Wedding Belles

by Beth Albright

  “Y’all, ready?” I said to Lewis and Vivi who were already in the car. Vivi and I planned to stay in the car and let Lewis do all the talking, but when Vivi is involved, things don’t always go as planned.

  “Well, if ready means feeling like I might vomit, sure, I’m ready as I’ll ever be.” Vivi was always so direct.

  “I’m the one with this wire. I feel like all y’all are gonna hear is my heart beating outta my chest,” Lewis said from the backseat. “I have no idea how to get her to say what we want her to say. Anybody wanna enlighten me?”

  “Just act natural, be yourself, and we’ll see what she says. Make sure you ask her to sign the papers. What we need to hear is anything that might link her to the Walter Aaron case. If we play this right, she might just walk right into it all by herself,” I said.

  “Yeah, baby. Just play it by ear. I’m gonna be right here,” Vivi said, trying to be reassuring.

  “What if she sees this wire?” Lewis was making sure he was all tucked in.

  “She won’t, but if she asks anything, just tell her you were rehearsing for the kickoff and doing sound checks. She’ll believe you,” I said. We hadn’t given him much warning with this little stunt we were about to pull. But we had no time to do this any other way.

  We arrived at the park early so we could get everything situated. Bonita and Sonny were parked across the street at the fast-food restaurant in an unmarked car.

  “Okay, Lewis. Give us a sound check,” Bonita said through the mic in Lewis’s ear.

  “I hope I don’t piss my pants,” Lewis said for her. “How’s that?”

  “Perfect,” she said. “You’re gonna be just fine.”

  From my seat in the car, I could see Bonita and Sonny across the park. It was good to know we were all in this together.

  We all waited in the air-conditioning of the car until we saw Tressa pull in. Lewis got out and stood a few steps from the car to wait for her to approach. She actually looked a little nervous herself. She made her way over to my car, stopping by a trash can to toss out an oily fast-food bag.

  “Hey,” she said, making a beeline to Lewis. She was dressed in a black miniskirt and a red halter-style top. Her perfectly pedicured toes peeked out of a pair of high-heeled sandals. Long, straight blond hair hung down her back and her heavy makeup was caked on like a mask. I guess she was used to wearing whatever face suited her at the moment.

  “Hey,” Lewis said. Their greeting was awkward to say the least. “I’m Lewis Heart.” He stuck his hand out to her.

  “Oh, honey, I know who you are. You haven’t changed much since college, and I’ve seen your picture all over town. Don’t be silly, I can’t shake your hand, we’re married.”

  And with that she laid her lips right on him. His eyes bugged out as she held his face between her hands and pressed herself against him as she kissed him. Vivi sat there for a moment in complete shock. I needed to tie her down, but it was too late. She was out of the car in three seconds flat, with me following close behind.

  “You are most certainly not married. It’s all a big mistake. You don’t even know him.” Vivi was livid, her face almost as red as her hair.

  “Oh, I think you just might be mistaken,” Tressa crooned. “We most certainly are married, and y’all have that paper to prove it.”

  “I am sorry,” Lewis interrupted, “but I hardly even remember you, ma’am. I mean, I have a vague memory of what went down that night, but I would hardly qualify that encounter as a proper marriage. What I need is for you to sign this paper right here.” Lewis handed her the annulment document. He rubbed his ear that the mic was in and made a face at Vivi. I looked across the street and saw Bonita move the squad car to the front of the restaurant. Lewis must be getting feedback that made it difficult to hear.

  “Oh, I know all about that little piece of paper. But what I wanna know is what’s it worth to ya.” Tressa was standing there smugly, her weight on one hip, twirling her hair. “I mean, I know you and your reputation, Lewis. You’ve always been quite the ladies’ man. Maybe you wanna try this out for a test drive?” She thrust her breasts forward and gave him a coquettish little grin.

  “What it’s worth?” Lewis asked. “You want me to give you something to sign this annulment paper?” Lewis didn’t even realize that he was playing this just right. I doubted she’d reveal anything about Walter Aaron, but if we could catch her on extortion charges, it could be enough to bring her in and dig a bit deeper into the dark dealings she was involved in.

  Lewis rubbed at his ear again, but he kept on smiling. Vivi was standing next to him and I knew she wanted to pull Tressa’s hair out of her head. I was just hoping Bonita and Sonny were getting all of this through the wire.

  “I don’t know. How much you got?” Tressa moved a little closer, thinking she was turning Lewis on. “Maybe you wanna consummate this little marriage of ours first?” She moved closer, talking low and slow, pretending Vivi and I weren’t even there. “You know, I can make sure you’re always happy.”

  I wanted to say something, but I didn’t dare mess up this moment. I grabbed Vivi by the hand and squeezed the life out of it, trying to keep her from exploding. Then Tressa turned to face us. “I need some privacy with my husband, please. Y’all need to get outta here for a second.”

  Vivi lost it right there. “I have just about had enough of you, you untalented little slut. Now sign that damn paper or I’m gonna make you wish you had never laid eyes on my Lewis!”

  I knew I had to get ahold of Vivi so we wouldn’t lose this chance. She was fixin’ to blow this whole thing. “Tressa, seriously, get to the point. No one’s going anywhere,” I said in my most serious tone. I could see she was getting nervous. But I was feeling pretty slick.

  “Fine. Okay, here it is. I will sign that there paper for ten thousand dollars.”

  “Ten thousand dollars!” Lewis shook his head in disbelief. “I can’t possibly do that. I don’t have that kind of money just sittin’ around.”

  “Well, if you wanna be free to marry that red bull over there, that’s my price.” Tressa was fidgeting. I could tell she wanted more than money, but she gave up on the idea with Vivi in her face.

  Lewis ran his hands down his face in defeat. “Okay. Fine. But I can’t pay you right now. Listen, can you meet me tomorrow?”

  “Perfect,” she said, a grin spreading across her plastic-perfect face. “What time?”

  Lewis looked at me like he had no idea what to say. The poor guy was just making this up as he went along. “Um, how’s one o’clock?”

  “Fine. Where?”

  “Do you know where the old Brooks Mansion is?” he asked her.

  “Yeah, your radio station, right? I saw your billboards. I’ll see you then.” Tressa winked at him, then turned and winked at Vivi.

  I let go of Vivi’s hand, which was turning purple from the vise grip I had her in. As soon as Tressa was gone, I went to the trash can and dug out the fast-food bag she dropped in earlier. If Sonny and Bonita could find fingerprints that would place her at the scene of Walter Aaron’s death, we might be one step closer to closing this case. We all jumped back into my car and drove across the street to Arby’s, where Sonny and Bonita were sitting in the car fiddling with the wire equipment.

  “Did y’all get that?” Vivi asked. “Oh, my God, Lewis was perfect. He even set the drop-off so y’all can grab her!”

  “Well, let’s not get ahead of ourselves, Vivi. We didn’t get anything that would link her to the Walter Aaron death,” Bonita said. “Every few minutes, all we could hear was someone ordering a giant roast beef.”

  “I know,” Lewis said. “I was hearing that, too. One second I’ve got Tressa offering herself up to me, and the next I’m hearing, ‘I’ll have a large roast beef and some of those potato cakes.’ It was hard enough to concentrate. Pl
us it made me hungry.”

  “Well, y’all will be happy to know I got this.” I presented the fast-food bag from my purse.

  “You got KFC? Now?” Bonita asked.

  “Don’t be ridiculous. I saw Tressa throw this away and I thought you might be able to find something on it that could tie her to the Aaron case.” I handed the bag to Sonny.

  “That’s my girl. Smart as a whip, just like you always were.” He took the bag from me and handed it to Bonita. “We need to get this tested right away.”

  “Here, take my watch, too,” Lewis said. “Her hand touched it when she reached over to kiss me,” Lewis said.

  Vivi made a face, but Bonita put on a pair of white gloves from her purse and took the watch and bagged it, as well.

  “Let’s play the tape back,” Sonny suggested.

  We listened and, luckily, it was pretty much all there, the most important parts, anyway. Every so often we heard someone ask for extra Horsey Sauce, but there was enough information to get the job done. Tressa had attempted to extort Lewis—for ten thousand dollars, no less. And now we had it all on tape. It wasn’t what we came here for, but it was certainly the best progress we’d made so far.

  “Y’all know I don’t actually have ten thousand dollars to give this woman, right?” Lewis said. “I was willing to say just about anything to get her to sign that paper.”

  “That’s okay,” Sonny said. “We’re gonna be there when the transaction takes place so we can bring her in. All we need is to catch her taking what she thinks is the money from you. We’ll get fake bills to use, so you don’t have to worry.”

  “It’s gonna all be okay,” I said to Vivi, putting my arm around her. “We will get that wedding license in plenty of time. And if we can get lucky and tie her to Walter somehow, we can put this whole thing to bed.”

  “Y’all don’t really think my Lewis is in real danger do you?” Vivi’s rage had passed but now she looked worried out of her mind.

  “No, baby. Nothing’s gonna happen to me,” Lewis reassured her. “Sonny and Bonita got this, right, y’all?”

  “We sure do. When you meet her tomorrow, we’re gonna have a patrol car out at the mansion, just for safety. But there will be enough of us there to make sure nothing terrible goes down,” Sonny said.

  “Great idea. See, Vivi? Everything’s okay. Promise.” I was starting to wonder whether I could keep all the promises I’d been making lately.

  30

  The next day, Vivi and I were at the Brooks Mansion at noon with takeout for everyone. Arthur had sent over some barbecue sandwiches along with all the fixin’s. I called the Fru Fru boys and confirmed the cake tasting for the next day. Meanwhile the pond was being dug on the McFadden property, and the shower guests were sending in their RSVPs for the big event. For one split second, it felt like I had all the balls in the air.

  Then one came crashing down.

  All of us were gathered in Lewis’s office waiting for Tressa, but one o’clock came and went and she still hadn’t showed. By two we still hadn’t heard anything. All of us, especially Vivi, were a bundle of nerves. I decided to send Tressa a text.

  Are you on your way? was all I said.

  A text came back almost instantly.

  No, she ain’t. This is her manager, Dwayne. T is busy today. She’ll get back to you.

  My stomach dropped as I relayed the message to the group. Vivi started to cry, and Sonny and Bonita stood up from the sofa in Lewis’s office.

  “Who is this Dwayne?” Bonita asked.

  “He runs the Puss and Boots Club in Birmingham,” I explained. “He’s the reason she didn’t seem able to tell me much when we went out there to see her. Something must have happened for him to find out she was coming here. She told me not to let anyone know. To be honest, I think she’s scared of him,” I said.

  “Did you get a look at him?” Bonita asked.

  “Yeah, we both did,” Vivi said.

  “Well, I’d like to figure out a little more about him and his influence over Tressa. But if she isn’t showing up today we might as well go on home. Why don’t y’all meet me at the station tomorrow after the cake tasting,” Bonita said, grabbing her bag. “I’ve got a few things I’m working on, including trying to pin down everyone who was working at the dock the day Walter Aaron died. Maybe we’ll have some more information. Meanwhile, I’m going to ask for surveillance on this club of Dwayne’s, see if anything fishy is going on with his business.”

  “I know the force up there pretty well,” Sonny added. “They’ll work with us. I’m gonna have them bag something of Dwayne’s for fingerprints or DNA in case our stuff doesn’t connect the dots.”

  “I’ll go get the ball rolling,” Bonita said as she headed for the door. “I won’t be far, so give me a call if you need anything.”

  Once she’d left, Vivi and I sat together on the couch while Lewis took Sonny around on a quick tour of the station.

  “Blake,” Vivi said. Her voice had dropped. I could sense a seriousness in her tone.

  “Yes, sweetie?” I answered.

  “Do you think I’ll be a good mother?”

  I grabbed her hands in mine and looked into her eyes.

  “Yes, Vivi, of course. You are going to be the best mother. You’re a natural caretaker, and so loving and nurturing. I just cannot wait to see you taking care of our Tallulah.”

  “I know what they say, though,” Vivi continued.

  “What? What do they say?” I asked.

  “They say that you mother the way you were mothered. And, well, my mother wasn’t around too much, you know? I mean, she was so sick so much of the time, remember?”

  “Yes, Vivi, your mother was sick, so who mothered you in her place?”

  “Cora did most of the time,” Vivi said, recalling her nanny who really did raise her right alongside Arthur. Cora was about twenty years older than Arthur and had died a few years ago.

  “Exactly, and you wouldn’t trade those memories for anything. She taught you to cook and sew and make things. And she always encouraged you to write. She’s the whole reason you got your degree in journalism. She was your mother as far as who you have to emulate. Right?”

  Vivi had tears streaming down her rosy cheeks now. I got up and grabbed a paper towel from the counter and handed it to Vivi.

  “It’s okay, sweetie. She was wonderful and you will be, too.”

  “Thanks, Blake,” she said. “These hormones make me so emotional about things at the most random times. I just wish Cora could be here to see all this. She would love this baby like it was her own.”

  “Just like she did you,” I said.

  Vivi smiled at me and nodded. As we talked, I pictured myself as a mother and was suddenly filled with the idea of family and just how important it was to me. I guess it had been lying just beneath the surface all along. Maybe it was being with Sonny, but I was really starting to feel more and more ready. And I just loved thinking about it.

  Just then the boys returned from their tour, so we all gathered our things and headed home for the night. I gave Vivi and Lewis a ride back to the plantation, but after everything that had happened today, I craved the reassurance of spending some alone time with Sonny. It would be just what I needed to get my head back on straight, so I decided to head directly to his place.

  He must’ve heard me pull up, because he came outside before I even knocked. Seeing him warmed my heart.

  “Hey, baby,” he said, folding me into his arms. “I missed you so bad.”

  “I’m home now, sweetie.” My throat closed with emotion, realizing what I had just said. It felt like it’d been so long since something really good had happened, but my whole being sensed that having Sonny hold me close was a really, really good thing. I reached up to his cheek, then pulled his
head gently down toward me for a kiss. We walked into the house together, our arms around each other’s backs.

  Once inside, we were extremely careful—keeping the lights dim and staying away from the windows. We wanted to go out on the porch, but decided not to take the chance. Being trapped in the house was tough for an outdoor guy like Sonny. He would rather make love under a canopy of a million stars than in a bed any day. But tonight, it was okay to just be with each other.

  “Are you gonna stay tonight?” he asked, hope in his eyes.

  I knew I shouldn’t, but I couldn’t force myself to leave. We’d been having a comfortable night of just quiet relaxation. Even our usual mad rush of passion seemed muted a bit, and we took simple comfort in each other’s presence, laughing and talking for hours. With each moment we spent together, it felt more and more natural to be with him here. I loved the easiness that had taken over our relationship, and when we finally made love, we fit together like two pieces of a puzzle.

  Afterward, I smiled and cuddled against his big strong chest, and his heartbeat lulled me into sleep. I just wished I didn’t have the nagging feeling that this was the calm before the storm.

  * * *

  Late the next morning, bulldozers were working away and water trucks were filling the little pond at Vivi’s. It was beautiful, really, all that water, calm and serene, reflecting beneath a weeping willow near the front gate of the property. New sod still sat on a big truck, waiting to landscape around the pool of water with soft green grass.

  “Hey, ladies,” Coco said as he jumped out of the big pink van in the driveway and trotted around to the back to help Jean-Pierre retrieve the cakes.

  “You boys come on in. We got the kitchen all set up,” Vivi called from the front porch.

  I helped carry the testing cakes inside and set them up all over the big oak table in Vivi’s kitchen. Meridee and Kitty popped in and joined us. Bonita was coming in from helping Arthur at the barbecue place.