“She was hardly a guest,” Eliza muttered. “A plus one, at most. Just think of it this way – if you were having a huge wedding and one of your guests’ dates passed away in a car accident, would you cancel the wedding then?”
“I’m not sure, but it doesn’t matter,” Jennifer said. “I’m having a small wedding, and she didn’t die half a state away in a car accident. She died here, under suspicious circumstances. I know it’s going to inconvenience my guests, but I can’t do it. I can’t get married a few hundred feet from where someone breathed in her last breaths, and especially not when we don’t know for sure what happened. We’re going to have to delay the wedding, and that’s that.”
Chapter Four
Later that night, Hannah knocked on the door to the room that Jennifer and Sean were sharing. When she heard her brother say, “Come in,” she opened the door and slipped inside, shutting it behind her. The two of them were sitting on the bed, their laptops open.
“Sorry for interrupting you,” Hannah said. “I just wanted to talk about what happened earlier today and what your plans are now.”
They exchanged a look, and then Sean said, “We’re still trying to figure it out. I’m not sure whether we’re going to be canceling the wedding completely and rescheduling it in six months to a year, or if we’re going to push it back a few days. I think either way, we’re not going to want to have it here. No offense, Hannah, but after what happened… I don’t want Jen to have to walk down that aisle just a hundred feet away from where someone we knew died.”
Hannah nodded. Although Kiersten hadn’t died until after she arrived at the hospital, she understood what Sean meant. “Don’t worry, no offense taken. I’m not sure where else you will be able to host the wedding on such short notice if you decide to only delay a couple of days, though. And what about Rudy? Are you really going to have a wedding just after your best friend’s girlfriend died?”
Sean looked awkward. “About that… They haven’t been dating for a while. They stayed in touch, and Rudy invited her as his date for old time’s sake, but he had long since come to realize that he didn’t have a future with her. I talked to Rudy a couple hours ago, and he mentioned that they had had another argument last night and he had decided to stop seeing her altogether, though, they were going to stick it out and act friendly until after the wedding. He told me he doesn’t want me to delay the wedding on his account, and he seemed to mean it.”
“It’s a hard decision to make,” Jennifer said. “We have guests flying in from out-of-state, and some of them can’t get refunds on their tickets. What will they do if we decide to cancel the wedding and wait for another few months? Plus, we already put a deposit down on your catering, and we paid to rent the decorations. We’d just have to pay for it all again in six months if we decide to wait for a longer amount of time. I know it sounds terrible, but Kiersten wasn’t really friends with any of us. I talked to Eliza and Jasmine, and they don’t mind going ahead with it, despite what happened. Rudy says he’s okay – I was there when he talked to Sean, and he seemed like he really wanted us to go ahead with the wedding. I guess you’re the only one we still have to talk to – would you be okay with being in the wedding after all of this?”
“I would,” Hannah said. “I said I’d be a bridesmaid in your wedding, Jennifer, and I’m not going to go back on that. And, if you decide to move to a different venue, you can always use the restaurant. Sunday would be a good day if you delay. It won’t be too hard to shut the restaurant down for the event.”
“That would be lovely,” Jennifer said, smiling at her. “We’ll pay whatever your normal rates are for that, of course. I just wish I knew what to do. If Kiersten’s death really was an accident, I wouldn’t feel so conflicted about it. Don’t get me wrong, I trust my friends, but it’s no secret that none of them liked Kiersten. I don’t think anyone would have killed her on purpose, but what if she was having an argument with someone who went just a bit too far? I don’t know if I want to get married while someone in my bridal party has blood on her hands.” She buried her face in her hands. “Sorry, Hannah. We don’t have an answer for you, yet. We’ll talk about it, and I’ll let you know in the morning.”
“I understand,” Hannah said.
She left the room, shutting the door behind her, and retreated to her own bedroom. She knew it was a hard decision Jennifer faced, and couldn’t say what she would choose if she was in the other woman’s position. Weddings weren’t easy to cancel on such short notice, no matter the reason.
Hannah woke up early the next morning, feeling determined to get to the bottom of Kiersten’s death in the hopes that it would help Jennifer and Sean make a decision. Jennifer didn’t seem sure that Eliza and Jasmine were innocent, so it was up to Hannah to figure that out.
She got started on breakfast while keeping an ear out for a sign that her guests had woken up. When she heard the downstairs shower turn on, she turned down the heat and prepared her ambush. She was waiting in the hallway when Jasmine stumbled out of the bathroom, her hair still damp. The woman gave a small eep of surprise and jumped back.
“Sorry, you startled me.” Jasmine breathed. “Is everything okay?”
“I just wanted to talk about what happened,” Hannah said. “Jennifer is still not sure whether she’s going to cancel the wedding or not, and I think finding out what really happened might help her decide.”
“I’m glad you said something,” Jasmine said. “I didn’t want to bring it up in case it was just nerves talking. But I don’t see how Kiersten could have fallen out of that window on her own. She would have had to dive through it to knock out the screen like that. If she’d just stumbled, she would have caught herself on the windowsill or the wall. No one just accidentally falls through a bedroom window.”
“Do you have any idea what might’ve happened?” Hannah asked.
“Like we told you last night, Kiersten had some problems, and stealing was one of them. We found the camera next to her after she fell, and I don’t think there is any question that she stole Lorelle’s camera. The photographer seemed like a nice enough lady, but I’d be pretty mad if I was in her shoes and someone had taken an expensive piece of equipment like that. I’m not saying she killed Kiersten on purpose, but a misplaced shove could have sent her tumbling out of the window. It makes a lot more sense than her tripping and falling.”
The door opened and Eliza put her head out, looking sleepy.
“What are the two of you talking about? Can’t you do it somewhere else? I was hoping to sleep in.”
“Sorry,” Jasmine said. “We were just talking about how Kiersten died. Hannah doesn’t think it was an accident, either.”
“So, we’re not the only ones. Are you going to talk to Jennifer about it?”
“She’s already having doubts,” Hannah said. “What do you think happened?”
“Honestly? I think either Lorelle or Rudy gave her a push at the wrong time,” Eliza said, fighting a yawn. “She and Rudy could get into some major fights, and we all know she stole the photographer’s camera. But this is for the police to solve, isn’t it?”
“I don’t know if the police will solve it fast enough for Jennifer to feel comfortable having the wedding,” Hannah said. “She’s having a hard enough time as it is, without wondering if someone she knows is a murderer.”
Eliza bit her lip. “Well, is it really murder if it was an accident? Wouldn’t that be more like… manslaughter?”
“I don’t think it makes much difference to her.”
“Well, I still don’t know what we can do. Right now, I’m exhausted. Do you have any idea how stressful being the maid of honor is? I’ve got to keep this whole thing on the right track, and right now, I’m dead tired, so I’m going back to bed. We can play detective later.”
With that, she shut the door, retreating back into the bedroom. Jasmine winced and turned to Hannah. “Sorry about that. She’s not really a morning person. We’re all horrified that Kiersten died, really. It’s
just… there’s a lot going on. We’ve been helping Jennifer plan this wedding for months, and everyone who came took time off work just to spend the week here. The thought of the wedding being canceled over what happened to Kiersten… I don’t really know how to feel about it, and I don’t think Eliza does, either. On one level, I understand it. She died, and that’s terrible. On another level, well, canceling the wedding won’t achieve anything. It won’t bring her back. She wasn’t our friend. We barely knew her, and what we did know, we didn’t like. It’s up to Jennifer and Sean if they want to go through with it, but if they decide to put it off for another six months, then I don’t know if they’re going to be able to get everyone together again.”
“I understand, it’s a tough choice,” Hannah said. “Thanks for talking with me, Jasmine. I’m in the middle of making breakfast – it should be done soon. Sorry for startling you earlier.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Jasmine said. “I understand; if I was in your shoes, I’d be wondering what was going on, too. No one wants to see this wedding canceled, and I think that’s the one thing we can all agree on.”
Chapter Five
Jennifer still didn’t have an answer by the time Hannah had to go to the restaurant that afternoon. She was trying to be understanding, but she was also frustrated. Both sets of parents were supposed to arrive later today, and the other guests would be arriving over the next two days. And Hannah had a whole wedding to cater for and some food that needed to be prepared.
After confirming again that Jennifer and Sean were going to be paying for the catering whether they went ahead with the wedding or not, she decided to just move forward as if it was happening. Worst case scenario, she could donate some of the food, and they could eat whatever they ended up keeping. She understood why it was such a hard decision for Jennifer to make, and that canceling the wedding with such short notice was going to be next to impossible, but one way or the other, she needed to know – and soon.
She didn’t have a full shift that afternoon, but she had to start getting the meat for the dishes marinating, and she had to check on the refrigerated truck. They had been planning on beginning to offer catering services soon, anyway, but they had bought a truck now just for the wedding, which was their very first catering job. It was an older truck, but it was in relatively good condition. She had given her employees the task of cleaning it and was impressed when she spotted it in the parking lot.
They had made a new hire just two weeks ago, a young man by the name of Samuel Hayden. Samuel – never Sam – was outgoing and funny, and so far, she hadn’t regretted the hire in the slightest.
She found him touching up one of the truck’s outer panels with white paint when she approached, and he happily showed her everything they had done.
“It’s as close to new as it’s going to get,” he said. “That security guy, Ben, he stopped by and did a tune-up on the engine this morning. It runs like a dream, and the refrigeration elements work just fine. This is a pretty cool find – where did you get it?”
“Caroline and I had to drive down to Virginia for it,” Hannah said. “Did you do the painting? It looks great.”
“You know, I’m not half bad at the creative side of things, either. If you want, I could paint the restaurant’s name and logo on the side.”
“Do you think you could have it done by Thursday?”
“No problemo,” he said cheerfully. “I’ll have to run home to get some supplies, but it shouldn’t take me more than a few hours. It’s not supposed to rain for the next couple of days, so it will have plenty of time to dry.”
“Why don’t you do that,” Hannah said. “I’ll make sure your shift gets covered while you’re gone and working on it.”
“Awesome,” he said, jumping down out of the truck. “It will look great, I promise.”
She offered him a smile, hoping he was as competent as he seemed to think he was. Maybe she should ask to see some of his other work, but in the end, even if it was terrible, they could just paint over it. She was happy that he was taking initiative, and if he ended up doing a good job, it would save them the couple of hundred dollars it would cost to have a professional do it.
Satisfied that the truck would be ready in time, she went inside and found Caroline in the kitchen. It was the middle of a lull, the hours between lunch and dinner, and she currently only had a couple of sandwiches and salads to make. She was able to chat while she did so, and Hannah caught her up on what happened.
“Wow, that’s tough,” Caroline said as she mixed a dried cranberry and candied walnut salad. “I’m not really sure what I would do in her situation. If it was a local wedding, I’d probably cancel it, but with everyone having to travel to get here, it is a tougher choice. When will she make a decision?”
“She was supposed to decide by this morning, but she still hasn’t made up her mind,” Hannah said with a sigh.
“Well, if she wants to use the restaurant for the wedding and the reception, she’s going to have to make a choice soon. We won’t be out too much if we close on a Sunday, especially if they pay for the use of the space, but it will still be a hit, and we need to be able to tell everyone we’ll be closed ahead of time if we want to avoid bad reviews.”
Hannah winced. The one time that they had opened a few hours late due to an appliance emergency, they’d gotten three one-star reviews from people who had shown up and found the restaurant closed. She could only imagine what would happen if they closed without warning for a whole day. “I’ll remind her that she needs to decide as soon as possible when I get back.”
“How long will you be here?”
“I’ve got to marinate the chicken and beef, and we’re supposed to pick up the cake tomorrow morning, so I’m going to have to clear out a spot in the walk-in for that.”
“I can handle the walk-in if you want to focus on the food,” Caroline said. “It shouldn’t take too much reorganizing. Have you seen Samuel, by the way? He was supposed be finishing up the truck.”
“He offered to paint our name and logo on the side of it, so I let him run home for supplies,” Hannah said. “How’s he been doing?”
“He’s doing well,” Caroline said. “He’s officially out of training and seems to have the basic skills down pat. Once we start catering regularly, we will probably need to hire a few other people, but I think doing it slowly like this is better than hiring them all at once. It puts less pressure on the other employees to help train them.”
“All right, we’ll keep adding them slowly and steadily,” Hannah said. She finished with the meat, placing the huge bowls in the fridge to marinate for the wedding. Thankfully, it was the only thing that had to be done ahead of time, so if Jennifer decided to delay the wedding until Sunday – or even longer – they wouldn’t have much to redo. “I’d better get back. I need to get an answer from Jennifer and make sure we’re ready for whatever’s happening.”
“All right.” Caroline washed her hands, dried them, and came over to give Hannah a hug. “Be careful, all right?”
“Does that mean you think one of my guests killed Kiersten?”
“I don’t know, and from the sound of things, no one else does, either. Tensions sound high, and whenever people are stressed, well, bad things happen.”
Chapter Six
When Hannah pulled into the driveway, she found two more cars had shown up and one of the others was missing. One she recognized as her parents’ and grinned, glad that she would get to see them, even under the circumstances. The other one looked familiar, but she couldn’t quite remember whose it was.
She didn’t have to wonder for long. As soon as she stepped into the house, she could hear the shrill sounds of shouting coming from the living room. Quickening her step, she hurried toward the commotion.
“You aren’t getting paid extra just because you misplaced your camera!” Eliza said as she entered the room. Hannah immediately recognized the woman she was talking to – Lorelle, the wedding photographer
.
“I didn’t misplace it,” Lorelle said. “Your friend stole it and jumped out the window. I know you’re going through a tough time right now, so I’m not asking for any immediate compensation, I just don’t want any misunderstandings. It’s an expensive piece of equipment and it got destroyed because of something a friend of yours did. It’s not fair I’m the one who has to swallow that loss.”
“And I don’t think we should have pay for something that woman did,” Eliza snapped back. “She wasn’t our friend, she wasn’t even part of the wedding party. It’s not our fault that you can’t keep track of your equipment.”
“Maybe we should just pay for it, Eliza,” Jennifer said from where she was standing near the doorway to the kitchen. “She does have a point – the camera was stolen by someone we allowed on the property while she was under our employ. If, say, one of us had knocked it off the counter, we would have replaced it, no question. Just because none of us were directly at fault doesn’t mean that we’re not responsible for it.”
“I’m not going be blamed for something Kiersten did.” Eliza fumed.
“It’s not about blame. It’s about being the better person,” Jennifer said. She turned to Lorelle. “Listen, we will replace the camera. Just add it onto your bill after Sunday, and I’ll make sure that it gets paid.”
“Thank you,” Lorelle said. “I won’t charge you for my work yesterday, out of understanding for your situation.”
“Thanks,” Jennifer returned with a smile. She turned to Eliza. “See? It doesn’t hurt to do the right thing every once in a while.”
Eliza just huffed and left the room. Jennifer turned and her eyes lit upon Hannah. “You’re back! I’m glad. I’ve been wanting to talk to you.”
“What about?”
“The wedding – we finally decided what we’re doing. Sean and I want to delay it until Sunday, and we will take your offer of using the restaurant.”
Wedding Woes Page 3
