A Groom With a View jj-11

by Jill Churchill

  “Wow! You look great!" he said.

  “Why, thank you," she said, doing a little pirouette, hoping to elicit further compliments.

  What she got was a kiss that made a mess of her lipstick and threatened her hairdo. She pulled away, grinning. "Now I'm going to have to start over."

  “Need some help?"

  “No, thanks," Jane said with a laugh. Then, more seriously, she asked, "What did John Smith think of the seam binding Shelley and I found in the attic?"

  “Just what you thought. That it was probably stretched across the stairs and then removed. It doesn't give him any leads on who the perp was, but it'll come in handy when he knows that and it goes to court. It indicates planning, rather than sudden passion."

  “ 'Sudden passion' doesn't seem a phrase that has much to do with Mrs. Crossthwait. So who was the ghost last night?"

  “Uncle Joe. In a gray blanket. He was being the ghost of a monk for the benefit of his half-sisters.”

  “Benefit?"

  “His benefit, actually. They'd apparently been talking about staying on for a while. He remembered them as girls, getting themselves all in a twit over ghosts of monks, and thought it might scare them off."

  “He told you this?"

  “Not very willingly. And he was pissed as hell that it was you and Shelley who came out of your rooms instead of them. Silly old man."

  “Have you run into Iva this morning?" Jane asked.

  “With the shiner?"

  “Right. What happened to her?"

  “That was later. She was prowling around doing God knows what and saw a light in the pantry. She'd gotten on her knees to try to peer through the keyhole. Joe was in there, heard scuffling, and opened the door. Got her in the eye with the doorknob. They both confirmed that story."

  “Have you been up all night long trailing around after them?" Jane asked.

  “Most of the night."

  “Why? Why not let them just barge around running into each other?”

  Mel put his arm around her shoulders and said, "Because one of them could very well be a killer and you don't have a lock on your door."

  “You stayed up all night to protect me? Oh, Mel—"

  “Don't go sappy and get any ideas about my making a habit of it," he said. "We're all out of here this evening. And the next time I miss another night's sleep for your sake, it's going to be for much more enjoyable reasons.”

  Eighteen

  Luncheon was a hasty, eat-on-the-run affair, complicated by the fact that several of the out-of-town guests, bored senseless at their cheap little motel which didn't even have cable television, as they kept saying to each other with wonder, came early and got underfoot. The two musicians, a married couple from Novelties, whom Jane had nearly forgotten about, turned up with a flute and violin. They were attired in black and looked like they'd come for a funeral.

  Jane went down the hallway to the little rooms to check that everyone was getting along all right. Everybody was trying to get cleaned up at once and since all were on the same water supply along the hallway, there were occasional yelps and shouts as toilets were flushed in some rooms at the same time showers were going on in others.

  In spite of everything bad that had happened, Jane sensed a genuine air of festivity now. Layla and Eden kept running up and down the hall in their bathrobes like schoolgirls in a dorm, borrowing toothpaste, hair spray, and makeup. Kitty in particular seemed obsessed with looking as good as possible. "I think this hem is uneven," she wailed at Jane.

  “Nobody will notice and it's too late to fix it," Jane said mildly, even though Kitty was nearly in tears. She had lost patience with Kitty. It was the bride who was supposed to be hysterical, not the bridesmaids.

  Mel popped out of his room asking if he could help her with anything.

  “No, thanks. I'm just looking for brushfires to put out. And not, thank God, finding any yet.”

  Jane went through the main room. Early guests sat in the chairs and sofas around the sides of the room, keeping the wedding chairs inviolate. Jane went upstairs to the master bedroom to see if she could help Livvy. "Is there anything you need before you get dressed? Hairpins? Perfume?" Jane asked.

  Livvy was sitting at the window, gazing out as if bored. "What? Oh, no. But thanks anyway.”

  “Are you okay, Livvy?”

  The young woman smiled weakly. "I'm fine. Just fine. I'll just need help getting into the dress when it's time."

  “Have you had lunch?"

  “I think so. Yes, yes. A sandwich. I've heard

  some cars arriving. Should I be greeting guests?"

  Jane laughed. "No, it's like a play, Livvy. The lead actress isn't seen until the curtain goes up. She doesn't hang around in the lobby.”

  Livvy's smile was genuine this time.

  She's just nervous, Jane told herself, going back down the wide steps Livvy would descend in an hour. Brides were supposed to be nervous. Livvy was about to commit herself in the most important ceremony in her life. Baptisms, recitals, even hard-won graduations were nothing compared to wedding ceremonies for making everyone nervous. Marriages often failed later. Jane's own marriage had failed without her even realizing it until it was too late. But going into marriage, saying vows, and observing the ancient rites still had the power to seem a "forever" decision.

  For the first time in a long, long while, Jane found herself thinking about her own wedding, a few weeks short of twenty years ago now. Her mother had wept. Jane thought it was from happiness, but it might not have been. Her father had treated her like a porcelain doll and told her that she'd always be his daughter, no matter whose wife or mother she became. Her sister Marty had worn a red dress she knew Jane hated. Typical of Marty. Her mother-in-law Thelma had worn a gray dress, but obviously longed to wear black. It had been an even smaller wedding than Livvy's because Steve's family lived in Chicago and Jane's only family were her parents, sister, grandmother, and honorary uncle Jim. And it had been held in the Jeffry family's church without all the elaborate flowers and catering. But Jane still re‑ membered every moment of it with fondness. She'd even liked Marty and Thelma that day.

  She'd married Steve Jeffry because he was handsome, ambitious, polite, and because he asked her at the exact right moment of her life. She'd been too young and stupid, really, to make such an important decision, but after having grown up all over the world — beloved by her parents, but forever homeless, rootless — she was desperately longing to be a wife. To have a husband, a home, and have lots of plump, pretty babies who grew up in a neighborhood with lifelong friends and schoolmates, not a gigantic circle of slight acquaintances like she'd had.

  Livvy's situation was quite different. She was a much older bride, for starters. She'd sensibly dedicated herself to preparing for a career and been a successful businesswoman for a number of years. She'd have her babies, too, with any luck, but because it was demanded of her. Jane wasn't sure that would make for a better marriage.

  “You look very thoughtful," Shelley said, startling her.

  Jane had sat down on the bottom step of the staircase. Shelley joined her.

  “I was thinking about weddings," Jane said. "Livvy's and my own."

  “I don't dare think about mine," Shelley said. "My mother organized it as if it were the second D Day invasion. Tried to make the bridesmaids all look like clones of me. Even expected my cousin Zoe to dye her hair.”

  “No!”

  Shelley shook her head and laughed. "No, I made it up to get you out of your funk. I think this is going to go well. Have you seen Dwayne?"

  “Not since breakfast."

  “He's already in his tux and I must admit he looks very spiffy and groomish."

  “And the girls? Are they ready?"

  “Yes. Kitty spilled some soda on the sleeve of her jacket and went to pieces. I gave her some home truths about just who was the center of attention here and was meant to be noticed, and who wasn't, and left Layla cleaning her up."

 
“Why's she so het up?"

  “I think this is the only wedding she's ever been in," Shelley said. "And I suspect she fears it will be the last. She's really not very attractive and hasn't the personality to overcome that drawback. You and I know a number of women who aren't very good-looking, but knock the socks off every man they meet by sheer charm. Kitty isn't one of them.”

  They'd been more or less hidden behind the flowers and the small lectern the minister would be standing at and now Jane heard someone saying her name. She sighed and stood up. "I'm right here, Mr. Thatcher.”

  He left the people he'd been talking to and approached her. "I've been looking everywhere for you. Is Livvy ready?"

  “She'll be ready in time. I'm just getting the girls to help her dress.”

  Layla and Eden were in high spirits and even Kitty seemed to have pulled herself together. "People are arriving. I want you out of sight so you can make a grand entrance," Jane said. "Let's go to Livvy's room and all help her get her gown and veil on.”

  They hurried through the main room and upstairs. Jane took a seat by the door while the younger women fussed with Livvy's petticoats, a fancy garter, and the dress. As Eden started working on the long row of tiny buttons up the back, there was a light tap on the door. Mr. Willis had brought up an iced silver bucket with a bottle of champagne and a tray of elegant glasses.

  “My gift to the bride and bridesmaids," he said.

  They all thanked him effusively. "No more than a sip or we'll all be too drunk to get down the stairs without tripping," Eden said with a laugh. Then, realizing this might have been tactless considering how Mrs. Crossthwait had met her end, she started apologizing.

  Jane took charge and cut her off. "There's no time for any of you to get tipsy," she said. "It's only ten minutes until showtime. Livvy, you look spectacular. And the rest of you are beautiful." She opened the door and said, "Whispering only now.”

  There was a short stretch of wall between Livvy's room and the head of the stairs where they could line up without being seen from the room below. "Layla first, then Eden, then Kitty, remember. Here comes your father, Livvy.”

  The husband and wife musicians were seated far enough back from the top of the stairs to be out of the way, but close enough for their music to drift down the stairway. Jane got the bridesmaids, Livvy, and her father lined up, took a deep breath, and nodded to the couple.

  They stood up and began to play the flute and violin quietly. As the volume of chat and shuffling about in the room below diminished, the music got louder. After a moment, Jane peeked around the corner. The guests were in place. Marguerite and Iva sat to one side of the front row of chairs, Iva in a floor-length silvery dress and Marguerite in a matching style but in maroon. They should have traded either wigs or dresses, Jane thought. Mrs. Hessling was sitting on the other side of the aisle in dreadfully violent turquoise polyester with quite a large matching hat and purse. She was fidgeting with the purse, obviously trying to figure out whether she should hang onto it or set it on the floor. Uncle Joe, wearing the fairly decent clothes he'd worn to the rehearsal dinner, was standing against a wall at the back of the room, looking around at the other guests with a scowl. As Jane watched, Dwayne, Errol, and the minister came out of the side room where Shelley had been holding them until the right moment.

  “Okay," Jane whispered as she turned to face the upstairs contingent. "Layla, you first. Try to stay centered on the staircase.”

  Layla, lovely in her pink slip dress with the fringed scarf draped skillfully over one shapely shoulder, stepped out, head held high, and started slowly and gracefully down the stairs.

  Jane watched for a moment, counting to ten, and turned to Eden. "You're next.”

  Livvy was whispering furiously to her father. "I can't do it, Daddy. I know you're disappointed, but—"

  “Livvy, get a grip on yourself," he said quietly, but very sharply.

  “No. I don't want to marry Dwayne. I don't want to marry anyone.”

  Jane nearly fainted. She'd already launched the first bridesmaid and it was time to fire up the next one and the bride had changed her mind!

  There hadn't been anything in the wedding planning books about this!

  Eden had turned to them as well. "Good for you, Livvy. Good for you!"

  “Butt out, Eden," Jack Thatcher said. "You've always been a troublemaker."

  “Daddy—"

  “Livvy, it's too late. The wedding has started.”

  The musicians, fascinated and appalled by the argument, missed a few notes. Jane glared at them and they obediently looked away and went back to playing properly.

  “But Daddy—"

  “No, Livvy. I'm not going to let you humiliate all of the family this way.”

  Kitty made a funny gasping noise. Her face was awash in tears. Jane lunged into Livvy's room and grabbed a box of tissues, handing a wad of them to Kitty.

  Eden took Jane's arm. "I'm going down now. The guests are starting to get alarmed and Jack will win anyway.”

  She stepped out onto the stairway and started down the steps. Jane pulled on Kitty's sleeve, took another handful of tissues and quickly blotted her face, and said, "If you don't smile as you go down those steps, I'll hunt you down later and slap you senseless. Do you understand me?”

  Kitty nodded and composed her face into a rather horrible grimace.

  Jane didn't even have to watch Kitty's descent to know how awkward it was. She could hear the clunk of her feet over the music which was relentlessly going on. She turned to Livvy and Jack.

  The hissing match was over. Livvy had one hand resting lightly on her father's arm and was holding her tulip bouquet in the other hand. Her face was as cold, white, and composed as marble. Jane waited, staring at them with horrified fascination, and when the sound of Kitty's heavy steps stopped, she touched Livvy's arm. It was clammy.

  “Are you sure?" Jane asked.

  Before Jack could say anything, Livvy nodded and father and daughter stepped forward.

  Jane couldn't bear to even watch them descend the staircase. It was too much like watching someone go to the gallows. She went back to Livvy's room and collapsed in the chair by the window.

  “Poor, poor Livvy," she whispered.

  The musicians reached the end of their piece and fell silent.

  Nineteen ·;·.

  If Livvy refused to say her vows or ran screaming out of the lodge when the minister said, "Do you, Livvy…" there would be nothing Jane could do. Nor did she want to be seen peeking around the wall again, so she just sat there staring out the window, as clever and nimble as an amoeba, until the musicians began to play again. That meant it was over. For better or worse. If Jane's plans had been followed, Livvy and Dwayne had kissed to seal the bargain, then come around their flower "frame" and exited the lodge down the little center aisle between the chairs. In a moment, they'd be outside in the lovely April sunshine, being congratulated as the guests poured out behind them to deliver hugs, kisses, and good wishes.

  Livvy was going to need lots of good wishes. Jane bestirred herself. There was a lot to do now and very little time. As she came down the stairs, she saw that the table people were already scurrying around like a school of very organized fish to fold up the chairs and stack them in preparation for putting up the long buffet table.

  Larkspur was standing by, practically dancing with impatience and holding a big flower arrangement. At least Jane assumed it was Larkspur. All she could see were his legs behind the vase, flowers, and foliage.

  Likewise, Mr. Willis was hovering at the kitchen door with an enormous silver chafing dish and his local assistant was weighed down with a stack of dinner plates.

  Shelley was doing her best to dislodge the few guests who hadn't yet moved outside. "I'm tempted to jerk their chairs out from under them," she said as she passed Jane. "Ladies, would you like to come outside now?" she cooed sweetly to a pair of the trophy wives who were comparing their jewelry.

  As soon as the last
of them were driven outdoors, chaos broke out.

  The long tables were slammed into place in the center of the room, tablecloths snapped and billowed and before they were even all in place, Mr. Willis and Larkspur were fighting for space on the long white expanse. Mr. Willis thought the beef Stroganoff should have pride of place in the very center of the table with appetizers and salads on one side and bread and desserts on the other. Larkspur felt strongly, and was not loath to express the view as if it were gospel, that the enormous vase of tulips, ferns, and agapanthusmust be the center highlight with smaller arrangements in the spots Mr. Willis had marked out for the plates, silverware, and napkins at the far end.

  “Centerpiece flowers in the center," Jane snapped. "Small arrangements between the plates and appetizers and another between the bread and desserts and stop squabbling! Larkspur, the drinks table is almost ready. You work on that and then fit things around what Mr. Willis sets out."

  “No flowers near the glasses," Mr. Willis shrieked. "They'll drop petals and bugs in the glassware."

  “My flowers do not have bugs!"

  “Flowers in the middle, glasses around them. Flower petals in champagne look pretty," Jane declared.

  “You're getting this bossy stuff down," Shelley said from behind her. "What was the big delay between Layla's entrance and Eden's? People were beginning to mutter among themselves."

  “Livvy was pleading with her father to cancel the wedding," Jane said with a heavy sigh.

  “No!" Shelley exclaimed. "She wanted to bolt at the very last second?"

  “Yes, it was ghastly. Eden was encouraging her, Kitty was weeping, the musicians were eavesdropping, I was considering pretending to faint, and in the end, Jack prevailed."

  “Of course he did."

  “And Livvy's stuck with Dwayne," Jane said grimly.

  Shelley thought for a minute and said, "Jane, maybe it was just momentary panic on Livvy's part. A burst of quick hysteria that she really didn't mean. If she really and truly didn't want to marry him, surely she'd have brought it to a halt a lot sooner. When you got married didn't you have just a second when you thought, 'What am I doing!' "