Across town, Mary Maddison answered the front door and stared at the three men dressed in expensive suits and wool overcoats. “Can I help you?” She scowled when her immediatethought was that her husband had tangled with the mob somehow and they were knocking on her door.
“Hey Mary, Burt home?” one of the men asked her and held out a garment bag.
“Who was at the door Mary?” Burt asked as he came up behind his wife. He looked at the men standing there and stared. “What are you guys doing here dressed like that?”
“Who are they?” Mary asked in confusion.
“The one in the middle is Greaser, then Randy and Chad.” He pointed to them as he named them.
“Holy shit! You guys clean up nice. But what are you doing here and why are you dressed like that?” She stepped back, and said, “Come in, come in.”
Greaser took the lead. “The guys and I have decided to take the two of you out for your anniversary. You’ve said that you didn’t have any plans, and because it’s your twenty-fifth, we couldn’t allow you to sit home alone. We’ve got reservations for seven thirty. So you have a little over an hour to get ready. And, Mary, we were finally able to get ahold of Ainsley and she dropped this off to me.” He held out the dress bag.
Mary took it with numb fingers. “But...”
“No buts, now we’ll go fix coffee and wait for you. We’re your drivers.” When they continued to stand there, he turned them and gave them a gentle push. “Times a wasting. Chop, chop.”
“But I have a case I have to get ready for.” Burt tried to defend his staying home.
“That’s next week, today is Saturday. Now get going, remember the reservations are for seven thirty.” He looked at his watch to show that he was on a time limit. They hurried away and Greaser called out, “Oh, Burt, wear one of those power suits you have. A shirt and tie are in the bag with Mary’s dress. We’ll be in the kitchen.” He turned on his heel and the other two men followed him. Once in the privacy of the kitchen he put his handson his knees and drew in several deep breaths. “Shit, I hope that was okay. Thought he was going to kick my ass.” He stood and grinned.
“I think us showing up dressed like this shocked them into doing what we want them to do,” Randy said. “Thanks for being here with us.” Greaser held the position of vice-president with the club, and Randy and Chad were the Road Captains.
“So, now that we have them changing, what’s the next step?” Chad asked. “Christ, planning the route for a run isn’t this stressful.”
“We’ll take them out to the SUV, but before we put them in, we’ll blindfold them and tell them it’s all a surprise. I’ll drive around to get them lost, you know how well their sense of direction is. I think I’ll circle back a couple of times on the way, really throw them off. Then we’ll go to the hotel. I’ll send the text to Abe when we arrive and he can get everyone quiet at the ballroom.”
Upstairs Mary turned to Burt. “What’s going on? Our anniversary isn’t until next week.”
“I know.” Burt sighed and opened the dress bag, he took out the shirt and tie and when he saw the dress he whistled. “Very nice.” He grinned at his wife. “What the hell, if the guys are willing to take us to a fancy dinner and pay, who are we to argue?” He began to strip and it wasn’t long before the two of them were sharing a shower. Burt decided to show his wife how much he did still loved her, and it was a very relaxed Mary that emerged from the shower. At ten to seven they went downstairs and joined the others.
“Wow,” Chad said as he saw the older couple come into the kitchen. “Mary you’re a knockout in that dress.”
“Thank you. Ainsley always had better taste in clothes than I did. I love the color.” She ran her hand down her silver encased hip. “And look, Burt’s tie matches the dress.” She smiled at herhusband and his black suit, black dress shirt, and silver tie. “So what now?”
“We’re going to drive you to the restaurant. But we want it to be a surprise, so we’re going to have to blindfold you,” Greaser said and held out two silk scarfs. “Didn’t think you’d want a shop rag or bandana so I sprung for these.” They laughed and went along with the plan. But they waited until they were in the SUV before they were blindfolded.
Randy did the honors and distracted them as Greaser drove and Chad sent a text to Abe.
*****
Lincoln pulled his phone and grinned. He looked up and sucked in his breath when the first thing he saw was Addy dressed in that sexy black dress. He was surprised by how thin she’d become. He looked around and couldn’t find who he needed so he headed in her direction.
“Hey. They’re on their way.” He held up his phone and showed her the text.
“Okay then,” Addy said, and looked around. She put her hand on his forearm and stood on tiptoes and then pointed. “There’s Ashley.”
Lincoln nodded. Then he looked at her and grinned. “Trust me?” When she frowned he sighed, turned, and let out an ear-piercing whistle. That got everyone’s attention. He held up his phone, and said loudly, “They’re on their way.”
Ainsley and Ashley were quickly by their side. “So what’s the next step?”
“No one but Greaser, Randy and Chad were privy to how they were going to get them here. Loose lips and all that. But this next step everyone knows about. Jackson’s going to make his way down and wait for them, he’ll be with Heather who will escortthem up here. When they arrive, I’ll get a text and that’s when we all get into our positions, dim the lights and hide or whatever you have planned. We probably have fifteen minutes.”
Addy saw shock on the girls’ faces, and said calmly, “Okay, this is what we do.” She looked at Lincoln and mouthed. “Thank you.” Lincoln stepped back and watched her in action. Thirteen minutes later he received another text and let out the whistle again. That propelled everyone into action and they were ready two minutes later. Just before the main lights went out, Lincoln positioned himself to be directly behind Addy for when the doors opened. There would be no way for her to get away from him.
Standing in the back, Addy watched the main lights dim, then go out and the twinkling lights come on. She gave a small smile when she heard all the indrawn breaths, then the sounds of people shushing each other. She took a step back and bumped into someone. “Sorry,” she mumbled, and tried to turn.
“I’m not,” Lincoln said, and took advantage of the situation. He put her hands on her waist, and backed them further into the darkness. He knew he had limited time. He quickly turned her and kissed her. At her quick intake of breath, he slipped his tongue inside her mouth. With his arms wrapped around her he groaned when she wound her arms around his neck and sank into the kiss. They were interrupted by the explosion of three hundred plus people yelling surprise. Then the lights came on.
