Forever Hold Your Piece (The Becker Sisters Bridal Series Book 1)

by Elizabeth John

  Lily dodged an errant wave, knocking herself into Jake. He held her steadfast until she was firm on her feet and could continue walking. “Oh no, she does too. Chrysanthemum is her real name.”

  “You’re kidding.”

  She shook her head, and chuckled at his shocked expression.

  “So you’re all named after flowers. Don’t tell me your middle name is Ivy.”

  She laughed even louder. When was the last time she felt this light? “Dad indulged mom with her obsession with plants, but he insisted we have normal middle names. Mine is Marie, Rose’s is Lynn, and Chrissy’s is Ann. If you ever want Chrissy to like you, never call her Chrysanthemum.”

  He saluted her. “Noted.”

  They walked in silence for a moment until Lily stopped to pick up a scallop shell.

  The perfect edges were still intact. “I wish my sisters were here.” She returned the delicate shell to the wet sand.

  “You’re always together?”

  “We’ve been apart before. Rose went away to college, Chrissy travels, but someone in my family was always around. And now they’re gone.”

  “Your sisters will be back soon.”

  “Yes.” The day couldn’t come fast enough for her. “Sam’s gone now too. I mean, really gone. I still can’t believe it.”

  “He did a number on you, didn’t he?”

  She found the beach glass in her pocket and ran her hand over the stone, trying to absorb strength from the treasure. Sam came into her life when she needed him to, and maybe she wasn’t thinking clearly. Maybe her dad’s death and her mother’s illness clouded her judgement, but he was kind to her. Maybe she leaned on him a bit too much. Her sisters were young. She was supposed to be the head of the household. And Sam had made depending on him easy. He seemed to love her. Deep down, if she were being honest, she believed he loved her more than she loved him. The idea his love was all a pretense stung. Was it possible he never loved her?

  Chapter 13

  “How could I have been wrong about him? He left me on our wedding day, standing alone at the church on what was supposed to be one of the happiest days of my life. How do you do that to someone you love? And now someone has killed him. Why? What was he into? I’m beginning to think our relationship was convenient. I hate to admit it, but you could be right about the way Sam and I met. Was that meeting too coincidental?”

  Jake put his arm around her shoulder, trying to comfort her. Her skin tingled at the intimate touch.

  She should have pulled away but didn’t. Couldn’t. She wanted to fall into his arms and absorb the strength he offered, needing someone to lean on more than ever. But she refused to use him as a crutch. Hadn’t she learned her lesson?

  The truth was she had to prop herself up and stand on her own two feet because whether she liked the fact or not, life already taught her at a young age that the people she loved the most could be ripped out of her world in an instant and leave her heartbroken or they would stab her in the back and leave her at the altar. No. The person she should rely on was herself.

  Jake shifted and sunk into the sand. He looked like he was about to say something, but then he wrapped her tight against his chest and stiffened at something he detected in the distance.

  Someone called her name and Lily squinted against the sun. A woman reporter and camera man jogged down the beach toting a microphone and tripod. Jake stepped in front of Lily to block her from them. She peeked around his shoulder because he rooted into the sand and wouldn’t budge.

  “Miss Becker! You’re a hard one to track down. Cassandra Holt here with Channel 17 We Got You Covered New Jersey News.” The reporter shoved the microphone toward them. “There have been no leads in the murder of Sam Austin. You’re a person of interest. How do you feel about that?”

  Stunned, Lily dug her nails into Jake’s shoulder. She was a suspect? That couldn’t be true. The chief would have told her.

  “Did you know that your assistant, Haley, lied on her employment application? She never worked at the bridal salon in New York.”

  Lily knew the media skewed the facts to make their stories more sensational, but this reporter was ridiculous. She was way off base with Haley. Lily had checked her references herself. Haley worked at that New York bridal shop, and they were sad to see her leave. They had nothing but glowing things to say about her.

  “No comment. And move out of the way.” Jake took Lily’s hand and blocked the reporter with the other as he trudged forward.

  As Jake dragged her along, the reporter slung more questions at her back. “You must have been furious when Sam left you on your wedding day, angry enough to kill him?”

  Lily’s loud gasp shocked even herself, and she glared over her shoulder back at the bold reporter.

  “If it wasn’t you, who then? What do you really know about your employees? Did someone hire a hitman? Maybe your sisters? Your close elderly neighbor? Is the chief protecting you? Was Sam a cross-dresser? Did he lead a double life?”

  Lily felt her legs grow heavier, dead weights, and she couldn’t move. Why would the reporter ask that? Unless she knew about him in the wedding dress. The chief withheld that fact.

  Jake squeezed her hand. “Ignore them. They’re maggots. Come on.” He picked up the pace into a slow jog again.

  She knew he must have been in pain and appreciated the gesture. Lily couldn’t get away from that reporter fast enough. Vultures, maggots, whatever you wanted to call them, her questions had Lily digging deep into her own beliefs.

  She knew nothing about Sam. Was that even his real name? Could he have been a cross-dresser? She doubted it, and still couldn’t figure why he was in one of her dresses, but wouldn’t she have seen signs? Nothing made sense.

  As they reached the dunes in front of the street that led back to her shop, she knew one thing. Haley had some explaining to do. Why would the reporter bring her into this if not for some questions about her background? Little things had been nagging Lily too. Like how a New Yorker, albeit a transplant, didn’t know a croissant when she saw one. And did she hear about Sam in the wedding dress at the station? Or somewhere else?

  At the shop, windblown, out of breath, and furious, Lily and Jake brushed past waiting news vans and reporters, leaving Cassandra in a swirl of dusty sand. The young police officer blocked the reporters from following them further. Lily stormed into her office.

  “Haley?” Lily flew down the hallway, glanced around the open-concept entrance room, and charged toward the other rooms. “Haley!”

  Denis came running from a dressing room. “What’s wrong?”

  “Where’s Haley?”

  “She’s in the back getting some inventory.” Denis hesitated, then must have noticed Lily’s agitation. “I’ll get her.”

  When he left, Jake, out of breath, put his hand on her shoulder. “Hey, take it down a notch. Don’t put her on the defense. You won’t get anything out of her then.”

  Lily glared at him and shook off his hand. “Don’t tell me how to run my business. If that girl lied to me about her references, maybe she’s lied to me about other things. Maybe she killed Sam.”

  “I’m not interfering in your business, but I know a thing or two about liars. Most of the people I arrested over the years were experts in that field. Maybe you should stop being stubborn and listen to me. If she lied, then we don’t know what we’re dealing with and need to go slowly. She may bolt. Then what will you have gained?”

  His words made sense, but Lily dismissed them. She had to know. Right now. Muscles in her back tightened without her consent. Heat flushed her skin. Didn’t have to see her own body in the full-length mirrors attached to the walls to know she was turning beet red. But when Haley strolled in with Denis, he coaxing her to meet them, Lily unclenched her fists. No. Jake was right. Intimidation wouldn’t
do.

  Haley peeked up at Lily. For a moment, her expression reminded Lily of how Leo looked when he was caught with one of her socks in his mouth, a hole chewed into the heel. Guilt exposed, as plain as her black top and pants.

  Black attire was their signature uniform, but not this look. Lily hadn’t paid attention earlier, but Haley on most work days wore heels to boost her height. Today, simple ballet slippers adorned her feet and her hair, slicked back in a ponytail, was Haley’s usual style for her run.

  They stood facing each other in the hallway where brides could admire their appearance in the full-length mirrors, twirl around to get a 360-degree view, and receive oohs and ahhs from family and friends. Now she and Jake faced Haley and Denis in an awkward stance. Lily didn’t care for the formation the mirrored wall created. They looked like a firing squad. Still, she had to know the truth.

  “A reporter approached us on the beach,” Lily said to the girl who didn’t recognize croissants.

  “Oh?” Haley’s lip trembled, and her eyes darted about.

  Did she lie on her application to get a job here? Why would she do that? Lily would have given her a chance. But Haley couldn’t have known that. Was the truth that basic? The poor girl needed a job and lied? Or was the innocent, unsophisticated act a cover-up for something more sinister?

  “She claimed you didn’t work in New York at that bridal shop.” There. She said it. No sugar coating. Lily ran her sweaty palms down the sides of her pants and waited.

  Haley took a step back, bumping into Denis. His hands jutted out and held her forearms, preventing her from falling. Or was she fleeing? Denis glared at Haley. He was as shocked as Lily was, and as livid. He loved this place as much as she and her sisters did.

  “I worked there! I gave you references.”

  “Yes, I know. I called them.”

  “So what’s the problem? The reporter got the facts wrong.” Although her words were strong, they came out weak, as if Haley herself didn’t believe what she was spewing. “They do it all the time.” She shrugged and licked at her lips.

  Possibly. Something stirred deep in her belly and for once in her life, Lily had to trust her instinct and not her head. Yes, Haley had references, yes she seemed to know the business, yes she worked hard. But she left the alarm off. Twice. A reporter accused her of lying on her application. She lacked the sophistication of a city girl. Before Sam, she would have accepted Haley’s excuses, believing there must be an explanation. Not now. No more. In her core, she might be a people pleaser, but now she had to please herself. And this girl was lying.

  “You wouldn’t mind then, if I call your reference at that shop again. To clear up these silly innuendos and shut that reporter up. Next time she approaches me, and like the vultures you say they are, there will be a next time, I’ll have the sure facts to shoot her down.”

  “You don’t believe me! That’s it, isn’t it? I-I think I’m going to be sick.” Haley wrenched out of Denis’s hold and raced toward a staff bathroom.

  Lily swallowed a baffled response and charged back to her office determined to find out the truth. If she was wrong, she’d eat her doubt about Haley and apologize for questioning her new assistant to the point of making her vomit. But if she was right, Haley would be explaining herself to the chief.

  “Where are you going?” Denis yelled after her.

  She didn’t have time to answer him. Jake was right behind her. His presence didn’t escape her notice. He didn’t ask where she was going. He didn’t need to. He already knew. That was another thing she was starting to like about him. He could read her without explanation. Unlike her past relationships, she didn’t have to explain herself to him. Jake got her, and Lily appreciated that more than she could share with anyone.

  She ripped Haley’s employment file from the drawer. Her jaw twitched. Jake was another complication in her life she didn’t need. Her sisters would never understand the budding relationship between them. Not when he was standing in their way. That was a conversation she wasn’t looking forward to having.

  Jake closed the door behind them as she dialed the number from the land line and asked to speak to one of the owners directly instead of the manager, who was listed as the reference. Since she too was an owner, she presented herself that way, and after a few minutes, a woman’s deep voice hauled across her ears like gravel through the phone. Lily pictured an older, two-pack-a-day smoker, dressed in a Channel suit. After brief introductions, Lily gave the reason for her call.

  “I don’t recall her working for me. But that doesn’t mean she didn’t. We have a big staff. When did you say she worked here?”

  “Up until last month.”

  “No, I would have remembered her if it was that recently.”

  Lily went on to tell her she had references. “One of your managers gave her a glowing review.” She quoted the letter. “‘Haley is an integral part of our staff. She has excellent customer relations skills, is an expert on available inventory, and has received many customer compliments, which we have placed in her file.’ How could you not remember her?” Lily didn’t want to be curt, but really. How could she not remember a stellar employee? Unless . . .

  Lily gazed at Jake sitting in the chair across from her desk. His presence was comforting, and yet distracting. She had to focus on her business now. He hadn’t interrupted. At least not with words. He gestured with his hands, and the frown on his face told her to adjust her attitude and control her tone.

  When silence greeted her on the other end, Lily realized her mistake. “Sorry. I didn’t mean that the way it came out. I don’t understand what’s going on. Can I send you a picture of Haley? Maybe she’s not who she says she is, maybe she went under a different name . . .”

  “Or maybe she didn’t work here.” The other woman’s manner took no offense at Lily’s abruptness. She was all business. “What was the manager’s name? I have a few.”

  Lily gave her the name and heard a muttered groan on the other end. “Hold on a minute. Let me step outside for a much-needed break.”

  Moments later, she was back on. “I don’t know what’s going on here. She’s not a manager, but a sales consultant. She has no authorization to write letters of recommendation.” A deep, heavy breath confirmed a drag and an exhale on a cigarette. “Send me what you’ve got. Pictures, that reference letter. I promise you I will get to the bottom of this.”

  Chapter 14

  Lily laid down the phone. She rested her elbows on her desk and placed her hands on her cheeks, closing her eyes.

  “From the one-sided conversation, I can piece together what she said. Too bad you couldn’t put her on speaker. Big ears around here.” Jake clicked a pen several times in his hand.

  She sighed, kept her eyes closed, and tried to ignore the annoying sound. She wouldn’t have put the call on speaker anyway. Her business was none of Jake’s. Up until recently, he didn’t exist in her world. Now he’s interfering with her expansion plan, listening to confidential phone calls, following her around like a hired body guard, and stirring up feelings in her that she had buried along with the shipwrecked sunken treasures in the ocean. Was she losing her perspective?

  Her anchors, her sisters, were gallivanting in Europe, as the chief would say. At the time, necessary, but now they needed to come back ASAP. Lily was always the one who held down the fort. When their dad died, Rose was away at college in Texas. Then their mother got sick and went to Texas for special treatment for months, and Rose was her nursemaid.

  Lily had to stay in New Jersey and run the business. Chrissy was too young to be much help. Everything fell on Lily’s shoulders. The chief, his wife, and Aunt Bee pitched in as much as they could, but she needed more. That’s why Sam was such a godsend. He must have sensed that and played her for a sucker.

  She opened her eyes and stared at the worry lin
es on Jake’s forehead. Were they sincere? Could she trust him? The chief seemed to think Jake was dependable because he was a former cop. Leo, unfazed and curled up in a ball in his little bed, perked up when the pen clicked. Otherwise, he accepted Jake’s presence. But Lily needed more proof.

  “Based on your conversation, we should talk to Haley again.” He moved to stand up.

  “No. Not yet. Not until I hear back from the other shop.” Haley’s attire was still bothering her too. The girl usually dressed up more for work. Why the dressed down apparel today?

  Jake sat, this time on the edge of the chair. He clicked that damn pen again. “Smoke’s coming out of your head.”

  “Huh?”

  “I can see your brain’s going into overdrive. Come on. What’s going on?”

  Wow, was she that apparent? She’d have to work on her poker face. Maybe start playing cards with Aunt Bee and her senior group of friends. She nodded and proceeded to tell him. “The staff wears black business attire. That way we don’t compete with the bride and her wedding gown. But let’s face it, we’re in the fashion industry. The ladies here spike it up, pretty skirts, silk blouses, heels, you know what I’m saying?”

  “Ah, maybe?”

  She waved off his confused look with a smile. “Anyway, Haley does. The last couple of weeks she’s worn very high heels, maybe to compensate for her petite statue. Her hair is usually blown out, pin straight. Today, she looks like she’s on the way to the laundromat.”

  That got Jake to settle back in the chair, his expression turned to complete bewilderment.

  “Now, you’ve got smoke coming out of your head.”

  “Yeah, you’ve got me thinking. When I was a cop and learned a suspect changed their routine, nine out of ten times it meant they were up to something. Usually criminal.”