by Gen Griffin
Katie sucked in her breath through her teeth because she didn't know what to say to him. Her heart was pounding in her chest.
“Time to go,” Addison said as Trish and David made it to the halfway point of the aisle. He squeezed Katie's arm once and then they set off in step with the music. Katie focused as hard as she could on everything in the room except for the man who was beside her. The bright fall colored silk bows that had been tied to the ends of the pew were really quite pretty for having been made on very short notice. The hardwood walls of the old church shone as if they had been waxed prior to the wedding. They probably had. Cal was standing in front of the alter with his thick hands clasped behind his back. He looked calm, solid and sure of himself in his black suit. Cal wasn't a bad looking man in his own right, but he couldn't hold a candle to David or Addison. If he'd been the bride instead of the groom, he would have been overshadowed by the friends he'd asked to stand by his side. Katie took a deep breath. Addison's cologne smelled like someone had managed to mix sex and a freshly baked fudge brownie in the same bottle and sold it.
Focus, Katie told herself. She put one high heeled foot in front of the other, doing her best not to trip and fall on her face in front of the entire town. She'd never really liked walking in super high heels, and these were almost five inches tall. The top of her head was almost even with Addison's shoulder. I probably look like a little kid standing next to him, she thought miserably.
As quickly as it had begun, Katie's small part in her best friend's wedding was over. Addison walked her to her place on Gracie's side of the alter and then let her hand go. She stood next to the alter, clutching her bouquet and scanning the crowd. Where was Ian? Why didn't she see his face mixed in with the family members in the first few rows of pews. His mother and Frank were sitting in the first row on the bride's side of the church, but she couldn't see Ian.
The bridal march started to play and Katie forgot all about Ian. Her eyes fixed on Gracie, who was looking just a little too wide-eyed as she started down the aisle on her Daddy's arm. Dale was grinning from ear-to-ear. Looking at him, no one ever would have guessed that his son had forced him to be here for his daughter today and that he had almost refused to come.
Katie watched as the panic in Gracie's eyes started to fade as she looked at Cal, who smiled at her wryly from the alter. His expression said that he found this big fuss more than a little bit amusing. Gracie returned that smile and held her head high as she strode down the aisle like she owned it. Katie had a brief moment to be grateful that Jane May had stolen her best friend's wedding dress, because the mermaid dress that Gracie was wearing now was much prettier than the first one she'd picked out.
Katie felt herself blinking back tears as the preacher asked Dale to give Gracie away to Cal, which the older man did with a smile. Gracie intertwined her slender fingers with Cal's thick ones as they stood in front of the massive crowd and prepared to recite the exact same vows Katie and Ian had said less than two years earlier.
To have and to hold.
For better or worse.
For richer or poorer.
In sickness and health.
Til death to us part.
Love you forever.
Addison handed Cal the ring he needed to put on Gracie's finger and Katie abruptly remembered that she did have one job to do. She passed Cal's ring to Gracie, who took it with a grin.
“You may now kiss the bride,” the preacher said.
Cal pulled Gracie into his arms and kissed her passionately enough that several people in the audience let out cheers. Gracie was blushing as they separated. She held his hand tightly as the preacher announced them to the crowd as Mr. and Mrs. Joshua Calvin Walker.
Katie accidentally caught Addison's eye as he crossed the alter to take her hand and lead her back up the aisle. She quickly looked away from him, but it was too late.
“Are you crying?” He asked her.
Katie reached up and touched her cheeks. She felt moisture. “The ceremony was beautiful,” she told him as he put his arm around her.
Addy kissed her gently on the top of her head. “Thank you for helping me make sure Gracie got the wedding she deserved.”
“I didn't do anything,” Katie reminded him as he guided her back through the church. “I just rode with you.”
“You stayed by my side when I needed you. Trust me, you did more to save Gracie's wedding than Dale did.” He jerked his chin in his father's direction. Dale Malone was standing in the receiving line outside of the church, chatting happily with the guests as he accepted thank yous and congratulations from the first few folks who were beginning to file out of the church. Katie's heart was pounding as they joined the rest of the family in the receiving line.
“Addy, I-.”
“Not now.” Addison pressed one finger lightly against her lips. “After the wedding is over, I want to talk to you.”
“We talk every day,” she reminded him.
“Not this kind of talk.” He squeezed her hand once more in his and then let her go as guests began spilling out of the church doors and hugging everyone in sight.
Chapter 52
A thin trail of fluid started on the creek bank and led back down the trail that Sully had been driving on before the car that had been following them had rolled his Jeep into the swamp. He bent down next to the fluid and touched his fingers to the sandy dirt and then sniffed them. It was coolant.
Sully almost smiled. Their attacker had probably busted his radiator when he'd rammed the Jeep. Sully didn't know if he should be pleased or frightened by this development. He reached for the gun that was still tucked into the back of his sopping wet pants. It was a high end handgun and the sales clerk Sully had bought it from had boasted that it would still fire even after getting wet, but Sully had his doubts. Wet guns were not known for their reliability.
He had a decision to make. The way back out to the highway was also the path his pursuer had taken while leaving the scene. If he went out that way, there was a good chance that he might run into the person who was responsible for his current predicament. The person who was, most likely, Beverly Jones's killer.
If he went the other direction on the trail, it could be hours before he made it out of the woods and back to civilization. He had no idea how long the trail was or how much time it would take him to travel it on foot. While he would most likely succeed at avoiding a ill-prepared confrontation with the murderer he was chasing, the time he spent on the other trail might wind up costing Kerry his life.
Swallowing his fear, Sully knew that he was going to have to take his chances with the bad guys. He needed to get help back to Kerry as quickly as possible. Spinal injuries were bad news, especially when medical treatment was delayed for hours.
Sully checked the gun in his hand one last time and then set off on foot, following the thin trail of antifreeze through the woods.
Chapter 53
The start of the wedding reception was a blur of activity that Gracie could hardly wrap her head around. Moments after saying their vows, she and Cal had been ushered quickly out of the church and into a limo that had taken them to go get their wedding pictures done in the garden behind the reception hall. Gracie was glad that a professional photographer was taking pictures, because she only had the briefest flashes of memory from the hour that followed. Bright flash after bright flash, she stood in Cal's arms, then in her brother's and then with her Daddy by her side as pictures were taken. Cal's entire family gathered together for a large group shot that everyone said they wanted copies of. Gracie and Cal were put into pose after pose after pose. Her smile was frozen on her face, to the point where she wondered if her cheeks were going to ache tonight.
Gracie's enthusiasm for the picture taking process was starting to fade as she posed with Trish and Katie while Makinsley scowled at them from the sidelines while wearing a clingy turquoise dress that had clearly been bought with the sole intention of matching Addy's dress shirt. Unfortunately for Makin
sley, she didn't make it into any of the pictures and she was clearly pretty steamed about it. Addison actually seemed to be ignoring her.
By the time Miss Loretta announced that the wedding party absolutely had to head into the reception hall because it would be rude to make the guests wait any longer, the back of Gracie's wedding dress was starting to get sweaty and she was pretty sure her delicate up-do had begun to frizz.
“Do I look okay?” She whispered to Katie as they headed across the massive lawn of the reception barn.
“You look beautiful,” Katie promised.
“I'm sweating like a pig,” Gracie muttered.
Katie grabbed her by the wrist and stopped walking. They were standing under the shady limbs of a huge oak tree. “Hang on. I can fix that.” She dug into her tiny clutch purse and pulled out a miniature bottle of spray deodorant. “Hold up your arms,” she told Gracie and then sprayed her.
“What are y'all doing?” Cal came up behind Gracie and put his hands on her hips. She leaned backwards into his chest, so glad just to be with him.
“Making sure we don't smell funny.” Katie turned the deodorant on herself.
“You have any body spray?” Trish asked as she held her hand out to take the deodorant from Katie.
“You know I do.” Katie dug around in the purse until she found a little pink spray bottle. She passed it to Trish.
“Don't y'all usually do your primping in the bathroom?” Addison asked. He'd pulled his dark sunglasses down over his eyes.
“The bathroom is full of wedding guests,” Katie pointed out. She'd taken a tube of lip gloss out of her bag. “Gracie, come here. Your lipstick is gone.”
Gracie obliged.
“Does anyone know what we're supposed to do once we get into the reception?” David asked. “I'm kind of hoping we get to sit down and eat.”
“Not a chance,” Trish told him. “The guests have been eating for the last hour while we took our pictures. When we go into the reception, we have to get the party started.”
“Why do I not like the sound of that?” David asked.
“Because you don't like dancing,” Trish said as she looped her arm through his. “ I keep forgetting that none of y'all have done this before and we skipped the rehearsal. We'll all go into the reception, but the band will only announce Gracie and Cal. Once he does that, they'll go into the center of the dance floor and have their first dance as a married couple. The second dance will be for Cal and Miss Loretta and Gracie and Dale. The third dance will be for the bride and groom, the immediate family and the bridal party with their respective dates.”
“About time I get to do something.” Mak was leaning on Addison with a possessiveness that was unmistakable. He looked annoyed as her perfectly painted claws dug into his bicep.
“When do we get to eat?” Gracie asked. She hadn't wanted to eat before the wedding because she'd read that it was a bad idea to be bloated during your wedding pictures. She was regretting that decision now, because she was starving.
“After the wedding. If you're lucky, you might manage to grab a bite or two of something as you walk around the reception greeting everyone. You do know that the bride and groom are supposed to try to take a minute or two to acknowledge and chat with all their guests, right?”
Gracie groaned and laid her head against Cal's shoulder. “Do we have a truck here?” she asked.
“Sort of. We dropped off Breedlove's Toyota here before the ceremony. Why?”
“I'll love you forever if you run up to the diner and get me a hamburger to go.” Gracie batted her eyelashes at Cal, who laughed.
“Momma would notice we were gone and send a search party after us.”
“Do we care?” Gracie asked.
“You better care,” David said. “Because I'm not about to take the blame for you two running off together before your wedding reception. We'd find y'all at the creek four hours from now, drunk off your asses and likely half-naked.”
“More than half naked,” Cal corrected. “We have to consummate the marriage.”
“Uh huh, well, at least tell me you have some alcohol hidden away for me?” Gracie gave David her best smile. “I'm not good at small talk and I have no idea how I'm going to make it through greeting and chatting with hundreds of people I only sort of know.”
David laughed. “Well, there might have been a reason Cal and I dropped of the 'Yota here before the ceremony.”
“Tell me y'all didn't bring a beer cooler to a wedding?” Katie clucked her tongue with disapproval, but she was smiling.
“Think of it as more of a liquor cooler,” Cal said. “There might even still be a few sandwiches in there. Trish warned us that getting food at a wedding could be tricky, even if there was plenty of food on hand. I packed a few sandwiches at the house just in case y'all girls wanted them. Katie always forgets to eat and then gets lightheaded.”
Katie blushed. “Pass out once and no one ever lets me forget it.”
“You've passed out more than once,” Addison reminded her.
She waved him silent with her hand.
“Did you pack margaritas by chance?” Gracie asked. “I really want a turkey sandwich and a lime margarita.”
“I don't remember what we packed,” David said. “But if you want food, you better hustle. Miss Loretta is going to come out here any minute to see what's taking us so long.”
“What are we waiting for?” Gracie was perfectly happy run, not walk, away from the wedding reception that was waiting on her.
“I think I'm going to skip the snack break,” Katie said as the rest of them started to head for the truck.
Gracie frowned at her. “You're not hungry?”
“I am, and I appreciate y'all packing food for me. Really, I do. Unfortunately, I kind of need to find Ian before the bridal party has to dance in front of every single living soul in Possum Creek. Have any of y'all seen him today?”
Everyone exchanged puzzled looks.
Katie sighed. “I'll take that as a no.”
“Do you want me to come with you?” Addison asked her.
Makinsley let out a loud huff. “Addy, she needs to go find her husband. She doesn't need your help.”
Addison responded by shaking Makinsley's hand off of his arm without ever looking at her.
“I'm fine. I'm sure he's around somewhere. I just need to go see if Frank or Maggie knows where he is. I'll catch up with y'all.” Katie turned away from the rest of them and hurried towards the reception hall. She had her phone pressed to her ear before she'd even made it halfway across the massive front lawn.
“Has anyone seen Ian?” Gracie asked, looking specifically at David as everyone started walking towards the truck.
“No, but that doesn't mean he's not here. It's beyond crowded. If I hadn't parked my truck here this morning, I wouldn't have gotten a parking spot. There are cars parked a mile and a half out.”
“How many people are here?”
“Literally everyone you can think of, and probably two hundred that you've never met who only showed up for the free meal.” They had reached the Toyota. David pulled open the tailgate and yanked a heavy Yeti cooler to the edge.
“I can't believe you brought a picnic to a wedding, Breedlove.” Makinsley rolled her eyes and then gave Addison's elbow a tug. “Let's just go inside to the party. It's ridiculously rude to leave all the guests waiting inside because your sister doesn't want to deal with her own wedding.”
“I don't really care if we're being a little tacky,” Addison said as he picked up an athletic-style water bottle that didn't contain any actual water and took a swig out of it. “You go ahead and go. I'll be inside in a few minutes.”
Makinsley rolled her eyes at him and them stormed off.
“Why aren't you chasing after her, Addy?” David was watching Makinsley go with grim kind of pleasure as he handed out sandwiches.
“As far as I'm concerned, she can skip the reception entirely and take her ass back to her house,” h
e said. “I've had enough of Makinsley.”
“Really?” Gracie looked at him skeptically. “Do you promise?”
Addison nodded. “I had some...um, personal things that I needed to take care of last night and I forgot that I'd invited Mak to your rehearsal dinner. I guess I kind of ditched her there.”
“You definitely ditched Mak at the rehearsal,” Cal said. “Believe me, you may not have noticed but David and I did. We had to put up with her all night. She even tried to come back to my parents house with us.”
“Right. Sorry about that.” Addison took off his sunglasses and tucked them back into his pocket. “The whole benefit to my relationship with Makinsley is that its not supposed to be a real relationship. Just sex. I got home after sunrise this morning to find her camped out in my apartment. She started chewing my ass the minute I walked through the door. Believe me, we're done. What's the point in having a non-committed relationship if you still get in trouble for not checking in with the person you're not committed to?”
David let out a short laugh. “I told you that she was more committed to your relationship than you were.”
“Well, after the reception she's gone. I promise. We're only here together right now because she wanted to save face.”
“Hallelujah,” Gracie said. She threw her arms around her big brother's neck. “Getting rid of Makinsley is the best wedding gift you ever could have given me.”
“Us,” Cal corrected. “Addison dumping Mak is a gift to all of us.”
“Y'all shut up, she's not that bad.”
Trish, usually the nice one, rolled her eyes as she took a dainty sip of whatever David had stored in a small metal flash. She cringed as the liquid hit her tongue.
“What are y'all doing?” Miss Loretta's voice echoed out across the parking lot.
“Shit.” David hurriedly took the flask back from Trish and stuffed it into his inside jacket pocket.
Cal's mother was stomping her way across the parking lot in a pair of cream colored beige heels and a very modest dress that had more sequins than were really in good taste.