Third Time's the Bride! (14 page)

Joe tipped him a two-fingered salute. “Thanks,
compadre
.”

Ramirez followed that with a brief exchange in Spanish. Joe’s response was equally brief but put a wide grin on both men’s faces.

By this point Dawn was too wiped to care about anything but moving her excursion to the mall, the Bethesda police station and Detective Ramirez to a mental “delete” box. She wanted out, and now!

She had to wait for the detective to hit the keypad, then shoved the door open the moment the lock clicked. The hallway outside was as gray and dingy as the interview room, but its strong odor of pine-scented floor cleaner smelled like an Alpine meadow to Dawn. She sniffed the heady scent of freedom repeatedly as Joe steered her to a small waiting area and found Callie waiting for her. Dawn rushed across the linoleum-floored lounge and wrapped her in a fierce hug.

“Joe told me what you did.”

Hot tears stung Dawn’s eyes. Emotion clogged her throat. Callie’s, too, judging by her ragged response.

“All I did was make a few suggestions. Joe was the one who convinced Detective Ramirez to follow up on them.”

The watery smile Dawn intended to aim in Russo’s direction never quite made it to her lips. Every part of her froze, lips included, when she spotted the unmoving figure off to Callie’s left.

“Brian...”

She stopped, dragged in a shuddering breath and stepped out of her friend’s sheltering embrace. Aching clear down to her soul, she met his unwavering stare.

“I’m so, so sorry. I never meant... I didn’t intend...” She blew out another long breath and repeated softly. “I’m sorry I ruined this day for you and Tommy.”

He crossed the dingy linoleum, his face giving no clue to his thoughts. Dawn felt her stomach drop three or four floors and braced herself for the worst.

“Just tell me one thing.”

His voice was flat, his blue eyes unreadable. She had to force a response through her raw, aching throat.

“What?”

“Did you get the brush?”

“Huh?”

“The grooming brush. Did you buy one before you got hauled off to jail?”

“I... Uh...”

Sure she’d misunderstood him, Dawn looked at Callie. At Joe. Back at Brian. The smile that crept into his eyes had her heart turning somersaults every bit as joyful as the ones she’d taught Tommy.

“No,” she breathed, “I didn’t.”

“Then we’d better pick one up on the way home.” He lifted a hand and cupped her cheek. “I dropped some heavy hints before I left. I don’t think we can delay giving Tommy his wedding present until tomorrow. And if the pup’s going to sleep with him tonight, as I suspect he will, we’d better give him a good brushing first.”

Dawn covered his hand with her palm. As much as she wanted the magic to happen, her previous disasters sat on her shoulders like cinder blocks.

“It’s too late, Brian. Our guests have probably all gone home. We’ll have to reschedule. Or zip out to Vegas, as you suggested.”

“To borrow my son’s favorite phrase, ‘Nuh-
uh
!’”

“But...”

“No buts. No rescheduling. No quick trip to Vegas. Just put it in gear, my bright, shining Dawn, and we’ll get this done.”

Chapter Fourteen

D
espite Brian’s pep talk, they’d no sooner left the police station than butterflies began to flutter in Dawn’s stomach. Nothing like getting hauled off to jail and making a shambles of your wedding for the third time to take the fun out of your day.

They swung by the mall to retrieve her Mustang and, at Brian’s insistence, make a quick visit to the pet store while Callie and Joe drove his SUV back to the house. When they emerged from the mall, a full harvest moon hung low in the fast darkening sky and streetlamps gave off golden pinpoints of light. A breeze rustled through the trees and raised dancing swirls among the leaves that had already fallen.

The dozen or so cars parked along the street at the house stirred a mix of totally contradictory emotions. Dawn felt a rush of gratitude that so many of their friends and family had hung around all these hours, and a nasty little wish she could slip in the back door and avoid them all. She hadn’t played the coward before, though, and wouldn’t do it now.

Brian eased the Mustang into the last free space in the drive and killed the engine. He faced her, a sympathetic smile curving his mouth.

“Ready?”

“Ready to put on a happy face and laugh off yet another disaster? You bet.”

“Not quite what I meant, but let’s do it.”

He unfolded his long frame from the Mustang and came around to take her hand. It didn’t do a lot for her confidence that he looked so damned handsome and sophisticated in the dark suit he’d put on for the wedding.

She, on the other hand, was still wearing the ballet flats, jeans and baggy sweater she’d dashed out of the house in. If she’d slicked on any lip gloss before she took off, it was long since gone. Although she hadn’t had access to a mirror, she knew her hair was a mess, too. The breeze batted the untidy straggles that had come loose from their clip. She seriously considered tugging Brian to a halt so she could take the dog brush to the tangles, but he already had his hand on the front door latch.

He paused just long enough to shoot her a smile, then opened the door and ushered her into the brightly lit foyer. She took one glance at the images reflected in the hall mirror, stifled a groan and pasted on a bright, I’m-home-from-my-misadventures smile.

As she rounded the corner and got a glimpse of the crowd filling the spacious great room, the fake smile dropped off her face. Disbelieving, she surveyed the scene.

Tommy and his friend sat cross-legged on the floor on one side of the spacious room, waging a fierce battle with Addy on handheld game sets. The dinosaur tie he’d picked out for the wedding was knotted around his forehead, its ends dangling over one ear and sweeping the shoulder of his favorite T. rex T-shirt. Cindy was similarly attired, except her T-shirt sported a panda with a pink bow, while her older brother’s jeans rode so low several inches of purple-banded shorts showed above the waistband.

The adults, Dawn saw in a surprised sweep, also appeared to have gone native. Kate and Travis wore jeans, too. Carlo had abandoned his suit coat and tie, popped the top buttons on his monogrammed silk shirt and rolled up the cuffs. He and her father appeared to have challenged the senior Carutherses to a game of bridge. She didn’t even know her dad played bridge!

LauraBeth and her husband occupied one of the sofas, chatting with the couple on the other. Her mother, Dawn saw, had her shoes kicked off, her stocking feet propped on the coffee table and—wonder of wonders!—a cheerful smile lighting her face. The stranger sitting next to her had also abandoned his suit coat but still wore a white clerical collar.

And food! There was food everywhere. Platters and bowls and paper plates of it. On the floor beside Addy and the kids. On the coffee table. On a side table drawn up within easy reach of the bridge players.

Callie was the first to spot the new arrivals. She was on her way into the great room, a plate in each hand. She’d used the brief interval since her return to the house to change out of her dress and into slacks and a long-sleeved tunic in a misty blue. Joe, coming right behind her with two beers, had followed Carlo’s example and shed as many layers as possible.

“There you are,” Callie called out happily.

Dawn braced herself. She fully expected the greeting to trigger a chorus of joyous exclamations, plates hastily shoved aside and a rush of sympathetic hugs. She did get the exclamations, although not quite as joyous as she’d anticipated, and hugs from both Kate and her mother.

“Callie and Joe filled us in on all the details,” Kate explained. “What a pain for you to have to go through all that.”

Maureen echoed that sentiment but sympathized with her daughter’s accuser. “That poor woman. Callie said this incident might cause her to lose custody of her daughter. She must be terrified.” She paused, and her voice roughened. “I know I was.”

Her throat tight, Dawn returned her mother’s hug. So much heartache, so many painful memories. Then Tommy came running over. Shoving the past back where it belonged, she welcomed her eager future.

“I’ve been waitin’ and waitin’ for you ’n Dad to get home. Cindy was gonna tell me what you got me for a wedding present, but Addy said he’d hang her upside down in her closet if she did. Can’t I have it now, Dawn? Can’t I?”

“Well...”

“Puh-leeeeez.”

The little stinker had chosen his target well. Brian might have held out against that soulful plea, but it turned Dawn’s insides to mush.

“It’s okay by me. If your dad agrees.”

Tommy’s blue eyes leaped, and just as quickly clouded. “Cindy says her parents do this all the time, too,” he reported, scowling. “She says the vote has to be uni...uh...unan...”

“Unanimous,” Brian supplied, hiding a smile. “Which this vote is. Why don’t you help Dawn get something to eat while Mr. Caruthers and I go retrieve your present?”

“Yes!”

Propelled by excitement, Tommy almost dragged her to the buffet table now depleted of most of its contents, including the ice sculpture and the chocolate fountain. She speared the two remaining shrimp onto a paper plate and was trying to choose between a chicken breast floating in congealed tarragon sauce or a slice of dried-out London broil when LauraBeth joined her.

“The caterers had to pack up and leave. I hope you don’t mind that I turned your guests loose on the buffet before they left.”

“Good Lord, no!” She gulped, feeling suddenly overwhelmed by the loyal cadre who’d remained behind. “I’m just so, so sorry you all had to hang around this long. And...”

Damn! She’d thought she’d run the gamut of emotions in the past five hours. Prewedding jitters, worry for a little lost girl, dismay at being accused of kidnapping, incredulity when Detective Ramirez informed her that arrest records were permanent and not expunged as she’d thought. But now, seeing the depleted remains of the buffet, she had to blink back tears.

“Oh, LauraBeth! I wanted to keep this wedding simple and fun for both Brian and Tommy. Now I’ve made a shambles of it. Just like I did my other two,” she added miserably.

“Ha! You haven’t even come close to the shambles
he
made of his first wedding.”

The tart rejoinder took Dawn aback. Startled, she looked a question at the diminutive but iron-spined executive assistant.

“Caroline told me all about it,” she related. “Brian was so nervous he threw up at their wedding. Twice.”

“Brian?” Dawn echoed incredulously. “Ex-marine? Hard-nosed negotiator? Cool, Calm, Never-Break-a-Sweat Brian?”

“Twice,” LauraBeth repeated. “Once at the church, and once at the reception. He jumped up in the middle of the best man’s toast and made a mad dash for the men’s room. Caroline used to tease him about it all the time.”

Her tears now as dry as the London broil, Dawn grinned. The mental construct she’d formed of Caroline Ellis, with all her degrees and business smarts, took on a different hue.

“Good for Caroline. She sounds like someone I would’ve liked.”

“You would have.” LauraBeth took Dawn’s free hand and gave it a fierce squeeze. “She would’ve liked you, too. Your ready laughter. Your enthusiasm for life. Your love for Tommy and Brian.”

Damn! Now the tears were back. Dawn had to blink again as LauraBeth finished her bracing pep talk.

“So don’t think for a moment you’ve made a shambles of anything! We’re here to celebrate with you and Brian, Tommy. You go shimmy into your wedding dress. I’ll get your guests all spruced up and...”

Sudden, high-pitched yelps cut her off. Both women rushed to the great room, and Dawn’s heart squeezed at the sight of Tommy flat on his back beside an overturned box. A furry bundle of joy had four paws planted on the boy’s chest. The pup’s entire back end wagged ten miles a minute as he slathered Tommy’s cheeks and chin with a wheaten greetin’.

Brian edged his way past the ecstatic twosome to give Dawn a rueful apology. “Sorry. I tried to keep the lid on the box, but there was no holding Tommy back after the first yip.”

“That’s okay. Looks like it’s a match.”

“Looks like.”

His eyes on his son and his new pet, Brian slipped an arm around Dawn’s waist. His touch brought a swift, almost-overwhelming sensation of having crossed an invisible threshold.

She was home. Brian and Tommy were her family. As much as Aaron and her mom and her dad. As much as Callie and Kate, the two friends who were closer than any sisters. Her chest ached with happiness even as an urgent need took root in her heart.

“Brian! Let’s get married. Here. Now.”

He glanced down and gave her a warm smile. “That’s the plan. Us guys are mostly ready to go. How long will you and Kate and Callie need to change and...?”

“No! I mean right here, right now.”

Surprise, then laughter, lit those crystal blue eyes. “Seriously?”

“Seriously.”

“Works for me.” He swooped down and gave her a quick, hard kiss. “Give me five seconds to extract Tommy and clip a leash on his wedding present.”

It took considerably more than five, but Dawn used the time to execute several necessary tasks. Hooking an urgent finger, she summoned her two friends.

“Callie, I need you to dash over to the gatehouse and get the ring. Brian’s wedding ring,” she added at her friend’s blank look. “The one I had engraved. It’s in the top drawer of my dresser.”

“Sure, but...” Callie returned an encouraging smile. “Aren’t you coming with me? And Kate? We all three need to change.”

“We don’t have time to change. We’re going live as soon as you get back. So go!”

“I’m gone, I’m gone.”

Kate’s eyes danced, alive to the sudden electricity in the air. “What do you need me to do?”

Dawn pointed to the six feet plus of solid muscle still trying to corral the small bundle of unharnessed kinetic energy.

“Help Brian while I ask the pastor if he’ll perform an abbreviated ceremony.”

* * *

The minister not only agreed, he flavored the short ceremony with passages of scripture that lifted it into the realm of something solemn and serious and beautiful.

Dawn and Brian exchanged rings and semi-extemporaneous vows. His, she had to admit, were more polished than hers. Then again, he hadn’t been hauled off to the police station and spent half the day in a small, airless interview room. All she could do was say what was in her heart.

“I love you.
So
much!” Her brilliant smile shifted to the young son she could now claim as her own. “You and Tommy and any kids or animals or blowfish that might come into our lives from this day forward, forever and ever, amen.”

When the laughter died down, the minister pronounced them husband and wife and child.

“And dog,” Tommy insisted.

“And dog,” his pastor added solemnly.

* * *

The guests stayed only long enough for cake and champagne. Dawn was surprised to learn from Callie that her mother had flatly refused to let anyone cut into it. Despite her disparagement of the plain sheet cake this morning, she’d insisted her daughter and Brian had to do the honors.

They did, using the engraved, silver-and-crystal Waterford cake knife LauraBeth and her husband brought as a wedding gift. Kate and Callie handed out the generous servings while Travis and Carlo popped champagne corks. Toast after laughing toast followed, each more boisterous than the last but carefully censored for the ears of the now-sleepy Cindy and otherwise-occupied Tommy.

Their guests filed out soon afterward. Dawn gave each warm hugs, more grateful to them for staying than she could articulate. Before her brother Aaron left, he surprised her with an unexpected gift.

“I recorded the whole ceremony on my iPhone,” he said with a twinkle in his eyes. “Including the part where you agreed to love, honor and cherish that mutt.”

“He’s not a mutt. He’s a thoroughbred wheaten terrier. But
thank
you!”

“You’re welcome. I’ve already texted you the clip. It’ll give you guys a chuckle when you watch it later tonight.”

“Later
tomorrow
,” her groom corrected.

“Oh. Yeah.” Wrapping Dawn in a bone-crushing embrace, Aaron bent and whispered in her ear, “You got it right this time, sis. Brian’s solid.”

Her parents echoed the same general refrain. So did Kate, Callie, Travis, Carlo and Joe. They helped to clean up first, providing Dawn with yet another memory to add to this chaotic wedding day. For all Carlo’s charm and teasing smile, she’d never imagined the sophisticated Italian prince would roll up his sleeves and pull KP.

She said as much to him when she and Brian walked the last of their guests to the door. The comment kicked up one corner of the prince’s mustache. His tie and suit jacket draped over one arm, he reached out and caught her hand with the other. His smile was blatantly unrepentant as he acknowledged the compliment.

“Ah,
carissima
, I am a man of many talents. As you would have discovered had you flown to Marrakech with me. The wonders we would have seen. The nights we would have...”

“Excuse me.” Brian’s exaggerated drawl cut through the prince’s litany of what-if’s. “I’m right here.”

“Yes,” Carlo said with a dramatic sigh. “So you are.”