Wedding Mints and Witnesses

by Kelsey Browning

  “He’s ten. Give him a break.” Hell, she was over fifty years older than he, and she could barely sit still all morning.

  The guests were beginning to talk amongst themselves, and the volume of chatter was on the rise. “I’ll find him,” Abby Ruth assured them.

  “And I’ll help,” Red said.

  “People are getting antsy,” Teague said. “And my nerves are pulled tight too.”

  “Don’t worry. We’re on it,” she said.

  “That’s what worries me the most.” Teague followed her through the yard to the house. When they walked inside, Jenny was descending the stairs.

  “Jenny?” Teague spun around, putting his back to her. “I don’t think I’m supposed to see you in your dress.”

  “Seeing my dress won’t jinx this wedding after everything we’ve been through, but we do need to find Grayson,” she said. “He’s not up here. We can’t get married without him.”

  Teague met her at the bottom of the stairs and placed his hands on either side of her arms. “You’re right. Nothing can jinx us. And I don’t want to wait any longer to marry you because I love you.”

  “I know.” Jenny kissed his cheek. “I feel the same way.”

  “Then let’s get this show on the road. I bet Grayson’s sneaking some playtime in the garage. Why don’t you check there? I’ll go back and explain to the guests.”

  Abby Ruth said, “I’ll head out to the creek and look for him there.”

  Everyone chimed in with a location where they would look, then scattered.

  Abby Ruth heard Teague make his announcement out front. “Stay in your seats,” he said. “We have a missing ring bearer. Nothing to worry about. Thank you for your patience.”

  A loud gasp made Abby Ruth turn toward the gazebo. Wet up to his forearms with a nose full of mud, Bowzer bounded up to Teague. The pup then proceeded to shake, sending Georgia clay slinging in a ten-foot radius.

  Women and men dressed to the nines jumped up from their chairs.

  Abby Ruth ran in Teague’s direction.

  “What the…” Teague brushed at his suit. “I told Grayson to not let Bowzer out of his sight. I knew having a dog in the wedding was a bad idea.” As he went to grab the dog’s collar, he paused, hand out. Bowzer’s collar was missing. “Great. He’s lost the rings too?”

  If the rings were gone, this situation was more serious than Grayson becoming impatient with all the wedding day hoopla. Abby Ruth bellowed, “Lil, get the girls over here!”

  Lil and Maggie hurried to her side, and she glared at them. “Jenny’s rings are missing, which means your plan went kaput. I thought y’all said you had this under control. Where’s Honey?”

  “Who the heck is Honey?” Teague asked.

  “She still wasn’t here last time I checked,” Lil said.

  “If she took the rings…” Maggie covered her mouth.

  Lil grabbed Maggie’s arm. “Oh, no. Do you think she did something to Grayson?”

  “I better go check with Bruce to see if he caught anything on one of the cameras.” Maggie swung around, already chattering to her beau through their Secret Service earpieces and mics as she hurried out of the room.

  Abby Ruth felt a hand on her shoulder. Teague’s head was cocked to one side, and he wasn’t smiling. “I’m not going to like this, am I?”

  Lil gulped. “Don’t jump to conclusions. This is probably totally unrelated. A coincidence. Grayson has to be here somewhere.”

  A loud howl came from the distance, and chairs toppled as people stood to see what was going on. Three barks and a loud bay echoed across Summer Haven’s grounds as Ritter ran like a retired greyhound between the rows of chairs, headed straight for Bowzer.

  Bowzer crouched, tail wagging then turned and raced up the gazebo’s steps with Ritter on his heels. The dogs sideswiped the justice of the peace, who was a man of equal height and width. He tottered, trying to keep his balance, but gravity prevailed.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Teague caught the man before he hit the ground, but as if in slow motion, the dogs careened into the cake table.

  “No!” Teague hollered at the dogs.

  Bowzer ran underneath, catching the black tablecloth. But the cake barely moved as he came out on the other side and crashed right through the gazebo’s latticework.

  “That wouldn’t have happened if I had fixed the gazebo,” Maggie said, her voice full of self-righteous indignation.

  An audible sigh of relief came from the guests, but Abby Ruth watched as the scene continued to play out like a bad reality show. Big clumsy Ritter wasn’t quite as lucky as Bowzer. He hit the table, and the fancy cake swayed.

  When Ritter emerged, the cake followed his momentum and toppled in a slide of buttercream and decorations. On his back, the white frosting and purple flowers lay like some type of sugary saddle. He lumbered through the hole Bowzer had created, knocking aside more latticework.

  With all the hullabaloo, Ritter sideswiped the cage holding the white doves Grayson had so desperately wanted. The door came loose, and the birds went airborne. Bowzer did a quick U-turn and barked at the birds, sending them into a bigger panic. They dive-bombed Ritter, sending feathers and frosting spiraling into the air.

  When Grayson’s pup realized Ritter was wearing the cake, he homed in on his friend and went to town licking the sweet confection from his fur and covering himself in the process.

  Sera hurried over and grabbed Bowzer by the scruff, urging him back to the house.

  Abby Ruth could only imagine the words that went with Jenny’s expression as she stepped out onto the porch to see Sera and that dog covered with frosting.

  After all those professional repairs, the gazebo railing had given way so easily. Maggie was right. If she’d made the repairs, that never would’ve happened.

  Red raced to Abby Ruth’s side. “What can I do?”

  “Get Ritter. Quick!”

  Red grabbed the dog, but he continued to bay like a hound on a deer’s trail. Ritter tugged so hard that he was dragging Red through the yard. “If you ask me, Ritter is trying to tell us something. It’s like a Lassie moment.” Red pulled his handkerchief from his pocket and shoved it under the dog’s nose. He’d given a matching one to Grayson this morning. “Find Grayson,” he said to Ritter.

  Ritter pushed his nose into the handkerchief. Then that bloodhound took off through the yard. Red finally lost his grip on the dog’s collar and trotted along behind him.

  Abby Ruth spotted Honey crossing the yard. Oh, that woman. She definitely had something to do with all this craziness. “Teague. Hurry! Go ask that woman about Grayson!”

  Abby Ruth ran to catch up with Red, who was still following Ritter. “Stupid dog is heading to the garage where I keep his food. This isn’t a Lassie moment. He’s just hungry. Come on, we’ll lock him up in there, then find Grayson.”

  Red grabbed Ritter’s collar again. “Good plan.”

  But as they trotted closer to the garage, a pounding sound came from inside.

  “Is that corn hole board holding the door closed?”

  “It looks like it.” Abby Ruth’s breath caught. Something was most definitely wrong. Red must’ve read the look on her face because he broke out into a full-scale run.

  Abby Ruth sprinted after him. The closer she got, she realized she was hearing Grayson’s voice amid the pounding coming from inside the garage.

  Red yanked the corn hole board out from under the door handle and sent it sailing off into the yard.

  Abby Ruth swung the door open. “Grayson?”

  Sweaty and red-faced, her grandson rushed through the door and into her arms. “Those guys took mom’s wedding rings, then locked me in here!”

  “Are you okay?” She hugged him tight. If anything had happened to him, she never could’ve forgiven herself. “Guys? What about a pretty blond-haired lady? Did she lock you in here?”

  “No, two men. I’m sorry, Mimi.” He pulled out of her hug, a scowl on his l
ittle face and his hands in fists. “I only left Bowzer for a minute, and when I came back, those men were stealing the wedding rings off his collar. Teague’s gonna be so mad. I promised I’d be careful, and he trusted me. ”

  “It’s okay, buddy.” Two men? Abby Ruth’s heart pounded. She and the gals had missed a clue somewhere along the line. “What did they look like?”

  “I jumped on the guy in the blue shirt, but they picked me up and locked me in here.”

  “Oh, Grayson.” Abby Ruth struggled to keep her composure. When she got her hands on those men, they would be sorry they ever messed with her family. “What did they look like? What was the other guy wearing?”

  “They were tall.” Poor kid hung his head, but she saw the tears welling up in his eyes. “I’m going to be in so much trouble. Teague made me promise not to lose those rings.”

  Sera jogged toward them. “You found him! Thank goodness. Jenny’s about to hyperventilate.”

  “He’s okay.” Abby Ruth rubbed Grayson’s shoulder. “It’s okay, sport. Just tell me what the other guy was wearing.”

  “He had on a suit.”

  “Look!” Red pointed toward the carriage house. Two men matching Grayson’s description, one in a blue shirt and the other in a suit, were hustling around the small white structure.

  “Running like that? They look guilty to me,” Abby Ruth said. She took off in that direction, with Sera right behind her. “You two wait here,” Abby Ruth called over her shoulder to Red and Grayson.

  Sera broke into a sprint, but her dress was skimming the ground. She untied her frosting covered wrap-around skirt and let go of it, sending her dress sailing like a parachute behind her. “Stop!” she yelled as she kicked out of her high heels.

  The two men turned and caught sight of the women pursuing them. They cut left and took off running toward the creek.

  Sera was gaining on those baddies, with Abby Ruth on her six, until they drew closer to the trees where prickly sweet gum balls littered the ground. Then Sera slowed, hopping through the sharp obstacles in her bare feet and nothing but a pink thong.

  Darn it all, the kidnappers were now splashing through the creek, trying to get to the other side. Still wearing her dress and boots, Abby Ruth zoomed past Sera.

  “Don’t you mess up that dress. It’s irreplaceable!”

  Abby Ruth couldn’t give two hoots about a dress, but she did care about Sera. She unzipped as she ran, pausing long enough to step out of the fancy gown and hang it from a crepe myrtle branch. She took off again, chasing those guys in her bra and panties. She felt like a Dallas Cowboy cheerleader running around in half nothing and tall boots.

  She pulled the Glock from her boot before plunging into the waist-deep water. “Stop or I’ll shoot.”

  She fired a shot in the men’s direction, a foot over their heads. “I know you hear me. Don’t make me shoot you in the ass to make you stop.” But the two men kept wade-running and bolted out of the creek, water streaming off them.

  A woman’s raised voice suddenly cut across the rolling landscape. “John Erik! Kenny Ray! What are you doing?”

  Wait a minute, those names sure sound familiar.

  Wide-eyed, the men stopped and turned.

  Abby Ruth tromped out of the water and pointed her gun at the two men. “Where are my daughter’s wedding rings?”

  But they weren’t looking at her. They were staring back across the creek. She angled her body where she could keep an eye on these two numbskulls and get a gander at what had them so spooked.

  Across the water, Maggie and Lil had their arms full of Sera’s and Abby Ruth’s clothes, but that wasn’t what had captured the men’s attention. They were looking at the woman standing, hands on her hips, beside Teague.

  Honey.

  Teague started pulling off his boots as if to wade into the water with Abby Ruth.

  “I’ve got this,” she said. “No sense in us all getting wet.” But she knew he wouldn’t listen.

  She waved her gun at the two men again to motion them back across the water, then heard something behind her. “What is that ruckus? Get up out of that brush or I’ll start shooting.”

  A man with red hair and beady eyes rose from the bushes and raised his hands over his heads. Ah, so this must be possum boy. She waved him over to his co-conspirators and said, “March.”

  Which was when she recognized the one in the suit as the young guy who’d avoided her and Lil at the cake and gift shop place. “John Erik? Don’t you make enough at that fancy place you work?”

  “It was all for a good cause, I promise,” he mumbled.

  She prodded the three men through the water, and they met Teague halfway. He said, “You will explain all this.”

  Of that, she had no doubt.

  When she, Teague, and the idiots stepped on high ground, she frisked them before Teague could get to them. She was so hopping mad that she barely registered they were nicely built men. Nicely built, but rotten to the core. She patted across something hard in John Erik’s jacket. With a slap to his chest, she demanded, “What’s this?”

  She yanked open his jacket, not giving a fig that the buttons popped this way and that. Inside the interior pocket, she discovered not Jenny’s rings, but Lil’s. She tucked them inside her boot then snapped her fingers in front of the next guy’s nose. “Which one of you has my daughter’s wedding ring? Give it up. Right now.”

  Once Kenny Ray, who she now recognized as the florist delivery driver, reluctantly handed over Jenny’s rings, Abby Ruth turned to the guests standing six deep in a half circle at the shore’s edge. “No charge for the entertainment. Y’all get on back to your chairs because we have a couple that finally needs to get married.”

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Abby Ruth was not only madder than a wet cat, she also was wetter than one after forging the creek.

  Thank goodness she’d insisted on wearing that weird bra Sera had said was necessary under Jessie Wyatt’s dress. Seemed like a jog bra to her, but then dresses and fancy undergarments had never been high on her list.

  Bad enough that she was standing here beside Teague facing down these snake-bellied sneaks in her underwear and boots, but if she’d been forced to pursue them with her boobs bouncing wild and free, she was afraid her future son-in-law wouldn’t have had a chance to haul their butts off to jail.

  She’d have been the one carted away because she would’ve murdered them.

  “Face down.” She prodded one man in the back with her gun, forcing him to the ground. The others had at least a little sense because they followed his lead. She yanked at Possum Boy’s collar, and sure enough, he had a tattoo on his neck. It only took a shove at Kenny Ray’s sleeve for her to confirm the smudge of dirt she’d seen beneath his watch was, in fact, a tattoo with the same swirly design. She had no doubt John Erik had one to match on his biceps.

  Teague and one of his deputies stepped in and took control of the three suspects.

  The sound of splashing water came from the creek, and Abby Ruth turned to see Honey stomping her way through the water’s edge in front of the crowd.

  “Kenny Ray? John Erik? What in tarnation do you think you’re doing?” She waved toward where Lil and Maggie were waiting. “These women grabbed me and accused me of being a thief or leading some kind of theft ring. Next thing I know everyone is barreling their way down here, and the three of you are making tracks into the woods.”

  A woman’s drawl carried out over the crowd that had yet to disperse from the shoreline. “Hi there, Tuck.”

  Abby Ruth spun around and caught a look at the body attached to that voice. Virginia. And all her wedding crasher friends. They were beautifully dressed, and Stella held a familiar gift box. But was Virginia seriously flirting with the bad guy? The same one who had taken her jewelry?

  Honey marched right up to the guys Teague and his deputies now had in cuffs.

  “Who are you, ma’am?” Teague asked.

  “Honey. Honey Tucker.
”

  “I’m going to have to ask you to back up, Miss Tucker.”

  “I’m sorry, Honey. You gotta understand,” one of the numbskulls said. “We just wanted you to have a nice wedding because you deserve it. It ain’t cheap. Bubbles, balloons, birdseed, buffets.” He shook his head, still mumbling a list.

  Honey stilled. “What’re you saying? I thought the whole reason y’all were taking on extra jobs with the wedding vendors was to put money aside to help with the wedding, and for the discounts. We had a plan. This was not it.”

  “That’s how it started, but…”

  “I cannot believe this.” Honey’s eyes filled with tears. “Y’all know better.”

  “If you’re not responsible for all this,” Abby Ruth asked, still not convinced Honey wasn’t somehow in on the game and just trying to save her own pretty skin, “then who are these guys?”

  “My idiotic brothers.” The tears in the young woman’s eyes when she turned toward Abby Ruth were real. Abby Ruth knew enough about pulling someone’s leg to be able to tell the difference between crocodile tears and these.

  Wait a minute… Honey Tucker and Virginia’s Tuck. Now things were coming together. And Honey wasn’t in on it after all. That kinda put a different light on the whole thing, but unfortunately, the legal system didn’t really care why the law was broken. Good intentions didn’t right wrongs.

  “How much?” Honey demanded, pointing at one of the guys. “How much did you steal from people?”

  “You’re not defending them?”

  “No, because we used to run some of these same scams when we were teenagers. Momma and Daddy weren’t always around, which meant the fridge and cabinets were bare a lot of the time.”

  One of the brothers spoke up, “They passed on when John Erik was eighteen, and we had to do something so we could all stay together.”

  “So you stole,” Teague said.

  “Nothing folks couldn’t stand to lose,” one of the guys defended.

  “We all worked too, when we could after school. But it’s expensive feeding teenage boys,” Honey told Teague.