The Wicked Wife (Murder in Marin Book 2) (18 page)

Holly snorted, “Here goes Comrade Timmons again!”

“Really, Holly?” Rob fired back. “Doesn’t it bother you that Willow’s wedding dress could have provided expanded facilities for the Bay Area’s homeless?”

“Yeah, I suppose. But it doesn’t bother me half as much as the fact that I could go to classes at Curves for the next ten years, and still never fit into her wedding dress.”

“Settle down, you two,” Karin shushed Rob and Holly, whom she often referred to as her “two oldest children.”

Hoping to change the topic, Sylvia pointed to the sky. “Here comes another one of those news copters! We’re at the wedding of the year—probably the decade! Let’s forget about the expense of it all and just have a good time.”

“You’re right, Sylvia,” Rob said. “After all, it’s not our money.”

“Here’s to the millionaire model and her billionaire boyfriend,” Holly said, tipping her glass toward her friends.

“Say, that’s not a bad line,” Rob said excitedly. “We should use that as the headline.”

Holly laughed as she shook her head. “You’re a little late, sport. That’s what the tabloids have been calling their relationship for weeks. You’re too busy covering the updating of local sewer lines to notice.”

“Somebody’s got to give a shit about the things that really matter.”

“Enough. Behave yourselves,” Karin said, trying hard to keep from laughing.

Holly announced that she was going to “mingle,” and wandered off into the crowd.
 

Finding Allard sitting alone at a table, she sat down and introduced herself. She suspected that he was LeBon’s boyfriend, having noticed the two of them sitting together during the wedding ceremony, but, always curious, she wanted to know more.

“What do you do?” she asked.

“I make the jewelry in my studio in Paris, which I sell all over Europe. Sometimes here in L’Estas Unis—I mean, America.”

“I love jewelry! But I’m guessing what you make is a little too expensive for my budget.”

“
Tres cher, oui
? But you never know, come see me sometime at my shop on St. Germaine, maybe I could do something special for you,” Allard said with a broad smile.

“I would love to do that. I was in Paris once—the year I graduated from college. It’s a beautiful city.”

“
Oui,
it is beautiful.
Tres joli, mais tres cher
.”

The two had little in common, but felt an obvious kinship for one another. “
Oui, oui,
” Holly said with a smile, and then moved on.
 

Dinner was served just before eight. The festively lit veranda took on the look of a Venetian palazzo at dusk.
 

The lights of San Francisco twinkled in the distance as the guests were served a four-course meal catered by Saison, Willow’s favorite eatery, and arguably San Francisco’s most exclusive restaurant, what with a tasting menu and wine pairings beginning at nearly four hundred dollars per person.

The evening’s meal began with a goblet filled with a generous individual serving of white sturgeon caviar. It came over cured, smoked sturgeon belly, and included a gelee made of the fish's grilled bones.
 

Looking at the small black dots of caviar, Holly raved, Sylvia was greatly impressed, and Rob decided to pass.
 

This course was followed by another that included
a square of Japanese butterfish. One edge of it had been quickly pressed against coals and basically waved over heat before being served with a dot of black vinegar. It was presented with a piece of pickled horse mackerel on thin toast with crème fraiche, which prompted Rob to mumble to Karin, “Now I know how Willow stays so thin.”
 

For Rob, things didn’t get much better with the presentation of the main course: roasted pigeon, which as their server explained was “wrapped in cherry leaves and aged for thirty-eight days, until it was tender, but resistant.” The waiter took a deep breath and continued. “This wild game is then garnished with olives, as well as cured Asian pears, a beet purée, cured plums, bitter chocolate, and cherry blossoms.”

“Wow,” Sylvia exclaimed. Jack raised a doubtful eyebrow over what he just heard.

“Sounds like road kill,” Rob muttered to Holly, only to be rewarded with a jab to the ribs.

Karin, seated to the other side of Rob, said, “You’ll never have another meal like this.”

He rolled his eyes. “Okay by me.” Like Jack, he contented himself mostly with the variety of delicious breads placed on each of the tables, along with warmed brown butter.

Later that evening, to their delight, both men agreed the wedding cake was the best dessert they had ever tasted.

“You missed out by not trying that blackened Japanese butterfish,” Holly insisted.

“I couldn’t eat that, Holly. It looked like something I might have found on the floor at Smitty’s,” Rob said with a shudder.
 

Willow was delighted with how the afternoon and evening was progressing. Secretly, though, she wished that Kozlov had been there to see her whisked away by her beloved billionaire. Unfortunately, he had a weekend commitment in Sydney, which of course, made his appearance at her wedding impossible.
 

Of all the lovers she had spurned for William, Kozlov remained that one guilty pleasure she was determined to hold on to.
 

She remained anxious about the coming toast of William’s best man, and her least favorite, James. But as was the tradition, after the meal and before the cake, he rose and tapped on his champagne glass for attention and began to speak:

“By now, most of you know my story about introducing William and Willow, and how delighted I have been seeing the two of them grow together in love. Fran Adams was an extraordinary woman, and Willow knows well she could never hope to take her place. But, in Willow, William knows that he has found a woman of unique charm and beauty.” He smiled benignly at the beaming couple. “In the many years that I have served as Willow’s attorney, she learned how much I value her many fine qualities, not to mention her extraordinary beauty. It has made me very happy to see how, in these past months, my good friend and partner has come to appreciate her wisdom, her beauty, and her joy of life.” He paused, then lifted his glass. “I would ask that you stand and raise your glasses with me in toasting to Willow and William’s future happiness. Here’s hoping they will be blessed to share their love with each other, and with each of us, for many years to come.”

It was a brief performance that earned James great praise from all in attendance. Even Willow gave him a kiss on the cheek, then whispered into his ear, “I’m glad you value my ‘many fine qualities.’ And I hope you know that we are through.”

“My dear Willow, I will never think of our love as in the past.”

“There’s a difference between attraction and coercion.”

“In the happy spirit of the occasion, I’ll just act as if you never said that.”

“Don’t. I mean this in the nicest way, James.
Get lost
.”

As she turned her back on James, she caught Jade’s eyes staring at her from just a few feet away. She wondered if Jade had any idea about her past history or about her lecherous and scheming husband. Certainly it was probable and it was likely she was not the only female who was the target of James’ misbehavior.

Whatever was the truth, Willow decided to let it go along with any other unpleasantness she might encounter on this beautiful night. After all, what possible concerns could she have? She had a wonderful husband, a tempestuous lover, and a stunningly beautiful new home.

Best of all, she would go to sleep tonight, a hundred million dollars richer than when she awoke. Certainly a day worthy of celebration!

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

On the week following the wedding, Belvedere Buzz appeared on the front page of the
Peninsula Standard
just as Rob assured Sylvia it would.

This time, when she made her obligatory round of calls to Pamela, Julia, Cynthia, and Vivian, she heard nothing but praise. As usual, Pamela’s off the record comments set the tone for what she would later hear from the others.

“I don’t have to tell you, Sylvia, the doubts I had about that Willow girl when she and William Adams first became an item. But I’ve been very impressed with everything I have heard and seen since. I know that I found their age difference a bit off-putting, but of more concern was her celebrity status. I find people with even a remote connection to the world of glamour to be utterly unreliable. Still, in a short period of time, so much has changed. Her involvement in the park revitalization project is very encouraging. I see it as proof positive that Willow Adams wants to be an active and contributing member, striving for the betterment of our small, but very special, community.”

As Sylvia raced her fingers across her keyboard, she wondered if Pamela would ever pause to take a breath. Apparently not, as without stopping, she continued, “So many of our celebrity residents will make an appearance at one of our events now and then, but it’s very rare to see someone like Willow, who will roll up their sleeves and actually get involved.”

By the time all four of the peninsula’s grande dames had weighed in on the subject of the wedding and Mr. and Mrs. William Adams—their new and preferred label for Belvedere’s top couple—Sylvia had enough glowing comments to fill three columns. The offer to chair the McKegney Field project played an important role in changing their opinions of Willow, but inviting the four ladies and their husbands to the wedding sealed the deal.
 

In Los Angeles, it might be commonplace to attend a major social event where helicopters keep a close but discreet distance, but to experience that in Belvedere had all the society women still buzzing with excitement.

Willow’s charm offensive continued in her absence during the two-week honeymoon that the newlyweds took to the Castadiva Resort on Italy’s Lake Como, thanks to the efforts of her two most devoted fans, Holly and Sylvia. They busied themselves inserting invitations for a fund raising kick-off party to initiate the official start of the Tiburon Linear Park renovation into all six thousand home delivery copies of the
Peninsula Standard
, which was set to arrive the following day.