Mountains, Marriage and Murder

by Patti Benning

  Candice and Allison taking the rental car into town meant that Moira was stranded at the cabin until they got back. She didn’t mind in the slightest. Once they were gone, she got to work. She used the land line in the cabin to call everyone that they had made reservations with and confirm that everything would go according to plan. Later that afternoon, after Candice returned with her bridesmaids, the five of them would be going into the little village for an all-out spa treatment, which she had signed them up for months ago. She was glad for that little bit of forethought. It was evident that her daughter could use all of the relaxation that she could get.

  Once everything was in order, she busied herself in the kitchen, pre-making sandwiches for them to grab if they got hungry. She was sure that David, Reggie, Eli, and Eli’s best man, Brian, would be half starved by the time they got there that evening. After making the sandwiches, she double checked each bedroom, made sure the bathrooms all had plenty of toilet paper, and logged onto the cabin’s Wi-Fi with her tablet to check her emails.

  And then she had nothing left to do. It was an odd feeling after weeks of preparation. Everything was in order. In a few hours, Candice and her friends would return and they would start the evening’s activities. Until then, she had time to relax and enjoy the peace and quiet of the mountains of Colorado.

  She hadn’t planned for downtime. She had only brought one book, which she was already halfway through. She could pick up another one in town, but that would have to wait until her daughter got back with the rental car.

  There was a fabric hammock on the wraparound porch, and it was there that she ended up settling down with her book. If her mind hadn’t still been racing with thoughts of the wedding, she might almost have been able to relax as she turned the pages.

  CHAPTER THREE

  *

  The little town of Valley Haven was maybe half the size of Maple Creek, with a quarter of the people. Many of the streets in town were on sharply sloping hills, with the occasional sheer drop off to the side that made Moira’s heart pound. Once they were in town, she parked the car along the curb and fed the meter a few coins. The well-tended streets and sidewalk and the full displays in the shop windows showed what a popular tourist attraction the little town was. There were Valley Haven mugs and t-shirts hanging in some of the windows, and Moira was tempted to buy one as a keepsake.

  “Okay, Mom, what’s the plan?”

  Moira and Candice had ventured into town together, just the two of them, for some final mother-daughter time before the evening’s bachelorette party activities got started. “Well, we’re already doing the spa treatment later with the rest of the bridal party. I thought you and I could go shopping. As you know, your main wedding present from me and David is your honeymoon. However, I want to get you something else as well. You should have a physical keepsake of this special day from your mother. If you see anything that you would like to bring with you on your honeymoon, let me know. It will be an early wedding present from me.”

  “You really don’t have to. Trust me, you’ve already done so much for me. I’ll never forget this.”

  “I want to, sweetie. My first wedding was very rushed, and nothing special. I got lucky with David, and my wedding with him was beautiful, but with any luck you’ll only have one go at this. Which means there’s only one chance for me to spoil you with wedding gifts.”

  “Thank you.” Her daughter bit her lip. “I love you, Mom. I hope you know that. I know this probably isn’t easy for you.”

  “It’s not, but I hope that you and Eli are together for many, many years to come. It’s hard for me to let you go, but I know you’ll be happy. I don’t want you to worry about me. I have David, and the dogs, and the deli. I’m extremely happy with my own life. It’s time for you to go and enjoy yours.”

  “I will. I’m so excited that he and I are getting married. I’m sure every girl thinks this before her wedding, but Eli really is the perfect man. I’m so excited to start our lives together. And in a couple of years, who knows, maybe we’ll be bringing your grandchildren over to visit on the weekends.”

  Moira chuckled. “I have to admit, I don’t feel old enough to be a grandmother yet. The time has been passing by so quickly. Sometimes I wonder if this is all a dream, and I’ll wake up and you will still be in middle school, and I’ll still be trying to get by on what little money we had. You know, darling, both of us have gotten very lucky, both with our stores and with love.”

  “We sure did, and I know that things were hard sometimes back when I was a kid, with you being a single mom, but I just want you to know that I’m grateful for everything you did. I’m sorry for being a bratty teenager. I know I can’t have been easy to live with sometimes. I don’t know if I ever really said thank you. I’m sorry that it’s taken me so many years to realize everything you sacrificed for me, and I hope that one day, I can be as good of a mom to my kids as you are to me.”

  Moira felt tears in her eyes. She had to look away; she didn’t want her daughter to see her cry. It was true that times had been hard, but she had never been more grateful that she had stuck with it. She had raised her daughter well, and, as a single mom, that was something to be proud of.

  When they drove back to the cabin an hour later, Candice was still exclaiming her thanks. Around her wrist was a silver charm bracelet. There were two charms already hanging on it – a maple leaf, which signified Maple Creek, and a bare foot, to signify the journey that they had both come on so far. Moira had secretly bought a third charm, which she would give her daughter after the wedding.

  “This will be something to remember all of your special moments by,” she said. “Now, let’s go pick up your friends and have some fun. This is your last night as a single woman after all.”

  Moira hadn’t been sure what to expect from the town’s spa center, but it was a blissful experience. She couldn’t remember the last time that she had gotten a massage, let alone a manicure or a pedicure. The five of them were pampered for hours in preparation for the wedding the next day. Despite all of her anxieties over the big day, she didn’t think that she had felt so relaxed in a long time.

  “Did the four of you end up going to that waffle diner that you mentioned?” she asked her daughter as they settled into the chairs for their pedicures.

  “Yeah, we did. It was worth the trip. If you and David have time before you leave, you should go.”

  “I doubt we’ll be able to do it this time, but maybe if we ever come back. So far, I’ve been very impressed by this trip, and I can definitely see returning here.”

  Once their spa treatment was over, Moira drove the four younger women to the town’s single bar, which promised a live band that night. The plan was for her to drop them off, and Candice would call her when they were ready to go back to the cabin for the night. Her daughter had offered for her to come along, but the deli owner had declined. She had gotten to spend time alone with her daughter earlier in the day, and she felt that the young woman needed this time with her friends. The four of them could party and have fun, with no worries about having to drive home. With any luck, Candice would come home and fall straight asleep. It wouldn’t do for her to be sleep deprived during her own wedding, but Moira could understand how her nerves might be keeping her awake.

  She drove back to the cabin and was pleased to see the windows lit up and a second car in the driveway as she pulled up. It looked like David, Eli, Reggie, and Brian were here. She smiled to herself. She was excited to see her husband again. All this talk of weddings made her nostalgic for her own.

  David met her at the door. She looked up at him, admiring the handsome man that she had vowed to spend the rest of her life with. Her daughter wasn’t the only one that had found a perfect man.

  “How is everything going?” he asked once he released her from a hug.

  “Everything has been going just perfectly for us. How had everything gone for you guys?”

  “It’s been going well,” he said. “Eli’s
bachelor party was great. It was plenty of fun, but things didn’t get too out of hand. He’s a good, responsible young man, and I think he’s more excited than nervous, which is good. The flight went smoothly, and Reggie says that he’s feeling well.”

  Moira nodded, glad to hear that the elderly man’s health was still doing well. Reggie was Eli’s grandfather, and he lived at the assisted care facility in Lake Marion. He seemed to be thriving with the current combination of medicines that he was on. Just in case, the nurses had sent along his medical records and a note from his usual doctor. He had been determined not to miss Eli’s wedding, and Moira couldn’t blame him. It was an exciting time for everyone.

  Inside, Moira greeted him and Eli, and introduced herself to Brian and his girlfriend. Brian was Eli’s best friend, but had moved away from Lake Marion a while ago. This was the first time she had met both him and his girlfriend, Victoria Thomson. She was glad that they had been able to take the time off to make it to Eli’s wedding. He didn’t have much by way of close family other than Reggie, so it would be nice for him to have someone he knew and trusted by his side on his big day.

  “How are you doing?” she asked Eli, giving him a quick hug. He was her son-in-law to be, and as far as she was concerned, he was part of the family already.

  “Excited, and just a smidge nervous,” he said, giving her grin. “Everyone’s been telling me that’s normal, though. How is Candice?”

  “I think she’s nervous too, but also excited. She’ll be calling me in a couple of hours to come and pick her up. Now listen, I’m not usually very superstitious, but how do you feel about keeping the old tradition of not seeing the bride before the wedding?”

  “We’d planned on it,” he said, laughing. “She claimed not to be superstitious either, but she told me in very clear terms that I was to be in my bedroom by the time she got here tonight, and I’m not allowed to peek at her in the morning. It’s fine with me. I’m exhausted and will probably be asleep within the hour anyway.”

  “The beds are amazingly comfortable,” she told him. “It’ll be the perfect remedy for that plane ride.” She paused to give Reggie a hug, then went into the kitchen to grab one of the sandwiches that she had made earlier. She wasn’t very hungry, but she knew that she had to eat. Even though she wasn’t the one getting married, the thought of the wedding tomorrow had her stomach in knots. She didn’t envy Candice at the moment. There was nothing quite like the butterflies she would get in her stomach the night before her wedding.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  *

  “Why am I so anxious?” Moira groaned, burying her face in her hands. “I need to be strong and steady for Candice right now, like a rock. Instead I feel like gelatin.”

  “You’re fine,” David said, reaching for her hand and giving it a squeeze. He was lounging on the chair in their bedroom, his suit jacket half undone as he straightened his tie. He looked far more relaxed than she felt.

  “How can you just be sitting there?” she asked, staring at herself in the mirror, wide-eyed. “I’ve been pacing all morning. Aren’t you worried?”

  “Why would I be worried?” he asked, raising an eyebrow. “Our daughter is marrying a man that she loves. He’s a good guy, they’ve both got good jobs, they have a house, and you have triple checked every single thing that could possibly go wrong. There’s nothing to be worried about. Everything’s going to be fine.”

  “Don’t say that,” she hissed. “That’s how you jinx things. You say nothing’s going to go wrong, and that’s when everything starts to go wrong.”

  “Moira…” he pushed himself up and approached her, putting his hands on her shoulders. He met her gaze in the mirror. “Relax. Breathe. Even if something does go wrong, we will handle it. I know you put a lot into this wedding, but I think that you should try to remember that it’s not the party, the catering, or any of that that’s making this a special day for Candice. It’s the man that she’s marrying. As long as Eli is standing across from her and they get to trade their vows, she’s going to be happy. All of this other stuff is just extra. Okay? You know, I don’t think you were this stressed out with our own wedding.”

  “Well, it’s because I was marrying you. That was all I cared about – oh.” She smiled at her husband and reached up to cover his hand with one of her own. “I see what you’re saying. I just want this day to be perfect for her, that’s all.”

  “I know. So do I. And it will be.” He kissed her cheek, then returned to his chair and put his feet up on the ottoman, returning to fiddling with his tie. “You got a text, by the way. Denise’s plane landed. She and some of the other guests are on their way to the church.”

  “What?” Moira said, spinning around to look at him. “When did she text me? Why didn’t you tell me sooner? Oh my goodness, David, what if they get there before we do?”

  “It’s a two-hour trip from Denver,” her husband said, raising an eyebrow. “It will take us ten minutes to get to town. We’ll be fine.”

  The deli owner stared her husband, her mind racing frantically. What he had said was true. She was more of a mess now than she had been for her own wedding – for either of them, in fact. She had offered to take the brunt of the planning for her daughter and hadn’t quite realized just what that meant. It was one thing to plan her own wedding, but quite another to plan someone else’s. She was glad that she had David here to keep her calm. He seemed completely unflappable, and it helped – well, it helped, and it also annoyed her. She loved the man the way he was, but sometimes she wished that he would be just a little bit less stoic. It would make her feel a bit better about herself.

  She looked in the mirror once more, knowing that she wouldn’t get the chance to freshen up until right before the wedding. She and Candice had debated for a long time about whether or not she should be in the bridal party, but in the end, Candice had decided to make her the matron of honor. After all, Candice had been in her mother’s wedding – it only seemed fair.

  The bridesmaid dresses that Candice had chosen were dark blue, with gold threads interwoven throughout. Under decent lighting, the dress reminded Moira of a starry blue night sky. She liked the colors a lot, but knew that nothing would come close to matching her daughter’s beauty on her special day.

  “All right, well, I’m ready,” David said. “Is there anything you want me to do while you finish up?”

  “No, I think we’re all set. Thanks for waiting here for us.”

  “Well, Eli’s got Reggie. And his best man, of course. I figure that you and Candice could probably use the help. If you don’t need anything else, I’ll go downstairs and start getting the car ready.”

  “Okay. David… Thank you. Thank you for being such a good stepfather to Candice. I love you.”

  “I love you, too.” He paused long enough to give her a single kiss on the lips, and then he was gone. Moira sighed and returned to the mirror to double check her appearance one last time. In just a couple more hours, Candice would be married, and she would be able to relax at last and enjoy the wedding reception at the cabin.

  Getting Candice and her bridesmaids into the car was more difficult than Moira had imagined. Each of them, it seemed, had to run back into the house for something that they had forgotten. The bridesmaids were full of excitement, but Candice sat stiffly in the passenger seat of the vehicle, her face pale in spite of the makeup she was wearing.

  The deli owner reached over to pat her daughter’s arm, saying, “Are you ready, dear? We should get going if you are. Once we get set up at the church, we can all take a little break to rehydrate and have some snacks. I packed some water bottles and granola bars to take with us.”

  “I’m not hungry,” Candice said. “I don’t think I could eat anything, anyway.”

  “Well, maybe after the wedding you’ll want something. I was starving after my wedding.”

  “Eli is already there, right?” her daughter asked.

  “He is,” she said. “David called Reggie about fif
teen minutes ago to check on how things were going. The only thing you have to worry about is getting yourself there and walking down the aisle.”

  ***

  As the first notes of the piano music reached her ears, Moira let out a breath. It was almost time. She glanced at her daughter, standing a few steps behind her next to David, who was giving her away. She shot Candice a smile which the younger woman returned nervously.

  The bridesmaids moved out in front of her on cue, and she followed. The moment she stepped through the doors into the chapel, her eyes searched out Eli, who was already standing at the altar.

  The wedding was small, and everyone that was there was either a close friend or a family member. Some of Eli’s extended family had come, and on the bride’s side, there was Denise and David sister, Karissa, as well as a few relatives from Candice’s father’s side of the family and a few of Candice’s closer friends who had been able to take the time off work to fly out for the wedding.

  Moira reached the altar and turned to stand facing the doors. When the wedding march began, she felt her chest tighten with emotion. She didn’t think she would ever forget the sight of her daughter stepping through those doors. Moira blinked her eyes, telling herself not to tear up. She didn’t want to miss a second of this.

  David handed his stepdaughter off to her soon-to-be husband and took a seat, and the wedding officiant began to speak. Moira saw that the anxiety was gone from her daughter’s face; it had been replaced by a look of joy. Eli had a similar expression on his face. Despite her best efforts, Moira felt tears prickling her eyes they exchanged vows. An important chapter of her life was ending, but instead of being sad, these were tears of gladness. She couldn’t be sad for herself, not when her daughter was so happy. Candice had gotten her dream wedding, and Moira had gotten her wish for the day – her daughter’s wedding had gone off without a hitch. Now, she could relax at last and enjoy the reception with the newlyweds.