She was blind, thinking him a harmless thug. It was the baby face that had fooled her, I was certain of it.
Thank God, she caught me red-handed with the goods. I passed them off to her with a warning, “You need to think about this wedding, hard.”
“Is that an order, Doctor Stickupherass?”
It was. “Jaja’s lawyer said it, I didn’t. Read the note clipped to the top photo.”
Her face paled. “Did you look at any of these?”
“Not unless you won’t. We finally got free of FBI surveillance, and I for one don’t want to go back to that life. Remember how they frisked our prom dates?”
Ellie made a guttural gagging noise at the memory. “Assholes.”
I wouldn’t go quite that far, but they had made our lives pretty miserable. Growing up like that sent me down a path of buttoning every button, planning to the point of obsession, and never, ever, putting even the tip of a big toe over the line.
Ellie?
That’s all she ever did. Toes, heels, whole legs…
She flipped through the photos and got to about the fourth one before her knees got wobbly and she fell faster than a soufflé. I couldn’t even catch her before she became a sparkly, chiffon and crystal-beaded puddle on the floor.
My sister couldn’t stand the sight of blood.
And there was a lot of it in that photo.
Some bullet holes, too.
Johnny was a lot more awful than a reckless driver.
I shoved the photos with their clipped-on note into my suitcase and got out the smelling salts.
Ellie woke up with a groan and a mission labeled, “drink that man right out of mind.”
Which meant the afternoon tequila binge, and missing the chapel limo. The latter arrived precisely on time to collect the back-up dresses my sister bought, Ellie’s carry-on, and my stocked tote bag before it whisked away, right according to plan. Except the delivery was devoid of one bride and one bridesmaid because I was busy looking for Ellie at the hotel bar.
There were eleven to search. But I lucked out and found her at number three. She was easy to spot in her wedding gown.
“Oh. My. God, Allie, what are we going to do? The mob is going to come after us.”
What’s this ‘us’ thing you’re talking about? “They’re not. If they go after anybody, they’ll go after Johnny. You’re not marrying him, remember?” I was being supportive. Or as supportive as I could get wearing a practically see-through bridesmaid dress almost the same color as my skin. Sure, I suppose it was pretty for a supermodel, or an actress trying to shake a child-star fanbase, but for an out-of-work veterinarian still in therapy from the trauma caused by the panopticon of my childhood? Hell to the no.
It looked like lingerie.
The funny thing about it was that barely anyone noticed. Their eyes were on Ellie in her beautiful, sparkly wedding dress. Random people would walk up and say, ‘Congratulations,’ then smile and look around for the villainous and missing groom. At first, I smiled and tried to say ‘thank you’ while squeezing Ellie’s hand so she’d not blurt out something horrible. But after she smacked me in the shoulder for getting too rough, I gave up.
Then things got much more interesting.
“Oh, you’re getting married. Congratulations!” The couple must have been pushing one-fifty, collectively.
“Fuck off with that shit, my fiancé is a no-good amateur murderer, and once I find his ass, he’ll get an education on how murders should be done.”
Their eyes went wide, and they shuffled away.
“That tops the culinary school threat.”
Ellie shrugged. “If I chopped Johnny into pieces, there’s bound to be blood. I’d faint again and ruin this dress.” She picked at the heavily boned and beaded corset. “And I love this dress. But, do you think I should have worn the other one?”
She bought two wedding dresses with matching bridesmaid ensembles. This one was stunning, featuring a flat-front bodice with pearl and sequin embellishments reminiscent of the 1600s, along with a draped tulle skirt. It gathered at Ellie’s hip. The excess cascaded from the focal point in tiers. The designer embellished each delicate layer with crystals sewn into the fabric so artfully it sparkled like a waterfall that extended to the train’s end. Ellie glittered under the lights of the ride share pavilion I’d led her to.
