an errand. They had taken longer than he had expected. He didn’t know Marly and Jasper that well, and he’d enjoyed getting to know them better. Plus, any time he could spend with his sister was time well spent, especially after all the time they’d wasted apart. A big topic of discussion had been Veronica, and TJ was happy that Marly and Sarah were starting to warm toward her. Still, when he’d mentioned that he needed to get back because he was having dinner with her, Sarah had seemed dubious. Oh well, he was sure Veronica would win her over in time.
He passed two employees in the hallway who were talking about the tent. Just thinking about that thing gave him the willies. And then it made him feel guilty. He wanted to attend the wedding to support Gertie and Veronica, but there was no way he was going anywhere near that tent. Just the sight of it thrust his anxiety through the roof. He’d almost bolted out of the area earlier today when he’d gone down with Veronica, and it was only by sheer force of will that he’d stayed while she’d bossed the maintenance crew around about those poles.
Thinking about Veronica bossing them around brought a smile to his face. He got a kick out of her when she got that way. Working with her on this project, though, he’d gotten to see the other side of her. She was smart and funny and sweet, even under that bitchy persona she tried to project.
He hurried along the hallway, anxious to get their date underway. Did Veronica think it was a date, though? He wasn’t sure. It had been so long since TJ had actually dated he wasn’t sure he knew the signs anymore. He’d have to play it by ear.
He peeked inside Veronica’s office. Empty. Had she gone to the break room or downstairs? No, her purse was gone from the hook where it usually hung, and her computer was shut off. Disappointment swelled in his chest.
Had she left without him?
He was a few minutes late, but surely she could have waited. Unless she didn’t want to go out with him. Right, that was probably it. She probably didn’t want to go out with him and didn’t know how to turn him down as that would make things awkward at work.
He couldn’t blame her. Why would someone as smart and put-together as Veronica want to get involved with someone who had been a drug addict?
He turned around and started down the hall, his shoulders slumped. He should have known better than to hope his feelings for Veronica would be reciprocated.
Tanner pushed the heavy plastic table up against the gate, blocking it. There! Now no one could interrupt him.
He walked toward the tent, taken aback by its enormity. He probably should have asked Harper to help him, but he had already involved her enough in all of this. Ellen wouldn’t have appreciated that. No, he had no one but himself to blame for this, and he had to fix it himself.
He couldn’t take back what he had done, but hopefully he could make some of it right. And that included asking Harper to do these mean things. If anyone tried to blame her, he would take that blame himself. From here on, he was going to do what was right, starting with fixing the tent poles.
After this, he would try to make restitution for all of the bad things he’d done. After his dinner with Gertie, he’d realized that his actions were a reaction to his pain over the loss of Ellen. That was wrong. And besides, he no longer felt the need to lash out.
That was because of Gertie. Now that she was in his life, he had a spark of hope for happiness. If he’d had any doubts about his actions before their dinner, he had none now. He was ready to let go of his vengeful thoughts and move forward.
But the tent was huge, and he had no idea how he could switch the poles out alone.
He poked around at one of the poles, trying to loosen it by rocking it back and forth. Humph. They were pretty sturdy for rotted-out poles.
Maybe they would be fine? No. He needed to make sure that the right poles were used or else who knew what could happen. And if something bad did happen, his new friend Gertie would suffer.
Gertie was a very special woman. He could talk to her without masking his feelings. Gertie was an amazing woman, and she deserved the best. All the crappy things he’d done to ruin Marly’s wedding hurt Gertie because they reflected on her new business. Tanner simply could not have that. He was going to right this wrong, no matter the cost.
Veronica ran down the stairs and out the side exit that was closest to the outer gate. She entered the code, pushing on the door.
It wouldn’t open! She threw her shoulder against it, using all of her weight.
It didn’t budge. Tanner must have jammed it with something on the other side so no one could get in.
She turned around and sprinted back to the side door, only to realize that it was locked. She pulled out her key card, forgetting that this door didn’t have key-card access.
“Dammit!” She ran back to the front entrance. She had been hoping to avoid being inside the building in case TJ and Sarah showed up, but she needed to get to that tent to stop Tanner.
She tried to pull the door open only to find it locked. It must be past five; the automatic locks were on. She grabbed her key card and swiped it, finally gaining access to the building.
She ran toward the reception area. She could see the interior reception area through the large glass door, and beyond that, the glass wall with the tent just outside. As she ran to the door, the tent swayed precariously.
It was dark outside, and if it wasn’t for the candles flickering in the glass box luminaries that lit the pathway from the tent to the seating area at the edge of the river, she might not have seen the dark figure under the tent.
Tanner was doing something to the tent. But what? Was he trying to take it down? Maybe he was trying to weaken the poles so that it collapsed during the reception.
She slammed her key card into the inner-door reader, pushed the door open and rushed to the sliding glass wall. It was already unlocked! Tanner must have known the keypad combination that unlocked it from outside. She pulled the door open and ran into reception area under the tent, stumbling over a pile of tent poles.
“What the hell do you think you are doing?” Veronica’s voice was a bit breathless from all the running.
Tanner was in the center of the tent, fumbling around with the large pole. He stopped and looked over at her, sweat dripping from his forehead. “I’m trying to fix this. I don’t want to mess up the wedding!”
Veronica half laughed, half choked. “You think I believe that! Don’t forget, I know how nasty you can be.” She stormed over and pushed him away from the pole.
“No! You don’t understand. These poles are faulty. They’re rotted!” Tanner jogged to the end of the tent and started fiddling with another pole.
“You’re too late. We already figured that out and switched them, so you’re little plan backfired.” Veronica reached for her phone to call Gertie or the police, anyone who would come and help her stop Tanner. But then she heard flapping and looked up to see that Tanner had the pole out of the ground, and the side of the tent was collapsing inward.
Veronica threw her
phone down and ran to put the pole back into the ground, fumbling with the heavy canvas that was trying to wrap itself around her.
“What? No, you haven’t. These are the wrong poles!” Tanner had gone back to the pole in the middle. If nothing else, he was persistent. “I had the good poles swapped out for the bad ones. It was a mistake! I need to make this right and fix it!”
“You switched the tags?” Veronica glanced at one of the poles. Red tags. Hadn’t she had the maintenance crew use the green-tagged poles?
At the thick middle pole, Tanner cursed and started to shimmy up the pole. “I know you don’t trust me, but I need to make this right. I can’t let Gertie suffer.”
“No, wait!” Veronica didn’t trust Tanner, but something odd was going on here. If he had switched the tags as he claimed, then the green-tagged poles were the ones that were rotted, which meant the red-tagged poles were good. She had no idea how the tent had been erected with those poles when she’d expressly told the crew to use those with green tags, but if Tanner was right the current poles were the good ones.
Tanner was at the top, clutching onto the canvas fabric. “Get out! I’m bringing it down. I gotta get rid of these poles.”
“No!” Veronica jumped onto the pole. “The poles are the right ones. You’ll ruin the tent!”
If the tent was ruined, Marly’s wedding would be ruined. She shimmied up toward Tanner.
“These are the wrong poles! They will snap in half!” Tanner yelled, as the pole started to list.
Maybe shimmying up to stop him wasn’t such a good idea.
“Stop it!” Veronica screamed. “I don’t believe you. All you’ve done is try to ruin people’s lives, and I’m not going to let you ruin this wedding!”
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