by Nora Roberts
“I’m on my way. Code Red,” she told Del as she rushed for the stairs. “My own fault. I said everything was going smooth. I know better than to say that.”
“What’s the problem?”
“I don’t know yet.” She hit the second-floor landing from one wing as Parker charged in from the other.
“SMOB and MOB altercation. Mac and Carter have the bride occupied and unaware.”
Laurel whipped the clip out of her hair, shoved it in her suit jacket pocket. “I thought we had detente there.”
“Apparently that’s over. Del, good you’re here. We might need you.”
As they approached, the sound of shouting pumped out of the Great Hall. And something crashed. Then someone screamed.
“You might need the cops,” Del commented.
They burst in to see Emma, her hair tumbling from its pins, trying desperately to separate the two snarling, elegantly dressed women. The bride’s stepmother’s hair and face dripped with the champagne tossed from the flute still in the mother of the bride’s hand.
“You bitch! You’re going down!”
Shoving, flailing arms sent Emma skidding on her heels then onto her ass as the women flew at each other.
Game, and with a hot beam in her eye, Emma scrambled up as Parker and Laurel sprang forward. Grabbing the closest body, Laurel hauled while curses spewed like grapeshot.
“Cut it out! Stop it now!” Laurel dodged a fist, then blocked an elbow with her forearm. The force of the contact sang straight up to her shoulder. “I said stop! For God’s sake, it’s your daughter’s wedding.”
“It’s my daughter’s wedding,” the woman Parker and Emma struggled to control shouted. “My daughter. Mine! Not this home-wrecking bimbo bitch’s.”
“Bimbo? Bimbo? You tight-assed lunatic, it’s your last face-lift I’m going to wreck.”
Emma solved the mother of the bride problem by sitting on her while Laurel grappled with her opponent.
As Del risked his skin by stepping between the two women, Laurel spotted reinforcements coming. Jack, and oddly Malcolm Kavanaugh, rushed into the melee.
Kneeling on the floor, Parker spoke quietly and steadily to the MOB whose temper was already giving way to wild tears. Laurel put her mouth close to the stepmother’s ear. “This isn’t solving anything, and if you care about Sarah, you’ll put it away, you’ll suck it up for the day. Are you listening? If you want to fight, you’ll do it another time, another place.”
“I didn’t do anything, and she threw champagne in my face. Look at my hair, my makeup. My dress.”
“We’ll take care of it.” She glanced at Parker, got a nod. “Del, I need you to bring a couple glasses of champagne up to my room, then you can take—I’m sorry, I’ve forgotten your name.”
“I’m Bibi,” the SMOB said in something close to a wail. “It’s all ruined. Everything’s ruined.”
“No, we’ll fix it. Del, you can take Bibi’s dress down to Mrs. G. She’ll fix it up. Come on with me, Bibi. We’re going to take care of everything.”
As she steered Bibi away, Parker repeated the routine on the MOB. “Emma’s going to take you somewhere to freshen up. I’ll be there in just a few minutes.”
“Don’t tell Sarah,” the MOB sobbed. “I don’t want to upset her.”
“Of course not. Go on with Emma. Don’t want to upset her,” Parker muttered when the woman was out of earshot.
“Hell of a party so far,” Mal commented.
Parker tugged down her suit jacket, smoothed her skirt. “What are you doing here?”
“Just dropped by to collect my winnings.”
“I don’t have time for that now.” She dismissed him by turning to one of the subs. “Make sure all the glass is cleaned up, and any spilled champagne. If anything else is broken or damaged, tell one of Emma’s team so they can deal with it. Jack, track down the FOB, will you? I’ll need to speak with him in my office. Immediately.”
“Sure. Sorry it took me so long. I was outside when I got the alert.”
“I moonlighted as a bouncer in L.A.,” Mal told her. “In case you want anybody tossed.”
“Funny, and not completely out of the question. FOB, Jack, thanks. Mac,” she said into her headpiece as she hurried away.
“She sure moves.” Mal watched her zip across the room and out the door.
“You haven’t seen anything yet,” Jack said. “Let’s go find the FOB.”
“Jack? What the hell is an FOB?”
IN HER ROOM LAUREL EXAMINED THE APRICOT SILK DRESS SHE’D ordered Bibi to strip off. She could hear both the shower and the sobs through the bathroom door.
A few spots, a torn seam—could’ve been worse, she decided. Mrs. G would deal with it. And according to the emergency plan for just such situations, she knew Parker would have a hair and makeup team en route very shortly.
Her mission, and she had no choice but to accept it, was to keep Bibi calm, help put her back together, listen to her whine, bitch, and/or complain. And to get her to promise—with a blood oath if necessary—to behave herself through the rest of the event.
Smoothing her own disordered hair, she answered the knock on the door.
“Two glasses, as ordered.” Del eased in to set them on a table, and glanced toward the bathroom. “How’s it going?”
“Well, she’s down from sobs to whimpers. Here’s the dress. It’s not too bad. Parker would’ve given Mrs. G a heads-up, so she’ll be ready for it.”
“Okay.” He reached out to straighten her left earring. “Anything else I can do?”
“You could check with Mac, just to make sure the bride’s insulated from all this. Parker would’ve come up with a reason for a slight delay.” Calculating, Laurel rubbed at the tension in the back of her neck. “We’re twenty minutes out, so I figure ten or fifteen for the delay. We’re good. She turned off the shower,” Laurel noted. “You’d better go.”
“I’m gone. By the way? Nice block,” he added, lifting his arm to demonstrate.
She gave him a laughing shove, then closed the door.Taking a deep, bracing breath, she walked over to the bathroom, knocked. “Okay in there?”
Bibi opened the door. She wore Laurel’s best robe with her hair in dark blond dripping ropes over the shoulders. Her red, puffy eyes shimmered with the threat of more tears.
“Look at me. I’m a mess.”
“This should help.”
“Is it a gun?”
“Champagne. Have a seat, take a breath. We’re having your dress fixed, and we’ll have someone in to do your hair and makeup in a few minutes.”
“Oh, thank God.” Bibi took a deep gulp of the champagne.
“Thank God, and thank you. I feel horrible. Sick. Stupid. Twelve years. I’ve been married to Sam for twelve years. Doesn’t that count for something?”
“Of course.” Soothe, Laurel thought, remembering the Vows’ directive. Soothe, stroke, smooth over.
“I didn’t wreck anybody’s home. They were separated when we met. Well, okay, not technically, not officially, but practically. She hates me because I’m younger. She’s the starter wife; I’m the trophy wife. She’s the one who throws those labels around. And twelve years, I mean, well, shit.”
“It’s never easy to handle those kinds of relationships and connections.”
“I’ve tried.” Bibi’s red-rimmed eyes pleaded for understanding. “I really have. And they were divorced before we got engaged. Almost.And I love Sarah. I really do. And Brad’s great. They’re great together. I want them to be happy.”
“That’s what counts most.”
“Yeah.” She sighed, took a slower sip. “I signed a prenup. I even asked for it. It wasn’t about the money, even though she’s always saying it was. Is. We just fell in love. You can’t help that, right?You can’t help who you fall in love with, or when or how? It just happens. She’s pissed, that’s all, because her second marriage hit the skids and we’re still going. I’m sorry for all the trouble. Sarah doesn’t
have to know, does she?”
“No. At least not today.”
“They weren’t even sleeping together anymore. When I met Sam they had separate bedrooms, separate lives. That’s like being separated, isn’t it?”
Laurel thought of her own parents. “I guess it is.”
“Maybe I was the reason Sam finally took the step and asked for a divorce, but I wasn’t the reason they weren’t happy together. It’s got to be better to take that step than to keep being unhappy together, don’t you think?”
“Yes, I do.” Twelve years, Laurel thought. Yes, that did have to count for something. “Bibi, you have a good marriage, and a good relationship with your stepdaughter. You can afford to take the high road on this.”
“She screamed at me. She threw champagne in my face. She tore my dress.”
“I know. I know” Soothe, soothe, Laurel thought again. “Now, you can be the one to step back, to let it all go today, and focus on Sarah. To help make it the happiest day of her life.”
“Yeah. Yeah, you’re right.” Bibi knuckled her eyes like a child.
“I’m really sorry about what happened.”
“Don’t worry about it.” Laurel rose at the knock on the door.
“And in about fifteen minutes, you’re going to look perfect.”
“I—I never even asked your name.”
“It’s Laurel.”
“Laurel.” Bibi’s lips trembled up into a shaky smile. “Thanks for listening.”
“No problem. Now, let’s get you ready again.” She opened the door to the hairdresser.
THE BRIDE, BLISSFULLY UNAWARE OF THE BACKSTAGE DRAMA, STOOD with her father while her attendants walked toward the flower-drenched pergola. Some brides glowed, Laurel thought, and this one certainly did while the pretty, playful breeze fluttered the gauzy layers of her veil.
Mac changed angles, and Laurel imagined caught that shimmer of joy and anticipation as Sarah turned her head to grin at her father.
“Oh boy! Here we go.”
The music changed for the bride. Laurel saw Sam glance toward Parker, give the faintest of nods. Appreciation or acknowledgment—maybe both. Then he walked his radiant daughter toward the waiting groom.
“So far, so good,” Del murmured beside Laurel.
“It’s going to be fine. Probably better they had their battle before it started. Got it out of their system.”
“There won’t be any more trouble.” Parker’s tone was cold as January ice. “At least not from that source.”
“What did you say to the father?” Del wondered.
Parker’s smile would have frozen flame. “Let’s just say I’m confident the MOB and SMOB will behave in a civil manner, that Vows will be compensated for the additional hair and makeup fees, the gown repairs, and all damages.” She patted Del’s chest. “And we won’t need your services to collect.”
“I need to go finish the setup.” Laurel checked her watch. “Not that far off time, considering.”
“Do you want some help?” Del asked her.
“No. Go ... get a beer or whatever.”
She went back to her kitchen, where it was quiet and cool. Where she could sit for just a couple of minutes. Listening to Bibi had depressed her, and she needed to shake it off.
Loveless marriages, unhappy homes, the X factor of another woman. She knew exactly the sort of miserable brew those ingredients created—and how long the bitter aftertaste could linger.
Surely Sarah had tasted some of that brew, and likely more than once. Yet she’d stood beaming joy on her father’s arm. The father who’d been unfaithful to her mother, the father who’d broken the very vows she herself was about to make.
Yes, she understood unhappy marriages, but she didn’t understand and couldn’t accept using that unhappiness as an excuse or rationale for being unfaithful.
Why didn’t people just end it? If they wanted someone else, or something else, why not break it off clean first instead of cheating, lying, tolerating, just existing?
Divorce couldn’t be more painful for a couple, or the child or children stirred up in that brew with them, than the deceit, the pretense, that smoldering anger. Wasn’t that why, even after all these years, a part of her wished her parents would walk away from each other instead of pretending to be married?
“Well, and here I’ve come in to see if I can help since you had all that trouble.” Mrs. Grady fisted her hands on her hips. “And here you are loafing.”
“I’m about to get to it.”
Lips pursed, Mrs. Grady walked over to tap Laurel’s chin up so their eyes met. “And what’s wrong with you?”
“Nothing. Nothing really.”
Mrs. Grady had a way of using her eyebrows in certain expressions that had very clear nonverbal meanings. At the moment, they said bullshit.
“It’s just that whole business before got under my skin. It’s nothing.”
“It’s not the first time you’ve had donnybrooks at one of these dos. Won’t be the last either.”
“No. It’s not really the fight. That—after the fact—was pretty entertaining. Parker won’t think so for a couple of days, but really, it had shining moments.”
“You’re circling around it.”
“It’s stupid. I ended up with the stepmother. Luck of the draw. I guess she felt sad and embarrassed, so she had to explain to me how she’d gotten involved with the FOB when he was sort of, but not really, separated, and how he and his first wife weren’t together so much as just occupying the same house.”
“Most of the men who want a taste of something fresh say something like that.”
“Yeah, which is lame and it’s false. But I think I believe her—the stepmother. But why does it matter? Why is it supposed to be okay if you get involved with someone who might be on the way out of a marriage? They’re still in it, aren’t they?”
“That’s true,” Mrs. Grady agreed. “But life’s rarely a matter of truth and lies, without the gray in between.”
“Then why the hell don’t they get out of it if they’re going to hook up with someone else?”
In a gesture more practical than comforting, Mrs. Grady smoothed down Laurel’s hair. “People have their reasons for the damnedest things in my experience.”
“She’s okay with it. The bride. I remember the consults, and the tastings, the rehearsal. She loves her parents, that’s clear. And she loves her stepmother. How do people manage that?”
“It’s not always about taking sides, Laurel.”
“No, it’s not. But you know, I never had a chance to take sides, or not, because they were both so wrong.” She didn’t have to explain she’d shifted to her own parents. “And even now, if I think about it, if I think about sides? It’s them on one, me on the other. It’s stupid, but part of me is still pissed off that they’re both so ... careless.”
“You’re angry with them when you should feel sorry for them. They’re the ones who are missing out.”
“They like their life—lives—arrangement.” She shrugged. “At this point it’s really none of my business anyway.”
“Laurel Anne.” Mrs. G cupped Laurel’s face in her hands, using a name and a gesture rarely employed. “They’ll always be your parents, so it’ll always be your business.”
“Will I always be disappointed in them?”
“That’s up to you, isn’t it?”
“I guess it is.” She sighed, hugely. “Okay. Brooding time’s up. I need to get the groom’s cake and the rest of the desserts dealt with.”
“I’m here, so I’ll give you a hand with it.”
Together they carried boxes of pastries to the Ballroom.
“I’m always dazzled by the flowers,” Mrs. Grady said as she looked around the room. “Our Emma has a magic touch. I like the colors for this one. Nothing pale about it, all bright and bold. Well, would you look at that.” She stepped over to study the wedding cake. “Talk about the magic touch. You’ve outdone yourself here, Laurel.”
“I’ll let you. Wedding cake’s lucky cake.”
“So I hear. Mrs. G? Did you ever think about getting married again, or ...”
Mrs. Grady let out a delighted laugh. “Oh, there’s been some or from time to time. I’m not doddering. But marriage?” She walked back to help Laurel with the desserts. “I had mine. I had my Charlie. My one.”
“Do you believe that?” Laurel asked. “That there’s one person? One?”
“I do, for some of us. For others, if things don’t work, or you lose someone, there’s another. But for some there’s the one, beginning to end. No one else can fit. No one else gets into the heart the same way, and lives there.”
“Yeah. No one else. But you’re not always the one back.” She thought of Del, then made herself shake it off. “Do you miss him, still? Your Charlie?”
“Every day. Thirty-three years this November. I miss him every day. But I had him, didn’t I? I had my one. Not everyone can say that.You can.”
Slowly, Laurel shifted her gaze over.
“He’s been your one from the start. Took you long enough to go after him.”
Why deny it? Laurel thought. Why pretend otherwise with someone who understood so well? “It’s scary.”
Mrs. Grady let out a laugh. “Sure it is. You want safe? Find a nice puppy you can train to come to heel. Love’s supposed to be scary.”
“Why?”
“Because if there’s no fear there’s no thrill.”
“If that’s true, then I’m thrilled half to death.” Laurel cocked her head. “That’s Parker’s signal. Cocktail and dinner hour.”
“Go on and give her a hand. I can finish this.”
“Are you sure?”
“I like to get my hand in now and then. Go on.”
“Thanks. Thanks,” she repeated, laying a hand over Mrs. Grady’s. “I’ll make sure you get that cake.”
Alone, Mrs. Grady shook her head and sighed. Her girls, she thought, knew all there was to know about weddings. But love turned them upside down.
Then again, she supposed love was meant to do just that.