by Meg Benjamin
“Well, that’s the thing.” Cal gave them all a slightly nervous smile. “Reba says the wedding may be Docia’s, but the reception’s hers.”
Pete had a sudden sinking feeling. “Meaning?”
“Meaning we’re supposed to wear the tuxes to the reception.”
Pete frowned. “What about Lars?”
“Lars gets a bye. The rest of us have to dress up. Reba’s orders.”
“Aw hell,” Horace grumbled. “Just when I was enjoying this wedding too.”
“What about the women?” Wonder asked guardedly.
Cal frowned. “I’m not sure. Reba loves Janie, so she could probably show up in a gunny sack without any problem. But I’ve got a feeling Docia’s going to be wearing that fantasy wedding dress whether she likes it or not.”
Pete checked his watch, then stood. “Okay, gentlemen, it’s time. Get those blazers on.”
“All right. But first…” Wonder stood, his hand on his heart. “All together now, join me in a chorus of ‘Another Man Done Gone’.”
“Come off it, Wonder,” Horace grumbled. “Toleffson’s got a real winner and you know it. Plus he’s made Bethany take a second look at marriage, even after her lousy divorce from Lloyd five years ago, which I’ve been trying to do for a year now. And if I’m any judge, Allie Maldonado will have you in a church sooner than later.”
Wonder sighed. “True. The women of Konigsburg will hang their heads in sorrow, but true.”
Lars raised his coffee cup. “To Docia and Cal. Go for it!”
Pete drank his last swallow of coffee, feeling oddly bereft.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Janie stood at the back of the winery patio surveying the layout. Banks of summer flowers lined the front in bright pink and yellow and white. Swags of chiffon were strung along the sides, linking stone urns filled with more flowers. Reba might not have had much time, but she’d done herself proud.
Almost every seat was filled with friends and family. Konigsburgers were scattered throughout the crowd—Armando from Cal’s animal clinic, Al and Carol Brosius from the Coffee Corral, Arthur Craven from the Konigsburg Merchants Association, even Hank Ingstrom from the Dew Drop with his wife.
Janie’s mother sat at the side, wearing one of her Lucky Lady outfits in bright blue Polyester. Janie kept out of her line of sight. She really didn’t want to deal with any other problems for the next couple of hours.
A lot of slightly stunned people in very expensive clothes were scattered here and there in the audience, probably all related to Docia. Reba herself still fussed around the edges of the patio in a spectacular daytime wedding outfit—pale yellow lace with a wide-brimmed garden party hat. She was currently bullying Lee and Ken, who were serving as ushers and enjoying themselves hugely. Janie figured if four-star generals wore yellow lace, they’d look and sound just like Reba.
The Toleffsons sat together toward the front. Mrs. Toleffson was wearing her mother-of-the-groom dress—a forest green satin coat with brown accents. She was undoubtedly dying from the heat, but she refused to look wilted. Asa had on a dark suit and a splendid crimson tie with a small picture of the Tasmanian Devil. Janie wasn’t sure where he’d gotten it, but it looked great.
Erik sat beside his father, wearing a navy jacket. He blinked in the sunshine as if he wasn’t entirely used to seeing it. Daisy perched on his lap, playing with his keys. She wore a pink dress that was almost the same shade as Janie’s. Her daisy wreath had slid down slightly over her left eye. As Janie watched, Erik carefully pushed it back onto her black curls then patted her on the shoulder a little awkwardly. Daisy paid him no attention at all.
At the end of the patio near the live oaks, the string quartet was working its way through some Vivaldi. Reba appeared at Janie’s elbow. “Y’all ready to go now?”
Janie didn’t think Docia could wait much longer without hysterics, ready or not. “Yes, ma’am. We’re ready.”
Reba pressed her fingers to her lips. “Oh my, have I forgotten anything?” Amazingly, her cornflower blue eyes began to glisten with tears. “Oh well, let’s get this show on the road.”
Janie heard a rustling behind her and turned. The groom and groomsmen stood in line, all of them in navy blazers and khakis. They looked like a college golf team on their best behavior, although three of them also looked a little like Paul Bunyan.
Reba eyed them critically, then sighed. “Where’s Cal?”
“Right here.” Cal stepped forward, smiling. Janie had a feeling he’d be smiling all day.
“All right.” Reba nodded decisively. “Soon as I’m in my seat, you and the judge go on up there.”
Cal looked behind him a little nervously. The judge pulled his collar away from his neck with a finger. “If I’d known y’all were going casual I’d have ditched this damn suit. You should have told me.”
“You’re an appeals court judge,” Reba snapped. “You should look like one.”
Allie took Wonder’s arm and Bethany moved next to Horace. Janie wasn’t sure she’d ever seen Horace in a suit before, even when he presided at city council meetings.
Pete stepped beside her and stood looking down, a faint smile playing around his lips. “Morning.”
“Morning yourself.” Janie let herself grin up at him, then faced front again.
“Time for me to sit down, I suppose.” Reba extended her hand to Lee Contreras.
He placed her hand on his arm with a flourish, a private escorting a general, then began a slow march down the aisle to the front row.
When she’d reached her seat, Reba raised her hand. The string quartet segued into Handel, and the judge gave Cal a slight shove, heading him down the aisle. Once they’d reached the front, Reba stood.
Allie grasped her bouquet of daisies and roses and looped her hand through Wonder’s arm. “Let’s do it, stud.”
“I assume that’s metaphoric,” Wonder muttered, stepping forward down the aisle.
Bethany put her hand on Horace’s arm, and he drew it close to his side, giving her a brief look that made Janie’s throat hurt suddenly as they began to walk.
“Okay, my turn,” Lars sighed.
“No!” Janie reached up to grab his arm, then placed her other hand on Pete’s elbow, balancing her bouquet between them. “Together. Okay?”
Pete grinned at her. “We’ll never fit in that aisle.”
“Sure we will.” Janie grinned back. “I’m short, remember.”
She took a step and the other two followed. “Why do I feel like I should be saying, ‘Lions and tigers and bears, oh my’,” Lars whispered.
Cal grinned at them. Janie didn’t have the courage to look at Reba, but she heard Horace’s chuckle. At the front, she dropped the men’s arms and moved to the left.
Allie patted her shoulder. “Nicely done, kid.”
The string quartet segued again, and Janie looked at the end of the aisle. Docia stood with her hand on Billy’s arm. Golden brown voile swirled around her ankles, the deep ruffle circling her throat and then angling across her body to the hem. Yellow roses were twined in her riotous crown of red curls. She carried a bouquet of white daisies, yellow roses, and trailing jasmine.
She looked glorious. Beside her, Billy Kent looked as if he couldn’t quite believe they’d gotten there in one piece.
Docia took a step and the two of them came gliding down the aisle.
Janie heard sighs from the audience. She glanced at Cal. He looked like he needed to be reminded to breathe.
The judge cleared his throat. Pete patted his pocket to check on the ring. Docia arrived at the front, handed Janie her bouquet, and winked.
Showtime.
“The votes are in,” Wonder grumbled. “Being photographed is definitely the most boring activity on the planet.”
Pete agreed with him. The past thirty minutes were the longest half hour he’d ever spent, made even longer by the fact that Janie hadn’t stopped doing useless tasks long enough to talk to him.
&n
bsp; Allie grinned at Wonder indulgently. “Come on and give them another smile, sweetie. Think of it as advertising your professional expertise.”
The photographer was arranging Cal and Docia, along with Reba and Billy. Mom and Dad waited patiently for their turn.
Pete wasn’t sure exactly what he wanted to say to Janie. “Whew!” maybe. Or maybe he wanted to take her up on her promise of collapsing in a heap. What he mainly wanted to do was sit with her for a while and let events roll by. He had a whole list of things he needed to tell her, but he wasn’t sure where or how to begin.
Lars had retrieved Daisy from Erik, who looked simultaneously relieved and disappointed. Daisy had given him a dazzling smile over Lars’s shoulder, then appeared to have promptly forgotten all about him. Women.
Now Lars sat with Daisy on his lap, playing “she loves me, she loves me not” with the flowers remaining in her wreath. Daisy had removed it and refused to put it back on again once she’d seen Docia’s yellow roses. Pete figured she was planning to trade up.
Reba, freed temporarily from the photographer, gestured at Janie, then murmured something. Janie nodded and was gone again.
Pete sighed. What exactly did he want to say to her anyway? “Nice job. Cool wedding.” Yeah, but that wasn’t it exactly.
“Don’t hook up with anybody else like Otto Friedrich.” That was closer, but he didn’t really think she’d do that anyway.
“Wait for me.” He closed his eyes. Yeah, that was it. And he could just picture Janie staring at him with bewildered eyes.
Wait for you to do what?
To get the Amundson case straightened out? To figure out exactly what he wanted to do next?
Wait for you how long?
As long as it takes. Please put your life on hold until I get everything taken care of. Pete grimaced. If he were Janie, he’d tell himself where to go and what to do when he got there.
He couldn’t ask her to do that. It wouldn’t be fair to her. He couldn’t ask her to do anything. He didn’t have the right.
“Okay, now the wedding party.” The photographer motioned them up under the live oak where he’d been positioning everyone. “Bridesmaids on the left, groomsmen on the right.”
Pete glanced over at Janie again. Her rosebud wreath had shifted slightly down onto her forehead. He reached out to slide it back just as Reba took her by the arm and moved her beside Docia. He sighed and moved beside Cal.
“Problems?” Cal raised an eyebrow.
Pete shook his head. “Nothing I can’t handle, Calthorpe. Enjoy your wedding day. Let me know what you need.”
Cal gave him a slight smile. “You know, bro, you don’t really have to take care of me anymore. Lars either. We’re both full grown, and Erik looks to be out of the bullying business, at least as far as his brothers go.”
Pete glanced back at the people milling around in front of the winery, waiting for their rides to the Woodrose. Erik sat on the winery steps, blinking.
“I’m still having trouble believing it, Calthorpe. But I hope it’s true.”
“Yeah.” Cal nodded. “After what he did at the rehearsal dinner, I’m ready to give him the benefit of the doubt.”
Pete blew out a breath. The rehearsal dinner. Where he hadn’t protected Janie the way he should have. “Right.”
Cal shook his head. “Look, Pete, take a day off, okay? The responsibility for the world’s happiness does not rest on your shoulders. The future can wait until tomorrow.”
“Everybody smile,” the photographer called.
Pete did his best.
Janie’s mouth hurt from smiling. She was also pretty sure her makeup had sweated off, and she was ready to shred the damn rose wreath that kept sliding over her eyes. She desperately wanted the photographer to stop, but Reba wouldn’t let him go until every last person had been photographed multiple times.
Janie wiped her forehead with the back of her hand, pushing the wreath back in place one more time.
“So when do I start throwing things?” Docia muttered.
Janie blinked at her. “What did you have in mind?”
“Oh, you know, the bouquet, my garter, my mother, the usual.” Docia grinned at her. “Relax, kid, it’s almost over.”
Janie sighed. “I’m just tired, I guess. And we all need to get over to the Woodrose.”
“Did I remember to admit you were right, by the way?” Docia took a deep breath. “This was a terrific wedding. Thanks for talking me into it. I would have hated Las Vegas.”
She reached down and gave Janie another enthusiastic hug. Janie didn’t think she’d been hugged by so many people in a single day since she’d been an infant. Her lungs were permanently compressed. “My pleasure,” she croaked.
“All right.” Reba clapped her hands. “Time to finish up and head to the Woodrose.”
“What about throwing my bouquet and my garter?” Docia frowned.
“You can do it at the Woodrose after you’ve changed.” Reba began making shooing motions toward the parking lot.
Docia put her hands on her hips. “I want to do it here, Mama.”
Reba put her own hands on her hips and frowned.
After a long moment, Billy put his arm around Reba’s shoulders. “How about if she throws the garter here and the bouquet there? That way you each get your way. Sort of.”
Docia grinned. “Fine with me. Where’s my husband?”
Cal emerged from the crowd of groomsmen. He’d loosened his tie and his hair was mussed. He looked more like Cal than he had all morning. “Present, ma’am. What do you need me to do?”
“Take off my garter so I can throw it to y’all.” Docia gave him a slightly feline smile.
Cal shrugged. “Okay. Put your foot on this chair, so I can get some leverage.”
Docia rested one foot on a chair, bending her knee gracefully. Cal started to slide her skirt up her leg, then stopped and swallowed hard. “Docia, you’re not wearing any stockings.”
Docia smiled again. “Yes, I know.”
“Then how do I remove your garter?”
“Oh, hubby dear—” Docia’s smile became positively incendiary, “—you don’t need stockings to wear a garter.”
Cal closed his eyes briefly and then slid Docia’s skirt to her thigh. The blue satin garter with its crystal accents glittered in the sun. He expanded it deftly and pulled it down over her foot.
Behind him, Wonder blew out a breath. “Well done, Calthorpe. Better throw it quick.”
“He doesn’t throw it, you dolt, I do.” Docia plucked the garter from Cal’s nerveless fingers and tossed it in the general direction of the groomsmen. They all stepped back as if something radioactive had landed in their midst.
Except for Pete, who caught the garter through reflex action. And then stood staring at it in a slightly confused way.
“Very good.” Docia grinned at him. “Now we can all go dance.”
Pete nodded slightly, still studying the garter as if it held the secrets of the universe. Maybe it did.
Janie wasn’t sure whose car she was supposed to ride in. Allie had taken her bakery van back to Sweet Thing, followed by Wonder. She had no intention of riding with Cal and Docia, particularly since they looked like they’d be stopping at Cal’s house before they got to the reception. Horace was driving Bethany and the Toleffsons in his SUV.
That left Pete. Janie took a deep breath. Time to start that conversation.
Or not. Reba took hold of her arm. “Come along, Janie, we need to get there before everybody else. We’ve got things to check on.” She pulled Janie along behind her toward her black Mercedes.
Janie looked back to see Pete staring after her, looking faintly annoyed. She tried to wave, but by then Reba was stuffing her into the back seat.
The Woodrose hummed with activity. Tables were scattered around the wide lawn behind the event center and an orchestra was setting up under a gauzy tent at the side. Waiters from Brenner’s unloaded trays of food under Lee’s watc
hful eye and cases of wine under Ken’s.
Reba kept her hand on Janie’s elbow, pushing her forward. “In here, sweetheart,” she chirped, shoving her through the door into the room that had been her command center.
Janie stopped, staring. Her dress was hanging against the far wall.
Only, of course, it couldn’t be her dress. Her dress had been shredded by Sherice. She walked forward slowly to run her fingers down the front. She couldn’t find any evidence of repairs.
“It’s a new one,” Reba said from behind her.
Janie turned. Reba was smiling so widely it looked like her face might split.
“I had my friend Coralee check the Market Center in Dallas. She found a place that had one in the right color. It may not fit quite as well.” Reba’s brow furrowed lightly. “The seamstress is supposed to be here, but she might be running late.”
She might also be lost in the gauntlet of catering trucks, musicians’ vans, and rented limousines bearing Reba’s guests. Janie didn’t care. The dress shimmered in front of her, pale lavender moonlight on a hanger. It would fit, she knew it would.
“I never did give that woman the sandals,” Reba burbled on, “so they’re still here. I don’t know what you want to do about something for your hair…”
Janie wasn’t listening anymore. Her fingers itched to unzip the dress and pull it on. Outside the door she could hear voices—Allie and Bethany heading for the dressing room. She turned and gave Reba a fierce hug. “Thank you so much!”
Reba smiled at her tearfully, brushing her bangs back slightly from her forehead. “You’re welcome, sweetheart. Now go be Cinderella.”
Wonder grumbled all the way down the stairs to the Woodrose back lawn. By then Pete had tuned him out. Yes, they were wearing tuxes. Yes, tuxes had been invented by some thorough-going sadist, probably female. Yes, they could have prevailed and insisted on wearing their blazers, looking and behaving like a bunch of frat boys, but Pete preferred to keep peace with Cal’s in-laws—or Cal’s mother-in-law, at any rate. Billy Kent didn’t appear to give a rat’s ass whether they wore tuxedoes or bib overalls as long as they showed up and behaved themselves.
