Adams Grove 03-Wedding Cake and Big Mistakes
Read Adams Grove 03-Wedding Cake and Big Mistakes Online
Authors: Nancy Naigle
Tags: #Cozy Mystery, #Murder Investigation
Also by Nancy Naigle
Sweet Tea and Secrets
Out of Focus
The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.
Copyright © 2013 Nancy Naigle
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the publisher.
Published by Montlake Romance
PO Box 400818
Las Vegas, NV 89140
ISBN-13: 9781612182766
ISBN-10: 1612182763
Dedication
To my cousin, Jenn, who left us way too soon.
You’ll be in our hearts forever.
CONTENTS
Chapter One
Someone had apparently forgotten to give Jill Clemmons the dress-your-bridesmaids-tacky memo. Even in the wavy reflection, the gown Jill had picked out for Carolanne Baxter to wear in her wedding was not only stylish, but the color was perfect against Carolanne’s redhead complexion. She twisted in front of the antique full-length mirror in her bedroom. It wasn’t often that Carolanne embraced the softer side of things, and for a fleeting moment, in a dress as fancy as this, she could almost picture herself as a bride. She placed her hands in front of her as if holding a bouquet and paced slowly forward.
A wick of heated panic swam up her spine.
What am I thinking?
She shook the fake bouquet from her hands and lunged toward the bed to grab the matching shoes from their box. She stepped into the shoes and sucked in a steadying breath to push those thoughts from her mind. Then, she threw open the bedroom door and stepped into the living room to make her big entrance.
“What do you think?” Carolanne felt as awkward today as she had years ago back in Miss Bobbie’s beginner ballet class.
Jill sprang to her feet. “You look beautiful.”
The wrinkles in Milly’s eighty-odd-year-old face seemed to smooth away as her mouth spread into a grin. “Stunning. Absolutely stunning, dear.” She crossed the room and rose on tiptoe to kiss Carolanne on the cheek.
Carolanne felt the waxy remains of Milly’s signature color. She was infamous for leaving her red-orange lipstick tattoo behind.
Milly pulled her hands up on her hips. “I swear if I hadn’t already seen Jill in her gown, I’d be worried to death you’d outshine the bride.” She ran her hand along the delicate fabric—pinching and tugging to check the fit. “It’s gorgeous.”
“Too bad they shipped the wrong shoes.” Carolanne extended her leg out to the side, showing off the sexy strappy rhinestone numbers they’d sent by accident instead of the platform peep-toe pump she’d picked out. “But I admit I do like these!”
“Me, too,” Jill said. “And they aren’t making us pay the difference. Happy accident, if you ask me. If that’s the biggest catastrophe that I have in the wedding process, I’ll be thrilled.”
“The dress will need to be hemmed just a smidgen.”
Milly tsked. “I can take care of that. It looks like a perfect fit otherwise.” She took a step back and eyed Carolanne from head to toe. “You’ve never looked more beautiful.”
Carolanne rolled her eyes. “With no makeup? I sure hope I’ve looked better.”
“You never did need makeup,” Milly said. “With your hair down like that, you look just like your momma. Teresa was such a beauty—inside and out.”
A flash of loneliness stabbed at Carolanne.
I wish Mom were here today.
Jill reached for Carolanne’s hand. It was a bond they shared. They’d both lost their mothers at a young age. Jill’s grandmother, Pearl, had been their guiding light, but now Pearl was gone and Carolanne was sure that’s exactly what Jill was thinking about right now, too.
Milly placed her hand against Carolanne’s cheek. “Your momma was a kindhearted gal. Everyone loved her. She’d have been so proud of you.” She stood there with her hand on Carolanne’s cheek for an awkwardly long moment.
Carolanne glanced over at Jill, but she was no help. Carolanne glared at her. Once they started laughing, they’d never stop. It had always been that way.
Then, like someone had squirted her with dose of WD-40, Milly sprang into action, rustling through her flowered sewing box, whipping out old-fashioned hem clips and her pincushion, an old chubby tomato-shaped one. She shuffled over to the desk, grabbed the footstool, and dragged it to the center of the floor. “Can you step up on this in those shoes without breaking your neck?”
Carolanne lifted the dress as she walked toward Milly and stepped up onto the stool. “I can.”
“The dress, the color—it’s all perfect,” Jill said, clapping her hands.
Carolanne smoothed the skirt and spun, letting the fine layers of fabric swirl around her legs. “I love it.”
Jill held her hands to her heart. “I couldn’t have dreamed it more perfect.”
Carolanne gave Jill a look. “You’ve had that giant binder of pictures and lists for your wedding since we were in junior high. Since before you had a groom. This perfection is
exactly
what you dreamed of.”
Jill shrugged. “OK, OK. So it’s just as I planned, but it’s even better in real life.”
Milly tucked pins between her lips and tugged on the dress. “Are you standing straight?”
“Yes, ma’am,” Carolanne said.
“Hold still.” Milly lifted the hem of the dress, letting it fall naturally.
“I feel seventeen again.”
“Your prom dress wasn’t near as lovely as this one, but I’ll never forget how excited you were about going to that dance. You were so darn wiggly I liked to never have gotten that dress hemmed.”
“Too bad I didn’t get to go to the dance. All that time you spent on that dress—for nothing.”
“It wasn’t for nothing. I loved every minute of sewing that dress for you.”
Even after all these years, Carolanne remembered every little detail of that night and how her father had ruined it for her by pulling one of his drunken stunts.
Why is it so easy to remember the bad things?
“That was a long time ago. The future is much brighter. For you. Your dad. All of us,” Milly said through the tight-lipped hold she had on the pins in her mouth.
Jill pretended to whisper to Carolanne. “Be glad she doesn’t have to mark any more than your hem. I swear my heart couldn’t take another hour of her nearly stabbing me or worrying about her swallowing those pins.”
“My hearin’ ain’t gone yet.” Milly’s voice raised a notch in a slight tone of defiance. “Jill fussed the whole time I marked her dress. And I might remind you, missy, that it wouldn’t have taken so long if you hadn’t lost that weight, causing me to have to take in the gown a whole size. Not an easy task with all that beading, either.”
“She looked like a catfish with all those pins hanging out of her mouth.”
Milly raised a brow and aimed her question at Jill. “Have you ever heard of anyone swallowing pins?”
Jill set her chin in a stubborn line. “Well, no. But it could happen. Tell her, Carolanne. It could happen.”
“Oh no,” said Carolanne. “I’m not getting in the middle of this.”
“I swear you are just like Pearl,” Milly said to Jill.
Carolanne stifled a laugh.
“And I love you, in spite of that,” Milly said. “You’re just like your grandmother when it comes to bossing folks around and controlling every little detail. But I guess someone’s got to do it.”
“Speaking of details,” Carolanne asked Jill, “are there any other maid of honor tasks I need to take care of for you before this weekend?”
Jill shook her head. “No. We’re actually ahead of schedule. My 4-H girls volunteered to work on the tulle bags of lavender after the meeting, so you’re off the hook for that.”
“I like that.” Carolanne made a quarter turn and a mental note that she should get involved with some of the groups in town like Jill had. It was something she’d meant to do, but here it was a year later and she’d yet to do it. “I like it even more that I didn’t have to tie all those ribbons.”
“See, if I weren’t so good at organizing tasks, we’d be up to our armpits in last-minute to-dos.” Jill pointed to Carolanne. “You’ll be thanking me when I’m helping you plan your wedding.”