Miz Scarlet and the Bewildered Bridegroom (27 page)

“That explains it,” he
grinned. “That explains a lot. You can tell just by looking at her
that she’s the type.”

“Yes, indeed. You
always want to stand as far away from her as you can when she’s
taking out the trash.”

“Very funny!” I shot
back. It was obvious they were relieved, after the nerve-wracking
events of the day, so I let them have their laugh.

Shark Boy reached down
to collect the stray cans, carefully tucking them back into their
plastic shroud. I bent over beside him, making quick work of
it.

“Thank you,
Michael.”

“You’re welcome.
Where’s the trash can, Miz Scarlet?”

“Oh, don’t worry about
that. I’ll take care of it,” I told him, relieving him of his
burden.

“In that case, I guess
we’ll walk the tiny terrors. Oops, I mean terriers.” He gave me a
big grin.

“Oh, you’re cute,” I
laughed.

The teenagers made
their way into the house through the back door, January nestled in
Jenny’s arms, while I took the two bags to the carriage house,
turned on the lights and made a noisy effort to deposit them into
their respective barrels. When that was done, I shut off the
overhead fluorescent lights and made sure the door was secured,
before I strolled back to the house, lost in
thought.

Max must have been
thrilled by the ruckus I raised. There was no way our unsuspecting
intruder caught onto the security man’s plan to tail him. I just
hoped we’d finally have some answers about what was going on. Was
this the tide turning in our favor? I hoped so. At least Jenny was
in better spirits. She and Shark Boy must have had a good time on
their date. I had to admit he seemed to be a good influence on
her.

Once inside the house,
I did the nightly rounds, making sure all of the doors and windows
on the first floor were locked, and then I joined the crowd in the
living room. I was just in time to find out the Sox took the game
3-2 in the tenth inning.

“You missed some
‘beanballs’,” Bur crowed, “and some brawling.”

“Aw, gee. That’s a real
shame,” I remarked, rolling my eyes. I’d be lying if I said I
actually gave a flying fig about baseball.

“It was a game to
remember. Some of the boys got themselves ejected. That’s why we
call it Beantown,” Ruth smirked. “You’re likely to get beaned,
especially by the Sox.”

“
Big
Larry must be thrilled with the win, though,” said Edna. “He’ll be
in a good mood for tomorrow’s game.”

“Does that mean it’s an
auspicious time to go visit him in Boston?” Lacey wanted to
know.

“Oh, I think so. I’m
taking this as a sign.”

“As long as
you
don’t
get yourself tossed out for fighting,” I grinned, knowing Edna and
Big Larry’s track record for pointless arguments. Those coal black
eyes turned in my direction and locked on me with all the precision
of a laser death ray. I found myself withering under her
disapproving glare.

“I have no intention of
being ejected,” she sniffed. It was obvious I had offended her, and
judging from the frowns I got from the Googins girls, I was out of
line. How could I smooth it over?

“When all else fails,
pour on the charm, Edna. Dazzle him,” I suggested.

“There’s a thought,”
Lacey agreed wholeheartedly. “What’s your
strategy?”

“Strategy?” Edna
apparently didn’t have a back-up plan.

“You can’t go in there
cold. You’ve got to cover all the contingencies.”

“I do?” Big Larry’s
ex-wife seemed confused. “Oh...right.”

“No self-respecting
baseball team ever takes to the field without practicing,” Ruth
pointed out helpfully. “They work at it, in the batting cage and in
the field. They even study the opposing team’s weaknesses, so they
can exploit them. That’s how they win the game.”

“Why should love be any
different?” my mother wanted to know. “You’re in this to win it,
aren’t you?”

“I guess
so.”

“You guess so? What
does that mean? You’re going to wing it? Leave it all to chance?”
the other Googins girl demanded.

“Well,
I....”

“You and I are
definitely going to have to talk about this,” Lacey insisted
adamantly. “You can’t go in unprepared.”

“I just thought I’d get
all dolled up and....”

“And Big Larry would
pledge his undying love?” Laurel rolled her eyes at the thought.
“That’s rather naive, don’t you think? You’re dealing with a man
who’s a sports nut. He’s used to competing. He wants a
challenge.”

“Oh, I’ll challenge
that old goat!” Edna replied. “I’ll have him eating out of my hand
by the time I’m through with him!”

“No, no, no! You have
to be more subtle than that, more mysterious.” Laurel maneuvered
her wheelchair around the coffee table. “You don’t want to hit him
over the head and drag him home like some cave woman. You want him
to want to come after you because you’re
irresistible.”

“You’re not out to win
just one game,” Lacey added. “You want to take the championship.
That means you’ve got to play your best again and again, and show
him you’re worthy of the title.” She put a protective arm around
her romantically challenged protégé. “Now, you don’t want to appear
too eager. That’s never a good thing.”

“I guess not.” Edna
didn’t seem all that convinced.

“You’ve got to entice
the guy and make him see you’re the best damn thing that ever came
down the pike. Come with me, dear. We’ll start with your
clothes.”

They headed upstairs to
review Edna’s wardrobe. Ruth got to her feet, ready to follow. I
thought I saw a twinkle in her eye.

“Goodnight, folks. I
need to get some quality sleep. It looks like I’m going to have my
hands full tomorrow.”

“And then some,” Bur
concurred. “You might want to bring some earplugs with you, because
it’s going to get loud at some point.”

“I was thinking more
along the lines of a tranquilizer or two,” Ruth replied, giving us
a mischievous wink.

Chapter Twenty --

Kenny and I retreated
to the library to watch old classic comedies. Stifling a few yawns
an hour later, I took a deep breath and decided I finally had to
call it a day.

“That’s it for me,” I
decided.

“So
early?”

“Early? Are you
kidding? I have to be up in a few hours!” I groaned, eliciting a
laugh from him.

“It has been a long
day, hasn’t it? Come on. I’ll walk you upstairs,
gorgeous.”

I left Kenny at the
door to the third floor after a kiss that made my head swim.
Climbing the stairs, I found Jenny, Mozzie, and Huck on the sofa in
our shared sitting room.

“Where’s
January?”

“Your mother wanted the
dog to sleep in her room tonight,” Jen announced, glancing at me
before turning her attention back to Jon Stewart and
The Daily Show
. “I think she’s nervous.”

“I can’t blame her for
feeling that way. It’s been a tough week.”

“At least the guests
will be clearing out tomorrow morning, Miz Scarlet. We’ve got to
get all ready for that wedding.”

“Yes, we do. Better get
some rest, kiddo.”

I woke up at half past
six, feeling refreshed. No incident in the middle of the night
pushed my nerves to the breaking point. No blood-curdling scream
set my heart pounding. No thug tried to penetrate the sanctuary of
the Four Acorns Inn. The birds were chirping in the garden below,
greeting the morning sun joyously. How could it not be a great
day?

Once we sent the
baseball gang off to Boston just after ten, the Googins girls and
Jenny joined me for a meeting in the dining room. We went over
every facet of the Pinault-Magnusdotter wedding, from the room
accommodations to the receptions on Friday and Saturday night, as
well as the Sunday brunch.

There was still a part
of me that dreaded the return of the Kradic and Zarelli tag team.
That lingering fear wasn’t something I needed as I prepared to host
the first of possibly several Four Acorns Inn weddings. Monday came
and went without incident; I confess I thought it was just a fluke.
Tuesday rolled around and I steeled myself for unpleasant
surprises, but there were none. Wednesday was the same, save for
the phone call from Edna, announcing that she was staying in Boston
for a couple of weeks. She had gotten a temporary job working for
the general manager of the Red Sox while his regular housekeeper
was recovering from surgery on her shoulder. By Thursday morning,
Kenny was convinced the bad boys had given up their antics in favor
of some other pastime.

“I’ll stay one more
night, love, and then I’ve got to vacate my room for the wedding
guests, but I’m fairly confident we’re now on solid ground. No one
is likely to pull the rug out from under you.”

“But how can you be
sure?” I wondered. I admit I liked having him around. “With my
luck, they’ll show up in the middle of the ceremony and ruin
everything!”

“Have a little faith,
Miz Scarlet.”

“How can I? I still
don’t understand why they did it or who was paying them,” I
reminded him. “And Max never said a word about what he found out
the other night, when he followed Bobby.”

“Is that what’s eating
you?”

“Well,
yes.”

“If I tell you that Max
has a handle on things, will you trust us to watch out for
you?”

“But how can
you....”

“You don’t trust me to
know my job?” Kenny’s eyebrows shot up as his expression darkened.
“You think I can’t take care of my clients?”

“I...I didn’t say
that,” I offered, suddenly feeling like I was in the hot seat.
Kenny clearly had confidence in his ability to handle this crisis.
Why didn’t I?

“Perhaps you’d like to
take over?” he glared at me.

“Ah, no,” I quickly
backpedaled. “I’m...uh, sure you’ll do everything right, Captain
Peacock.”

“You’re just saying
that because you feel guilty that you don’t trust me.” That glower
didn’t fade, a sure warning that we were in for stormy weather. I
hated the fact that he knew me so well.

“It’s not you I don’t
trust, Kenny,” I responded hastily. “Honestly. I was a teacher for
how many years? These guys were in my class. I never turned my back
on them. They were always doing things they shouldn’t
do.”

“Either you trust me or
you don’t. Which is it, Scarlet?”

“Oh,
cripes!”

“I mean it!” The arms
folded across his chest, defiant and determined. I couldn’t believe
he was backing me into this corner.

“Fine,” I groaned,
rolling my eyes.
Two can be
dramatic, fella
. “I trust you to
have my back. The wedding will be a great success.”

“That’s more like
it.”

You think you can keep
those twits from wreaking havoc with the wedding. I’m not going to
hold my breath on that, Captain Peacock.

“Excuse me, but are we
done fighting now? If we are, I’d like to kiss and make up.” I
offered Kenny my lips, but he barely brushed them with that
luscious pair of his own. “You call that a kiss?”

“You call that a vote
of confidence?”

“But....”

“You’ll get your kiss
when the bride and groom hit the road, not a moment sooner. And
then, when the families ride off into the sunset to live happily
ever after, you’ll owe me a big, fat apology.”

“Will
I?”

“Yes, you will. And
I’ll expect payment in full at that time.”

“You’ll what?” My mouth
dropped open in disbelief.

“You heard me. I want a
gracious apology that leaves no room for doubt that I am a man of
my word, a man who has spent his life keeping people
safe.”

“You get us through the
wedding successfully and I’ll do better than that. I’ll climb to
the top of White Oak Hill and I’ll sing your praises at the top of
my lungs.”

“You’re
on.”

“Good.”

“Fine.”

“Is this where you try
to get the last word?” I asked, holding back a
smile.