Thomas stood over us. “I don’t know yet. One of the guys radioed in and said he saw something. Then there were shots.”
“Colter?”
“That would be stupid, but he could probably get away with it,” Jason said.
More shots were fired, and then there was an eerie silence.
Thomas’s radio crackled. “Stand down. Just kids with fireworks.”
The relief should have been complete, but as Jason helped me to my feet, I couldn’t shake the feeling that next time, we might not be so lucky.
Chapter Seventeen
JASON
Strollingdown Main Street in Valle Perdido felt like walking through a fishbowl. Every face in every window seemed to be watching us. Thomas felt it too. I could tell by the way his hand kept drifting toward his jacket.
The fireworks a week ago hadn’t helped with the tension.
Once I left the tailor’s, I’d be meeting Cora and Anna at the bakery for cake tasting. Of course, Ari was with them at the house, which was the only reason I felt comfortable leaving my sister and Cora alone. From what Anna told me, he really could take down an army if Colter decided to make any surprise visits, especially since he had a scheduled visitation with Elias this evening.
“Mr. Georgiou and Vasil?” an elderly Hispanic man asked as we entered his shop.
“That would be us.”
Anna had arranged the appointment. She’d argued that it didn’t matter that I had tuxedos in Chicago. This was my wedding, and I needed a freshly tailored one for it.
Plus, if Thomas was my best man, he’d need one too. He’d looked about as excited as I felt.
Although, I at least got something out of the entire ordeal. Watching Cora walk down the aisle. I didn’t know why I was excited by that thought. It wasn’t like it would be real or last, but she’d be walking towards me. We’d be saying vows. In the back of my mind, a small voice reminded me that I wanted those vows to be real and true and genuine.
He came from around the counter and met us. “I take it you’ve been measured for a tuxedo before?”
“I have.”
“Black, I presume.”
“You presume correctly.”
This fake wedding was taking on a very real feeling now that I was standing in this store surrounded by bolts of fabric and suits hanging from racks along the back wall.
I shut down the annoying voice that continued to whisper hope and other inconvenient things.
“If you’ll stand here, I’ll begin.” The man motioned to a spot in front of three full-length mirrors positioned on a small platform.
Thomas settled into one of the leather chairs near the window while I followed the tailor deeper into the cramped but organized space.
I stepped up, the wood creaking slightly under my feet, catching my reflection. In two weeks, I’d be standing in front of a minister, promising to love and cherish a woman I was already halfway gone for. The irony wasn’t lost on me.
The man called his daughter over from behind a small desk draped with measuring tape and instructed her to take down measurements.
“When is the wedding?” he asked as he started.
“Weekend after next.”
The man paused, tape measure in hand. “That’s fast.”
Here we go. I’d practiced this story. “I’ve known her for more than a year, and we’ve been dating a while. I was going to ask her to marry me in the coming months anyway. When she said she wanted a spring wedding, I figured, why wait?”
