Tall Tales and Wedding Veils (28 page)

Heather hated how Regina was deluding herself. But it was her decision, and if she made the wrong one, there wasn’t a damned thing Heather could do about it.

“Your hair is straight,” Regina said.

“Yes.”

“Won’t Tony be upset?”

“You like it better this way. This is your day.”

Regina nodded and looked back down at her lap. After a moment, she whispered, “Don’t look at me like that.”

“Like what?”

“You know what I mean.”

“Regina? Are you sure about this?”

“I told you Thursday night. Of course I’m sure.”

But then she looked up at Heather, and there were tears in her eyes. She looked away, blinking quickly. “It’s just nerves.”

Heather turned to the bridesmaids. “Will you girls leave us alone for just a few minutes?”

They kept chattering.

“Girls!”

All five blond heads swung around.

“Could you step outside for just a minute?” Heather said.

“What for?” Two said.

“Regina and I need to talk.”

“You can talk with us here.”

“We need to talk
alone,
” Heather said.

Four turned to Two, screwing up her face. “What’s eating her?”

“Got me,” Two answered.

“I’m not going anywhere until I finish my eyeliner,” Three said, turning back to the mirror.

“All of you,” Heather said.
“Out!”

They tossed down hairbrushes and makeup wands and scattered like startled deer, leaving the room and closing the door behind them.

Regina looked up, tears shimmering in her perfect blue eyes. “Heather? Can I ask you a question?”

“Yeah?”

“How did you get so lucky?”

“What?”

“I can’t stand it anymore. I have to know. It took me two years to get Jason to ask me to marry him. Tony asked you in one night. How did you
do
that?”

“I don’t know,” Heather said, turning away so she didn’t have to meet Regina’s eyes. “It just . . . happened.”

“I know everything I’ve said about Tony, but . . .” She sniffed. “He’s wonderful. He’s so handsome. He treats you so well. He pays attention to you. And he just fell into your lap. One day, you had nobody, and then all of a sudden, there he was. How did you get
so lucky?
”

Heather felt terrible continuing to lie to Regina and everyone else, but in spite of what had happened between her and Tony last night, she just couldn’t make the truth come out of her mouth.

But her relationship with Tony really wasn’t the issue here. The issue was Regina’s relationship with Jason, which wasn’t much of a relationship at all. And it needed to come to an end.

“I think you know what you need to do here,” Heather said.

“But I can’t! The guests are going to be here soon. The reception is waiting. My parents have spent thousands of dollars. I can’t cancel this wedding!”

“What’s your alternative? Would you rather get up the nerve to call off the wedding, or wait five years and get up the nerve to divorce him?”

Regina slowly turned her gaze to meet Heather’s, her blue eyes filling with tears, looking as if she’d finally understood something that she’d been resisting for a very long time. “My God. That’s what’s going to happen, isn’t it?”

“It’s a strong possibility. And you deserve something better than that.”

Regina sniffed again, then dabbed beneath one eye with a tissue. “Will you do me a favor?”

“What?”

She took a deep, shaky breath. “Go get Jason.”

Chapter 25

T
wenty minutes later, Tony was driving up Preston Road, heading for the church, wondering where all this damned traffic had come from on a Sunday afternoon. He felt so eager to see Heather and set this whole thing straight that he very nearly ran a red light and T-boned another car. He braked to a screeching halt, letting out a breath of frustration as he tapped his fingertips on the steering wheel.

He still couldn’t believe how blind he’d been. Bit by bit, from that first night in Vegas to this moment and every second in between, he’d been falling in love with Heather. And he hadn’t even realized it. His father coming by today had just been the brick to the side of the head he needed to knock some sense into him.

The light finally changed. He hit the gas, drove the last half-mile to the church, and swung his car into the parking lot. He got out of the car and started to go inside, only to have the door burst open and Jason come barreling out.

“Hey, Jason!” Tony said. “Do you know where Heather is?”

“Bite me,” Jason snapped, and kept walking.

The door to the church opened again, and Jason’s parents came tearing out, brushing past Tony and following Jason to his BMW, where they stopped him from getting in the car. Jason looked pissed. His parents looked upset. And all of them seemed just a little bit manic.

What the hell was going on?

Confused, Tony went into the church, found the wedding planner, and asked her where the bridesmaids were. She pointed to a hallway that led to the bride’s room. As Tony rounded the corner, he was surprised to see Heather standing outside the door, her ear planted firmly against it.

“Heather?”

She spun around, and in the next few seconds, he saw a range of emotions pass over her face. He saw her surprise that he was there. The pain she felt from the terrible things he’d said to her last night. Apprehension that he might not have finished hurting her yet. But through it all, he sensed something else she couldn’t hide no matter how hard she tried. It was shining in those clear blue eyes, so raw and so real that it sent shivers down his spine.

She loved him.

Even after everything he’d done to her, it was still there. And he wanted to kick himself senseless for every single moment of anguish he’d caused her.

“Tony?” she said, sliding her hand to her throat. “What are you doing here? The groomsmen are in a room on the other side of the church.”

“Forget them. I need to talk to you.”

She flicked her gaze to the door. “No. I . . . I can’t talk. Not now.”

“But it’s important. I have to tell you—”

“Regina called off the wedding.”

Tony stopped short. “Oh, yeah? I guess that explains why I saw Jason leaving in a huff. Well, good for Regina. I didn’t think she had the guts to do it.”

“But now Aunt Bev and Uncle Gene are in there. I’m afraid Aunt Bev is going to talk her back into it. And if she does, Regina’s going to be miserable for the rest of her life.”

“She just needs to stand up to them.”

“She won’t be able to. I know Aunt Bev. She’ll browbeat Regina until she goes back out there and marries that jerk, telling her how embarrassing it will be for her if she calls off the wedding. I have to do something. I just don’t know what.”

Tony started to tell Heather that they’d deal with that in a minute, that right now she needed to listen to him. But when she put her ear to the door again, trying to hear what was going on inside the room, he knew this mess had to be settled first.

“Okay,” Tony said. “Tell me exactly what you think should happen here.”

“Isn’t it obvious? I want Aunt Bev to go away. I want Regina to leave this church an unmarried woman. I want Jason to die a slow, agonizing death.”

“Would you settle for two out of three?”

Tony pulled Heather away from the door and opened it.

“Tony?” Heather said. “What are you doing?”

Ignoring her, he went inside, and Heather followed. Regina was sitting on the sofa, her face streaked with tears. Bev was standing over her, looking like Godzilla on a rampage. Gene stood nearby, his eyes shifting back and forth between his wife and daughter, looking like a man who generally thought it best not to come between Godzilla and Tokyo.

“Listen to me, Regina,” Bev said hotly. “There are going to be two hundred people in that church, waiting for you to get married. You can’t back out now!”

“Of course she can back out,” Tony said. “It’s her life.”

Bev whipped around. “What are you doing here?”

“Regina,” Tony said. “Do you want to marry Jason?”

She sat in silence for several seconds, looking from one face to another. She bowed her head, sniffing a little.

“No,” she said. “I don’t.”

“Good,” Tony said. “Jason’s an asshole. You’re right to walk away.” He turned to Bev. “You need to go.”

Bev drew back. “
Excuse
me? Who are you to come in here and tell
me
to leave?”

“Bev,” Gene said. “It’s over.”

She whipped around to Gene. “You do realize this is thirty thousand dollars down the drain, don’t you?”

“It’s worth thirty grand never to have to hear about it again. Next time, she’s eloping.” He looked at Tony. “The smart people bypass all this crap and just go to Vegas.”

“That’s easy for you to say,” Bev snapped. “You’re not the one who spent the entire last year planning a wedding!”

“And while you’ve been planning that wedding, how often did you consult with our daughter about what
she
might want?”

“She wants Jason!”

“So that’s why she called off the wedding?” Gene turned to Regina. “I’m glad you’re not marrying him. I never liked him, anyway. All he could do was punch that damned BlackBerry and talk about golf.”

“Gene!” Bev said. “That’s your future son-in-law you’re talking about!”

“Nope,” Gene said. “That’s dead in the water. Now, you say you planned this wedding? Fine. Then it shouldn’t be all that hard to get out there now and
un
plan it.” He turned to Regina. “Will you be all right?”

“We’ll stay here with her,” Heather said.

Gene dragged Bev out of the room to break the news to the guests, and a few seconds later, five bridesmaids tried to pile in. Tony intercepted them and herded them out again. He shut the door, but still he heard them chattering outside like deranged chipmunks.

Regina took a deep, calming breath. “Please tell me I’m doing the right thing.”

“You’re doing the right thing,” Tony said. “Life’s too short to make stupid decisions. I’ve made plenty. That’s how I know.”

Regina nodded. “I don’t think I ever loved him. He just seemed like the perfect catch, you know? And my mother was ecstatic. My friends thought he was wonderful. But you know what? None of them has to live with him for the rest of their lives.”

There was a sharp knock at the door. “Regina!” one of the bridesmaids called out. “Come out here! You have to tell us everything!”

Regina dropped her head to her hands. “You’re right, Heather. They’re morons. And I can’t take them right now. I just want to get out of here.”

“Good idea,” Tony said.

“But I don’t have a car.”

“Heather and I can take you wherever you want to go.”

Heather looked at Tony with surprise. He’d made it pretty clear after last night that there was no more “Heather and I.” So what was he even doing here?

“Good,” Regina said. “Let’s go.” She leaped to her feet and headed for the door at the back of the room that led directly to the parking lot.

“Regina!” Heather said. “Don’t you need to change first?”

“My mother already took away the clothes I came here in. Will you please just get me out of here before she comes back?”

“Do you want me to tell her you’re leaving?”

“We’ll call her from the car,” Tony said. “Let’s go.”

A few minutes later, they’d bundled Regina into the backseat of Tony’s car, and he was backing out of the parking space.

“Where are we going?” Heather asked.

“I need a drink,” Regina said. “Maybe two. Maybe even three. Tony, let’s go to your place.”

“Regina,” Heather said. “You know you’re wearing a wedding dress, right?”

“I don’t care.”

Tony looked at Regina in the rearview mirror. “You sure you want a drink right now?”

“I already had two half an hour ago. But it didn’t work. After two shots of vodka, Jason still looked like a jerk.” She slumped back in the seat, looking a little woozy, her dress billowing around her. “I hope he and that damned BlackBerry are very happy together.”

At the BlackBerry remark, Tony shot Heather a furtive smile. She smiled back, even though she didn’t have a clue why he was even there. Just sitting next to him made her want him so much she ached with it.

She looked at his hands on the steering wheel, remembering how he’d touched her more intimately than any man ever had before, sending her to heights of sexual satisfaction she hadn’t even known existed. But it wasn’t just the sex. It was the laughter they’d shared, the way he shook her out of her humdrum existence, the cozy contentment she felt just being with him. Those were the things she was going to miss the most. But while she’d been fantasizing about their marriage going on forever, Tony had merely been biding his time until he could go back to his old life.

And then she’d told him she loved him. How pitiful was that? She was going to feel foolish about that for the rest of her life.

“You should have seen Jason one night when we went to the symphony,” Regina said, huffing with irritation. “They made an announcement that everyone was supposed to turn off their cell phones. He got up every fifteen minutes to see if he had a voice mail. I swear he could be standing in front of the president of the freakin’ United States, and if that thing rang, he’d say, ‘Mr. President? Could you hold that thought?’ ”

As Regina prattled on, her words slid right past Heather. All she could think about was Tony. She would have expected him to run far and fast once it was clear the wedding wasn’t taking place. Instead, here he was, insinuating himself right into the middle of the chaos. Was he
trying
to drive her crazy?

Regina went on to cite approximately sixteen ways Jason had irritated her with his electronic device, and she was still going at it a few minutes later when Tony pulled into the parking lot at McCaffrey’s. As they went inside, Heather couldn’t resist scooping up the train of Regina’s dress so it wouldn’t drag across the parking lot.

Inside the bar, it was a usual lazy Sunday afternoon, with a few guys at the bar and a couple of tables occupied. The Rangers game was playing on the TVs. Regina slid onto a barstool. Lisa walked up, eyeing her with surprise, then looked at Tony. “Can’t wait to hear the story behind this.”

“Martini,” Regina said. “On second thought, make that two.”

Heather sat on a barstool around the corner of the bar from Regina, and Tony took one next to Heather. Regina looked up at the boar’s head on the wall above the bar, narrowing her eyes. “You know, that thing is kinda growing on me. Want a real conversation piece?” She ripped the veil off her head and set it on the bar beside her. “Stick
that
on it.”

Heather turned to Tony and whispered, “Now she’s really losing it.”

“I’m not losing anything,” Regina said. “In fact, I’ve never felt so clearheaded in my life.”

When Lisa brought their drinks, Regina picked up both of her martinis with a flourish. “Here’s to women, because all men are pigs. Present company excluded. You got one of the good ones, Heather. Hang on to him.”

As Regina took a sip from each glass, Heather thought,
I only wish I could.

“I wasted three years of my life on Jason,” Regina said. “I gotta make up for lost time.” She scanned the room and zeroed in on a guy at the end of the bar. “There. Heather, what do you think about that guy down there? The blond?”

“That’s Andy. He’s a player. He’ll pick you up, have his way with you, then dump you.”

Regina grinned. “That’s perfect.”

“I thought all men were pigs.”

“They are. But what am I supposed to do? Become a lesbian?”

She scrambled off the barstool and picked up both martinis.

“Come on, Regina,” Heather said. “You’re not actually going to hit on a guy half an hour after calling off your wedding, are you?”

“Are you kidding?” Regina said. “I look fabulous in white. Why not take advantage of it?”

She kicked her train out of the way and headed down the bar. Andy pulled out a barstool for her and gave her a big smile. Bridal gown notwithstanding, the man wasn’t blind. Even half-drunk, Regina was still a knockout.

“We probably shouldn’t let her drink so much,” Tony said, “but as long as she’s smiling and not crying, let’s go with it for a while. Besides, it’ll give me a chance to talk to you.”

Heather’s heart skipped. “What about?”

“Just come with me.”

Tony took Heather’s arm and helped her off the barstool. “Lisa,” he said, “we’ll be in my office. If the bride tries to leave, step on her train.”