Marry Me (33 page)

Julia fought the urge to stuff those gourmet crackers right up Queen Manning's nose.

One hour and forty-five minutes later Laurel and all ten bridesmaids stood in their places, ready to go. A string quartet was playing. Guests had filled the impossibly elegant white chairs on the lawn. A white runner stretched from where the bridal party waited, to the arbor where the groom would be standing. A real, but temporary, hardwood floor had been put in place.

An ice sculpture of a swan about to take flight resided in a portable freezer, ready to be wheeled out in time for the reception. Three dozen round tables with the finest Egyptian tablecloths were waiting for hungry guests who would dine on their choice of prime rib, grilled salmon, or Cornish hens. Another table held the most incredible five-tiered wedding cake Julia had ever seen.

And in three little cages behind the arbor, rested three dozen white doves. Yes, she'd found the doves. Or rather Amy had.

Everything looked perfect, but nothing could quell Julia's fear. “I think I'm going to throw up.”

“Me too,” Amy seconded.

Without a word, Betsy produced two brown paper bags and handed them over.

Betsy's resources were endless. “Why aren't you running Marry Me?” Julia asked in amazement.

“Someday,” Betsy said, flashing a sly grin.

Meanwhile, Amy stared down into her paper bag as if she might actually be thinking about using it.

“It took a lot of guts for you to show up here today,” Julia said.

Amy looked up then, tears shimmering in her baby-blue eyes. “If you hurt him you'll have me to answer to.”

Wow, Little Miss Perfect had just grown up, Julia thought. Who knew getting dumped would turn Amy Vining into a real human being?

“Thank you for helping me,” Julia said. “I don't think I could have done any of this without you.”

“I didn't do that much,” Amy said, crinkling the bag in her hands.

“That's not true—” An alarm went off, and Julia jumped.

Betsy reached under her jacket and took out a tiny little device. “That's the signal. I'll get the groom and send the ushers back to escort the mothers.”

“Where did you get that?” Julia asked.

“Online,” Betsy said with a grin, and then hurried off to herd the men to their places.

“That girl is going to run the world someday,” Amy said.

“No doubt,” Julia said. “Okay, will you see to the mothers? I'll track down the mayor and get the girls in place.”

For the first time all day, Amy grinned. “Are you trying to avoid Mrs. Manning?”

“Unless we want bloodstains all over this nice white runner, I think it's best.”

They parted company. Getting all the girls ready to go down the aisle was like getting ten baby chicks to run in a straight line. She managed the task, though. Mayor Manning proved to be a docile sort, following along behind the group as if he were taking a Sunday stroll in the park. Julia wondered if some sort of medicinal enhancement allowed him to be so calm in the middle of the chaos. Not to mention the roiling storm cloud that was his wife.

Julia looked down the runway and saw that the mothers were seated. She caught sight of Grace and next to her Sarah, who'd managed to pry herself away from the baby to attend. Sarah waved hello.

Chuckling, Julia waggled her fingers in return and then got back to business. She signaled Betsy, who sent the groom and his entourage out. Seth appeared behind them, and as he took his place, he looked right at Julia and winked.

Julia forced herself to concentrate as the quartet began the processional. She nudged the first duckling to get her going.

Bridesmaid number two… number three… number four… five.

Finally, they were all on their way, and Julia turned toward Laurel to adjust her veil one last time. The girl let out a tremulous sigh.

“Everything okay?” Julia asked, not really expecting an answer.

“Yes, thank you.”

“You're welcome.”

Laurel reached up and snagged Julia's hand. “No really…
thank you
. I realize my mother is—” the young bride glanced at her father, who playfully covered his ears. “—a pain, and you've been great.”

Julia's mouth dropped open.

Laurel laughed, and Mayor Manning chuckled, though he tried to hide it by coughing behind his hand. Julia about fainted, but managed to pull herself together long enough to send father and daughter down the aisle. The quartet reached its climax as Laurel reached her groom, and Betsy signaled a thumbs-up from her corner.

Relief nearly brought Julia to her knees. However, she'd barely released the breath when a strange hum erupted behind her. Then a spitting sound. Followed by… water.

Lots and lots of water.

Streaks of it arched across the lawn from what seemed like a hundred sprinklers. And not little water-your-daisies drops of water, either. Huge, cannon fire streams of it. Going right over the guests.

Screams erupted, and everyone started running for cover.

“Where did these sprinklers come from?” Julia asked, unable to move.

“I'll go find the groundskeeper,” Amy shouted, and took off across the grass.

The comment shook Julia out of her stupor, and she sprinted for the plantation house. Surely someone there knew what to do.

The plantation manager, perhaps alerted by the screams, met her at the door. The woman froze, gazing in horror at the chaotic scene. “What in the world?”

Julia grabbed the woman's arm. “We've got a Noah's Ark situation going on. How do we turn the sprinklers off?”

“The grounds crew,” the manager said.

A call was made. Several blessed minutes later the water went off, but not before the guests had been soaked. The bridesmaids were standing in a pathetic knot, hair sprayed up-dos now hanging down around their shoulders like dead animals. Make that
wet
dead animals.

Laurel huddled against her fiancé, her beautiful white gown covered with mud and grass stains. In the distance, Julia could see Devon and her crew frantically trying to save any food they could.

Amy ran up with Betsy hot on her heels.

“I found the groundskeeper,” Amy said.

“And I found the plantation manager,” Julia said. “How did this happen?”

Amy gazed around, her face pale and scared. “The timers.”

“What?”

“The sprinklers come on at the same time every day, unless the timer is switched off.”

Heart sinking, Julia glanced at Betsy. “Did we have sprinklers on the list?”

Betsy gave a jerky nod. “It was checked off, too.”

“But we didn't double check today,” Amy said, keeping her voice low.

From somewhere to Julia's right a voice rang out. An outraged voice. “I'll sue! That incompetent fool ruined my baby's wedding!”

Julia's lungs threatened to collapse. “Okay, my mind has officially shut off. What do we do?”

For once even the unflappable Betsy seemed to be out of ideas, and she shrugged helplessly.

Taking a deep breath, Amy took charge. “Betsy, my car is unlocked. I've got some towels in the trunk. Go get them. I'll try and head off Mrs. Manning. See if I can get her to calm down.”

“What should I do?” Julia asked, as Betsy took off for the parking lot.

“Stay as far away from Mrs. Manning as possible,” Amy said. “Hide if you have to.”

Oh, this was bad. Disaster movie of the week bad.

“Julia!”

Could this day get any worse? Julia stifled a groan as Grace and Sarah approached, with Meredith close behind them. How could Julia face her sister now?

“Sarah, I'm so sorry. The timer on the sprinkler system went off,” Julia said. “It was on our list of things to check, but I don't know—”

Meredith touched Julia's arm. “You couldn't have known.”

“I should have, and now the wedding is ruined. I'm trying to stay out of sight until the mayor's wife calms down, which might be sometime next century.”

Seth hurried up, grabbing Julia by the shoulders. “Hey, are you all right?”

With a strangled sob, Julia fell into his arms. “I'm hiding out from Mrs. Manning.”

“She's not going to kill you over a little water,” he said.

“A little water?” she echoed in astonishment. “Did you see what happened? It was like dozens of Old Faithfuls going up all over the lawn. Everyone's soaked. The wedding is washed out. Literally. The mayor's wife is humiliated, and it's my fault. I'll be lucky if I don't wind up in jail over this.”

Seth kissed her forehead. “No one is going to jail.”

“At the very least she'll sue and bankrupt the business.”

There were no reassuring words from anyone to deny this claim.

“I never should have agreed to help,” Julia said. “I knew I'd screw up.”

“You didn't screw up,” Sarah protested.

“Oh, yes, young lady, she most certainly did.”

Julia jumped.
Shoot. Mrs. Manning.
Amy trailed behind the charging bull so her efforts at keeping the woman at bay had obviously failed.

There was only one choice, and she couldn't let some self-important, small-town tyrant cow her. Fighting the urge to turn and run, Julia instead stiffened her spine and prepared for battle.

Mrs. Manning never had a chance to do anything because someone else stepped in her way. “Grace, get out of my way,” Mrs. Manning said, eyes narrowed to slits.

In that moment, Grace grew about ten feet. “No. If this is to be discussed, it will be done without your rants and threats.”

Mrs. Manning looked as if she was about to have a stroke. Obviously she wasn't used to being challenged. “Fine. We'll discuss this professionally. My lawyer will be calling tomorrow.”

“Julia!”

What now?
Julia thought as Betsy ran up the steps. She didn't have any towels, but she did have an empty liquor bottle, which she held aloft. “Look what I found in Amy's trunk.”

Julia took the bottle. “Her trunk?”

“When I went to look for towels.” Betsy held out several folders. “I found these, too.”

“These are the files I thought I'd lost.”

Julia turned to look at her second assistant, as all the clues fell into place. “Amy.”

Dozens of witnesses turned to stare at the resident golden girl, who'd gone deathly white. “I—”

Meredith looked horrified. “Amy, you didn't.”

“It was you all along,” Julia said. “All the mishaps and errors. The missed appointments. The spiked punch.”

Fat tears started rolling down Amy's cheeks. “I thought I'd gotten all the bottles out of the car.”

“You sabotaged Marry Me?” Julia asked. “Why?”

“I wanted you to go away,” Amy said. “I thought if things went wrong, you'd realize you couldn't handle the business and go home, and then—”

A light bulb went off. “Wait, wait. I know,” Julia said. “You could have Seth to yourself.”

“I saw the way he looked at you. I'd waited all those years for him to notice me, and then you showed up.”

A murmur of confusion and outrage was buzzing around her as people realized what Amy had been up to.

“And today? Was that revenge because he chose me over you?” Julia asked, gesturing to the soaked guests.

“I had nothing to do with the sprinklers. I swear.”

Julia folded her arms. “Right. Why not let me get blamed for Sprinklergate as well?”

Choking back a sob, Amy shook her head. “No. I was angry and hurt, but I told you before, I want Seth to be happy, and if you're that person then—”

Meredith took her sister's arm. “Give it up, Amy. You're only making things worse.”

“I didn't do this. I wouldn't,” Amy said.

It was clear from the narrow-eyed stares all around that no one believed her.

Laurel Manning looked near tears again. “You ruined my wedding to try and chase Julia away? How could you do that? We went to school together. We were friends.”

“Amy, I can't tell you how disappointed I am in you,” Mrs. Manning said, unable to resist getting in her own jab. “I could believe such behavior from Miss Richardson, but your mother raised you better than this.”

Julia opened her mouth to protest the injustice of that statement, but one look from Her Highness' gimlet eye changed her mind.

Mrs. Vining stepped through the knot of guests. “Her mother raised her to fight for what she wants.”

What now? “I'm sorry?” Julia asked.

“I cannot allow my daughter to take the blame for this,” Mrs. Vining said.

Like heads at a tennis match, the audience looked back and forth between mother and daughter and Julia.

The new player in this drama didn't pay any attention to the guests. She kept her eyes on Julia. For the first time, Mrs. Vining's habitually sour expression had disappeared. Instead, she looked almost forlorn.

“
You
did something to the timer?” Julia asked in shock.

“I've been on the board of Hadden Acres for years,” Mrs. Vining said. “We approved the funds to put the sprinkler system in.”

Amy looked as stunned as the rest of the crowd must feel. “Mother, why in the world would you sabotage Laurel's wedding?”

“For the same reason as you.”

“You wanted to get rid of me, too?” Julia asked.

Mrs. Vining gave a faint nod.

“What is this?” Julia said, her voice rising along with her temper. “Some sort of mother-daughter tag team? You two have got to find a better way to secure a boyfriend.”

Mrs. Vining scanned Julia's face. “You remind me so much of Thomas,” she said, in a near whisper.

Hearing her father's name stopped Julia's heart in an instant. Knowing Thomas Richardson's predilections, she had a sick feeling about what was coming.

“Mrs. Vining, we should go somewhere private,” Julia said.