“What’s that?”
“Your engagement present. I could pretend that it’s for Alec, as well, but I don’t think he’d really care about ownership of half an old house or half a bakery.”
Crystal looked at her with a cautious glance. The wariness in her gaze went halfway to breaking Holly’s heart.
“You’re gifting me half of Dad’s estate?”
“Yes.” Holly pointed to the signatures at the bottom of the page. “I’ve had it signed and witnessed and the whole thing’s kosher. You don’t even need to do anything—the transfer of title into both our names has already been made.”
“But… Dad’s will?”
Holly shook her head, huffing out another breath of air between pursed lips. “Dad’s will was so out of date that you should have challenged it to begin with. I hadn’t lived in that house for decades so its obvious he should never have left it to me.”
“But you paid all your money into the bakery and the mortage,” Crystal protested. “I can’t—”
“I bought into a family business, just like I’d have to do with any existing operation in town. Your baking had more to do with getting that place back on its feet than my money did. You wouldn’t have even needed it, if it hadn’t been for that rat of an accountant.”
Crystal continued to stare at the documents, now held in an increasingly shaky hand. “Are you sure?”
Holly gave a small cry, then grabbed her sister and pulled her into a hug. She’d missed her so much over the past few weeks that it was hard to put into words. The transfer was the only thing that she could think of that came somewhere close to breaching the gap between them.
“Of course, I’m sure. You know as well as I do that my return to Hanmer Springs was only meant to be a short-term thing. This has always been part of your plan, your life. I should never have held the terms of an outdated document against you.”
She broke off the contact, head tilting forward while Holly fought for control of her voice. The words in her head always sounded so smooth and engaging but, in the moment, full of emotion, they stuttered and stumbled, failing to bridge the gap.
After a second spent staring at the floorboards, Crystal ran from the room and Holly closed her eyes. This had been the last best hope she had at her disposal for a rapprochement with her sister. To have it fail when she thought that it might, for once, turn out okay was a bitter disappointment.
Holly wiped the tears from her eyes with a sleeve. In a minute, she could walk outside and go back to her solitary evening. All she needed was a few deep breaths, then she wouldn’t rile Petey up into a barking mess of concern. The dog was so attuned to her feelings that sometimes he felt like a second skin.
“Here.” Crystal rushed back into the room, thrusting her own envelope at Holly. Now, it was her turn to fumble with the seal, wondering what on earth could be inside.
But Crystal’s enthusiasm wouldn’t let her get that far. “It’s a wedding invitation,” she said, clapping her hands together in joy. “Or, rather, it’s a ‘hold the date’ invitation because apparently that’s all the rage these days.”
The relief overwhelmed Holly until she began crying again. “I’ve turned into a tap, lately,” she complained, trying once again to wipe away the offending moisture with her sleeve.”
“Crystal has too,” Alec said, walking in and wrapping his arms around his fiancée’s waist. “Or is that another one of those things that I’m meant to keep quiet about?”
The response of a slap on the shoulder should have given him a clue.
“Anyway, I hope that you two have made up and you’ll take this one off my hands for the foreseeable future. Honestly, it was lovely having you hanging around the garage for one day, but weeks on end has stretched my patience a bit thin.”
“You never said!”
Alec chuckled. “Of course, I didn’t tell you that. I value my life and intend to spend the rest of it with you.” Apparently realizing that might be sending a mixed message, he hastily added, “Just outside of normal working hours.”
“Would you be okay with coming back to work in the bakery tomorrow?” Holly held her breath as she waited for Crystal to answer.
Her sister gave her a wide smile. “I think that can be arranged.”
Chapter One
The phone rang just as Holly had her freshly ironed dress in hand, each one of the silken layers finally lying smoothly against the next. She turned a frantic glance toward the phone, then sighed and laid the dress down as carefully as she could upon the sofa. “Hello?”
“Is that Crystal Waterston?”
“It’s her sister, Holly. Can I help you?”
That had been a frequent refrain since Crystal had made Holly her matron of honor and put her in charge of tending to all the finer details of the upcoming wedding. Already today, she’d said it to two different people—a singer and the reception caterer—now, here she was, telling it to a third.
“It’s Isobel. I’m the wedding photographer that your sister hired for tomorrow.”
Holly sat down beside her dress as a feeling of oncoming doom swept over her. “You can’t make it?” she asked in a voice with a lot more squeak than her regular tone.
“I’m so sorry,” Isobel continued. “I’ve been called away on a family emergency, so I’ll be in Christchurch all tomorrow.”
“But, it’s too late—”
“Oh, goodness, no!” the photographer interrupter. “I’m not leaving you up the creek without a paddle.” She gave a gentle laugh. “Or at least, without a photographer. My assistant will be able to come, and she’ll do a fine job. She graduated from the top of her class at the Polytechnic, had a big shot job in the city until she moved here, and I sometimes think she takes better pictures than me.”
Holly breathed a sigh of relief and rubbed her hand across her belly. The muscles there seemed tighter than average and had been like that all week. Although she anticipated that the wedding would be fantastic, there was a niggling doubt at the back of her mind. With such a variety arrangements and organizers to be coordinated, surely something would go terribly wrong?
Well, at least the photographer had arranged a replacement. That, Holly could handle. “What’s your assistant’s name?” she asked and stretched out on the sofa to grab a pen. Her elbow landed squarely in the center of the layers of silk dress, and Holly gave a small gasp of disappointment as fresh creases began to form. Back to the ironing board.
“It’s Gwen Robertson, and I’ve sent her details to your email. I’ve already warned her to have the cell phone turned on and charged up, so you should be able to reach her at any time.”
“Thanks for letting me know,” Holly said before she hung up the phone and rubbed at the corner of her eyebrow. The muscle there twitched, and she pressed harder, trying to wipe the telltale gesture of anxiety away.
“You couldn’t even make it to the bedroom,” Holly scolded her dress as she lifted it up and placed it back on the ironing board. She plugged the appliance back in and waited impatiently for it to heat up again. Just as a wetted finger hissed against the surface, ready to go, the phone rang again.
“I’m not home,” Holly called out to it, but the machine resolutely continued its annoying ring. She snatched up the receiver, still warm from her last call. “Hello?”
“Is that Crystal Waterston?”
Holly sighed. “It’s her sister, Holly. Can I help with anything?”
“Oh, Holly. Good to hear you. It’s Minister Woodfield here. I’m afraid I’ve got some bad news.”
Holly tensed up. Here it was. The arrangement that she’d let get out of hand that would ruin her sister’s big day.
“What’s that?” she asked from stiff lips.
“I’ve picked up a bit of a tummy bug from somewhere. Nothing much to worry about at this stage, but I thought I’d better call and warn you that I might not be able to make it tomorrow if I don’t come right overnight.”
The front door bange
d opened and closed again, and Crystal walked in through the lounge. Holly lifted her eyebrows at her sister just as one began to twitch again.
Holly extended the receiver toward Crystal who shook her head. “Pretend I’m not here,” she mouthed.
“What do we do if you can’t make it to the ceremony?” Holly asked the reverend. “We’ve left it a bit late to arrange another minister.”
At that, the minister laughed. “There’re another half a dozen marriage celebrants in town who could help you out in a pinch,” he said in a reassuring voice. “Even if I can’t make it, I’ll ensure that somebody gets your sister married. I’ve already put a few feelers in around town, and I promise you that Crystal won’t be abandoned at the altar.”
“Okay. Well, I hope you feel better and give me a call if you’re not going to make it.”
“I will,” Minister Woodfield said, “and I’ll email you a list of the alternates, just in case.”
“What’s going on?” Crystal asked as she walked through into the kitchen. Even though she hadn’t lived at the house for a good three months now, Crystal still acted as though she’d only been gone a minute.
When she reemerged into the living room, her sister had an apple in her hand, munching away. “I hope you don’t mind, I’m starving.”
“Help yourself,” Holly said with a grin since Crystal already had. “That was the minister who might not be able to marry you. Before that, I dealt with the photographer who isn’t going to come, but who’s sending her assistant.”
Crystal shrugged and stretched out on the couch. “So long as someone marries me, I’ll be fine.”
“Could you turn the telly on?” Holly asked. “The news should just be finishing up.”
Her sister flicked on the TV just as the weather reporter came onscreen.
“We have a cold front edging its way up the center of the South Island. Just as it reaches Canterbury, it’s scheduled to turn inward so if you’re in the Hurunui area, then you can expect a lot of rain.”
Holly closed her eyes until the heat in her hand reminded her that the iron was still on. She picked it up and got to work, not that it would matter how smooth the skirt of her dress was if it poured with rain in the morning.
“Don’t look so worried,” Crystal said. “I listened to a report earlier, and they said there’s only a seventy percent chance it’ll be pouring tomorrow.”
“I think you’ve misplaced the use of the word only,” Holly replied with a tight smile. She paused her ironing long enough to rub her stomach, then smooth out her eyebrow again. One of her mother’s sayings had been that she was a bundle of nerves. Right now, that seemed entirely accurate.
“Nobody was ever hurt by a bit of water,” Crystal said with an open smile.
“Tell that to the hundred drowning victims last year,” Holly muttered.
At her words, her sister’s smile grew even larger. “Don’t be such a worry-wart. If I don’t care what the weather’s like on my wedding day, you definitely shouldn’t. So long as I don’t try to poison my husband-to-be, it’ll be an improvement over the last wedding we attended.”
At the prompt, Holly thought of her friend Wendy. She was arranging all of the flowers for the festivities and was one of the few people involved that Holly held no concerns about doing her job.
“I’m not sure we should hold Derek’s attempted wedding up as a goal,” Holly said. “That’s setting the bar fairly low, even for you.”
“What d’you mean, ‘even for me?’ Are you implying that I have low standards?”
Holly’s eyes opened wide in horror. “No. I didn’t mean that at all.”
Crystal chuckled and nodded at the ironing board. “I think you’ve burned that thing into submission,” she said. “Why don’t you go and hang it up out of the way. People will be arriving shortly.”
Holly lifted up the dress and hurried out of the room to hang it up before she could wrinkle it again. “What do you mean? Dinner’s not for another couple of hours.”
“Well…” Crystal began then trailed off.
As Holly came back into the room again, she caught a very guilty expression on her sister’s face. “What is it?” Holly demanded. “Has somebody else canceled?”
“Nope. Nothing like that. It’s just that I haven’t mentioned up to now about somebody that accepted my invitation.”
Holly snorted. “I don’t care about the people who’re attending, it’s the folks backing out at the last minute that concerns me.”
“Good!” Crystal said just as the doorbell rang.
It had been so long since Holly heard it that it took a moment to realize what the sound was.
“I’ll get that,” Crystal said, going via the kitchen to toss her apple core into the bin. She smoothed down her hair as she walked to the front door, and Holly cast her a worried glance. What was her sister up to now?
Crystal gave a small shriek of welcome as arms wrapped around her in a gigantic hug. The angle of the room blocked Holly’s view so she couldn’t see who the surprise guest was. After the embrace continued for long enough that her curiosity grew, she stepped closer. “Simon!” Holly said in astonishment, her eyes growing wide and a buzz sounding in her ear.
“I hope you don’t mind too much,” Crystal said as she extricated herself from the welcome embrace of Holly’s ex-husband. “But I needed somebody to walk me down the aisle, and Simon’s the only kind-of male relative that I really have.”
“Kind-of male or kind-of relative?” he asked with a smile.
Holly stared down at the ground, wondering if the treacherous earth would just open wide and swallow her up now. If it did, that would suit her plans just fine.
The carpet and floorboards stayed resolutely solid under her feet though. She gave a sigh and stepped forward, offering up an awkward, one-armed hug to the former love of her life.
“You’re far too early for dinner,” Holly said.
Chapter Two
“For goodness sake, Holly,” Crystal said with a note of exasperation. “Will you sit down and stop worrying?”
Simon had ducked out of the house to check-in at his accommodation and drop off his suitcase. From the moment he’d left the place, Holly had paced up and down the lounge room, unable to relax.
“You told me that you didn’t have an acrimonious break-up,” Crystal continued. “So, I don’t see what you’re so upset about.”
“I’m not upset,” Holly said, close to tears. “I’m just surprised.”
To her credit, Crystal managed to look the tiniest bit ashamed. “I probably should have told you sooner,” she admitted. “When I first invited him, I wasn’t sure that Simon would come, and I didn’t want to upset you if that was the case. Then, after he accepted, I was going to say something, but it never quite seemed the right time.”
“And you thought you’d leave it until today?” Holly shook her head in disbelief.
“Well, the time just kind of ran away from me. There’s been so much stuff to organize that it completely slipped my mind.”
Crystal’s cheeks began to turn bright pink, a clear sign to her sister that she knew what she’d done was wrong.
If it had been any other occasion, Holly wouldn’t care about letting loose with precisely what she thought of Crystal’s ‘mind-slip’ but with a wedding tomorrow already ratcheting up everyone’s nerves, now wasn’t the right time.
Holly gave a giant sigh and collapsed down onto the sofa beside her sister. “It’s okay. I’ll get used to it.”
“I can always tell him to go if you really don’t want him there.”
Holly gave a delighted laugh as she pictured that scene unfolding. “As tempted as I am to take you up on that offer, tomorrow is about you and Alec, not me and Simon. If you want him to walk you down the aisle, then so be it!”
“I wish Dad had stuck around for a few years longer, so he could do the honors,” Crystal said.
Holly kept her gaze off her sister. From the thickness
of Crystal’s voice, she was already closing in on tears. If Holly looked at her, that would get her started as well, and then their dinner guests would walk in to find the sisters blubbing.
“I’d better check on the roast,” Holly said and jumped to her feet. “There aren’t any more unexpected guests on their way, are there?”
Crystal shook her head. “Nope. Just the one.”
“Good. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have enough to go around.”
Crystal followed her through into the kitchen, patting her tummy. “I think I could afford to skip a meal if it came down to that. Everywhere I go these days, somebody is inviting me to eat with them.”
Holly gave a laugh as she remembered the flush of impending bridehood from her own experience, years before. “I recall sitting down at the bakery and tasting twenty different varieties of what tasted like the exact same wedding cake. After that, I swore I’d never eat another mouthful of cake ever again.”
“You’d be in the wrong profession if that lasted,” Crystal said with a grin.
“You’re one to talk,” Holly shot back at her. While Holly was quite happy to sample their own merchandise, a treat that she still looked forward to every day, her sister didn’t have the same weakness. Whatever sweet tooth Crystal had started out with had been dampened through a lifetime of baking for a livelihood.
The phone rang again, and Holly shouldered Crystal out of the way before she could grab it. “That’s my job as matron of honor,” she insisted. “If I can’t run interference for your big day, what good am I?”
“A question I ask myself frequently,” Crystal said with a cheeky smile.
Holly flapped a tea towel at her sister’s face as she picked up the phone. “Hello?”
“Is that Crystal Waterston?”
Holly bit her lip to stop laughing, then answered after she regained her composure. “No, this is her sister, Holly. How can I help?”
The Sweet Baked Mystery Series - Books 1-6 Page 69