Going to the Chapel: A Novella

by Herron, Rita

  Izzy sympathized immediately. “Don’t feel bad. I had to teach Ray how to use his tongue for something besides talking, too.”

  Daisy giggled, then reached for a handful of pretzels. Apparently she still ate when she was upset. “What about you, Caroline? Didn’t you get married a while back?”

  Caroline traced a finger around the rim of her glass, then licked off salt. Their sister was the queen of stalling.

  “Tell us,” Daisy said. “After all, look how bad our marriages turned out. I hope you were luckier than us.”

  “Me, too,” Izzy said. “I heard you talking on the phone, sounds like you really love your guy.”

  An odd look flashed in Caroline’s eyes. “I’m afraid my marriage was a disaster, too.”

  Daisy straightened. “What happened?”

  Who had Caroline been talking to?

  Caroline chewed on her bottom lip. “Hugh left me four years ago.”

  Izzy was stunned. Caroline was the perfect one. What man wouldn’t stay with her?

  “Tell us about it,” Daisy encouraged.

  Caroline twisted her fingers in her lap. “It was a few months after Sally was born.”

  “Sally?” Izzy and Daisy both said at once.

  Caroline nodded. “She’s five now.”

  Izzy’s heart thumped with shock. “You have a daughter?”

  “We have a niece?” Daisy asked.

  Caroline smiled for the first time since the girls had returned to Matrimony.

  Izzy swallowed a big swig of her margarita. “Where is she?”

  “She’s staying with a friend.” Caroline fidgeted. “That’s the reason I have to get back before Christmas.” She looked at Izzy. “And that’s who you heard me talking to.”

  “Does she know about us?” Daisy asked.

  Caroline nodded. “Yes, I told her all about you.”

  Izzy winced. “Oh, that can’t be good.”

  A devilish look glinted in Caroline’s eyes. “I promised we’d take her to the Dairy & Donut Delite for a sundae.”

  The three of them exchanged looks, then suddenly burst into laughter. For the next half hour, they retold the scandal story, laughing as they remembered the hot fudge in Izzy’s eyes, the ice-cream sandwiches flying and their aunt chastising them in jail.

  But Izzy’s heart swelled with love and longing as Caroline showed them a photo of her daughter.

  The sisters grew quiet, Izzy and Daisy soaking in Sally’s features.

  She had Caroline’s brown hair, and the spark of sass in her eyes was pure Sassafras.

  Caroline was going to need help raising that girl.

  Daisy’s husband’s death and Caroline’s little girl—those must have been the secrets her aunt said she was tired of keeping.

  Daisy made another pitcher of margaritas, and they spent the next hour bashing men and talking about trashing their wedding dresses.

  A light snow started falling, but Izzy raced to her car and brought in her box of memorabilia. Her sisters toasted her as she tossed the pictures and corsage into the fire.

  “Let’s make another toast,” Daisy said.

  Caroline lifted her glass. “To never letting anything tear us apart again.”

  Izzy clinked glasses, but a noise sounded from the doorway. Izzy looked up and saw the kitten scratching at the box of ornaments.

  “All right, kitty,” she said as she scooped him up. “We should decorate Aunt Dottie’s tree.” It was the least she could do since she’d shamed her aunt again. Maybe that was the reason Aunt Dottie wore hats—to hide her face.

  She set the kitten down with a ball of yarn from her aunt’s knitting basket, then dragged the box of ornaments to the tree. Daisy and Caroline smiled as they joined her, and together they hung their keepsake ornaments on the tree for Aunt Dottie to find when she came home.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  Levi couldn’t leave town without saying good-bye and apologizing to Izzy. He’d spent half the night at the jail questioning Loudon and Ray, and the rest of the night thinking about Izzy and the look of betrayal and hurt on her face when she’d discovered his deception.

  Maybe she felt better this morning. Maybe she’d forgive him.

  Trepidation filled him though as he walked to the door. Through the window, he saw Christmas lights twinkling and noted the Santas and other decorations.

  He rang the doorbell, tapping his foot as he waited. A minute later, he heard footsteps, and the door swung open. Izzy’s aunt stood on the other side, her expression hostile. “What do you want?”

  “To talk to Izzy.”

  Caroline and Daisy appeared behind her like soldiers guarding a fortress. The kitten that had nipped at him at the shop clawed at his leg.

  “She doesn’t want to talk to you,” Caroline said.

  “You hurt her,” Daisy added in an accusing tone.

  “I know and I’m sorry,” Levi said. “Please, I need to speak to her before I leave town.”

  The Sassafras women glared at him for another full minute before their aunt finally motioned for them to get Izzy.

  As soon as the girls were out of sight, Aunt Dottie snatched him by the collar. “No one hurts my nieces without answering to me.”

  This was the woman with the rules on being a lady? She looked more like a street fighter to him. “Yes, ma’am.”

  Izzy appeared just as her aunt dropped her grip and tacked on a polite smile. “We’ll be in the kitchen if you need us, sweetheart.”

  What did they think he was going to do? Maul her?

  Izzy scooped the kitten up and held it as if it was a guard dog, those blue eyes filled with contempt. “What is it?”

  “I wanted to let you know that Loudon flipped on Ray. He cut a deal, and we have Ray dead to rights.”

  “Good.”

  She started to close the door, and he wedged it with his foot again. “Izzy, I’m sorry—”

  “Don’t bother,” Izzy said. “You’re no better than Ray. You use women, then throw them away.”

  Dammit, he wasn’t at all like Ray. But he didn’t get a chance to plead his case, because Izzy slammed the door so hard the wreath fell off at his feet, the glass dove ornaments shattering.

  Izzy turned from the door, battling more tears. Dang it, she wasn’t a pretty crier either. Her face was swollen from the night before.

  But at least Ray would never bother her again.

  And neither would Levi.

  Because she would forget they’d ever met.

  Aunt Dottie and her sisters looked up from the kitchen as she walked in, but Izzy avoided their sympathetic looks, and carried the kitten to her room.

  Heart breaking, she curled on the window seat and watched Levi drive away. Aunt Dottie’s rule number three taunted her: Never chase a man; let him chase you.

  Except Levi wasn’t chasing her; he was running the other way as fast as he could.

  Three days later

  Levi booted up his computer and read the article Nellie Needlemyer had written with a grimace.

  Naughty in Matrimony

  By Nellie Needlemyer

  SHOOTOUT IN MATRIMONY

  Three weeks ago, the Sassafras sisters rolled into Matrimony promising weddings and romance, saying that they’d save the town with their business plan.

  But true to their reputations, they brought trouble instead.

  Chaos broke loose when Izzy Sassafras’s husband, Ray LaPone, and his accomplice to fraud and murder, Tate Loudon, held her at gunpoint in One Stop Weddings and demanded she return money she’d stolen from them.

  Detective Elsa Firestone with the Austin police department and private investigator and former detective Levi Fox managed to subdue both LaPone and Loudon, but not before shooting up the bridal shop in the center of town. Izzy Sassafras knocked her husband over the head with a unity candelabra to prevent his escape. Her husband required seven stiches, but the candelabra was undamag
ed.

  Thankfully, none of the residents in Matrimony were injured, although the dessert case in One Stop Weddings was shattered, and cakes and pies were everywhere.

  Later, residents claimed they spotted the Sassafras sisters meandering over to the Triple D for ice cream sundaes and laughing about the events. Very wisely, Hattie McCoy closed before they arrived.

  But questions still remain. The Sassafras sisters started a website called Destination: Matrimony. But is their destination prison instead?

  As usual, the sisters’ Aunt Dottie, known most for her cotillion class on How to Be a Lady, was unavailable for comment.

  Levi stood up from his desk and paced. He’d left Matrimony as soon as Izzy had slammed the door in his face.

  This morning his former boss, Captain Sudwick, had offered not only to reinstate him, but also to give him the promotion to detective he’d wanted all along. Apparently LaPone and Loudon had murdered three different men.

  Once the widows learned about his scheme, they realized Ray had swept in to comfort them after their husband’s deaths in order to waylay suspicion of foul play.

  Both Ray and Loudon were going away for a long time.

  Levi rubbed a finger over his detective badge and stared out the window of the police station. Austin was a happening place.

  Restaurants, bars, music . . . crime.

  The energy he used to feed on.

  And the Silver Dollar—his brothers, both now officially single again, had taken over managing it and were happy to be living off the land.

  But he still felt unsettled. Unfulfilled. Un . . . happy.

  Because all he could think of was Izzy Sassafras—those damn blue eyes and that beguiling smile.

  Five days before Christmas

  Izzy stared at the interior of One Stop Weddings in despair. She and her sisters had cleaned up the shop, managed to salvage most of the dresses, had the glass dessert case replaced, and redone the displays.

  But they hadn’t had a single call for business, though there had been a steady trail of locals venturing in for a pastry and coffee under the guise of glimpsing the scandalous sisters and the disastrous mess Nellie had painted with her recent article. She might as well have titled the piece “Boycott the Bridal Shop.”

  Worse, she’d been waiting on pins and needles to be arrested because she’d used stolen money to fund their enterprise.

  The door opened and Caroline appeared, a little girl with long dark hair in a French braid beside her. Izzy’s heart completely melted. Sally looked so much like Caroline—and their mother—that it made her choke up.

  Daisy sashayed over with a tray of cookies. “Well, hello, you must be Sally.”

  Sally nodded and snatched a cookie, her eyes lit with mischief as she spotted the dolls and the kitten.

  “This is Aunt Daisy,” Caroline said. “And this is your aunt Izzy.”

  Izzy squeezed the little girl’s shoulder affectionately. “I’m so glad you’re here. Has your mama told you about the rules for being a lady?”

  Caroline shot her a warning look, but laughter gleamed in her eyes. “There’s plenty of time for that.”

  “We might have to amend some of the rules for modern times,” Izzy murmured. Like the rule: Never let a man see you naked before marriage. Her version: Never let a man see what’s under your skirt or he’ll think he can play in your garden whenever he wants.

  Sally bit into the cookie with a grin. “Can I play with the dolls? Mommy made new dresses for them.”

  “Sure, honey,” Caroline said.

  Sally grabbed the bag of doll clothes and skipped over to the display to play.

  Daisy returned to the computer where she’d had been trying to put a positive spin on the Destination: Matrimony website from people who’d e-mailed about the story of Ray’s arrest.

  The bell on the front door jingled, and Aunt Dottie swooped in. “All right, girls, I know you’ve been down in the dumps, but I have an idea how we can salvage this place.” She motioned for them to huddle around the coffee counter.

  Izzy was open to anything that might save them from closing their doors or earning more scandalous news footage. Caroline and Daisy joined them in front of the petit fours Daisy had arranged on a tray to take to the women’s church circle. She was hoping to bribe them into letting her cater their monthly dinners.

  Daisy had decided to stay in Matrimony and try her hand at the catering business. She’d created a website for Daisy’s Dining, passed out flyers, and posted ads. So far she had several bookings for birthday parties as well as women’s and church club special events. The church had even put her on retainer—they never could get enough casseroles and covered dishes for families in need, new mothers, and funerals. Lord knew that in the South, people fed grief with potato salad and apple pie.

  “I don’t think there’s any way to salvage things,” Caroline said glumly.

  “Yes, there is,” Aunt Dottie said. “First of all, I talked to Levi Fox, and he told me—”

  “You talked to Levi?” Izzy asked, her heart pounding.

  “Yes.” Aunt Dottie rubbed Izzy’s arms. “I gave him a piece of my mind about sneaking around and lying to us, and told him he should be ashamed of himself for using a nice girl like you.”

  Izzy blinked back tears. After all she’d put her aunt through, Aunt Dottie still defended her. “Oh, Aunt Dottie, I appreciate that.”

  Aunt Dottie winked. “I also told him we were not going to pay back that money you took, so he’d better figure out a way to get you out of that mess.”

  Izzy didn’t think she could count on that.

  “Anyway, this shop has real potential, and it’s just what Matrimony needs. I am damned and determined not to let Nosy Nellie keep writing about us the way she does.” Their aunt adjusted the wide brim of her hat. “If she wants war, I’ll give her war.”

  Damned and determined? War on Nellie? Izzy had never heard her aunt use such harsh language.

  “So I talked to Faye and Ruby, and I have a plan. Since you used our wedding stories as testimonials for the chapel’s magic, and you inspired us and the town by giving the town new life—”

  “You mean another scandal?” Izzy said miserably.

  “I mean, you gave us new life. You’ve brought business back by redoing the B and B, and the renovations on the cabins on the river are underway, and the quilting bee actually sold three quilts online this month, so Dorothy and Ruby and I want to renew our vows at the chapel.”

  “You want to renew your vows?” Daisy asked.

  “With our husbands, of course,” Aunt Dottie said, her eyes twinkling.

  “The men agreed to this?” Caroline asked.

  “They’ll do whatever we tell them to do,” Aunt Dottie said with a wink.

  Just let him think it was his idea, Izzy thought, remembering the rules.

  Daisy gaped at her. “But how will we afford to pull it off?”

  “I keep a little money in my mayonnaise jar.” Aunt Dottie waved a hand as if to say no worries. “And the town folk will pitch in. The garden club offered to donate flowers in exchange for publicity on the website. And Larry from the Hardware store said he’d donate Christmas lights and candles for the chapel.” Aunt Dottie was gaining steam. “We can still have that Christmas wedding, and we’ll invite that reporter from Atlanta and Chattanooga and show everyone that there is magic in Matrimony.”

  “Then the testimonials will speak for themselves,” Daisy said with a triumphant grin.

  Caroline shrugged. “It might work.”

  Aunt Dottie clapped her hands. “Of course it will—that is, if we band together.”

  “Well,” Izzy said. “We’ve always given this town something to talk about. I say we give them a Christmas wedding.”

  She only wished she was walking down that aisle . . . with Levi.

  But Levi was probably laughing his butt off about how stupid she’d been.
>
  CHAPTER TWELVE

  Christmas Eve

  Tension knotted Levi’s neck as he rolled up to the WELCOME sign for Matrimony. The last time he’d come here, the sign had been twisted and dented, but someone had put up a new sign, a wooden one carved with the town’s name, and with a big fat red Christmas bow on top.

  Christmas lights and garland dangled from the street signs ahead, and as he drove down Main Street holiday music flowed through speakers, adding to the festive mood.

  Odd how in just a few weeks, the little hole-in-the-wall town had changed. Lulabelle’s looked busier today with a giant Santa and sleigh in the front, and white blinking icicle lights decorated One Stop Weddings, making it look like a Norman Rockwell painting.

  All because of Izzy and her wedding-planning business.

  He’d read online that they were hosting a ceremony for some couples who wanted to renew their vows tonight at the chapel. That the entire town had pitched in to make it happen.

  Of course, Nellie Needlemyer was probably lurking around waiting for something to go wrong to feed the gossip vine.

  He rubbed the envelope in his pocket, his nerves on edge. He could have mailed this to Izzy or sent it to her aunt when she’d butchered him over the phone, but he . . . wanted to see Izzy.

  Correction. He had to see her.

  He hadn’t slept the past few days for thinking about her. Wanting her.

  Needing her.

  He’d never needed a woman before.

  Never had one get in his head so badly that nothing else mattered.

  Hell, he’d finally understood his father, how he’d loved his mother so much that life seemed empty without her.

  Izzy probably hates you.

  Still, he’d driven all the way from Texas and put his job—hell, his life—on hold just to be here.

  And ask for her forgiveness.

  And . . . well, he’d like one more kiss.

  He checked his watch. Dusk. Wedding time.

  He veered onto the street leading to the little chapel on the hill.