Marry and Bright

by Laura Durham

  Richard shook his hips. “Ole’!”

  Oh boy.

  “You sure we’re not gate crashing?” I asked Slim.

  “Naw,” he said. “It’s not like you’re the only outsiders here.” He pointed over my shoulder. “I think those two are lost.”

  Richard’s glazed eyes popped open. “I must be losing my mind.”

  I swiveled my head and stifled a groan. Kate inhaled sharply beside me. “Is it too late to hide?”

  “There you are, dearie!” Leatrice called out as she thrust a hand high in the air to wave as the other hand held Fern’s arm.

  “I’ll race you out the back,” I said.

  Chapter 12

  “What are you wearing?” I asked Leatrice when she and Fern joined us.

  She spun around and the bright-red felt skirt belled out around her. The skirt was decorated with vividly colored sequined appliqués of nutcrackers, angels, and wrapped presents. “It’s called a Christmas tree skirt. Do you like it?”

  “You’re wearing a Christmas tree skirt?”

  Leatrice looked at me like I was a simpleton. “Well, it is the Christmas season. This is a very popular item on the Home Shopping Network. I’m sure you’ll see other people wearing them around.”

  “I doubt it.” I didn’t have the heart to break it to her that the skirt was meant to wrap around the base of a Christmas tree. At least she was in season.

  “Fern said we were going to a restaurant, so I thought I should dress up.” Leatrice glanced around her, then lifted her red cowboy boots off the sticky floor one at a time. “Restaurants downtown sure have gotten casual.”

  “How did you know we were here?” I asked Fern.

  He wore a pair of black jeans and a white T-shirt with what appeared to be a pack of cigarettes rolled up in the sleeve. His hair, usually tied back in a bun or ponytail, was brushed up into a pompadour with a ducktail of dark hair flipped up at the nape of his neck. “Kate texted me.”

  I narrowed my eyes at her.

  “What?” She dropped her voice. “I didn’t know Leatrice would tag along. Or dress more like a drag queen than him.”

  I pointed at the cigarettes in Fern’s sleeve. “Since when do you smoke?”

  “I don’t.” He grinned and flexed an arm muscle. “This is my ‘bad boy’ look since my leather was at the cleaners.”

  Did everyone own leather except for me?

  “What are you drinking, little lady?” Slim asked Leatrice.

  She blushed. “Well, aren’t you the gentleman? I’ll have a Shirley Temple with extra cherries.”

  Fern winked at him. “Make that two, sweetie, but instead of extra cherries I’ll have extra vodka.”

  Slim ambled off to the bar while Rubble and Stray Dog resumed their game of pool. As I cast a glance at my ridiculously dressed friends, I mentally declared the evening a bust. We’d only met a few members of the Born Again Biker Church, and we didn’t have leads on any new blondes who may have left baby Merry on the doorstep. I had to admit to myself that the baby may have been left at random, and there was a distinct possibility we’d never track down the mother. I felt a twinge of sadness for the baby, but reminded myself that she was currently being spoiled to death by Buster and Mack.

  “We’re heading out pretty soon,” I said. “Richard’s probably reached his limit.”

  Fern did a double take as his eyes rested on Richard slumped against a pool cue. “I didn’t recognize him without his schoolmarm posture.”

  “He’s self-medicating,” Kate said in a whisper that was anything but. “After the fiasco with C-A-P—“

  “I may be bereft and without a reason to live,” Richard interrupted her, straightening up, “but I have not lost my ability to spell, thank you very much.” He tried to put one hand on the pool table in a jaunty stance but missed and stumbled against Kate.

  As the pair almost tumbled to the floor, I shook my head and jerked a finger toward the bar. “Let me stop Slim from ordering those drinks. I don’t want to have to carry anyone else out of here.”

  I sidled up to Slim as he leaned against the mahogany bar with one booted foot resting on the brass railing at the bottom. He nodded at me.

  “Is it too late to cancel those orders?” I asked. “I probably should get my friends home.”

  “Nix those drinks, Francie,” Slim called out to a thin woman at the other end. The burly bartender who’d been working when we’d entered must have gone on break. The thirtysomething woman now tending bar wore a bright-white T-shirt over tight jeans, and her lips shone with coral-pink lip gloss.

  The woman walked down to our end and ran a hand through the frosted hair that fell in feathers around her face. “Even the club soda with lime?”

  Slim gave a gruff laugh. “Naw. Keep that.”

  The woman winked at him, filled a rocks glass with club soda, dropped a lime in it, and passed it across the bar. “Don’t drink it too fast, big guy.”

  Another laugh from Slim as he took a swallow.

  “I’d better settle my tab,” I told the woman, pulling out some folded bills I’d tucked in my pocket earlier.

  Slim waved my money away. “I got it. Any friends of Buster’s and Mack’s are friends of mine.”

  “That’s very sweet,” I protested, “but you don’t need to do that.”

  He nodded at the bartender. “It’s done.” He cut his eyes to Richard behind us. “And both of the drinks the nervous fella had.”

  “Richard only had two drinks?” I asked.

  “The first one was a boilermaker, so that may have been the problem,” Slim said. “Your friend isn’t much of a drinker, is he?”

  “Not unless it’s champagne or fine wine,” I said, wishing I’d been there to see Richard drop a shot of whiskey into a beer mug and drink them both. I could count on one hand the number of times I’d seen either beverage pass his lips. And I’d have fingers to spare.

  Slim studied me for a second. “Buster and Mack haven’t brought you on a ride along, have they?”

  “A ride along?” I asked, shaking my head. “On their bikes?”

  “We got a bunch more church members who aren’t here but who’ll be at our event tomorrow.” Slim tossed back the rest of his club soda and spit the chewed up lime into the bottom of the glass. “Meet us at the church parking lot at ten a.m. and you can hop on the back with a couple of us and see what we do.”

  “What do you mean?” I asked, my heart already racing at the thought of riding on the back of a Harley. It made me nervous just to look at them, much less ride on them.

  “We’re providing protection for a funeral tomorrow.” Slim thunked the glass on the bar. “You want to know what we’re really about, that’s where you’ll learn.”

  “Okay,” I said before I could think better of it. I did want to meet more church members, and after reading about what the church did to help people they thought were unfairly judged, a part of me wanted to see these reformed bikers in action. “We’ll be there.”

  Slim grinned at me and then looked at the bartender. “We’ll make her a biker chick yet, Francie.”

  The bartender looked me up and down as Slim walked back to the pool table. “You won’t find better men than Slim and his boys.”

  “We’re friends with Buster and Mack,” I said, hoping their names gave me some instant street cred I was lacking.

  Recognition flashed across her face, and she nodded. “They don’t come in here much, but they’re good people.”

  I watched her flick a pale strand of hair off her face. “Sounds like you’ve known the Road Riders for Jesus for a while.”

  “We get all kinds in here, but they’re special.” She popped the cap off a Bud Light bottle and slid it over to me. “On the house.”

  The last thing I wanted was another beer, but I raised it and thanked her as she moved off to the far end of the bar. I took as small a sip as humanly possible and stared at the woman’s frosted blonde hair, wondering if there was any ch
ance she’d been the one to leave the baby on the doorstep of the church she clearly admired.

  Chapter 13

  “Why is there so much light?” Richard groaned as he dragged a blanket over his head and rolled over on the couch.

  I padded into my living room, dodging the hanging paper stars, and set a mug of coffee on the coffee table for him. “Maybe because it’s morning?”

  “Impossible,” Richard mumbled from under the beige cashmere throw. “I just fell asleep. At least I think I did. The details are a little fuzzy.”

  I popped the top on one of the bottled Frappuccinos I depended on to give me my morning caffeine and sugar rush and sat across from him in the yellow twill chair, tucking my bare feet under me to keep them warm. “I’m sure they are. You refused to leave Bedlam without doing a shot of tequila with Stray Dog.”

  Richard threw the blanket back and sat up. “That’s absurd. When have you ever known me to do a shot of . . .” He raised a hand to his forehead. “Oh, good heavens. Did I suffer a head injury last night?”

  I took a swig of my cold mocha drink and let my eyes close for a moment as I swallowed. I may not have liked to drink regular coffee, but add chocolate, lots of sugar, and milk, and I was hooked. “Like I said, there was tequila.”

  He blinked a few times, moving his hand over his eyes to block the light streaming in from the tall windows on one side of the room. “Who’s Stray Dog?”

  “According to you, he’s your new best friend,” I said, grinning.

  Richard flushed and his eyes caught the pile of black leather clothes folded over the far arm of the couch. “It’s starting to come back to me.”

  I motioned to the coffee mug. “Reese thought you might still be in need of sobering up.”

  Richard began to reach for the coffee and froze. “Reese?”

  My boyfriend walked into the room, his own travel mug in hand. He wore gray pants and a black half-zip sweater, and his hair still looked damp from the shower. “Look who’s alive.”

  Richard pulled the throw up higher over his bare chest and managed a weak smile. “Good morning, Detective. Fancy meeting you here.”

  Reese took a drink from his tall cup, and the corner of his mouth twitched up. “Just what I was thinking.”

  Richard gave him a manufactured laugh, his cheeks reddening even more.

  “You have to go in to work?” I asked Reese.

  “In a bit.” His eyes flitted to Richard. “I thought I’d head out and give you two some time alone.”

  “Very considerate of you,” Richard said.

  I drained the last of my bottled coffee and stood. “No need. Kate and I are heading out on a ride with the Road Riders for Jesus.”

  Richard blinked at me rapidly, taking in my jeans and snug-fitting white T-shirt with the Wedding Belles logo on the front. “You and Kate are riding Harleys now? How long was I out?”

  “Are you sure about this?” Reese asked, taking hold of one of my belt loops and pulling me close. “Not that it isn’t sexy to think of you on the back of a motorcycle, but are you sure this is safe?”

  The thought of riding on the back of a Harley still made my stomach flutter, but I pushed aside my nerves and nodded with more confidence than I felt. “It’s the best way to meet more people who’re connected to the church. Anyway, I’m not going alone. Kate will be with me.”

  Reese raised an eyebrow. “That doesn’t make me feel any better.”

  “Kate’s better than you’d think in pressure situations,” I said. “You can’t work on weddings for so many years and not be.”

  A phone trilled and we all looked around. Reese touched his back pocket and shook his head. “Not mine.”

  Richard hunted around in the folds of the blanket until he found his ringing phone, cleared his throat, and answered it. “Richard Gerard Catering. This is Richard.”

  I turned to Reese as Richard began talking in his most official voice to someone who was clearly a client. “I thought of something last night. Is there any way to do a search of local hospitals and see who’s given birth in the past month?”

  “I’m assuming this means you’ve turned up nothing?” he asked. When I didn’t answer, Reese angled his head at me. “You’re kidding about the hospitals, right?”

  “Why not? If we had a list, we could find out if each mother was in possession of her baby.”

  “First of all, there are quite a few hospitals in the metro DC area. More if you include the suburbs.” Reese counted off a finger and then raised another one. “And secondly, there are privacy laws. I can’t go pulling birth records all over the city for something that isn’t even an official case. I’d like to keep my job if you don’t mind.”

  Well, when he put it like that.

  Richard hung up and dropped his phone on the couch. “Are you still going on about that baby?” He stood and wrapped the throw around himself, throwing one end over his shoulder. “I’m telling you, Annabelle, as much as I’d love to see the little poop machine exit our lives as quickly as possible, you’re looking for a needle in a haystack.”

  “Richard’s right,” Reese said. “The chances of locating the woman who left the child are slim. She abandoned the baby for a reason, and she clearly doesn’t want anyone to know. I hate to think of the child being orphaned, but if her parents don’t want her, she may be better off finding a family that does.”

  Richard made a surprised little noise. “Would you look at that? The two men in your life agree on something.”

  I wasn’t sure what it said about me that one of the most important men in my life stood wearing a cashmere throw as a toga, but I didn’t dwell on it. If I was being honest with myself, I knew they were both right. So far we had almost no leads, and it felt like we were shooting in the dark.

  “I promised Buster and Mack that I’d try,” I said. “I owe it to them.”

  Reese crossed to the coat rack in the corner and plucked his leather jacket from one of the hooks. He held it out as I slipped my arms inside. “If you’re going to do this, you should do it right.”

  Even though it was a little big on me, the well-worn leather held traces of my boyfriend’s aftershave. I popped the collar. “Better?”

  “Heaven preserve us,” Richard muttered, scooping up his own leather clothes from the end of the couch.

  Reese pulled me to him by the collar, and my body pressed against his. “I’m digging this bad girl look. You sure you have to leave right now?”

  “At least wait until I do,” Richard said as he clucked disapprovingly.

  Reese kissed me a bit more intensely than usual, then released me. I tried to catch my breath as I felt the heat creep up my face. I cleared my throat and turned to Richard, trying to act like I wasn’t flustered. “Are you sure you’re okay about the whole Capital Weddings thing? You’re not going to rush off and try to blow up their office while I’m gone, are you?”

  “Old news, darling,” he said with a wave of his hand. “I’ve got more things to do than plot revenge on my old employee Marcus.”

  I suspected revenge was still on the to-do list even if it had moved down a few notches. “Like?”

  “For one, that was Darla on the phone, and she wants all the dishes with cranberries, nutmeg, and nuts to be removed from the menu. Actually, it’s the bride who wants to commit this travesty. Now I have to figure out how to rework the menu so it isn’t bland and boring.”

  Even though he was complaining, I knew he liked being tasked with a challenge. I liked the fact that it would take his mind off ‘the list.’ “If you’ve already prepped some of the food with festive flavors, we could always use it for our team holiday party on Thursday.”

  “Thursday?” Richard nearly dropped his armful of clothes. “We’re throwing together a party in two days?”

  “It’s just our crew,” I said. “Nothing fancy.”

  Richard gave me a disapproving look. “Just because it’s small, doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be done properly.” He t
apped his chin. “It’s too late for custom signage, but I could probably come up with a signature cocktail. And we need a theme. Maybe Christmas in Caracas or a Hannukah in Havana?”

  “The theme is ‘old wedding stuff’,” I said. “I’ve got an office filled with leftover cocktail napkins, stir sticks, striped paper straws, and favors that I never want to see again. We’re going to use it all, so if you can come up with a drink that works with that, be my guest.”

  Richard looked aghast for a moment, then he cocked his head. “It’s so horribly kitsch, it could work.”

  There was a knock on the door and Reese opened it. Kate stood in the doorway in hip-hugger jeans and a Wedding Belles T-shirt that matched mine peeking out from under a brown leather bomber jacket. Her usually smooth bob was tousled, and dark eyeliner made her eyes look smoky. “Ready to ride?”

  Richard gave her the once-over. “The descent from Wedding Belle to Hell’s Angel didn’t take long.”

  Kate winked at him. “You should join us on the dark side.”

  “Not on your life,” Richard said with a sniff. “I have to redesign the wedding menu for your Scrooge of a bride, plus the detective and I have plenty to do here to get this place ready for the holiday party.”

  Reese’s head swiveled to him. “Wait? What?”

  “I certainly can’t do it all by myself,” Richard called over his shoulder as he headed down the hall with his clothes, dragging the blanket behind him. “You do live here now. That makes you one of us.”

  “Look at the bright side,” I said as I stepped into the hall with Kate. “You seem to be ‘in’ with Richard.”

  Reese let out a deep sigh as he watched me go. “Talk about a double-edged sword.”

  Chapter 14

  “I’m starting to feel guilty,” I said as Kate swung her car into the parking lot of the Born Again Biker Church. “Do you think I should have left Reese with Richard? You know how he gets when he’s on a tear about something.”

  “Oh, I know how Richard gets.” Kate turned off the car engine and opened her door. “If I were you, I’d be more concerned that Reese might shoot him.”