Dropped Dead Stitch (26 page)

Lisa leaned toward her friend, then placed her hand on Greta’s arm. “Greta, you know you’ll have to tell the police all of this. You need to get this awful burden off your chest. This was an accident. An awful, awful accident. Don’t let it torture you any longer than it already has.”

Kelly spied moisture glistening in the corners of Greta’s eyes. She reached out and placed her hand on top of Greta’s. “Let me call Detective Peterson, okay? You’ve met him before. He’s a very compassionate, understanding man.”

Greta bit her lip. “I know . . . I know . . . I’ve just been afraid to confess what happened. I’ve been afraid of what will happen to me. I couldn’t even tell Dr. Norcross. I tried, but I couldn’t. I was so afraid.” Tears started to roll down Greta’s cheeks now.

“Greta, we understand. Don’t worry. I’ll be there with you the entire time. You won’t be alone. I won’t leave you, I promise,” Lisa swore.

“Don’t be afraid, Greta. It was self-defense,” Kelly reassured. “The first person I’m going to call is an attorney. Lisa and I can both attest that Marty Harrington is one of the best and most compassionate lawyers we’ve ever met. We’ve seen him in action. Trust me, Marty will take very good care of you. You won’t be alone.”

Greta’s expression turned forlorn. “I—I don’t have much money.”

“Don’t worry, Greta,” Lisa said, slipping her arm around her friend’s shoulders. “Marty works for certain clients pro bono.”

Kelly watched Lisa comfort a distressed Greta while she dug her cell phone from her purse. Marty was about to work for free once again.

Kelly
zipped the back of her “garden of spring flowers” dress and smoothed the crisp fabric as she checked herself in the dresser mirror. Robin’s egg blue, the saleswoman had called it. Kelly vaguely remembered rescuing baby robins in her childhood, but she hadn’t seen a robin’s egg for over twenty years. Whatever it was called, the shade was flattering. And the dress’s scooped neck showed off the beginnings of her summer tan.

She readjusted the dangling ribbons in her hair. Megan had given each of them hair barrettes to match their dresses. Each one of “Mimi’s flowers” as Burt called them had dangling ribbons in her hair. Kelly’s barrette, of course, wasn’t completely straight, hanging slightly askew. She tugged once again and decided that would have to do.

Steve’s reflection appeared in the mirror then as he came up behind her. “Ummmm, you look gorgeous,” he said, sliding his hands on her waist.

Kelly turned around and rested her hands on the lapels of his navy sports jacket. “Thanks. You clean up well, too. I really like that jacket.”

“I can’t remember the last time I saw you in a dress.”

“Well, take a photo, because it’s coming off right after we get back,” Kelly teased.

Steve pulled her closer, his hands sliding up her back. “Why wait? We can take it off right now,” he whispered beside her ear.

Kelly laughed. “Later. Our shower interlude took longer than expected. We’re gonna have to race over to Mimi’s now, or we’ll be late. Megan will fuss.”

“Let her fuss.”

Kelly felt the zipper slide down her back as the crisp fabric eased over her shoulders.

 

 

“Well,
finally
!” Megan scolded as Kelly and Steve burst through Mimi’s front door. “Where the heck have you guys been? You’re a half hour late.”

“Sorry, Imperial Commander.” Kelly gave an apologetic smile to her friends, who were spread out across Mimi’s living room, sitting or sprawled over sofas and chairs.

“Traffic was a bear,” Steve added, with a remarkably straight face.

“On a
Sunday
?” Lisa exclaimed. “What’d you do? Come by way of Greeley?”

“Traffic, huh?” Jennifer approached Kelly with a knowing smile. “It’ll get you every time. Let me straighten your barrette.”

Kelly reached up to feel the ribbon-adorned barrette down behind her right ear. “Thanks, Jen. It must have gotten askew.”

“In traffic, I know.” Jennifer removed the barrette. “Let me fix your hair and your dress. It’s not completely zipped.”

“Imagine that,” Marty said with a sly grin.

“Guys, we’ve been waiting for you so we can go over the last-minute details of the service,” Megan continued, hands on hips. “We have to go over this stuff before guests arrive.”

Megan was in full taskmaster mode, Kelly could tell. So, she decided to have a little fun. Since the traffic had put her in such a playful mood, she couldn’t resist. “We await your commands!” Kelly declared and whipped out a
Starship Troopers
salute.

“Stand still,” Jennifer chided, giving Kelly a little swat on the shoulder as she caught the barrette before it fell to the floor. “I need to fix this.”

Megan eyed Kelly with a team manager’s skeptical eye and continued, “As I was saying . . . we need to know what’s happening and when, so we’ll know what to do. Brides-maids will enter after the minister walks to the gazebo. Once he gets there, he’ll turn around and give us a nod. Then, we’ll walk in. Kelly, you’re first since you’re tallest—”

“I hear and obey, Imperial Commander!” Kelly proclaimed, complete with another crisp salute, adding a heel click this time.

Pete turned away to hide his amusement. Marty leaned his head back on the sofa, clearly trying not to laugh. Lisa hid her smile behind her hand.

Megan was obviously trying to maintain her stern taskmaster expression but was losing fast. Cheeks flushed as pink as her dress, she gestured impatiently. “Steve, do something with her, would you?”

Greg snickered. “I think he already did.”

Kelly held up two fingers behind her back so Jennifer would see. She heard Jen’s soft laughter.

“Oh, so that’s it,” Jennifer announced as she firmly attached the barrette. “You guys had a twofer. No wonder you’re so wound up.”

The living room exploded with laughter then. Kelly felt a slight blush creep up her cheeks as she joined her friends. “Blabbermouth.” She gave Jennifer a poke.

“Dude, better not do that again,” Greg advised Steve. “She’s outta control.”

“No promises,” Steve said with a grin.

“Control? Kelly?” Lisa scoffed. “What are you thinking?”

“Hey, mind your own business, Greg,” Kelly parried as she plopped on the arm of Steve’s chair.

“Okay, okay,” Megan said, leaning beside Marty, who was still cackling. “I’ll make it easy. Once you hear the music, Kelly, start walking up the aisle toward the minister. Lisa, you’re next, then Jennifer, and I’ll go last.”

“Do we have flowers?” Jennifer asked as she smoothed her lime green dress, curved beneath the bust.

“Yes, we’re all carrying bouquets of spring flowers from Mimi’s garden. All except Kelly. She gets a bunch of dandelions,” Megan joked.

Kelly was about to protest when Mimi and Burt entered the living room.

“What’s going on?” Mimi asked. “We heard all the laughter.”

“Yeah, what’s so funny?” Burt asked.

Mimi was gorgeous in a lemon yellow silk dress, which set off her frosted blonde hair perfectly as well as her coloring. Mimi was blushing already, her cheeks rosy. Burt was attired in a smartly tailored charcoal gray suit with a burgundy tie. His face was flushed also. They both looked really, really happy.

Kelly couldn’t resist. She pointed to the handsome happy couple and declared, “Look! Mimi and Burt were stuck in traffic, too.”

Once again, the room rocked with laughter.

 

 

“Lift
up your feet,” Kelly said to Jennifer. She gave a little kick and sent the canopied glider into motion again. It swung forward and back in a gentle arc.

“I can’t believe it. Jayleen’s not wearing denim.” Jennifer held up her wineglass, gesturing across Mimi’s backyard.

Kelly searched through the clusters of friends and family that filled the yard until she found Colorado Cowgirl Jayleen Swinson, looking sharp in a beige pantsuit. Curt Stackhouse stood beside her, attired in a conservative gray suit. Kelly almost did a double take—she didn’t recognize the Colorado Rancher.

“Curt’s looking good, too.” She moved her glass in an arc. “Everybody looks gorgeous today. Tomorrow we’ll all go back to cutoffs and casual. Except for you. You’ve got to look good for clients.”

Jennifer glanced to her. “Do you miss that, Kelly? Meeting clients, I mean.”

“Ohhhh, I get to meet clients every now and then. Go over their accounts and all that. And during tax season, I help them with financial strategies.”

“Is that enough? Sometimes I get the feeling that your alpaca clients aren’t holding your interest like they used to.” She shrugged and kicked the ground, sending the glider into another gentle rocking arc. “It’s just a hunch. I may be wrong.”

Kelly was no longer surprised by her friend’s perceptiveness. Jennifer always seemed to pick up on things. “Boy, I hope you’re the only one picking up those vibes. I’ve got to work on that transparency thing.”

Jennifer smiled. “Don’t worry. I’m just tuned in. What’s happening? Tired of clients that are soft and fuzzy and stare at you with big brown eyes?”

“Kind of. It’s gotten too easy. There’s no challenge anymore. I’m just entering expenses and receipts now. Most of those clients don’t need a CPA. A bookkeeper can take care of their businesses. I’m waaaay overqualified.” She released a long sigh. “At first it was fun to learn a new business. Fun to meet the clients and have face-to-face planning sessions with them. But now . . . it’s just not enough anymore.”

“Did anything happen to turn you off? Was there a client-from-hell? I’ve had my share of those.”

Kelly laughed softly and gave the glider another push. “No, the clients are great. It’s not them, it’s me. It’s all me. And, yes, there was something that happened. I spent a week in Denver at CPA continuing education classes, and I got my fingers back into those complex accounting issues again. And I was hooked. I’d forgotten how much I enjoyed unraveling those puzzles.”

Jennifer observed her for a minute. “So, what are you going to do? Drop your fuzzy clients? Join a CPA firm?”

Kelly wrinkled her nose and shook her head. “Noooo. I have no intention of joining a firm again. Been there, done that. But I like the idea of consulting. That’s essentially what I’m doing with my new client. You know, the rancher/ developer guy that Curt connected me with. Now, his work is much more interesting. He’s got two different businesses, and there are all sorts of cross-connections going on. Now,
that’s
challenging.”

“Does Curt have any more friends like that? Why don’t you ask him now? He looks like he’s having a good time.” Jennifer gestured with her wineglass again.

Kelly glanced around Mimi’s shady backyard, turned into a veritable bower of flowers for the wedding. Every one of Mimi’s guests appeared to be having a great time. The wine was flowing. Well, not flowing exactly. More like pouring from bottles. Pete had brought a wide selection of wines and spread them out on the tables with plenty of glasses. Real wineglasses, too. Pete had insisted. Some things taste better in glass, he’d said.

Consequently, all of the wedding guests were helping themselves, save for teetotaling Jayleen. With Pete’s delicious appetizers and desserts, guests had lots of tasty food to choose from. Everywhere Kelly looked, she saw guests laughing and talking and eating all at the same time. Mimi and Burt wandered about the garden from cluster to cluster visiting with family and friends. Standing together, arms around each other’s waists, they positively glowed.

Watching her dear friends standing beside each other beneath the grape arbor during the ceremony, gazing into each other’s eyes as they exchanged vows, had brought tears to Kelly’s own eyes. She never cried at weddings. But Burt and Mimi were special.

Their love for each other had developed so naturally, like the spring flowers pushing through the soil in Mimi’s garden—bursting into bloom. Mimi and Burt had bloomed, all right. It was obvious, watching them gaze at each other beneath the arbor, the minister could have been speaking gibberish and they wouldn’t have noticed. They only saw each other. If there was such a thing as “true love,” surely this was it.

“If Mimi and Burt smiled any wider, they might burst,” Jennifer laughed softly.

“Yeah, ‘happy couple’ doesn’t even begin to describe it. They’re going to be airborne any moment. We may have to tie ropes around their waists to keep them on the ground.”

Kelly and Jennifer swung quietly for a minute. “That was such a beautiful ceremony. Quiet and simple,” Jennifer said. “No big church fanfare. Just good friends surrounding you. That’s the way it should be. When two people are meant to be together.”

Kelly waited for Jennifer to say something else, but she didn’t. Kelly was about to add a comment of her own when she noticed Jayleen heading their way.

“Looking good, Jayleen,” she greeted her friend.

“You should wear a pantsuit more often,” Jennifer observed. “It’s really flattering.”

“Thank you, gals, but right now, truth be told, it’s getting kind of itchy. I can’t wait until I can take it off,” she said with a grin.

“Curt’s looking real good, too,” Kelly added. “I almost didn’t recognize him.”

Jayleen gave a brief glance over her shoulder and smiled. “Well, take a good look, because Curt can’t wait to ditch his duds, too. Some of us just can’t stay all spit ’n polished for too long.”

“It’s still early. You and Curt could still get a trail ride in this evening,” Kelly suggested. “No need for dinner. Not after Pete’s spread.”

“You and Steve ought to come up to the canyon and join Curt and me for a ride again. It’s been a while since you’ve done that.”

“I’ll put it on my daytimer, Jayleen. Promise. And Steve’s, too.”

“You do that. Sometime in July would be great. June is already booked up. I’ll be busy hosting a retreat at my ranch. A psychologist friend suggested the idea. She’s been counseling some teenage girls who’ve run into problems early on, and my friend thinks a few weeks in the mountains might help them sort things out.”