by Tim Myers
“The superstition is that I can’t see you wearing on our wedding day,” he said.
“Well, I still don’t want to take any chances,” she said.
Since Mrs. Albright couldn’t back up her daughter’s story, I decided to go inside and talk to Angela.
“May I help you?” she asked.
“I was just in here with Donna Albright. She’s thrilled with the beautiful job you did on her wedding dress.”
Angela beamed. “It took forever, but I finally got it just right.”
“Donna said it took most of Wednesday afternoon,” I said.
“No, it was on Tuesday. My kids threw a fit because dinner was so late. I told them if they were hungry, they should fix it themselves without waiting for me! Do you have kids?”
“No, Ma’am, I don’t.”
“I love them, but they drive me nuts sometimes.”
A man came in with four suits thrown over his arm. “How long will these take?”
She glanced at me, then said to him, “Let’s see what you’ve got.”
I left the dry cleaner’s with my proof. I’d purposely named the wrong day, and Angela had corrected it on the spot. So it looked like Donna had an airtight alibi after all.
I drove back to Custom Card Creations, but there were no parking spots nearby. That’s when I remembered the barbeque festival in the square at the other end of Oakmont near Sara Lynn’s shop. I finally found a place to tuck the Gremlin into, then I walked to my card shop. Lillian was gone, the lights were off, and the sign was flipped to closed. I thought about grabbing a bite and going home, but I was too restless to do that. Sara Lynn was having dinner with her husband; Bailey had been so lonesome for his wife that he’d even offered to take her out to eat, so I was on my own.
I walked down the avenue to the nearest vendor, bought a sandwich and a Coke, then returned to my shop. After I ate what was some pretty decent pork barbeque, I got Lillian’s whiteboard out and ran a red line through Donna’s name. That left Melinda, Anne, Pam and Cam. I still couldn’t believe the sisters had anything to do with the murder, unless one of them was pregnant, too. If that was the case, I was sure Larry would have been the murder victim and not Tina. That just left the two mothers. Melinda seemed to accept the upcoming nuptials, trying to put a good spin on them, but Anne Albright had been driven from the beginning. I thought about her first visit to the shop, and the phone call I’d gotten. Did the timing work out? It would have meant that Mrs. Albright had killed Tina soon after leaving my shop. Maybe she’d run into her outside on the street, gotten her into the car on some pretext, then murdered her daughter’s competition. There were a lot of ifs involved, and I didn’t have a shred of evidence I could take to my brother.
But maybe I could set a trap that would give me something other than conjecture that I could take to Bradford. I wished Gail were in town. It always helped talking things out with my best friend, and the habit I had saved me from doing some colossally stupid things over the years. But I didn’t have her there to be my sounding board, so I was just going to have to go ahead with my plans. If my suspicions turned out to be correct, it was going to end up being the worst “ wedding party in the history of Rebel Forge, and that was saying something.
I was still considering the best way to trap Anne Albright when there was a tap on the glass by my table. It was the woman herself! What could I do? I considered ignoring her summons and calling Bradford, but what could I say to him? Even if he believed me, I’d look pretty foolish if it turned out I was wrong. It would have been nice to have Lillian in the shop as my backup, but that wasn’t happening, either.
The keys tapped on the glass again. I was going to have to do something; that was certain. Then I remembered the festival outside. It was dark out there, but at least there were people milling about, and that had to be safer than being alone in my shop with the woman if she was indeed a murderer.
I held one finger up to her, then shut the lights of and walked outside.
“Jennifer, I was hoping we could talk inside,” she said.
“Sorry, but I’m really late.”
“This won’t take a moment,” she said. “It really is quite important.”
“You can tell me as we walk to my car,” I said, searching for a familiar face somewhere around I could call over to join us. All I saw were tourists, though. Unfortunately, I was parked on the other end of the avenue, away from the direction the crowds was heading. Should I go there anyway and forget about my car for now? Yes, that was my best hope. If Bradford wasn’t there himself, at least one of his deputies would be, and at that point, I’d even take Wayne.
Mrs. Albright caught my arm before I could get two steps away from my door.
“Your car is that way,” she said, pointing toward my Gremlin and away from the crowd.
“What makes you think that?”
“I’m parked right in front of you. There are entirely too many people walking around tonight.”
Not enough for me. I had no choice now. Taking a deep breath, I started walking quickly toward my car, with Anne Albright right on my heels.
Chapter 20
“Would you slow down, Jennifer? I can’t talk to you at this pace.”
That was my plan. “Sorry, but I’m meeting someone for dinner. It’s my brother. He’s the sheriff, you know.” Okay, it wasn’t the smoothest lie I’d ever told in my life, or even in the past couple of days, but it was the best I could do on the fly.
“He won’t mind. This is important.”
Finally, I was at my car. I had my key in my hand ready to jump in, when Mrs. Albright stepped in front of me and cut off my access. “You’ll talk to me right now,” she said with a growl.
“What do you want?” I asked, trying to keep the fear out of my voice.
“I want to know why you’ve continually refused ignore my warnings,” Mrs. Albright said as she brought a long kitchen knife out from under her coat.
“Are you insane?” I screeched at her.
“Don’t say that to me! I wouldn’t allow the doctors to say it, and I certainly won’t stand for it coming from you. You had to keep digging, didn’t you?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said as I saw a movement in the bushes nearby. Was Wayne still stalking me? If he was, I didn’t know that I would have a problem with it at the moment. I had to keep Mrs. Albright talking until he could make his move.
“Don’t toy with me. What I want to know is, who else have you told?” She hesitated, then added, “I think I know one person.”
“You answer some of my questions. Then I’ll answer yours,” I said, fighting for time.
“Please, I already know what you’re going to ask. I knew you’d finally gotten it when you asked my daughter for my alibi. You were so transparent. Did you honestly think she wouldn’t tell me about your little conversation?”
“I was asking her about her alibi,” I said. What was Wayne waiting for, a handwritten invitation?
Mrs. Albright laughed. “You honestly think my sweet child could do anything so vile?”
“If she’s so sweet, why are you letting her marry Larry? You know what he did, don’t you?”
I saw the knife tighten in her hand from the glow of the street lamp. “He made a mistake. That tramp Tina seduced him in a moment of weakness. She was demanding that Larry marry her instead of Donna, can you imagine that? At least he had the good sense to come to me with it. There was no way I was going to stand by and watch Tina Mast wreck everything. I needed to take action, and I did what had to be done to preserve the sanctity of the wedding. Larry was going to meet her at the abandoned house to discuss it, only I showed up instead. Now that Tina’s out of the way, I believe Larry’s going to work out just I fine.”
“And you trust him to stay quiet about all this?”
She shook her head. “Jennifer, you don’t understand. We’re going to be family soon, and I explained to him carefully how a family protects one anothe
r.” Mrs. Albright paused, then added almost wistfully, “It’s a shame you’re going to miss the ceremony. It’s going to be a lovely wedding.”
“Even if it means your daughter is marrying a man who is unfaithful? Is that really what you want for her?”
Mrs. Albright said, “He was just sowing his last few wild oats. As soon as he’s married, I know he’ll come around. Larry comes from fine stock.”
That was more than I could say for Donna. I was about ready to shout at Wayne to do something when the person lurking in the bushes shifted his weight. It was only for an instant, but I caught his face clearly. It wasn’t Wayne in the bushes after all.
It was Frank, the homeless man I’d run into earlier. It looked as though if I was going to be rescued, I was going to have to do it myself.
“So the earring I found at the house was yours,” I said, trying to figure out how I was going to battle that knife with just my purse and a lunatic.
“Honestly, for what they cost me, the backs should have held better than they did. I knew you’d found it the second you walked out of that house.”
“I was in disguise,” I said. “How did you know it was me?”
“Please, you can play dress up all you want; you couldn’t hide that loping gait of yours if you tried. Your walk gave you away. Now enough of this talk. I can’t trust you to keep this to yourself, and I’m not about to let you ruin everything I’ve so carefully planned.”
“I won’t tell anyone. I promise.”
Mrs. Albright didn’t believe it any more than I did. There was only one more thing I could do “Frank,” I called out, “She’s holding a knife on me. Are you going to let somebody threaten your wife like that?”
Mrs. Albright said, “How stupid do you think I am? That’s insulting.” She started to raise the knife over her head, and I prayed my idea would work. Frank came out of the bushes moving so fast I couldn’t believe his speed, but I still didn’t think he could get to her in time. I thought about trying to dodge out of her reach, but Mrs. Albright had me thoroughly pinned against my car. The blade was six inches front my chest when Mrs. Albright was jerked violently to one side. I heard the snap of her wrist as Frank broke it, and then all she did was sob. He stood and stroked my hair. “Are you all right, honey?”
“I’m going to be,” I said as I collapsed against him.
Then a floodlight hit me full in the face. “Step away from her or I’ll shoot!”
“Bradford, stop!” I shouted. “You don’t understand. He just saved me.” My brother took in the scene, glancing at Mrs. Alright, who was still on the ground, moaning and cradling her ruined wrist in her other hand. “He attacked her. I saw it.”
My brother’s gun didn’t waver. I did the only thing I could do. I stepped between Frank and that revolver and said, “If you’re going to shoot him, you have to kill me first. Anne Albright is the one you want.”
That got his attention, and my brother’s gun lowered, just as Frank’s hands went around my throat. “You’re not my wife,” he snarled. “You tricked me, just like she used to.”
He looked at Bradford. “If that gun comes up, I’ll break her neck like a dry stick.” My brother dropped his gun on the pavement. As calmly as I could, I said, “Frank, I’m not your wife, but I know where she is. If you let me go, I’ll take you to her.”
“Suzanne’s dead,” he said in a voice devoid of all emotion.
“No, she’s not. She’s just been away, but now she’s back, and she’s asking for you. Let’s go get her.”
“Suzanne?” he said in a pitiful voice. “I love her so much.” His hands dropped from my neck, and I could feel the sting from his grip on my flesh. “She’s not far,” I said as I took his hand in mine as led him toward my brother. “Bradford will take you to her.”
After we had him cuffed and in the car, my brother said, “That was too close for my taste.”
“I know. One second he was saving me, and the next he was trying to kill me.”
“What is that all about?” Bradford asked. “Did Anne Albright really try to kill you?”
“She did,” I said as I looked back at her.
There was only one problem. During the commotion, Anne Albright had slipped away. There was killer on the loose in Rebel Forge, and though I finally knew who she was, my family and I were in more danger than we’d ever been before.
“Get in the car, Jennifer.”
“I can’t,” I said. “Lillian’s in trouble.”
“How do you know that?” Bradford snapped.
“It’s something Mrs. Albright said. I’ve got to save her.”
“Get in. I can get there faster than you can.”
I did as I was told, and Bradford hit the siren and the lights of his patrol car as he raced to Lillian’s house. We’d have to get there in time. If something happened to my aunt because of my snooping I would regret it with every breath I ever took again.
Bradford barely had time to slow down in front of her house before I jumped out and raced to the door. .
Lillian answered, looking a little startled. “Jennifer whatever is wrong with you?”
“Are you alone?”
Lillian glanced back inside, then admitted, “No, I’ve got company.”
“If it’s Anne Albright, get out of there. She’s the murderer.”
Lillian looked surprised. “It wasn’t the daughter? I was sure it was Donna.”
At that moment, Anne Albright came tearing of the bushes, the knife clutched in her good hand. She was screaming as she neared us, and I could the murderous intent on her face. I threw myself in front of Lillian as I pushed my aunt back. I might not be able to save myself, but I was going to at least give her a chance. Then I steeled myself for the attack. If I could grab Anne Albright’s arm before she stabbed ne, and somehow manage to hold her off, I knew Bradford was half a step behind.
Actually, he was closer than that. I could almost feel the heat from Anne Albright’s hatred when she was suddenly hurled sideways, the knife ripped from her grasp. Bradford had made a running tackle that would have made a professional football player proud, and before I could even react, my brother had her face pinned in the grass, his knee planted solidly in her back. He slapped the cuffs on her and said, a little out of breath, “That should hold you.”
“Where are you going to put her?” I asked, motioning to Frank sitting in back of the squad car. My knees were shaking, but I was going to hold it together, at least until Anne Albright was safely locked up.
“I’ll call for backup,” he said. “She’s not getting away from me again.”
“You saved me,” Lillian said to me. “Bradford did that,” I protested. “Yes, but you pointed him in the right direction.” Bradford said, “Yeah, we’re all heroes. Now let me get my prisoners locked up before anyone else gets hurt”
The next morning Lillian and I were back at the card shop, both of us happy to have some normal routine to return to. Melinda walked in and said, “I can’t believe Anne Albright is a murderer. You never can tell about some people, can you?”
I thought about how much I liked Melinda, and how little I thought of her son. It was true; you never could tell. “I suppose that changes things, doesn’t it?” I had her invitations ready. The money had already been deposited, but I couldn’t see the wedding going on now.
I was wrestling with my temptation to give her a refund when she said, “Believe it or not, the kids want I get married in spite of what happened. Donna told me this morning nothing has changed. She still loves Larry and he wants to marry her, as well.”
I handed her the box of invitations as Melinda added “You won’t believe Donna’s reasoning.”
“Try me,” I said. “Right now I’ll believe anything.”
Melinda said, “She told me she and her mother had already mailed the invitations out you made for then: and she didn’t want to disappoint anybody. I wonder how Anne is going to feel about that.”
“Triumphant” was
the first word that came to mind, but I wasn’t about to say that out loud. “I think she’ll be happy she won after all.”
“What do you mean?”
“Think about it. She claimed everything she did was to make sure the wedding actually happened. She’s getting exactly what she wished for.”
That obviously troubled Melinda, but she didn’t comment on it and I decided I’d already said enough. After she was gone, Lillian asked, “So what’s next for us?”
“I’d love to make a few new cards for display.”
Lillian rubbed her hands together and said, “Oh good. You wouldn’t believe what I came up with this morning.”
From my aunt, the only thing I expected was the expected. As she led me back to her latest creation, looked around my shop and was glad, despite everything that had happened, that I had taken the risk and opened a place of my very own.
I was going to turn down all offers to do any wedding invitations for a while, though.
I just didn’t think I could bear dealing with another mother of the bride.
Making Your Own Wedding Invitation Or
Any Card That Announces A Formal Occasion
There are many ways to make your own handcrafted greeting cards, from the simplest fold and cutout like Jennifer uses in this book, to the most elaborate card imaginable, chock-full of embellishments and adornments. You can even create your own envelopes, but for most cards, I like to buy the basic card stock and envelopes right off the shelf. They are available in an amazing array of colors and hues, and many have the added advantage of already sporting a crease. Following the card-making theme of this book, I’d like to show you a quick and easy way to make your own formal handcrafted card using premade adornments available in just about any craft store. Since scrapbooking and card making have many similarities, I like to browse the sections filled with stickers, small collages, stamps and ornate lettering when I need to make a formal card. For a wedding, there are even small sewn outfits signifying the bride and groom that look just as good on the front of your card as they do on your scrapbook pages. Though it might get expensive buying such detailed adornments for a great many invitations, they’re perfect for a small and intimate ceremony. Simply peel the self-adhesive stickers off the back of the collages and place them on the front of your card. Sometimes the collage itself is enough for the front, but if you’d like to add your own lettering, there are sheets of adhesive letters available so you can send your very own message. I like to scan the sticker aisle, because many times I can find the perfect message already made for me.