Head Over Heels (The Bridesmaids Club Book 3) (18 page)

“He’s still here,” Dominique said slowly.

Sally looked between Dominique and Alastair. “What aren’t you telling me?”

Alastair glanced at her in the rearview mirror. “There’s nothing much to tell. Do you remember what we told you about today?”

Sally couldn’t help but remember. Dominique and Alastair had gone over and over what she needed to do. “I’ve got to have one of you with me at all times. The other agent will be watching us. If anything happens, and I get separated from you, I find somewhere safe to hide and don’t move until I hear you say the words ‘purple pumpkin’.”

Sally opened her small bag and pulled her cell phone out. “My phone is on silent. If I need help I call 9-1-1 and ask for Dan Carter at the Bozeman police department. He’ll contact everyone else. Why did you choose the safe word, purple pumpkin? Pumpkins are orange.”

“Exactly,” Alastair said.

“Was it supposed to be funny?”

Dominique shook her head. “It’s supposed to keep you alive. It’s easy to remember and no one will guess what our safe words are.”

Sally snapped her bag closed. “Do you think we’re going to need to use them?”

The flat stare Dominique sent her wasn’t reassuring. Something had happened, and Sally had a feeling she was right in the middle of it.

***

When Sally walked into the barn, the only thing she focused on was Tess’ hand waving in the air. Rachel and Annie had saved three seats for them in the back row. “Thank you,” she whispered as she side-stepped her way past the other wedding guests.

She felt relieved that they’d arrived before the bride.

“You look beautiful,” Tess said softly to her. “You made it just in time.”

Sally followed Tess’ gaze to the back of the barn. Carolyn was standing in the doorway. One of her bridesmaids was flicking the train of her dress in the air, settling it around her legs before her walk down the aisle. Molly was there, taking photos, recording the day for the rest of eternity.

“Do you like what we did with the decorating?”

Sally took a deep breath and let her gaze wander around the old wooden barn. She’d been so worried about being late that she hadn’t noticed the transformation that had taken place over the last week. Last Saturday, she’d left the barn clean and tidy. Now it looked as though Cinderella’s fairy godmother had waved her magic wand, transforming it into a magical kingdom.

A canopy of flowers decorated the front of the barn where Carolyn and Wayne would exchange their wedding vows. Along the beams and down the support poles of the entire barn, someone had strung thousands of tiny fairy lights.

Sally looked at the chairs either side of the center aisle. They were decorated with small bouquets of flowers. The white roses and soft green foliage looked so pretty against the rustic charm of the building.

If Sally hadn’t seen the barn before they’d started work on it, she never would have believed it was the same place. “It’s amazing. It must have taken ages to get it looking so beautiful.”

Tess shrugged her shoulders. “It didn’t take too long. We had plenty of strong men with tall ladders to help us.”

Sally still felt bad that she wasn’t able to help decorate the barn. For the last few days, her life had been restricted to Annie’s kitchen and her apartment. She knew that it wouldn’t last forever, but it was hard not to be part of everything that was going on.

She looked along the row of seats and frowned. In her haste to get to her seat, Sally hadn’t realized that Alastair hadn’t followed her. She leaned across to Dominique and whispered, “Where’s Alastair?”

“Outside the main doors, keeping an eye on what’s happening.”

Sally looked over her shoulder, but couldn’t see him. “Who’s out there?”

“The bridal party and the photographer,” Dominique said. She held her hand to her ear and smiled. “Alastair said to tell you that the bridesmaids’ dresses look great.”

“Tell him he can be an honorary member of The Bridesmaids Club if he moves to Bozeman.”

Dominique snorted, but relayed the message. Just as she was about to say something, a man holding a guitar stood up at the front of the barn.

“Is that…?”

Dominique’s mouth dropped open. “It is. How did the bride and groom get Ryan Evans to sing at their wedding?”

Sally wasn’t much of a country music fan, but everyone had heard of Ryan Evans. He’d hit the music charts with his first number one song about four years ago. Since then, he’d crossed the lines between country and pop so often that both fan bases claimed him as their own.

As his fingers strummed the first chords of a song, Sally sighed. Todd would be annoyed that he’d missed the biggest musical event of the year.

Ryan’s voice filled the barn. It wasn’t a song Sally had heard before, but it was simple and sweet, all of the things that made his music so easy to listen to. A few seconds passed, then Carolyn’s bridesmaids started walking slowly down the aisle. Their dresses were beautiful.

Stacey, one of Carolyn’s two sisters, wore a hot pink gown with a huge satin bow on the back. Kimberly, her other sister, had chosen a deep blue silk dress. It was a no-frills, classic design, everything their Grace Kelly Collection tried to be. Trish, Carolyn’s friend, was wearing a buttercup yellow dress. It was a pretty design with a chiffon skirt and sparkly beads stitched around the neckline. Sally was so glad The Bridesmaids Club had been able to help them.

When the chorus of the song built to a wonderful high, Carolyn began walking down the aisle. Sunlight followed her, dancing through her sheer veil and shimmering against the white satin of her gown.

By the time Ryan finished singing, there wasn’t a person in the barn who didn’t have tears in their eyes. Wayne, Carolyn’s husband-to-be, looked stunned and overwhelmed. He hugged Carolyn to his chest, then stepped back, wiping his eyes with a tissue the best man handed him.

As the minister started speaking, Sally stared wistfully at the gentle smiles on Carolyn and Wayne’s faces. She wanted to find that kind of love, the kind that could handle the best and worst that life had to offer. Her parents had found it in each other. So had Tess and Logan, and Annie and Dylan. In the face of so many happy-ever-after moments, Sally was sure there must be someone meant for her.

Her cell phone vibrated against her leg. She quietly unzipped her bag and looked at the text. She smiled as she read Todd’s message.

Tess nudged her arm. “You’d better be careful. A smile like that can have serious consequences. Especially in the middle of a wedding.”

Sally quickly texted Todd back and put her phone away. “It was nothing.”

“The best things usually are.”

Sally ignored the grin on Tess’ face. She put it down to the happy-hormones circling the barn on Carolyn and Wayne’s special day.

Dominique put her hand to her earpiece and said something quietly into her two-way radio.

This wasn’t exactly the stress-free wedding Sally had imagined. With more at stake than a piece of gossip, Sally tried to figure out what Dominique’s hushed tone meant. It could be Alastair cracking another of his not-so-funny jokes, or maybe a gun-wielding madman was roaring down the driveway. Whatever it was, Dominique gave nothing away.

Sally studied the people around her, wondering if any of them were murderers, assassins, or drug dealers. None of them looked as though they had New York gang affiliations, but she wasn’t that knowledgeable about gangs. Abandoned animals and teaching young children were about as exciting as her life got.

Ryan Evans returned to the front of the barn as Carolyn and Wayne signed their marriage certificate. Another song, this time one she knew, carried through the barn and straight into her heart.

“Here…” Dominique passed her a tissue.

Sally took it and tried to delicately blow her nose. Ryan sang about losing someone you loved and carrying on without them. It was heart-wrenching and poignant and one of the most beautiful songs she’d ever heard.

“He wrote,
Sad Time Coming
for his ex-wife,” Tess whispered. “I don’t often read the gossip columns, but I did see an article about their marriage. Ryan’s ex-wife sounded like a real...”

“Cow?” Dominique added.

Tess nodded. “We must have read the same story.”

In that moment, there was a shared camaraderie between Tess, Sally, and Dominique. Regardless of what was happening, Ryan Evans had their sympathy and utter devotion.

Within minutes of Ryan finishing the song, Carolyn and Wayne were walking down the aisle with wide grins on their faces.

Tess smiled. “I’d say that’s another happy bride and groom for The Bridesmaids Club.”

“One down and sixteen to go,” Rachel said with a half-serious groan.

Sally glanced at Dominique and got the ‘we’re staying here’ look. As the barn emptied out, the sound of the wedding guests outside got louder.

“Are you coming for a glass of wine and a slice of cake?” Rachel asked.

Sally shook her head. “I’m going to enjoy the barn for a few more minutes.”

Rachel took her explanation at face value. “I can’t blame you. It’s beautiful. Do you want me to bring you back a drink?”

“I’ll be okay. Go and enjoy yourself.”

After Rachel left, Tess turned toward Sally. “Do you want to tell me what’s going on or do I have to tickle you senseless?”

“I’m not sure tickling would do any good.” Sally cleared her throat and pointed to Dominique. “Tess Williams, meet Dominique Rodriquez, FBI special agent extraordinaire. Dominique, this is Tess, owner of Angel Wings Café in downtown Bozeman.”

The smile that had started to form on Tess’ face fell away. “What’s happened?”

Sally shook her head. “Believe me, you don’t want to know.” And that, she knew, was the understatement of the year.

***

Sally sat at a table and watched the line dancing in front of her. The Cowboy Boogie, the Tush Push, and the Electric Slide had everyone laughing and moving in all kinds of odd directions.

Rachel nodded at the latest wrong move in the back row. “Do you think they’ll ever get to the point when no one turns in the wrong direction?”

“I doubt it,” Sally laughed. “I guess that’s part of the fun.”

“Why aren’t you on the dance floor?”

“I’m a bit rusty. I haven’t line danced in a couple of years.”

Rachel pointed to the dancers as they sashayed to the right. “It’s poetry in motion.”

Sally smiled as one man turned to his left and ended up with a woman in his arms. “Poetry doesn’t work for everyone.”

“Look at it this way,” Rachel cajoled. “You won’t be the only one going in the wrong direction. Why don’t you give it a try?”

Sally looked around for Dominique. She was talking to another lady at the next table and keeping a careful eye on Sally. “I will if you will.”

Rachel smiled. “You’re looking at the junior line dancing queen of Bozeman Elementary School,” she boasted, “for two years in a row.”

“You always were too clever for your own good,” Sally teased. She stood up and left her bag with Dominique. “I won’t go far.”

“I’m over here if you need me,” Dominique said over the music.

Sally rushed across to Rachel. She joined her in the back row, behind the man who kept banging into people.

“Just follow me,” Rachel said. “Don’t worry if you turn the wrong way.”

Sally knew she’d be turning the wrong way more than once, especially when she saw the fancy footwork of the lady beside her. Line dancing wasn’t for the fainthearted. She watched Rachel, listened to the music, and tried to avoid the superwoman beside her.

“You’re doing fine, honey,” the lady said encouragingly. “Keep your hips tilted forward, that’s it. Right quarter turn. Very nice.”

Sally puffed up with pride when she got through a whole song without having to apologize to anyone. Before the next song began, she looked across at where she’d been sitting. Dominique had disappeared, but Alastair wasn’t far away.

“I found out why Ryan Evans is here,” Rachel whispered. “He’s shooting a video for his next song. It’s set in Bozeman, of all places. And he just happens to be Carolyn’s cousin.”

“He has a great voice,” Sally said in mock seriousness.

“Of course he does. And a much too handsome face, gorgeous eyes, and a body that would stop traffic.”

“I take it you’re impressed?”

Rachel smiled. “You could say that. But more importantly, why aren’t you?”

Sally wasn’t ready to tell anyone the answer to that question, so she turned Rachel around and waited for the next song. “Your title is under threat. Ms. Junior Line Dancing Queen.”

Rachel grinned and did a sassy little move. “I don’t think so.” She laughed at Sally and easily moved into another complicated dance step.

Sally would have looked awkward, like an elephant tiptoeing through a field of daisies, if she’d tried that. But not Rachel. She stepped, spun, and glided into dancing queen status without even having to try.

In the next song break, Sally whispered in Rachel’s ear, “I need to use the bathroom.”