A Wedding Tail

by Casey Griffin

  “I’m sorry to hear that. Sometimes these things happen,” she said, apologetically. Because she was sorry. For him, mostly. Not for Juliet. “The weeks and days leading up to a wedding can be so stressful. Tension builds, adding to anxiety and fears. It can put a lot of strain on a relationship. Maybe her running off was a blessing in disguise,” she suggested hesitantly. “I mean, if it’s not meant to be, then it’s better to know now rather than once you’re married, right?”

  Owen nodded with a frown. Clearly, it didn’t surprise him to hear her say that. Maybe because it wasn’t the first time he’d been told.

  But what he said was, “It doesn’t feel that way.”

  “I’m sorry it had to happen to you.” She didn’t say that she wished it hadn’t, because it wouldn’t be true. He seemed like a great guy. If the wedding had been a success, well, then he’d be married to Juliet. Enough said.

  Zoe took a moment to give him the once over. They hadn’t even gotten married and Juliet had already destroyed him. His eyes were bloodshot, his hair greasy beneath his ball cap. He looked as terrible as Juliet had when she verbally attacked Zoe at the expo.

  Distracted by his thoughts, Owen was watching Freddy sniff around the hallway.

  “So, what can I do for you?” Zoe asked.

  “Actually, I’m here about Juliet. Or maybe on behalf of.” He cringed with a bit of hesitation.

  “Oh?” Zoe said. “I thought she wasn’t talking to you.”

  “She’s not, but I’ve been in contact with her mother. She tells me Juliet’s been in trouble with the police. Interviews and such. I guess there was some vandalism.”

  Zoe nodded, beginning to see why he was really here. Now she was hesitant too. “There was. To my van,” she said cautiously.

  “She didn’t do it. She couldn’t have,” he said simply, or maybe naively, she thought.

  “I suppose it was a coincidence that she threatened me earlier that day, and then I suddenly find my vehicle vandalized?” She didn’t say it unkindly, but she wasn’t about to sugarcoat the situation for him either.

  “I know it looks bad, and Juliet can sometimes be a little…”

  “Frigging nuts?”

  She decided to skip the expletives, even if she was a tiny bit annoyed that he was there trying to convince her to … what? Not pursue it? Not press charges? The guy had been through a lot recently, and at the end of the day, despite everything, he still cared for his bride. He was only guilty of being blinded by love.

  “Well, yeah,” he relented. “But she doesn’t mean it. She’s like a cute little Chihuahua.” His smile was real this time, kind of boyish. “She’s all bark and no bite.”

  Zoe scoffed. She’d had enough experiences with Chihuahuas to know they could bite pretty hard. “Sorry. But I’m not convinced. And there’s nothing I can do about it, anyway. It’s in the hands of the police now. If she’s truly innocent, then she has nothing to worry about and their investigation will turn up nothing.”

  Owen stared down at his feet, or rather, he stared down at Freddy who rolled onto his back to ask for a belly rub. He gave in, squatting down to pet him. Freddy squirmed like a writhing worm, trying to get the belly rubs and give Owen’s wrist a lick at the same time. Like his slobbery kisses were tit for tat.

  “I suppose you’re right,” he said. “It’s just difficult right now. I can see that she’s angry and hurt. I wish there was something I could do for her.” Sighing, he stood up. “Well, I’d better go. Thanks for hearing me out. I’m sorry to bother you. I know your day didn’t go exactly as planned either.”

  “It wasn’t my day. It was your day,” she said. “And again, I’m sorry.”

  He nodded, but his head sank as he trudged back to the stairwell.

  Zoe saw the hunch in his back, heard his feet scuff like he just didn’t have the energy to go on. She couldn’t begin to understand what he saw in Juliet, but she couldn’t ignore a problem to be solved. She loved a challenge. And God knew, Juliet was nothing if not challenging.

  Rolling her eyes, she jogged back down the hallway after him. Freddy jumped and barked at her heels. Why are we running? Are we going somewhere? I like going places. I like running too.

  When she reached the top of the stairs, she called out. “Owen!?”

  A second later, his head poked back around the corner.

  “Try a box of truffles from the shop at the ferry building,” she called down to him. “They’re the kind that she requested to be placed in your honeymoon suite for after the wedding.”

  “Really?” He smiled, like she’d just thrown him a morsel of hope. “Thanks. I will.”

  “I hope she likes them.”

  He gave her a wave and as he continued back down the stairs, his footsteps seemed a little livelier.

  Zoe smiled, shaking her head. To each their own, she thought.

  Freddy stood at the top of the stairs like Owen might come back for more belly rubs. As Zoe headed for her office, she called to him. Eventually, he abandoned his post. He lingered behind, double checking the doors again. Or maybe it was because he forgot he was on the same floor and had done it already.

  Zoe waited in front of her door, watching him move systematically from room to room. Maybe it wasn’t that he was such a poorly behaved dog, she told herself. Maybe he was actually super smart, checking for danger, protecting her. A real guard dog.

  As he passed the next door, his tail whacked against the wood, making a knocking sound. He spun around and barked at it.

  Then again, maybe not, she thought.

  Zoe took out her key and turned toward her door to unlock it. But suddenly, there was no door, no key, no floor. Just an ear bursting bang.

  Heat warmed her face, light blinded her, and it felt like the door just hit her in the face. Her feet lifted off the ground as she sailed backward. She was thrown against a wall.

  Pain shot down her shoulder. Her head whipped back, smacking against the door frame, hard enough to crack the wood. Or maybe that sound was her skull.

  The next thing she knew, she was on the ground, Freddy frantically licking her face, wondering if it was time to play. Zoe pushed herself to a sitting position and blinked at her office—or what was left of it, anyway.

  It hadn’t been the door that hit her. That was lying on its side in the entrance way, blown clean off the hinges. Flames licked around the frame. Even above the ringing in her ears, she could hear the constant crackle and roar of the fire burning within.

  It took her a few stunned moments to realize what she’d just been hit with: an explosion. Her office just blew up.

  14

  Blow This Hot Dog Stand

  Zoe could see the light. No, she wasn’t dead yet. Besides, she figured if she were, she wouldn’t be on her way to a light place.

  She watched the light go up and down, then side to side. As it drew back, she blinked away the white spots in her vision.

  “Your reaction looks good,” the ambulance attendant said. “Pupils equal and reactive.”

  As he jotted it down on his clipboard, the tiny flashlight shone down on her lap. Freddy scrambled out of her arms and dove for it, barking like it was attacking her. He dug at the light dot on her lap and she laughed as he tickled her legs.

  The EMT shut it off. The moment the light disappeared, Freddy spun on Zoe’s lap to face her, his tail patting her leg. I just saved your life.

  “Look, I already told you I didn’t lose consciousness,” she told the attendant. Not that she could remember, anyway. But then again, she wasn’t sure she could remember a thing like that. “I’m not going to the hospital, so you might as well give me that waiver to sign now.”

  Wouldn’t that have been an adorable mother-daughter bonding experience? Lying side by side in a hospital room. How would she be able to convince her mother she could take care of herself then?

  “Are you sure you don’t have a headache?” the EMT asked her. “No nausea?”

  “No. Just the hig
h-pitched ringing in my ears.”

  He made a couple more notes on his sheet, but he’d fully assessed her already, so she wasn’t sure what more she could tell him. “Okay, if that persists, make sure you see your doctor. And as for the rest of the symptoms—”

  “I’ll keep an eye out for them, I promise. I’ll head to the emergency room if I have any concerns.”

  Finally, he smile-frowned and handed her a waiver and pen. He pointed to the bottom. “Sign here … and here.”

  She did as he asked and passed it back to him before sliding off the stretcher with Freddy. “Thanks for the help.”

  “You didn’t let me do anything,” he said teasingly, but maybe a bit fed up with her stubbornness too. She supposed she had that in common with her mother. And doxies, for that matter.

  She waved over her shoulder. “Thanks anyway.”

  Zoe hopped out of the back of the ambulance and glanced up to the fourth floor of the old hotel. The window on the end had been blown out. Black char marks surrounded the brick facade around it. Even now that the firefighters had doused the fire, smoke drifted out from the broken glass.

  Thankfully, no one in the surrounding offices had been hurt. The blast had been confined to her office alone. While that was a good thing, the thought made her hands holding Freddy start to shake and her knees tremble.

  A few seconds later and she and Freddy would have been walking into that office. Hell, if she’d been on time that morning, she would have been smack dab in the middle of the explosion when it went off.

  For some annoying reason, she could hear Levi’s voice in her head. Life’s too short. And both Zoe’s and Freddy’s were almost cut short that morning.

  She held Freddy close as she watched the police officers discuss the wreckage, taking photos of blown-up bits of taffeta, silk flowers, crystal headpieces, and chunks of silicone dildos. Lots and lots of colorful dildos. While she’d answered most of their questions already, she assumed that would raise a few more.

  “Zoe!”

  Over the ringing in her ears, she heard her name being called. For a second, she wondered if she was imagining Levi’s voice again, but then she turned to see him waving at her from behind the police line. With a glance back at what was left of her business, she headed down the sidewalk to meet him.

  When she got closer, he said, “There you are. Are you all right? I was so worried when I saw all the emergency vehicles.”

  “About what?” Zoe blinked at him.

  She was surprised to even see him there, far less looking all frowny at her. He eyed her up like he wanted to dive over the police tape and hug her. After what happened between the two of them the night before—or rather, what didn’t happen—she didn’t understand why.

  Seeing that look in his eyes kept her on the opposite side of the tape, like the thin piece of plastic would protect her, would prevent him from coming any closer.

  “What do you think I was worried about?” He scowled at her. “You. That’s your office building, isn’t it?” He pulled out her business card and checked the address on it.

  “Yes, it is,” she said matter-of-factly.

  Zoe kept any emotion out of her voice and expression. She tried to shove it into that overfilled bottle inside. But that hadn’t been working so well as of late, so she reached into her purse and groped for Merry Monkey instead.

  “More specifically,” she said, “that giant charred hole at the top is my office. Or it was my office.”

  Levi’s mouth popped open and he glanced back up at the fourth floor, then at the card to double check, like she had to be kidding. “Your office blew up? How?” Now he did step over the police line.

  Her heart thudded in her chest, wondering if he’d try to touch her, to comfort her. Like she needed his pity. Like she needed him at all.

  She took an automatic step back, and she squeezed Freddy tighter, hiding behind him like backup protection. “I’m thinking combustion.”

  Levi scowled. “Obviously,” he said a bit sharply. “Snap out of it. It’s not funny. You could have been in there when it happened.”

  Her mask started to slip a little, startled by his dramatic reaction. Well, okay, maybe it wasn’t too dramatic. She supposed when she got home and didn’t have to pretend for anyone, she might actually fall to pieces smaller than the silicone bits squishing beneath her shoes.

  She could feel herself begin to shake again as the reality seeped through her calm exterior. But she couldn’t fall apart. She couldn’t lose control. Not here. Most especially not in front of Levi.

  “Yeah, but I wasn’t, okay?” she said. “I was just about to go in when it blew up. I only got thrown around a little.”

  Levi reached out to her. Taking another step back, she brushed his hand aside. But as his fingers grazed her arm, she felt his touch like a call, feeling the need to lean against him like she’d wanted to after her van lost control.

  A police officer approached them from a cruiser. “Excuse me, sir?” he addressed Levi. “I’m going to have to ask you to leave the crime scene.” It was a nice-enough request, but the firmness behind it had even Zoe backing up.

  “Sorry about that,” Levi told the officer. “I just wanted to make sure she was okay. But obviously she’s just fine without me.” He gave her a cold look before stepping over the police tape and heading back down the sidewalk.

  Zoe scowled at his retreating back. Where did he get off being mad at her? Wasn’t he the one that had been pushing her away in his apartment?

  She stepped over the police tape and marched after him. When she caught up, she grabbed him by the sleeve and spun him around to face her.

  “What happened to laid-back Levi?” she asked. “The go-with-the-flow rock and roller? You’re getting awfully worked up over a little explosion.”

  He rolled his eyes. “Maybe because of who was in it.”

  “I didn’t realize you cared,” she threw at him. “You didn’t seem to care when you were kicking me out of your apartment.”

  Levi tossed his head back and laughed, but he obviously wasn’t amused. “I believe you left of your own free will after I asked you for more than what you were offering.”

  “If you didn’t like what I was offering, then why are you here?”

  Had he reconsidered? She wasn’t sure she would sleep with him now, after being rejected. But she couldn’t deny the way his touch had felt the night before.

  Even now, she could still feel those talented fingers on her body, could remember the way his deep, melodic voice tickled her ear. Her body wanted him, all right. She couldn’t deny that—at least not to herself. To Levi, she would deny it to her grave.

  “You told me to come by to finish going over the playlist,” he said. “Remember?”

  “Oh” was all she could say. She’d completely forgotten about that. “I just hadn’t expected you so soon.”

  “Well, I guess I was a little eager.”

  Zoe wasn’t sure if he meant he was eager about playing at Piper’s wedding or eager to see her. Since she was afraid she already knew the answer, she didn’t bother to clarify. It was obvious they wanted two different things.

  She’d been up-front the night before when she told him she didn’t want to get romantically involved, that she couldn’t offer him more. That path wasn’t an option for her. And it was clear to her now that he wasn’t interested in just sex. So what else was there to say?

  She must have been silent for a while because he asked, “So what happened?”

  “Nothing happened,” she snapped, frustrated with the whole situation. “This is just the way I am. I don’t want a relationship with anyone. It’s not you. It’s me.”

  “Really? You’re giving me the whole ‘It’s not you. It’s me’ line?” He laughed. “I meant what happened in your office?”

  The way he smiled at her then made her blush. She’d been doing that a lot lately. They were surrounded by her sex toys scattered all over Folsom Street, and yet she was g
etting embarrassed because a guy had a crush on her.

  “Oh,” she said again. After a moment, she redirected her thoughts, hoping the blaze in her cheeks would subside. “The police won’t reveal the cause, but I can probably guess what happened.”

  “You think someone bombed your office,” he said more than asked. “I take it you have some suspects in mind.”

  “Chelsea for starters. Either that or Juliet.”

  He stared up at the fourth story again. “Can you really see either of them doing something so extreme? I mean Chelsea struck me as a mean girl from high school all grown up, but this seems a little out of her league.”

  It was true. Chelsea was more about the mental head games, but then she recalled her threat at the expo after Zoe had caked her, and she wasn’t so sure.

  Screw you, Zoe Plum! I’ll get you for this!

  Was this how Chelsea was getting her back? Holly had told Chelsea that if she wanted to be noticed by the media then she should do something worthy of attention. Maybe this was Chelsea doing something to get attention, or at least to bring bad attention to Zoe.

  Juliet, aka bridezilla, on the other hand, had that twitchy, unhinged look in her eyes. There was lots of potential there for a psychotic break.

  All bark no bite, my ass, Zoe thought.

  “When I arrived today,” she said, “minutes before the explosion, I had a visitor waiting outside my office.”

  “Who?” Levi asked.

  “Owen Wells.”

  “You’re kidding. Owen? You think he could be a suspect?” His face kind of twisted, probably trying to imagine the man he went to university with as an attempted murderer. “If so, maybe they’re more perfect for each other than anyone thought.”

  Zoe shook her head. “No. I don’t think he’s capable of something like that. He was only here trying to defend Juliet over the whole vandalism thing. It’s just weird timing is all.”

  “Like maybe he might have been stalling you?”

  “Maybe.” She grew quiet as she considered him as a threat, or at least an accessory to the crime.