“One of the students fell off the roof of the administration building. The paramedic thinks he’s broken his leg and shoulder.”
“What was he doing on the roof?” Tess asked.
“Getting a football down. He could have killed himself.” Sally opened her bag and took out her camera. “I saw Connie and her sisters in the foyer. They look beautiful.”
“We finished Connie’s dress an hour ago. The last minute rush was worth it.” Tess was really proud of what they’d done today. Without everyone’s help, they wouldn’t have been able to get everything ready in time for the wedding.
She glanced at the front of the room and smiled at the groom-to-be. Dave still looked nervous and she wondered if he’d be able to make it through the ceremony. It didn’t look as though he could figure out what to do with his hands. One minute they were in his pockets and the next minute they were fiddling with his jacket.
“Do you mind if I sit with you?”
Tess and Molly looked up at Dylan. He’d changed into a dark charcoal suit and white shirt. Tess thought a suit would have taken some of the dangerous edge off him, but it made it worse. All he needed was a pair of dark sunglasses and he could have passed for an FBI agent.
Molly leaned forward and whispered to Annie, “Move down another seat.”
They all shuffled along. The bridal march started playing on the sound system and everyone stood up. Molly quickly changed seats with Dylan so she could take more photos.
Tess smiled as Molly snapped a picture of Dylan before turning toward the back of the chapel. She took photos of the bridesmaids and stood in the aisle as Connie walked toward her.
With the number of photos Molly was taking, Connie and Dave would have a lifetime’s worth of memories . Knowing how good her photos were, each of them would be treasured.
Tess sighed when Connie walked past their seats. She looked like Cinderella in the beautiful tulle and satin dress they’d worked on all afternoon. The sweetheart neckline and beaded skirt shimmered as she walked down the aisle. The veil she’d chosen fell softly around her shoulders, ending in a delicate swirl below her waist.
Connie’s mom was beside her, being pushed down the aisle in a wheelchair. Tess hadn’t been able to hide all of the shadows under Mrs. Thompson’s eyes with makeup, but she still looked radiant and so proud of her daughters.
But it wasn’t Connie or her mom that made Tess’ eyes widen. Logan was standing behind Connie’s mom, pushing her wheelchair down the aisle. He’d changed into a dark navy suit. He looked so handsome that Tess was sure everyone could hear her heart pounding.
Molly sighed. “Don’t you love a man wearing a suit,” she said.
Dylan cleared his throat and straightened the edge of his jacket.
Molly grinned at him. “You’re a fine man to be standing beside. Would you happen to know how to cook?”
“I could make tacos by the time I was seven years old, ma’am.” Dylan’s voice was a slow seductive purr.
Tess laughed at the half in love expression on Molly’s face. “You’d be safer taking photos,” Tess whispered in Molly’s ear. “Dylan’s too tall, dark and dangerous.”
“I can be anything you want me to be,” Dylan purred back with a gleam in his eyes.
It was Tess’ turn to smile. She looked at the front of the chapel and watched Logan step away from Connie and her mom.
“Dave and Connie look so happy together,” Sally whispered.
Tess nodded and followed Logan with her eyes. He wheeled Mrs. Thompson to a space in the front row and sat beside her.
None of this would have happened if he hadn’t written the newspaper article about Connie and Dave’s burglary. It wasn’t an award winning story and it definitely wouldn’t change the world. But his kindness had changed Connie and Dave’s life. It had given Mrs. Thompson something to look forward to and a memory they would all hold in their hearts.
Molly knelt down and hunted inside her camera bag.
“What are you looking for?” Tess asked.
“My light meter. I don’t think there’s enough light to get the shots I need from back here. I’m going to have to get closer.”
“You can’t walk down the aisle.” Sally glanced at the front of the chapel. “They’ll be saying their wedding vows soon.”
Dylan tapped Molly on the shoulder. “Go that way.” He pointed to the side of the chapel. “There’s a clear path to the front.”
“Thanks.” She picked up her camera and wiggled past Tess, Sally, and Annie. She stopped when she got beside Annie and patted her pockets.
“What’s wrong?” Annie whispered.
Molly tried to look as inconspicuous as a five foot eight woman dressed completely in black could. “I left my wide angle lens under the seat.”
Annie whispered something in Sally’s ear. Sally said something in Tess’ ear. Dylan looked altogether too intrigued to do anything but wait for his ear whispering turn.
“Don’t get your hopes up, Romeo,” Tess said with a smile. “Molly left her spare camera lens under the seat.”
Dylan looked down beside him and grinned. “It would be my pleasure to deliver it.”
Tess looked at the people around them. Dylan would block their view, annoy them more than they already were with all of the whispering going on. Before Tess could stop him, he’d walked past her and was heading toward Molly.
She didn’t know how it happened. Either Annie didn’t see Dylan tip-toeing toward her, or she realized too late what was going to happen. She moved her legs and Dylan tripped over her feet. He lost his balance, landing on the ground with a heavy thud.
Tess could have sworn the ground shook. If the look on Dylan’s face was anything to go by, he’d felt the same sharp jolt. Annie was trying to help him, but he didn’t want anything to do with the hands trying to get him off the floor.
Tess bit her lip, Sally started giggling and Annie looked confused.
Molly reached for the lens and walked quickly to the front of the chapel. She was probably too embarrassed to be seen interacting with the riffraff in the third to last pew.
Dylan managed to sit in a seat before Annie grabbed him again.
“I’m really sorry,” Annie said. “I didn’t mean to trip you.”
Dylan took a deep breath. “It’s no problem.” He stared straight ahead, watching the wedding in front of them.
Dave slid Connie’s wedding ring on her finger. Laughter filled the chapel when he kissed her on the lips. And then it was Connie’s turn. Even from the back of the chapel, Tess could hear the emotion in Connie’s voice as she repeated her wedding vows.
Tess wondered what it felt like to know you’d met the man you wanted to spend the rest of your life with. To know that whatever happened, he’d be beside you, encouraging you and helping you.
She’d always thought that kind of love belonged in fairy tales, but looking at Connie and Dave, she wasn’t so sure anymore.
Sally pulled a tissue out of her pocket and blew her nose. “Even though I can’t see much of the wedding it sounds romantic.”
Tess grinned at her friend. “Molly’s taking lots of photos so you won’t miss out.” She glanced down the row of seats. Annie kept looking at Dylan and he kept ignoring her.
She looked at Connie and Dave and smiled. They were happy and in love. Their bridesmaids looked amazing and Mrs. Thompson was here to watch her daughter marry the man of her dreams.
It was a good day. The best day Tess had shared with her friends in a long time.
***
Tess opened one eye and closed it again. She pulled her arm out from under her duvet and slapped the top of her cell phone. The alarm kept ringing. To her sleep-deprived, slightly woozy brain, it sounded like a chicken being strangled.
She pulled herself upright and rubbed her eyes. It was four-thirty. Normal people didn’t get out of bed at this time of the morning. Normal people stayed in bed until sunrise. But not her. She had a list of food to bake, a café
to get ready and a headache the size of Mount Rushmore pounding in her head.
She picked up her phone and slid the red circle across the screen. Wonderful silence filled her bedroom and she was tempted to fall back onto her pillow. If she was really fast in the kitchen, she could have another thirty minutes in bed. It would be like a real sleep in. She could dream about Connie’s wedding, the lovely dinner they’d enjoyed at Angel Wings Café and the dance floor that had appeared out of nowhere.
Just as her head hit her pillow, her cell phone rang. She couldn’t believe someone would call this early in the morning. Didn’t they know she’d had a late night? That yesterday she’d been part of an amazing day. And that maybe she might want to help someone else, to do it all over again.
She frowned at her phone and tried to work out who would be calling at this time of the morning. If it was telemarketers from India, she was hanging up. She let the phone ring for another few seconds before answering it.
“You’re not in your café.”
Tess pulled the phone away from her ear and looked at the screen. Logan’s number was blocked. “Do you know what time it is?”
“That’s why I’ve been knocking on your door for the last five minutes.”
Tess couldn’t figure out what he was talking about. “Why are you standing on my stairs?”
Logan sighed. “Just open the door.”
That, Tess could understand. She stumbled out of her bedroom and unlocked the door. A cold blast of air followed Logan into her apartment. She rubbed her eyes and stared at his damp t-shirt and running shorts. “Do you ever sleep?”
“Forget my sleeping habits. Aren’t you opening the café today?”
Tess ignored his lazy appraisal of her soft cotton pajama bottoms and tank top. She headed to her kitchen and turned the coffee machine on. If she couldn’t go back to bed, she’d wake herself up with enough caffeine to kick-start her brain. “I’ve got plenty of time thanks to your chronic insomnia.” She yawned. It was the type of yawn that was telling her to go back to bed.
She focused on the amused grin on Logan’s face. “You didn’t leave here until after midnight. Why are you looking so normal?”
“Guess I’m used to less sleep than you are. You do know what the time is, don’t you?”
“It’s four thirty.” She pulled a couple of mugs out of the pantry and leaned against the kitchen counter.
Logan walked toward her holding out his wrist. “Wrong. It’s five forty-five. That’s quarter to six for those of us who’ve slept in.”
Tess grabbed his wrist and stared at his watch. She blinked once before panic set in. “Oh, no. I’m going to be late.”
She forgot about her lack of sleep. A surge of adrenaline replaced the caffeine she’d been looking forward to. Annie would be arriving in an hour. She didn’t have anything ready for her breakfast customers. The oven wasn’t even turned on.
“What can I do to help?” Logan stepped back as she raced past him.
“Call Annie. Ask her to come in early.” She made a detour to the coffee table, picked up the keys to her café and ran back to Logan. “I’m going to jump in the shower. Unlock the front door and turn the oven onto one hundred and eighty degrees. I’ll be there in five minutes.”
She ran back to her room, grabbed some clean clothes, her hairbrush and a couple of Tylenol.
While the shower was warming up, she brushed her teeth. The sink put her directly in front of the bathroom mirror. Her face was in after-party mode and it wasn’t a pretty sight.
***
Logan added another egg to the pancake mixture, stirred it, then poured more buttermilk into the bowl. The microwave pinged and he tipped the melted butter into the batter.
He found a bag of fresh blueberries sitting in the fridge, so he took those across to the griddle and started cooking breakfast.
Tess flew into the kitchen just as the first pancakes had finished cooking.
“You’re cooking?” Her mouth dropped open as he lifted the pancakes onto a plate and put them in the warmer tray of the oven.
“I might have made pancakes once or twice since you showed me how.” He’d made them more than once or twice. Pancakes had become his specialty. When Dylan started calling in for breakfast, Logan had experimented with different additions to the recipe. Some had worked, some hadn’t. But Dylan and Logan weren’t fussy. They’d eaten the lot then washed everything down with thick black coffee.
“You could have kept your PJs on.” Logan didn’t miss the blush that streaked along Tess’ face. She’d looked so cute in her cotton pajamas that he’d regretted having to tell her the time.
“I’d better start baking.” Tess walked across to the pantry and pulled out containers of sugar and flour. “Thanks for waking me up.”
He turned back to the stove and smiled. “If you hadn’t answered your phone I was going to break in.”
Tess opened the fridge and took out the butter. “I’m a deep sleeper.” She quickly mixed some flour, sugar, and baking powder together. “I didn’t think you’d go for a run this morning.”
Logan sprinkled some blueberries on the next batch of pancakes. “I woke up early. Did you enjoy yourself last night?”
Tess grinned. “I had a great time. Dylan seemed to enjoy himself.”
“I’ve never seen him smile so much.” Logan figured it must have been part of his new dating strategy. He flipped the pancakes and took two plates out of the pantry. “Do you realize how much Connie and Dave appreciated your surprise?”
Tess shrugged her shoulders. “It wasn’t a big deal. They hadn’t planned anything after the wedding, so I thought we could have dinner together. Can you open the oven door?”
He opened the door and moved out of her way. She slid a baking sheet of scones into the oven and walked across the room.
“I’ll make the mini fruit tarts now. Did Annie say what time she’d be here?”
“She should be here soon.”
Tess opened the fridge and looked along the shelves. She moved a few things around, then started pulling food out and leaving it on the counter. “I know it’s in here. Annie bought yogurt yesterday.”
Logan slid two pancakes onto a plate and tapped Tess on the shoulder. “You haven’t had breakfast. It’s time to stop.”
Tess smiled at him. She was standing so close that he could smell the peppermint tang of her toothpaste. “I’ve got too much baking to do.”
He reached for her hand and pulled her across to one of the kitchen stools. “You’ll get more done on a full stomach. Sit.”
Tess looked at the pancakes in his hand, then up into his eyes. “They are mighty fine pancakes.”
“The best in Montana.” He could drown in Tess’ blue eyes. He hadn’t stood this close to her since Molly had taken their photos in her apartment. And he still remembered the taste and feel of her when he’d kissed her in front of his sister. His heart rate had spun out of control then, and it was doing the same thing now.
Tess’ eyes drifted to his mouth and he moved closer. He imagined her body pressed against his, the way his mouth would slip along her skin as they slowly devoured each other.
She ran her hand across his chest and down his arm. With a cheeky grin, she took the plate of pancakes out of his hand. “You’ll make someone a wonderful husband.” She kissed his cheek and sat on the kitchen stool, filling her mouth with fresh blueberry pancake instead of him.
It was enough to make a grown man cry.
Tess pointed her fork at another stack of pancakes sitting on a plate. “Are you going to eat your breakfast or watch me?”
He’d vote for watching, but he had a feeling Tess would have something to say about that. He pulled another stool out and sat beside her. “How did you get everything ready in time for last night’s dinner?”
“We called in a favor a friend owed us. Christopher provided the roast meat and vegetables. The rest was all Annie’s doing. She’s amazing, isn’t she?”
Logan nodded. “What about the decorations?”
“We had a small wedding reception here a few months ago. The bride and groom left most of the decorations with us. Annie stored them in boxes.” Tess slid off her stool and walked across to the fridge. “Do you want a glass of juice?” she asked.
“Sure.”
She poured a glass of juice for each of them and left his beside his plate. “You make good pancakes.”
“I learned from the best.”
Tess ate quickly, glancing at the clock on the wall more than once.
The kitchen door opened and Annie stumbled into the room. “Someone left the front door unlocked.” She looked at Logan. “Did you go home last night?”
Tess choked on her last mouthful of pancake and went as red as a beet.
Logan, at least, had been in the process of lifting his glass of juice to his mouth. “I went home and now I’m here.”
Annie grinned. “That’s what they all say.”
He turned to Tess. She’d gone even redder and was staring daggers at Annie. “All? How many boyfriends do you have?”
“You’re not my boyfriend,” she muttered. “And you,” she pointed at Annie, “will not be my friend for much longer if you tell Logan all of my secrets.”
He imagined Tess with a string of men following her around. She was pretty. She was tall. She owned her own business. She was everything most men wanted.
Annie put Tess’ empty plate in the dishwasher and rubbed her hands together. “I’ll get started on the paninis and wraps.”
Tess washed her hands and put a cup of butter in the microwave. “I’ll make the shortbread crust for the tarts.”
Annie watched Logan carry the empty glasses to the dishwasher. “Tess hasn’t had a boyfriend since she arrived in Bozeman.”
A metal pan dropped to the floor. Logan turned around and watched Tess pick it up and put it in the sink.
“I’ll have one less friend before the day’s out, too.”
Annie breezed past the counter and took the cover off a stack of plastic trays. “It’s not for the lack of offers. She’s just incredibly picky.” She lifted the top tray off the stack and put it on the counter. “Mr. Kussack sent us extra pastries this morning.”
All of Me (The Bridesmaids Club Book 1) Page 13
