Out of Town Bride

by Kara Lennox

  Tim had the good manners not to ask what was going on that had the house in such an uproar. But, as observant as Tim was, he probably knew everything.

  Jasmine Florist’s Shop was in the Houston suburb of Sugarland. They had other locations closer to River Oaks, where the Pattersons lived, but Muffy preferred to visit the original location, which was connected to a huge greenhouse. All the ritzy ladies of Houston came out here to personally stroll through the climate-controlled greenhouse and pick out the exact hues they wanted for their important arrangements. Sometimes they would even pick out the exact blooms.

  Muffy was armed with swatches of fabrics—bridesmaid dresses, ribbons from their hair pieces and even samples of the church’s carpeting—to give master florist Mitchell Kelloran the inspiration for the bouquets and other arrangements.

  Sonya had told Muffy this morning that the actual wedding wouldn’t be happening. That might have been what they were discussing in the back of the limo. He hoped that was it. Anyway, Muffy had spoken to him a couple of hours ago, insisting that she was all in favor of carrying on with the wedding plans until they caught “that slime-sucking slug.” She’d also apologized for her “emotional upheaval” of the previous night, and had declared she felt just fine this morning, well enough to accompany Sonya to the florist.

  So here they were. As Sonya stepped out of the limo, she avoided John-Michael’s gaze. He could have been invisible, for all the notice she gave him. Muffy, on the other hand, looked at him with her mouth puckered as if she’d just sucked a lemon.

  Sonya had told her, all right.

  He hated to think that after all these years, his relationship with Muffy would go sour. She’d always had a soft spot for him, the poor little motherless boy. Would he from this point forward be “that gardener’s son who seduced my daughter and left her high and dry”?

  Maybe if he talked to her, made her understand that he was doing what was best for Sonya…no, that would never work. He couldn’t face Muffy if she knew he and Sonya had made love. No matter what the circumstances, she wouldn’t approve.

  He watched from a distance as Sonya oohed and ahhed over the sketches the snooty florist showed her of his “vision” for her wedding. Then he followed at a discreet distance as they walked the aisles of the greenhouse, and Mr. Kelloran held up various blooms against Sonya’s skin to see how well they complemented her golden-ivory tones.

  Sonya was a damn fine actress. No one would guess she wasn’t head-over-heels about Marvin and breathlessly excited about the upcoming nuptials. And Muffy was no slouch. She played the interfering mama to the hilt.

  John-Michael thought he was pretty good at hiding his feelings. He even thought he might like to work undercover someday. But he found it hard to hide his feelings where Sonya was concerned. Watching her play the blushing bride, even when he knew it was all a sham, hurt more today than ever.

  He couldn’t stop thinking about it, about how she’d given herself to him last night and how much he’d liked it and how much he wanted her again…and how impossible it all was. She might actually have feelings for him. But one of them had to pull his head out of the clouds. Look at what unrequited love for Muffy had done to his father.

  He wasn’t going to end up like that, wasting his life waiting for a grain of attention, reliant on Sonya’s whims, feeling destroyed if she dated someone else, married someone else. He needed to get away before that happened.

  “DON’T LOOK NOW,” Sonya said under her breath, “but Tootsie’s right over on the next aisle.”

  “Where?” Muffy asked, peering through the screen of bougainvillea vines. “Why wouldn’t you want to see Tootsie?”

  “I was completely horrible to her when you were sick. But she would have worn you to a frazzle with her ‘concern’ when you were supposed to be getting your rest.”

  “Tootsie can be a tad exhausting,” Muffy agreed. “I’m sure you did the right thing. And I’m sure she doesn’t hold it against you.”

  “Oh, Mother, Tootsie holds it against me that I was born. She can’t stand me.”

  “Don’t be ridiculous. Oh, there she is.” Muffy waved to her friend.

  Tootsie, of course, scurried right over. “Oh, sugar, I’m so glad I ran into you!” She air-kissed Muffy and gave Sonya a tepid smile. “I can’t thank you enough.”

  “For what?” Muffy asked, bewildered.

  “Why, for finally letting go of your gardener! I must say, it was very selfish of you to keep Jock McPhee to yourself all these years. I’m here to get some fresh ideas for my patio. I want all the old stuff ripped out.”

  To her credit, Muffy recovered quickly from the shock. “Well, he’s certainly good at ripping things out. You’ve hired him, then?”

  “He asked me for the job, and I’d have been crazy to turn him down. He’s the best landscaper in all of Houston. What possessed you to let him leave? I know Sonya’s wedding must be a huge financial burden for you.” She paused to give Sonya a deprecating scowl.

  Sonya fully expected Muffy to blurt out that Jock was a loose cannon, a drunk who’d delivered one too many nasty surprises. Instead, Muffy smiled. “Sometimes a man needs a change of scenery. I’m sure it gets boring, taking care of the same old house and yard all the time. He wanted a new challenge, and I fully supported his decision.”

  Tootsie narrowed her eyes suspiciously. “He says you fired him.”

  Muffy shrugged. “Technically, I did. But I would call it more of a mutual decision. I’m sorry, Tootsie, but we really need to be moving on. We have another appointment all the way downtown. I hope everything works out with you and Jock. I’m sure he’ll enjoy the challenge. Come, Sonya.”

  Sonya gave Tootsie her best superior-ice-queen smile, then hustled her mother to the limo parked right outside the greenhouse door.

  Muffy held it together until Tim and John-Michael were inside and all the doors were closed. Then she lowered the glass partition. “John-Michael, is it true? Is Jock leaving me to go work for Tootsie?”

  “He was packing up this morning,” John-Michael said apologetically. “I thought you knew. You did tell me to fire him and have him clear out today.”

  “Good heavens, I fire him once a week. He knows not to take it seriously.”

  “You said you meant it this time. Anyway, he wouldn’t have stayed, even if you’d begged him to. He’d made up his mind.”

  “Well. Thank you, John-Michael, for being honest about it.” She raised the glass partition again, then sat back against the leather seat, her face wooden, her hands clasped in her lap.

  Sonya didn’t know whether to say anything or leave her mother to her thoughts. She didn’t know what to say, though, so she remained quiet.

  Muffy broke the silence. “How could he leave?”

  “Men have their pride.”

  “I didn’t reject him. I just wanted to take things more slowly. Why couldn’t he understand that?”

  “Mother…might I suggest that Jock leaving could be a good thing?”

  “How? Don’t tell me you’re going to give me a speech about how he’s not good enough for me.”

  “No, of course not. But he was your employee. And that makes a relationship sticky. Why don’t you give it a couple of weeks, let him get back on his feet, and then try to see him again—as equals?”

  Muffy looked pensive. “I never thought of it like that. But you’re right, it did get in the way—the fact I signed his paycheck every week. It was a power struggle, in a way. I had all the power, so he tried to assert his in other ways.”

  “By digging up your camellias.”

  Muffy smiled suddenly. “Sonya, you’re a genius. That’s just what I’ll do. I’ll give him a couple of weeks. Then that man isn’t going to know what hit him.” She paused, looking speculatively at Sonya. “Do you think it will help with you and John-Michael? When he’s no longer a Patterson employee, I mean.”

  “I don’t know what would help,” Sonya grumbled. “Talk about pride.” />
  “I’d fire him today if you thought it would improve your chances.”

  “Thanks, Mother, but no.” That was all Sonya needed—for John-Michael to think she got him fired. Not long ago she’d have snapped up her mother’s offer in a heartbeat. Now she couldn’t conceive of not having him around, even if their relationship was doomed. He’d be leaving as soon as her wedding date rolled around, or they caught Marvin, whichever came first. Until then, at least she still got to see him.

  How pathetic was that?

  LATER THAT DAY John-Michael made his decision. His father had made a clean break from the Pattersons, and it was time he did the same. It was no problem for him to move into his rental house a few weeks early. It was empty now, anyway, and the owners would welcome the extra month’s rent.

  The only thing left to do was tell Muffy—and Sonya.

  He waited until after dinner. He spent the afternoon helping Jock move his few belongings into Tootsie’s servants quarters, where he would have a private bedroom and bath, and a shared kitchen with the housekeeper, Lucita. Lucita, who’d had the place to herself for a long time, made her resentment clear. But Jock set about charming her, and by that evening she was putting linens on the bed for him and bringing him snacks.

  John-Michael left still feeling apprehensive about Jock’s new job, but reassured that if anyone could make it work, his father could.

  After a fast-food dinner, John-Michael knew he couldn’t put it off any longer. He marched into the house and searched until he found Muffy and Sonya in the media room, watching some odious chick-flick tear-jerker.

  “I need to speak to both of you,” he said. And when Muffy looked alarmed, he hastened to add, “It’s nothing bad.”

  Muffy clicked off the huge, flat-screen TV. “Sit down, John-Michael. There’s wine here if you’d like some. Sonya, get him a glass.”

  Sonya started to rise, but John-Michael halted her. “That’s okay, I’m not thirsty. I just…” He sat on the edge of an oversize recliner. This was harder than he thought. “I have some vacation time accumulated, and I’d like to take it.”

  “Now?” Muffy asked.

  “Yes. The house I rented needs a lot of work, and I’d like to get it done before I start my new job.”

  To his surprise Muffy flashed a quick, secret smile at Sonya. “We’ll miss you terribly, you know. Things just won’t be the same around here without the McPhee men. But I understand perfectly. I’ll speak with June tomorrow morning about cutting your final check.”

  “Thank you. I appreciate your understanding. I still want to be involved in Marvin’s capture, of course. I hope you’ll keep me informed when he contacts you again, or if he shows up in person.”

  Sonya just sat there, looking like a squirrel in the middle of the road, unsure which direction to dive as a car approached. John-Michael knew he had to say something. “Sonya, it’s been a pleasure looking after you.”

  “Don’t be a fat liar,” she said. “I’ve been terrible, and you’ve hated every minute of it.”

  “Not every minute.” He took her cold hand, squeezed it.

  She snatched it back. “Coward.”

  “Sonya!” Muffy objected. “Manners.”

  “Well, he is a coward. He can’t just look me in the eye and say, ‘Sonya, I’m not interested in you.’ He has to create some drama about how we’re all wrong for each other because I’m rich and he’s not. I just want some honesty from him.”

  John-Michael recoiled. He wasn’t prepared to discuss this in front of Muffy. Hell, he wasn’t prepared to discuss it at all. How much had Sonya told her mother?

  Muffy didn’t look shocked. In fact, she looked amused. “By all means, John-Mikey,” she said, trotting out the nickname she used only in times of great emotion or great irritation. “My daughter wants to know how you feel about her. Are you interested? Or did you just sleep with her because she was available?”

  John-Michael would have gladly suffered through an epileptic seizure right about now if it could have extricated him from this…this interrogation. “I…I have a great deal of respect and admiration—” he began, but both women interrupted.

  “Oh, please!” they said in unison.

  “How lame,” Muffy added. “John-Michael, I thought better of you.”

  “All right, fine. You want honesty, you’ll get it. I do have feelings for Sonya. I might even go so far as to say that I’ve fallen in love with her. But deep inside, I know we could not be compatible in the long run. I’m choosing to remove myself rather than set us both up for a hell of a heartache.”

  “And I repeat,” Sonya said. “You’re a coward. If you really loved me, you’d take a chance.”

  John-Michael didn’t think he would get a better exit line. He got out of there before he could change his mind.

  Sonya and Muffy stared at each other for a full minute after he’d gone.

  “He loves you,” Muffy said.

  “How can he just walk out if he loves me?”

  “I’ve been asking myself the same question all day. But I believe Jock does love me. And John-Michael loves you. Let’s give them a little time to figure out they’re better off with us than without us.” She flicked the TV back on and they resumed watching Steel Magnolias. By the time it was over, they’d emptied two full boxes of tissues.

  Chapter Twelve

  As the weeks passed and the wedding date grew closer, Sonya came very close to losing her nerve. Marvin had called her two more times. Both conversations were short, but he had reiterated that he would be there for the ceremony.

  After the first of those calls, she had immediately dialed John-Michael’s cell number, elated that she had a reason to call him. He’d told her to keep him informed, after all. But she’d only reached his voice mail and had ended up leaving a lame message. He had called back, reached her voice mail, and assured her he was looking into her phone records to see if he could get a fix on Marvin’s location. But she didn’t hear from him after that, so she assumed he wasn’t successful.

  After the second call from Marvin, she called the FBI, figuring they might be interested that she had heard from him. But the guy she talked to at the Houston Field Office didn’t seem very interested in staking out her wedding. He had bigger fish to fry—serial killers, bank robbers, child molesters. Marvin’s case had belonged to Heath. When he left the FBI, much of the impetus to catch Marvin had gone with him, it seemed.

  She needed a plan, she decided. She could not count on John-Michael to be there for her. And even if he kept his word and showed up when she needed him to catch Marvin, he was just one man. Marvin had escaped when whole hoards of law enforcement people were after him. One man—even John-Michael—might not be able to take Marvin into custody.

  Christmas passed with no word from Marvin, the FBI, or John-Michael. When a large package arrived for Sonya two days after Christmas, she didn’t open it right away, assuming it was another gift from her mother, who’d gone hog-wild with her mail-order catalogs this year. But after it sat for a couple of days in the foyer, she got curious.

  When she saw that the package was from Delta Optics, she realized it was the gift she’d ordered weeks ago for John-Michael. She’d once felt delicious anticipation at the thought of giving it to him, but now she just felt sad.

  She would hire a messenger to deliver it to his new home, she decided, along with a friendly but impersonal note of explanation. But somehow, she never actually got around to calling the messenger service and writing the note.

  Sonya had long ago convinced her maid of honor, Cissy Trask-Burnside, to cancel the “couples shower” she’d had planned for December. But Cissy, determined to have some kind of party, threw a New Year’s Eve bash and told everyone who was coming that they could bring shower gifts for Sonya.

  Sonya couldn’t avoid attending the party without causing a major flack. The society reporter, Leslie Frazier, was there, which necessitated Sonya again doing some fast talking about why her fiancé w
as never around.

  She trotted out the very excuses Marvin had given her—he was stuck in a maze of bureaucratic red tape and could not leave Beijing until he’d straightened it all out. The lies just poured out of Sonya—she had a real talent for deception, she realized somewhat uncomfortably—and everyone took them at face value.

  After Leslie left, conversation turned to other gossip—whose husband was cheating, who had committed a fashion faux pas. Sonya was horribly bored, and she longed for her other friends, Brenna and Cindy. The three of them used to talk long into the night about all kinds of things—history and philosophy, movies and books, and of course men and sex. Not that they were intellectuals or anything, but at least their topics of interest had been a bit broader than whose husband had bought her a new car, and what she had given in return.

  Sonya frankly couldn’t understand why she’d remained friends with Cissy for so long when all they had in common these days was that they’d once belonged to the same sorority.

  Her two other bridesmaids were in attendance. One of them got drunk, tripped over the front steps on her way out, and had to make a trip to the emergency room with a broken ankle. The other bridesmaid confessed to Sonya that her sister-in-law had decided to get married the same weekend as Sonya—in Aruba. “But I gave you my word,” she said with pompous loyalty.

  Sonya couldn’t possibly ask Krystal to give up a real wedding in Aruba for a fake one in Houston. She insisted that Krystal make plans for Aruba. “I’ll miss you terribly, but your own family is more important. I can find someone to fill in.”

  “But the dress—”

  “I can have it altered. It’ll be fine.”

  Anyway, she had a plan.

  At five minutes to midnight, she dialed Brenna’s cell number. “Sonya! Where are you?”

  “A boring party.” Sonya was hiding in a linen cupboard, the only place quiet and private enough. “Listen, I need your help. Do you want to be a bridesmaid?”

  “Don’t you already have bridesmaids?”

  “They’re dropping like flies. Plus, I’d just as soon have real friends here with me. January 8. Can you be here? And your hunky fiancé, too.” Heath and Brenna had recently announced their engagement.