Hitched

by Carol Higgins Clark

  “Tara?”

  “Yes.”

  “This is Jack Reilly.”

  Tara smiled. “Hello! Don’t tell me another bank was robbed!”

  Jack laughed. “No, Tara, I thought you’d be pleased to know that your bank robber has been caught. She even confessed.”

  “She?”

  “Yes, she had us all fooled. Anyway, I hope you’re doing okay.”

  “We’re doing great. Right now we’re sitting by the pool having a wonderful time. My man Jamie’s taking good care of me. We almost got married last night.”

  “You did?” Jack asked, surprised.

  “After what happened yesterday, Jamie didn’t want to wait. We even went down to the courthouse to get a marriage license, but I decided I couldn’t do it to my mother. She’d kill me! We’ve been planning the wedding for so long. Say, did they catch whoever stole your fiancée’s dress?”

  “No, they didn’t.”

  “What’s she going to do?”

  “The designer is making a new one. I hope he gets it done on time.”

  “There was a guy on the courthouse steps handing out flyers last night. He said there’d be a special sale on a very limited number of designer wedding dresses, but they wouldn’t be available until Monday.” Tara laughed. “Maybe you should bring your fiancée out here and take a look!”

  “He said they are going to be there Monday. That sounds odd.”

  “I know, but this is Vegas. They probably fell off the back of a truck.”

  “I might just have one of my contacts out there check them out. Do you still have the flyer?”

  “It’s in my purse. Hold on, I’ve got everything in there but the kitchen sink.” Tara handed Jamie the phone, dug through her belongings, and emerged triumphant. She took back the phone and said, “There’s no address. Just a phone number. Here it is…”

  66

  Regan sat on the floor of Joyce’s living room next to Kit and looked around. Everyone seemed so happy. Joyce and Tom were really hitting it off, although Joyce’s parrot was now sitting between the two of them. Romeo looked as if he would happily take a chunk out of Tom’s hand if he got too close to Joyce.

  Jay, the pharmacist, came in and made a beeline for Tracy. Her face lit up when he sat down next to her. Wouldn’t that be nice? Regan thought.

  The phone rang. Cindy came from the kitchen, carrying the portable phone, her hand covering the mouthpiece. “It’s Francis’s mother.”

  Joyce rolled her eyes. “Give it to me.” She took it and said, “Hello.”

  On the other end, Janice was in a state of agitation. “Joyce, are you all right?”

  “Yes. Thank God.”

  “Where’s Francis?”

  “I don’t know. My friend Cindy talked to him this morning and told him I was missing. He hung up and never called back.”

  “Did you have a fight? Did you do something to upset him? Maybe he’s…”

  Joyce sat up. “We didn’t have a fight. I have no idea what he’s up to.”

  Regan’s cell phone rang. She answered it quickly.

  “Regan!” Alfred cried. “They e-mailed us the picture of the button. This is the button that was on your dress!”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Of course I’m sure. We ordered it specially from France. It’s a beautiful unique button! You know I only use the best on my dresses! It’s our logo on the back!”

  “The woman found it in a cemetery near Atlantic City,” Regan said.

  “Which is where I lost my keys!”

  “I know. Alfred, I’ll figure out what to do next and call you back. I can’t talk now.”

  “Me, neither!” he insisted. “Charisse and I are working our fingers to the bone.”

  “We’ll talk later then,” Regan said.

  Joyce was ending her phone conversation as well. “I have to go,” she said firmly. “If I hear from Francis, I’ll tell him to call you.”

  “What’s the matter, Regan?” Cindy asked.

  “An elderly woman found an antique lace button that reminded her of the one on her wedding dress in a cemetery near Atlantic City. She e-mailed a picture of it to the cable station. Alfred says it’s definitely the button he used on my dress.”

  “Atlantic City?” Cindy asked.

  “Yes, and that’s where Alfred lost his keys last week. We think that whoever robbed his salon used his keys to get in. We also think that two guys at the craps table he was playing at picked his keys off the ground when he dropped them. We saw the tapes. One of the guys has a limp.”

  As Joyce inhaled sharply, the whole room fell silent.

  “Lazy bums!” Romeo cried. “Lazy bums!”

  Cindy walked over and reached behind the couch. She picked up the set of keys she had pulled out of Romeo’s mouth just this morning. This time she took a moment to look at them. A tiny wedding dress made out of sterling silver was attached to the key ring. “Oh, my God…” she said.

  “What?” Regan asked.

  Cindy turned to her. “Could these be Alfred’s keys?”

  Monday, April 4th–

  Friday, April 8th

  67

  Francis and Marco had been driving for over forty hours. Neither of them had showered in two days. They were grubby, tired, and irritable.

  Earlier, when they’d tuned in to the Imus in the Morning radio show, Imus had been talking about what complete losers the guys must be who stole the April Brides’ wedding dresses.

  Marco had snapped off the radio, and they’d ridden in silence. Just before noon, they finally reached Las Vegas.

  “Where are we meeting your friend?” Francis asked.

  “He’s got a motel room. We’ll drop off the dresses, check into a hotel, and hope he sells the dresses fast so we can collect the money and run.”

  “I’m flying home this afternoon.”

  “Suit yourself.”

  “Thank God Joyce is okay. I just want to see her. She sounded a little funny on the phone.”

  Marco shrugged.

  They drove to a rundown neighborhood not far from the main strip of high-rise hotels. The directions they’d been given led them to an old, dilapidated motel. An outside set of stairs led to the second floor where Marco’s friend had set up his temporary bridal shop.

  Francis and Marco got out of the car, opened the trunk, and lifted out the dishwasher box. They dropped it onto the hot pavement. Everything was still and quiet.

  The sun was beating down, and Francis already felt a little woozy and disoriented from being in the car for so long. That’s why when he saw a car door open and a woman emerge with a killer expression on her face, he wasn’t sure whether he was hallucinating. She looked like the woman on NY1 who’d said she’d tear whoever ruined her dress limb from limb. It couldn’t be, he thought.

  But when she started running toward them, like one of the bulls at Pamplona, there was no doubt that she was the raging bride.

  “You ruined my dress!” Brianne screamed as she lunged at him.

  He had no time to escape. Before he knew it, she had tackled him to the ground.

  “I’ve got one of them!” Brianne cried out to Regan, Jack, Pauly, Tracy, Kit, Tracy’s friends, and several Las Vegas policemen who emerged from several cars parked around the lot.

  “You two stink!” Brianne screamed. “You’re going to rot in jail!”

  Marco had cursed and taken off across the lot, but he didn’t get far. A couple of the cops chased him down, while three others hurried up to the room where Marco’s friend was trying to escape through a back window.

  “Brianne!” Pauly said with exasperation, “you were supposed to wait until they went upstairs!”

  “I couldn’t wait! These creeps destroyed my wedding gown!”

  Francis lay on the ground in misery. Pauly pulled Brianne off him, and then a cop pulled him to his feet. He and Marco were quickly handcuffed.

  “Ow!” Marco cried. “I’ve got a gash on my arm. It’s
probably infected.”

  “It must have been your blood, then, that was all over Brianne’s dress,” Regan said to him with disgust.

  “I hope it hurts,” Brianne sneered.

  As Marco and Francis were escorted into the back of an unmarked police cruiser, the three April Brides ceremoniously opened the dishwasher box and pulled out the four dresses.

  “My gown isn’t in this box,” Brianne said, “but I wouldn’t have missed this trip for the world.”

  “Mine is here but it’s going to charity,” Tracy said. “I’m sending it to Haiti where women have to get married in a white dress but often can’t afford it. But I wouldn’t have missed this trip, either.”

  Regan made a quick inspection of her dress. Other than the missing button, it was in pretty good shape. All it needed was a good steam. “All right, everyone,” Regan said. “Let’s have a nice lunch at the Bellagio and then head back to New York.”

  “Thank your father for getting us the private plane,” Brianne said. “I’m glad he had the connections to get one so fast. It was worth seeing the expression on those losers’ faces.”

  “It certainly was,” Tracy agreed.

  Regan smiled. “My father said this dress had cost him so much already that he might as well go all out to see that I retrieved it personally.”

  “He’s going to be telling this story for a long time to come,” Kit said with a chuckle. “Just like the story of how he got kidnapped so you could find a husband.”

  Regan laughed and looked over at Jack. He was speaking with the police captain. She loved him so much. I don’t care what else happens, she thought. Nothing in the world is going to stop us from getting married this Saturday. As she folded her wedding dress, she held it in her hands for a few extra moments before carefully returning it to the dishwasher box. It was beautiful. She couldn’t wait to put it on in five days and walk down the aisle to join hands with the man she had waited for all her life. She smiled as their song started to run through her head—“Till There Was You.”

  68

  Much to Nora’s delight, Regan would now be able to keep her promise and devote the rest of the week to her wedding preparations. That is, after Regan finally woke up on Tuesday afternoon and caught up on all the newspaper stories and media coverage about the capture of the dress thieves.

  The top priority was to procure a band. Tracy suggested they hire the band that she no longer needed.

  “They’re certainly free on Saturday night, Regan,” she said. “But if you hire them, you have to invite me.”

  “Sounds like a plan.”

  “And I’d like to bring Jay.”

  Regan smiled. “There’s nothing I’d like better than to see you two dancing at my wedding. I’m so glad you’re doing well.”

  “I’m living with the satisfaction that Jeffrey is calling constantly, begging for forgiveness. Of course I would never go back to him, but I’m enjoying his misery.” She sighed. “He wasn’t the one. When I see you with Jack, I realize how I want it to be for me…”

  Regan and Nora spent hours deciding who would sit at which table. When they finally finished, Nora sighed. “You know that someone’s going to be unhappy with where we put them.”

  Regan laughed. “Mom, it wouldn’t be a wedding otherwise. I bet it’ll be Aunt Nahnah who complains. She got that nickname for a reason.”

  “Regan!” Nora protested.

  “You’re right, Regan,” Luke said as he walked in the door. “I’m glad you didn’t mention someone from my side of the family.”

  “Don’t get me started!” Nora laughed, as her husband kissed the top of her head.

  Luke was thrilled that the mystery of the strange phone calls was solved by the New Jersey police, who had raided an apartment for drugs. What they found on the dining table wasn’t drugs but a pile of engagement announcements cut out of local newspapers. Regan’s was on top. The Reilly home had indeed been targeted for a break-in on Saturday afternoon.

  Nora and Regan checked and rechecked all the arrangements—the menu, the cake, the readings at the church, the flowers. There was an endless stream of phone calls and deliveries while Regan packed for her honeymoon. On Thursday, Regan went with her bridesmaids to a day spa in New York City where they were pampered with massages, facials, manicures, and pedicures. Lunch was served as they lounged in their terry-cloth bathrobes. They all emerged looking gorgeous and relaxed.

  The rehearsal dinner was Friday night. In the afternoon, Regan received a special delivery from Pamela and Arnold. It was one of Pamela’s antique bracelets. The card read, “We wish you the best tomorrow, Regan. Please accept this bracelet as a token of our affection and gratitude.”

  Regan called to thank them. Pamela was exuberant on the phone. “Regan, our son just called us. He and his wife were in the process of adopting a baby but didn’t want to tell us until it went through. They didn’t want to get our hopes up. So we will have a baby to spoil after all. You and Jack will have to come by when they’re in town.”

  “We will,” Regan promised.

  Brianne called as well. She was about to head out to her rehearsal dinner. Her gown was hanging safely in her parents’ house. Alfred and Charisse had worked for three days and nights getting it done.

  “Regan,” Brianne said, “I wish we could be at each other’s weddings.”

  “Me, too, Brianne. When we get back from our honeymoons, we’ll have a night comparing our videos and pictures.”

  “I’m so glad we’re friends, Regan. I feel as if we really got to know each other.”

  “That we did!” Regan laughed.

  “And I’m sorry if I acted like a jerk when you first met me.”

  “Hey—don’t worry about it. Your dress was the one in shreds.”

  “Can you believe it?” Brianne asked, her voice becoming agitated. “I still wish I could have shown those two bums a thing or two.”

  “Brianne, I think they got your message,” Regan chuckled. You can be comforted by the fact that they’re suffering right now. Especially Francis. That guy is never going to recover.”

  “You’re right, Regan. Can you believe we’re the only two out of the five April Brides getting married? I think Alfred is a jinx.”

  “Brianne!”

  “It’s true, Regan.”

  “I don’t think it’s Alfred’s fault that less than half of his April Brides are making it to the altar. You and I are lucky. And Tracy’s better off without Jeffrey. Those other two, well, as Alfred would say, ‘At least they have good taste in wedding dresses.’ ”

  Brianne laughed. “All the best to you tomorrow, Regan. You’re going to make a beautiful bride. And you’re going to make someone very happy.”

  “So are you, Brianne,” Regan said sincerely. “I’ll see you in a few weeks.”

  Saturday, April 9th

  69

  At the back of St. Ignatius Loyola Church in Manhattan, Alfred and Charisse were making a final fuss over the train of Regan’s dress when the processional music began.

  “You look gorgeous,” Alfred whispered.

  “Fabulous,” Charisse said as she blew a kiss. They hurried through a side door and up to their seats.

  Kit handed Regan her bouquet. “It’s really happening, Regan. You’re getting hitched.”

  Regan smiled at her best friend. “I know. I’m glad I’m not just visualizing this.”

  Jack’s three sisters were also Regan’s bridesmaids. One of them started down the aisle, followed by the second, the third, and then Kit, Regan’s maid of honor.

  Regan looked up at Luke, her arm tucked in his. “Are you ready, Daddy?”

  Luke’s eyes were misty. “I never thought I’d be ready for this moment. But the guy you’re marrying makes it all seem right.”

  The music switched to the bridal processional. The congregation stood, and faced the back of the church, eagerly awaiting Regan’s appearance.

  Luke and Regan came around the corner of the vestibul
e and went up the steps.

  On the altar, Jack’s breath was taken away by the sight of his beautiful bride.

  As Luke and Regan made their slow walk down the aisle, Regan savored every second. She was about to marry her soul mate, and the people she and Jack loved had come to share their joy.

  Family, old friends, new friends. Some very new friends.

  Tracy was with Jay, beaming. I’ve got to hand it to her, Regan thought. She’s a survivor. Not many women could get out and celebrate someone else’s wedding on the day she was supposed to be married, no matter how big a creep her fiancé turned out to be. Joyce and Tom were in the same pew. Tom had his arm firmly around Joyce’s waist as she stood on one foot.

  Regan smiled at them as well as at many of the other friends she’d met through her work. Lem and Viddy from Vermont, Thomas from the Settler’s Club, the actress Whitney Weldon and her boyfriend, Whitney’s aunt Lucretia Standish, Ellie Butternut, an aspiring actress from Los Angeles who Regan was sure would be a star, Louis, the restaurateur from Aspen, Lady Veronica from England, Will and his wife, Kim, from Hawaii…

  Her dear friends Alvirah and Willy Meehan had a place of honor behind the family. Alvirah had helped them find Luke when he was kidnapped. She was wiping her eyes.

  “I’m warning you,” she’d told Regan. “I always cry at weddings.”

  Nora was in the front pew, her eyes shining with pride. Regan reached out and touched Nora’s hand as she went by. Jack’s parents were in the front pew on the other side. She couldn’t ask for better in-laws.

  Jack was standing at the altar waiting for her. He was so handsome. His groomsmen, including his two brothers, were lined up next to him. Everyone looked so happy.

  Regan thought of the time Jack had shown up at her parents’ house unexpectedly after her father was safely returned after being kidnapped. She would never forget the words he spoke to her when she opened the door…

  Luke kissed her on the cheek, shook Jack’s hand, and stepped away. As Jack reached for her, she leaned toward him and whispered, “Have you got room for another Reilly around here?”