Wedding Bell Blues (13 page)

Less than half an hour later, Colton parked in front of my
parents'
house. There were already four cars parked out front, cars that
belonged to Maryanne's other bridesmaids. At least the flashy little
Miata Janie Bickerstaff drove was nowhere in sight. Maybe she'd
actually listened to me and was going to make herself scarce until
after the wedding.

Not that I believed it. Still, I could hope.

"I-I'll wait for you out here," Colton said as I unlocked my
door.

"The hell you will." No way was I facing the rest of the
family
alone. Still, did I really want him in there with me? Wouldn't that be
asking for trouble? Or would I be asking for more trouble if I left him
out here, safe in the car, while I faced all of my mother's questions
and innuendos on my own?

"But -"

"Don't even think about it." I crossed my arms and stared him
down.
"Just remember, we did not sleep together and we most definitely did
not have sex."

With that, I got out of the car and waited for him to join me.
If I
hadn't been so worried about my mother figuring out I'd slept with him
last night, Colton's reluctance to get out of the car might have been
funny. However, if I was honest, I'd be force to admit I shared that
reluctance. Not that I could act on it. So, if I had to face the grand
inquisitor in the guise of Dr. Faith Jones, so did he.

The front door opened as we approached and a moment later my
sister
flew through it and ran down the walk toward me. My breath exploded in
an oomph of surprise as she all but jumped at me, enveloping me in a
bear hug that threatened to crack my ribs. I hugged her back, praying
nothing else had happened. I really didn't think I could deal with
anything else. Not now.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you," Maryanne repeated over and
over as she gave me another rib cracking hug.

"Easy, Tink. What's up?" I held her away from me, searching
her face
for some hint of what she was talking about. "Why all the thanks?"

"You did it. You really did it."

I swallowed hard against panic rising in my throat. Surely she
couldn't tell just by looking at me that I'd slept with Colton. Dear
God, if she could see it here, in the dark, I was sunk. Mom would be
able to sense it before I was in the same room with her.

"Did what?" At least my voice didn't crack.

"You talked to that bitch Janie and told her not to bother me
and
Brett anymore." She gave me one last hug and stepped back, linking her
arm through mine. "You really are the best big sister ever."

"I'll admit I had a little talk with her. But how did you
know?"

"Because, when I called her after talking to Brett and
explaining
what happened, Janie said I didn't need to worry. You'd made it
painfully clear that none of the family had a sense of humor and she
was more than glad not to be part of the wedding." Her eyes glittered
with remembered anger before she gave me one more hug. "So, all I can
say is thank you."

"I guess that makes up for having a black eye and bruised
cheek for the wedding pictures." I gave her a lopsided grin.

"Don't worry about that. I bet that between the two of us, we
can
figure out how to hide the bruises with some careful makeup
techniques." She paused, frowning, as if realizing for the first time
we weren't alone. "Colton." Her voice held a strange mixture of cold
condemnation and speculation as she looked from him to me and back
again.

"Maryanne. Congratulations on your upcoming wedding."

"Thanks." She looked at me, one brow arched in question.

"You know Colton, little sister. He takes his duties very
seriously." I tried to smile. "He didn't want me out on my own and
offered to drive me over. I told him he could watch the game in the den
while we went over wedding plans."

"Sure." She smiled a little more naturally at him and then
held out
her hand. "Thanks for looking out for her. I know I don't have to tell
you that, between what happened at Manny's and the fire, we're all
worried about her."

"I'll make sure nothing else happens to her, Maryanne."

For a moment, Maryanne simply looked at him as if she was
trying to
decide if he was telling the truth or not. Then she smiled and, with
her arm still linked through mine, led us inside. I shot a quick glance
over my shoulder at Colton and he shrugged, obviously as unable to
decide what to make of her greeting as was I.

The next two hours were not quite as bad as Saturday's fitting
had
been, but only because two people were missing. The first, Janie
Bickerstaff, was to be expected. There was a great deal of speculation
among the other bridesmaids about why she wasn't there and what she'd
done to be kicked out of the wedding party. Of course, no one dared say
anything about it to Maryanne's face. But several did their best to
pump me for information whenever they could and they were none too
happy when I failed to satisfy their curiosity. Frankly, as far as I
was concerned, it was none of their business.

Actually, they were lucky I didn't say just that.

The second person missing, thanks to an emergency call that
came in
just before Colton and I arrived, was my mother. Amazing how much
tension rolled off of me the moment I knew she wasn't there. That was
especially true since my father was off playing poker that night,
having told Mom and Maryanne that he wasn't about to be trapped in the
house with a bunch of females in full wedding frenzy.

"Maryanne, are you going to replace Janie or ask one of the
groomsmen to step down?" Carol Stokes, one of Maryanne's oldest
friends, asked as we began working our way through the uncountable
numbers of rice bags we had to prepare.

Of course, they really
weren't rice bags. Oh no. That just wasn't done any more. Forget about
tradition. Forget about the fact the reception was going to be inside.
No, on the off-chance someone might throw the rice outside where some
poor unsuspecting bird might get it, we were using birdseed.

Please, save me from the politically correct.

"Well, Brett called earlier to tell me that Carson had decided
he couldn't be in the wedding party."

Even
though she tried to act nonchalant about it, I could tell she was
pissed. Hell, I was pissed. Carson Meyer was one of Brett's friends,
but he had, unless I'd missed my guess, been sleeping with Janie for
the last several weeks. It wouldn't surprise me at all to find out
she'd called him, crying her eyes out and saying how she'd been done
wrong by my sister and the rest of the family. Because he thought
himself the proper southern gentleman - ha! - he would have called
Brett and, when Brett refused to intercede on Janie's behalf, he would
have backed out of the wedding. After all, he would have to stand by
his wronged lover, wouldn't he?

Idiot.

"But you can't have an uneven number of attendants," our
cousin, Theresa Chappell, said in distress.

"She can have whatever she wants, Theresa," I said simply,
tossing
the bag I'd just tied up into the basket with the others that had
already been finished.

"And what I want is a wedding without Janie and anyone foolish
enough to fall for her bullshit," Maryanne said so hotly it surprised
me. Maybe Janie had finally stepped far enough over the line that
Maryanne had had enough.

Dear God, I hoped so.

"Still, what about the wedding party?" Theresa asked.

"Well." Now Maryanne looked at me in such a way I felt my
heart skip
a beat. Oh she wouldn't, would she? "I thought I'd ask Paula to step
in. She and Janie are close to the same size, so there should be no
problems with the dress." She paused and looked past me to where Colton
sat in one of the easy chairs in front of the windows, idly thumbing
through one of daddy's magazines. "And Colton is about the same size as
Carson."

"W-what?"

The bag I'd been working on slipped through my fingers,
hitting the
table at about the same time that Colton's magazine hit the floor. I
knew if I could see my expression, it would be a perfect match for the
stunned disbelief reflected on his face. Talk about being sandbagged.

More than that, what the hell was Maryanne thinking? Colton
couldn't be in the wedding. No how and no way.

"Maryanne, I -" he started, his voice strained as he struggled
to find the right words.

"Of course, you can," she said simply, giving him her most
sincere
smile. "Answer me this, if you haven't found out who is responsible for
what happened at Manny's, for the fire at Jessie's place, will you
still be watching her?"

"Y-yes."

"And do you think you'll find out who that person might be
before Saturday?"

"I'd like to think so, but probably not."

"So, you'd be at the wedding, right?"

"Yes."

Oh, he did not like this, not one bit. Well, that made
two of us. Maryanne was manipulating the situation with an ease I'd
only expected from our mother. When had my little sister become so good
at this sort of thing?

"And wouldn't you feel better if you were close to her, just
feet
away, instead of having the full church between the two of you?"

"I would."

Damn, you had to admire her for her persistence if nothing
else.

"And aren't you sleeping with her?"

"Yes - no - WHAT?"

"Have you lost your mind?" I demanded the moment we were back
at his
apartment. I slammed the door behind me and just stood there, arms
crossed, feet planted, all but daring him to try to leave the room.

The rest of the evening had been anything but relaxing after
his
little slip of the tongue. Not that anyone had actually said anything.
They didn't have to. Not with the way they'd looked from Colton to me
and back again, speculation rife on their expressions. Nor had it
helped any when I'd finally had the chance to talk privately with my
sister, safely away from prying eyes and ears, and demand she not tell
our mother. She'd smiled, patted my hand like I was a little girl to be
reassured, and simply said she wouldn't have to. Mom would take one
look at me and know. Besides, they'd always liked Colton and felt he
was good for me. It was time to get over the hurt and anger and give
him another chance.

Damn it, what was it about weddings that made everyone
involved, including me apparently, lose their minds?

I'd been too angry - and too shocked by what Maryanne had said
- to
say much on the ride home. For his part, Colton had driven in silence,
looking as if he'd love to turn back the clock just so he could cut out
his tongue before letting that one little detail slip. Well, if we
could turn back the clock, if he didn't cut out his tongue, I would.

So much for trying to act as if last night hadn't happened.

But that didn't mean there'd be a repeat performance - ever.

"I don't know," he all but growled. "I didn't mean to say
anything.
I still don't know what she did to get me to say anything. All I
remember is her going on and on about why it would be such a good idea
for me to be in the wedding party. Then, Jessie, next thing I know,
you're shooting daggers at me and she's grinning wide enough to split
her face. Your sister's a witch. There's no other explanation." He
dropped onto the sofa and scrubbed his hands over his face. "We could
use her on the job. She'd break the toughest criminal in a matter of
minutes, if not seconds. They'd be confessing before they knew what
happened."

I couldn't stay mad at him. Not when he was right. Maryanne
had
manipulated the situation perfectly. I hadn't thought her capable of
it. Now I had to figure out how best to defuse the situation before
both she and our mother started planning my wedding to Colton.

"Look, I guess it's not your fault. I didn't see it coming
either.
If I had, I'd have thrown something, faked passing out, anything to
keep from having you answer that question."

He looked up and gave me a slight grin. "Well, you did look
like you'd kill me before I could finish answering."

"I wanted to kill you." Now it was my turned to scrub my hands
over
my face, forgetting until I touched the bandage what a bad idea that
happened to be. I pushed away from the door and dropped onto the sofa
at his side a moment later. "You don't know what a can of worms you
opened tonight."

"There you're wrong." He leaned back, resting his head against
the
sofa and closed his eyes. He looked so tired, as tired as I felt.
"Remember, I know your mother and sister. I lived through all their
questions and badgering and all but begging me to try to get you to
change your mind when we split."

"What?" That was the first I'd heard of that, and it surprised
me
almost as much as his unexpected announcement earlier. I twisted so I
could see him better, sure when I did that he'd smile and say he was
joking. But he wasn't. Not when he looked that earnest.

"Yeah." He turned his head so he could look at me. "They kept
telling me you were miserable and all I had to do was talk to you. If I
did, everything would be all right."

I shook my head, not in denial but in disbelief. The last
thing I'd
expected was to find out my mother and sister had tried to fix the
problems between Colton and me. Well, next to the last thing. Colton
announcing he and I had slept together now topped the list of things
I'd never expected to hear. But that wasn't what surprised me the most.
What did was the warm feeling of affection that seemed to radiate
throughout me. Affection for Maryanne and our mother for caring enough
to try to make things better and - God, I hated to admit this -
affection for Colton for not letting them. He'd known me well enough to
realize it would simply have backfired on all of them.