Secret Hollows (32 page)

“Nothing, really,” she said, shaking her head. “My stepfather is still angry about the wedding. I thought by now he would be over it, but…”

Mary hugged her. “Rosie’s right, don’t let him spoil your day. This is all about you and Bob.”

“I wish my dad could be here,” Linda said, a single tear slipping down her cheek.

“He probably is,” Mary said. “You just can’t see him.”

Linda smiled. “You’re right,” she agreed. “My dad wouldn’t let something as minor as
death keep
him from my wedding.”

Mary laughed.
“Exactly.
Now come on, you have an anxious groom waiting for you.”

They walked out into the lobby and Mary saw Bradley standing near the door, talking on the phone. He looked up and winked at her. She smiled back.

“Call from the station?” she whispered.

He nodded.

Katie stepped forward with Maggie who was dressed in a frilly gown that matched Linda’s suit. She was wearing lilies of the valley in her hair and holding a basket of rose petals.

“I’m so excited,” Maggie said. “I’ve never been a flower girl.”

“You look lovely, sweetheart,” Mary replied. “Like an angel.”

“Okay, Maggie, remember, when Mary taps your shoulder, you walk slowly up the aisle and sprinkle your flowers on the ground,” Katie reminded her.

“And then there’s cake?” Maggie asked.

Mary laughed and nodded, “And then there’s cake.”

Mary picked up her flowers and positioned herself in front of Linda. She turned back and smiled. “You ready?”

Linda nodded, her eyes twinkling with excitement. “Yes. Yes, I am.”

They moved to the entrance of the chapel and waited until the processional music began. Mary tapped Maggie on the shoulder and the little girl moved forward, her little face solemn as she concentrated on distributing her flowers. Once Maggie had reached the halfway point, Mary moved forward, matching her steps to the music.

When Maggie reached the front of the chapel, her basket empty, she skipped back down the aisle towards her mother. “Do we get cake now?” she called, to the delight of everyone in the chapel.

Bob grinned and Mary heard Linda chuckling behind her. Nearly to the front herself, Mary heard the music change and the traditional
Here Comes the Bride
began to play. She saw the look in Bob’s eyes as Linda entered the chapel and was awed at the love shared between the two.

Mary walked to the end of the aisle and moved to the left, making way for Linda. When Linda stepped up, Bob slid over and took her hand. He lifted it to his lips and kissed it.

“You look beautiful,” he whispered.

The minister walked forward, standing two steps above them on the raised dais. “Shall we begin?” he asked.

Suddenly, the door behind the altar burst open and Linda’s stepfather, Neil, unkempt and obviously drunk, stepped forward. The minister spun around in surprise. “What do you think you’re doing?” he demanded.

Neil glanced at the aging minister and knew he would get no trouble from him. “What happened to the ‘who gives this woman away’ part?” he slurred, moving forward on unsteady legs. “
Ain’t
that supposed to be my job?
Ain’t
I supposed to give my permission?”

“Neil, you promised you wouldn’t do this,” Linda’s mother called from the front pew.

“Don’t tell me what I can and cannot do, woman,” he shouted back.

“No, Neil, don’t do this,” Linda pleaded.

Bob put his arm around Linda as Neil came forward. “Neil, you’re not wanted here,” he said. “Go back home and sleep it off.”

“Oh, yeah, sure,” he said. “You say I’m not wanted. Well, you’re not wanted either. Why don’t you go ahead and kiss her good-bye, ‘
cause
this is going to be your last chance.”

He reached behind him, pulled a gun out of the waistband of his pants and aimed it unsteadily at Bob. “You
ain’t
taking her away from us.”

Neil staggered down the carpeted stairs toward the couple. He glanced at Mary and grinned. “Boo,” he taunted.

Mary could smell the stench of his alcohol-ridden and unwashed body. She felt her body reacting, once again, like he was Gary. Her heart started to pound, her vision started to blur…

“Snap out of it, sister,” Ernie yelled, appearing next to her. “You
gotta
save the day. You can’t let this SOB win. You’re stronger than that.”

She remembered what Jeannine told her, those were not her memories. Those things did not happen to her. She had to believe she was stronger than that.

She was a warrior.

And she wasn’t going to let anyone ruin Linda’s day.

Neil stood just in front of her, on the first step, his focus on Linda and Bob. Mary dropped her bouquet, tightened her hands into fists and lifted her arms into a boxing stance.

“There you go, champ,” Ernie exclaimed. “
give
it to him in his breadbasket.”

“Now, I’m
gonna
tell you what we’re
gonna
do,” Neil began.

Mary threw her first punch, straight into his stomach, knocking the wind out of him. The gun dropped out of this hand.

“What the hell?” he wheezed, stumbling back.

“Good girl,” Ernie shouted, “move into position.
Now upper cut.”

Mary pivoted closer and threw an upper cut, catching him solidly under his jaw. His head snapped back and fell against the podium.

“Now, give him the old one-two,” Ernie coached.

Mary danced around him and used him like the punching bag, throwing a series of sharp jabs into his ribcage and stomach.

“Now finish him off,” Ernie said.
“The big one to the jaw.”

Mary cocked her arm back and then threw the last punch, catching him in the jaw. His eyes widened, his jaw dropped and he fell to the ground in a senseless heap.

“Oh, Mary, thank you,” Linda cried, running up onto the altar and hugging her.

“I can’t believe it,” Bob said, checking Neil’s motionless body. “He’s out cold.”

“Alright!!!” Ernie yelled.
“The winner and new champ, Mary O’Reilly.”

Mary took a deep breath, “Isn’t
this what
a maid of honor is supposed to do?” she asked.

“Well, if it is, Linda sure picked the right one,” Bob said, hugging Mary. “Thank you.”

“My pleasure,” she said.

She shook some of the sting out of her hands and then motioned to two of the ushers. They quickly ran up to the altar and pulled the unconscious man to the back of the chapel where Bradley stood at the door, shaking his head and grinning. She winked at him, and then smoothed her dress, walked back to her place and picked up her bouquet. “Shall we proceed?” she asked the minister.

Bob and Linda smiled and went back to stand in front of the altar.

The minister shook his head. “Just a moment please,” he whispered, as he walked over to his pulpit and poured himself a glass of water.

“I bet that preacher wishes that was moonshine instead of H2O,” Ernie said with a chuckle and then he turned to Mary. “You did great, kid. You were the fighter I knew you could be.”

“Thanks, Ernie,” she whispered.

“You saved my little Lindy-girl’s wedding,” he said.

“You’re Linda’s father?”

He grinned. “Yeah, now you know why it was so important. And you were right to tell her that her dad would be at her wedding. I wouldn’t have missed it for the world.”

He floated over to Linda and placed a kiss on her cheek. “I love you, Lindy-girl,” he said.

Linda lifted her hand to her cheek and looked around, tears reflecting in her eyes.

“I just felt like my dad was here,” she whispered to Bob.

“Course, he’s here, sweetheart,” Bob said. “This is the kind of wedding Old Ernie would have loved.”

Ernie turned to Mary, nodded and faded away.

Mary stood in the lower level reception hall at the church, trying to stay away from the crowd of well-wishers. Hands slipped around her waist and Mary stiffened until she felt the kiss on the back of her neck and heard a familiar laugh, “What a girl I’ve got,” Bradley said softly. “She looks like an angel and fights like a champ.”

She leaned back against him. “I’ve decided to relinquish my boxing career,” she said. “Punching really hurts your hands.”

He turned her around and took her hands in his, and lifting each one to his mouth, kissed them tenderly. “Better?” he asked.

She smiled.
“Much better.”

“Are we going to get cake or what?” Maggie asked, looking a little cranky.

“Why don’t you two ladies find a quiet table and I’ll hunt down some cake for you,” Bradley said.

“Really?”
Maggie asked, her face lighting up.

Bradley reached down and kissed her forehead. “Really,” he replied.

Mary found them a table tucked far away from the noise and business of the reception. Maggie scooted onto the folding chair and swung her feet back and forth. She sighed, a much larger sigh than ought to come out of a little girl.

“What’s wrong?” Mary asked, trying to
hid
her smile.

Maggie looked up at her. “I miss Mike,” she said simply.

Nodding, Mary reached over and took her hands. “Oh, sweetheart, so do I.”

“He didn’t even say good-bye,” she said.

Mary nodded, feeling the tears on the edge of her eyes. “He wanted to. I know he did,” she explained. “But everything happened so fast, he just couldn’t do it.”

Maggie shook her head. “Yeah, that’s what happened to the sad lady.”

“The sad lady,” Mary said. “You mean Jeannine?”

Maggie smiled, “Yes, that’s her name. Jeannine.”

“Did she have to leave quickly too?”

“Uh-huh,” Maggie said. “She told me to say good-bye to Clarissa for her. She told me to tell Clarissa that she will always love her.”

A pit started to grow in Mary’s stomach. “Who’s Clarissa, Maggie?”

“Clarissa is my friend from school,” she said. “We’ve been friends since kindergarten ‘
cause
we’re the ‘
doption
girls.”

“The ‘
doption
girls?” Mary asked.

“Yes,
me
and Clarissa were both ‘
dopted
,” she explained. “That means our families picked us to love, ‘steading of just being
borned
to our families. Cool huh?”

Mary smiled, “Yes, very cool. But why did the sad lady say good-bye to Clarissa?”

“When Clarissa would spend the night, the sad lady…I mean, Jeannine…would come and visit. Clarissa couldn’t see her like I could.”

“Why did the Jeannine come when Clarissa was there?”

“Cause Clarissa was her little girl, afore she was ‘
dopted
,” Maggie explained.

Mary pulled her chair closer to Maggie and looked intently into her eyes. “Maggie, this is an important question,” she said. “Where is Clarissa now?”

Maggie shrugged. “I don’t know,” she said. “Her daddy got killed by a bad man who wanted to take her. She was really sad and her mommy said they had to run away.”

Jeannine’s last words came echoing back through Mary’s mind.
Find my baby.

About the author: Terri Reid lives near Freeport, the home of the Mary O’Reilly Mystery Series, and loves a good ghost story. She lives in a hundred year-old farmhouse complete with its own ghost. She loves hearing from her readers at
[email protected]

Other books by Terri Reid:

Loose Ends – A Mary O’Reilly Paranormal Mystery (Book One)

Good Tidings – A Mary O’Reilly Paranormal Mystery (Book Two)

Never Forgotten - A Mary O’Reilly Paranormal Mystery (Book Three)

Final Call - A Mary O’Reilly Paranormal Mystery (Book Four)

Darkness Exposed - A Mary O’Reilly Paranormal Mystery (Book Five)

Natural Reaction – A Mary O’Reilly Paranormal Mystery (Book Six)

The Ghosts
Of
New Orleans -A Paranormal Research and Containment Division (PRCD) Case File