Head Over Heels (The Bridesmaids Club Book 3) (28 page)

“What do you mean, ‘not exactly’?” Sally asked. “Where were you going?” From the tone of her voice, she knew exactly where Matthew had been heading.

“I was following you,” Matthew muttered. “I wanted to make sure you were okay. But now that I know Todd isn’t too bad, I’d be happy to share a pizza with you.” The puppy dog look wasn’t having any effect on his sister this time.

Sally pushed away from Todd’s body, nearly doing some serious damage with her elbows. “You are now buying
two
pizzas. And if you ever follow me again I’ll let the air out of your tires.”

Matthew didn’t look the least bit worried about her threat. He opened Todd’s door and grinned. “Let’s go and eat. I’m starving. We could get a DVD after dinner, too. I saw the trailer for a new movie I’ve been waiting for and it looks great.”

Todd frowned at the smile on Matthew’s face. Tonight should be interesting.

***

Sally sipped her glass of orange juice and watched the people around her. It was the opening night of their school’s production of Winnie the Pooh. Rachel was looking after the students from her class so that she could enjoy all of their hard work.

Todd returned to her, handing her a copy of the program. “Someone called Jason Hedges said hello.”

She laughed at the worried expression on his face. “He’s a teacher at my school. He says hello to everyone.”

“Are you sure?”

Sally nodded. “Very sure.” She put the program in her bag and held Todd’s hand. “Come with me. I want to show you something.”

“Now you tell me,” Todd said dramatically. “Why can’t we have this conversation when we’re alone?”

“We have.” Sally laughed. “And it got us into trouble. Come on…” As Sally wove through the parents and teachers in the auditorium, she knew she’d never been happier. She’d seen Todd each night this week. No dangerous people had been hanging around and no one seemed worried that four weeks ago, someone had tried to kidnap her.

Life had almost returned to normal. She opened the door to her classroom to show Todd the ‘almost’ part in her normal. “What do you think?”

Max was standing in the center of the room, surrounded by a dozen nine-year-old children.

Todd’s eyes widened. “What have you done to him?”

Max gave a very manly doggy woof. The purple bow tied to his tail bounced in the air.

Sally waved her hand toward Max. “Todd Randall, meet Eeyore, played by a very capable, Max the Magnificent.” The children in the room started clapping. Max took one look at the admiration on his little friends’ faces and started licking everyone.

The pre-play serenity in the room vanished. Max galloped around the children, catching the unlucky few who’d missed out on being slobbered over. His donkey ears slipped off his head, causing a second riot as the children tried to put them back on his head. Rachel and another teacher joined the madness, trying to calm the children down and keep Max from licking everyone.

Todd let loose with a sharp, shrill whistle. Everyone in the room stopped what they were doing and stared at him, including Max. “Max looks very handsome, but I’d suggest you put his leash on him now. Once the door is open, he’ll disappear quicker than you can move.

Rachel clipped a purple leash to Max’s collar and breathed a sigh of relief. “Okay, everyone. Time to check your hair and makeup, then we’re heading to the side of the stage.”

The children dashed across to the odd assortment of mirrors on the desks. They’d raided all of their parents’ mirrors and brought them in for their musical masterpiece. With lip-gloss, glitter, and hair gel in place, the children lined up in front of the door.

Max stood behind them with Rachel.

Sally looked proudly at her students. “You all look amazing. Do you remember the words to the songs?”

Their little heads nodded.

“That’s wonderful. Enjoy yourselves on stage. I’ll be with your moms and dads in the audience.” Max panted from the back of the line and a little girl giggled.

“Let’s go,” the teacher at the front of the line said. “Say goodbye to Miss. Gray.”

A chorus of goodbyes filled the room. The door opened, the children left with Max, and Sally smiled. She looked around the room before sliding her hand inside Todd’s. “Wait until you see Max on the stage. He’s adorable.” She pulled Todd forward. He stayed where he was. She looked around the room again. “Did I forget something?”

Todd’s eyes gleamed wickedly under the fluorescent lights. He closed the door and stood in front of her. “I’d like to show you something.”

Sally laughed. “We’re standing in a children’s classroom and there’s no lock on the door.”

“Are you trying to scare me?”

“Just saying.” Sally wound her arms around his shoulders and gently nibbled on the skin below his ear. “What did you want to show me?” she whispered.

“This,” he whispered back.

Todd’s lips nudged hers, his tongue dipped into her mouth and Sally forgot to breathe. “You’re bad for me,” she sighed.

“I’m a dieter’s dream,” Todd murmured as his lips slid along her throat. “You can eat as much of me as you like and you won’t put on any weight.”

“In that case I’ll have a double helping of whatever you’re offering.” Sally giggled as Todd’s fingers tickled her ribs. “You’ll get me into trouble with the principal.”

“Only if we get caught,” Todd whispered as his hands moved to a spot that wasn’t tickly at all.

Sally groaned and pushed against him. “Someone could walk in.”

Todd lifted her against his chest and she wrapped her legs around his waist. His breath caught as she wiggled into a more comfortable position.

“I’ve got a plan…” He walked toward the closed door and pressed her against it.

Sally smiled. “I like a man who can think on his feet.”

Todd grunted, then showed her just how effective his plan was.

***

Someone knocked on the front door to The Bridesmaids Club headquarters. Sally looked up from the box of letters she was sorting on the floor.

“I’ll get it.” Tess turned the iron off and walked across the room. Molly stumbled inside. “You look terrible. What’s happened?”

“I’ve got the flu,” Molly croaked. “But I’ve got exciting news. The gallery accepted my exhibition proposal. I’m going to Los Angeles in five weeks’ time.”

“That’s incredible.” Tess wrapped her arms around Molly and gave her a hug. “I’m so proud of you.”

Molly stepped away and held her hand up. “Don’t come close. I’ve got nasty bugs and you’re getting married soon.”

Tess waved Molly’s worries away. “The café is full of sick people. They come and see me for coffee after they’ve seen the doctor.”

Sally raced up to Molly and gave her a hug, too. “Your exhibition is going to be amazing. California won’t know what’s hit them.”

Molly smiled. “I hope so. But for now I need to sit down before I fall down.”

While Tess made sure Molly was comfortable, Sally walked across to the kitchenette and made her a hot lemon and honey drink. “Why aren’t you in bed?”

“I wanted to tell you the good news.” Molly pulled a handful of tissues out of her pocket and blew her nose. “I know it’s expensive to fly there, but if you’d like to come to the opening night, I’d love you to be there.”

Sally handed Molly a steaming cup. “You can count me in,” she said. “Drink this. It might make you feel better.”

Molly took the cup and smiled. “Thank you. What are you doing?”

Sally looked at the papers she’d organized on the floor. “Rachel has gone on vacation for a week. We had another fourteen letters arrive yesterday, so I’m sorting them into piles.”

Molly took a sip of her drink. “Do you need any help?”

“No, I’m okay. Some of them are companies advertising their products. We’ve even got a couple of conference venues letting us know what they can do.”

Tess picked up a pile of multi-colored folders. “Once we’ve sorted the letters into these folders it’s going to be easy. Rachel’s saved some standard responses to most of the queries. We’ll make up our own answers to the rest.”

“Then after we’ve done that, we’ll add the people’s names and addresses to a spreadsheet and we’re finished.”

“Sounds too easy.” Molly blew her nose again and looked at the floor. “Just don’t let your kittens see all of the paper, Tess. They’ll think it’s play time.”

Tess smiled. “They’re tucked up inside the laundry. Logan refuses to let them into the garage.”

“Pebbles peed on the Porsche.” Sally grinned at the tongue-twister. “Logan wasn’t happy.”

Molly snorted. “I bet he wasn’t.”

“Talking about Porsches,” Tess said. “You’ll never believe who I saw in Angel Wings Café the other day.”

Sally left a cup of herbal tea in front of Tess. “This is for you.”

Tess frowned. “What happened to my cup of coffee?”

“I’m helping with your stress levels. Chamomile is supposed to be relaxing.”

Tess held the cup of tea under her nose and sniffed. “It doesn’t smell too bad.”

“It’s good for you.” Molly sneezed, then looked apologetically at Tess and Sally. “I’m really sorry about this. I wasn’t coughing or sneezing when I left home.”

Sally shrugged her shoulders. “Don’t worry about it.” She picked up one of the folders Tess had left on the coffee table and kneeled on the floor. “I want to know who Tess saw in the café. If it’s got anything to do with expensive cars, they must know Dylan.”

Tess frowned. “He might, but I don’t think so. Have you ever met Gracie McKenzie’s brothers? Well, they’re really her half-brothers, but it works out the same.”

Sally tried to remember the names of Gracie’s brothers. “Alex Green is the bull riding champion, but I haven’t seen him driving around in a Porsche.”

“He doesn’t have one,” Molly squeaked. “I photographed him for my portfolio. He owns some old classic cars.” She grabbed her tissues and let rip with a huge sneeze.

“You sound terrible,” Tess said. “After we’ve finished talking about fancy cars, I’m taking you home.”

“I’ve got my car parked outside,” Molly said. “I can drive home.”

“I’m sure you can, but it’s not going to happen. Now where were we?” Tess asked.

“Gracie’s brothers,” Sally said. “Are you talking about Jacob?”

“Who isn’t,” Molly said dryly.

Tess looked at her friend. “I know he’s not your most favorite person, but he is our first home-grown billionaire.”

Molly took her tissues across to the kitchen and put them in the trash. “Money isn’t everything.” Before she’d made it back to her chair, she’d sneezed three more times. “Right at this moment I’d pay someone a billion dollars to get rid of my bugs.”

“Pick me,” Sally said with a smile. “I wouldn’t mind a billion dollars.”

“I love you too much to do that to you,” Molly said between coughs. “I think it’s time I went home.”

“Come with me.” Tess jumped to her feet and led Molly to the door. “I’ve got some home-made chicken soup in the freezer. We’ll take that as well.”

“I don’t want to be a nuisance,” Molly said. “You’ve got a lot of work to do.”

Sally put two letters in a yellow folder. “Don’t worry about us. You need to get well for your gallery exhibition.”

A wobbly smile filled Molly’s face. “I do, don’t I? I’m so happy that I could almost dance an Irish jig on your kitchen floor.”

Tess held the door open. “You can do the jig when you’re feeling better. You need to go to bed.”

“You sound like my sister,” Molly moaned.

“Maybe you should have listened to her.” Tess passed Molly a box of tissues as they walked outside. “I’ll be back in half an hour, Sally. Will you be okay until then?”

Sally nodded. “I’ve got plenty of work to keep me busy. When I’ve finished these letters, I’ll check our emails.”

After Molly and Tess had left, Sally picked up the next letter and smiled. Annie would be here soon with lunch. They’d catch up on how her catering business was going, unpack the box of dresses that had arrived yesterday, and have a relaxing afternoon.

Sally looked up when the door opened again. She smiled, expecting to Tess. “What did you…”

The arms carrying a large box didn’t belong to Tess.

“A special delivery for The Bridesmaids Club.” Dylan, Tess’ fiancé, grinned from behind the box. “Where do you want them?”

“Hi, Dylan.” Sally stood up and cleared a space on the kitchen counter. “You can put it here. What did you mean by, ‘them’? How many boxes are there?”

“Three. They just arrived.”

Sally groaned. Maybe the afternoon wouldn’t be so relaxing after all.

CHAPTER TWELVE

Todd unbolted a screw from the back of the porch swing. The contractors had finished painting the house a week ago. The old wooden siding looked as good as new, but the swing was a different story.

“Let me know when you’re ready to lift the swing off its frame,” Dylan said from the bottom of the steps. “I’ve only got one more container left to plant.”