To My Senses The Nicci Beauvoir Series Book 1 (23 page)

“
Hell, that’s a laugh! All
Sammy has done for weeks is question me about you.” He threw his
arms up and walked into the bedroom.

I followed behind him and
stopped at the bedroom door. I leaned against the doorframe while
he pulled the bloodstained sweater over his head.

He went to the closet and
started searching for something else to put on. When he turned and
saw me standing in the doorway, he knitted his dark brows together
and frowned. He quickly went back to rummaging through his
closet.

“
Why would Sammy question
you about us?” I pressed, wondering why he was acting so antsy. Was
I missing something?

He sagged into the closet
for a moment, and then retreated from it. He came up to me and put
his arms around my waist.

“
You know I’ve been keeping
in touch with Sammy to keep an ear out for her future plans. Well,
she’s definitely taking advantage of the situation.”

“
I guess Sammy thinks
you’re still interested in her and that I’m only a
diversion.”

“
You are much more than a
diversion. Enough about that.” He shook his head. “You look
pretty,” he said, going back to the closet. “Tell me about the
shower.”

I played with the folds of
my dress. “It was okay. The usual affair.”

He rested his shoulder
against the closet door, gazing at me. “Two more weeks to go and
then the whole mess will be over, right?”

“
That’s right. You are
going to the wedding with me, aren’t you? I won’t be able to sit
with you at the service, but we could be together at the
reception.”

“
I would be honored to join
you at the reception. I guess I’m rather looking forward to being
able to announce to the world that we are an item.” He abandoned
all pretense of searching for something to wear and came toward me.
Within seconds, I was wrapped in his arms.

I gave him a questioning
glance. “Are you sure you want to do that? Sammy might not
appreciate you rubbing our relationship in her face.”

“
I don’t care about any of
that.” He kissed my forehead. “I’m just looking forward to spending
the evening dancing with you.”

Chapter 13

The day of the wedding
quickly arrived. I was deposited at Colleen’s door to be prepared
with the rest of the bridesmaids…all ten of them. Aunt Hattie was
already in a tizzy, running around in her girdle, and screaming
about a large crease in her designer dress. Colleen was in the
bathroom fighting a bout of morning sickness.

“
Your room is up at the
left of the stairs. Hattie wanted you to have your own place to
dress,” a young woman with lovely blue eyes said to me, as soon as
I entered the house. “There’s a glass of champagne already up
there. I suggest you drink it before you look at the dress.” She
shook her head. “You’re gonna need it.”

I recognized the girl as
one of the debutantes from the previous season and desperately
tried to remember her name. “Thanks…Sara, right?” I asked
hopefully.

“
Emily.” She smiled
weakly.

In my room were a glass of
champagne and a blue bag hanging from the closet door. I made sure
I followed Emily’s suggestion, and drank down the entire glass
before I pulled out the dress. Even knowing Colleen, I thought
perhaps Emily might have been exaggerating a little. I removed the
entire dress from the bag and placed it on the bed. It was worse
than I could possibly have imagined.

The dress was done in taffeta, with bright
swirls of pink, cream, and orange. There was a large pink bow on
the back, antique lace around the bottom of the skirt, exaggerated
puffy shoulders, and an orange sash about the waist. It looked like
a giant Dreamsicle. I sat down on the bed, stunned. I would have to
go downstairs and find a bottle of champagne to get me drunk enough
to put this thing on.

“
No wonder Hattie never let
us see the completed dresses,” I murmured to myself, fingering the
thick layer of lace.

I retreated downstairs and
found several bottles of champagne chilling in the refrigerator.
After my fourth glass, I was ready to return upstairs and put on
the dress. Back in my room, I slipped it on and gazed at my
reflection in the full-length mirror next to the bed. There was
nothing to do but shake my head with disbelief and head down the
stairs.

***

Our limousine arrived about
an hour later, after everyone’s hair and makeup were finished. We
were ushered into the back of the car with urgency by Uncle Ned. I
sat next to Colleen on the way over. She looked like hell. Her face
was very pale and she had dark circles under her puffy brown eyes.
She did not say a word to me but kept grabbing at the door, trying
to steady herself against the jostling motion of the
car.

I placed my hand on her
shoulder. “You okay?”

“
I should have listened to
you.” She wobbled next to me. “I never knew it was going to be like
this. Mom said pregnancy was a breeze. I think she was lying to me.
I don’t know if I can take six more months of this.”

I patted her hand. “They
say the first three are the hardest.”

“
I thought it was the last
three,” she groaned

We arrived at the church and were ushered
into the ceremony. We racewalked down the aisle, trying to make up
for lost time. Everything was such a blur. During the service, I
remember watching Eddie, in his tailored white tuxedo, continually
wiping away small beads of sweat from his brow with his sleeve.
Before I knew it, the couple said I do, the organist belted out the
wedding march, and we were back in the limousines.

The reception was held at
the prestigious Gallier Hall—the original city hall of New Orleans.
Once again, Sammy’s political and financial connections had been
used to acquire the best for her son.

I spotted Sammy drinking
champagne and laughing with Uncle Ned when we arrived at the
reception. She was in an elegant, black silk designer dress that
clung to her voluptuous figure. She never acknowledged poor,
bloated Colleen. Instead, she devoted all of her attention to
Eddie, greeting him with kisses, as soon as he entered the
reception hall, and whisking him away from his bride the moment the
formal pictures were done.

I had been searching all over the reception
for David, but he was nowhere to be found. My father saw me and
waved me down. He was in a corner talking to an unfamiliar
gentleman. When I approached, Dad smiled and kissed my cheek.

He glimpsed my dress, then
said, “Darling, you look beautiful.”

“
Nice try, Dad.”

“
Nicci, I would like you to
meet Dr. Jerry Fagles.” I shook the man’s hand. “It seems Dr.
Fagles is a dentist.”

“
I have a practice in
Metairie,” Dr. Fagles added.

Dr. Fagles was of medium
height with a thick head of gray hair and piercing blue eyes. His
nose was rather long with large nostrils that flared when he
breathed. When he spoke, he had a habit of rocking back and forth
on the balls of his feet.

“
Your father,” Dr. Fagles
continued, “was just telling me that you’re studying
nursing.”

“
Yes, I finish in May,” I
asserted.

“
Nice profession. We need
more caring people in the health industry.”

“
Yes, we do.” I turned back
to my father. “Have you seen David?”

“
Not yet. I’m sure he’s
around here somewhere.”

I excused myself and left the men to their
conversation.

I found Hattie standing by
the buffet table, chattering away to several guests. She had a run
in her stocking and her slip was beginning to show from beneath her
snug, bright yellow dress. She was still steady on her feet, which
meant she could not have had too much to drink. She saw me and
waved, leaving the small crowd of people around her.

“
Nicci, my dear,” she all
but screamed. “I want you to come with me.” She locked her sweaty
little hand around my wrist and proceeded to drag me to the dance
floor.

“
Yoo hoo, Jenny! Here she
is!” Hattie called across the reception hall.

I did not see to whom she
was calling at first. Then a round little woman turned to face me.
It was the same woman I had met at the shower; the one who wanted
me to meet her son…the doctor.

“
Nicci, you remember Mrs.
Fagles,” Hattie said as she let go of my arm.

I smiled, trying to hide my
aggravation. “Yes, Mrs. Fagles. I just met your husband a few
moments ago. It’s nice to see you again.”

“
Oh, how lovely you look.”
She reached out and caressed the fabric of my dress. “Well, he was
here a minute ago.” She surveyed the crowd.

I turned to Aunt Hattie.
“Who?”

“
Why, Mrs.
Fagles son,
Doctor
Fagles. You remember I told you about him.” Hattie suddenly
pointed across to the bar. “Oh, there he is!”

I followed the direction of
her attentions. A pale man with soft blond hair and light blue eyes
was coming toward us, carrying a glass of champagne. He was barely
taller than me, and looked like he lifted weights in his spare
time.

“
Michael, come here,” Mrs.
Fagles urged.

The blond gentleman came
alongside his mother. His eyes were immediately all over
me.

“
Here he is, my son,
Michael.” She patted his bulging arm.

He held out his hand to me and I took it.
His grip was strong and the squeeze he gave me lasted a few moments
longer than what polite society considered necessary.

“
Hello,” he purred,
apparently attempting to be seductive.

“
This is my niece, Nicci,
Nicole Beauvoir. She’s in nursing school.” Hattie’s eyes parleyed
between Michael and me.

“
Ms. Beauvoir.” He dipped
his head slightly, but never took his eyes off me.

“
Well, we can see you two
have a lot to talk about.” Mrs. Fagles then clasped my aunt’s hand
and dragged her away.

Michael laughed nervously.
“I must apologize. My mother has all the subtlety of a tow
truck.”

I smiled in spite of
myself. His sudden discomfort was more appealing than his attempt
at seduction. “That’s all right. My Aunt Hattie is the same way.” I
shook my head. This was going to be a long process. “So you are a
physician?”

“
And you are a
nurse.”

His voice was almost
boyish. I missed David’s deep, velvety voice in my ear at that
moment. I looked around the room to see if he had arrived. Nothing.
I turned back to the doctor.

“
Student nurse,” I
corrected. “I finish in May.”

He took a sip from his
champagne. “Do you have any idea what specialty you’re interested
in?”

“
Cardiology. I liked my
rotations through intensive care. I think I would like to work
there. Your problems suddenly became very trivial when you see
others trying so hard to hold on to what you take for
granted.”

“
I can understand your
reasoning. You must be technically oriented. Me, I found the night
call way too stressful to work in intensive care. I like my sleep.
I specialize in psychiatry. Now that’s an interesting area you
should consider.”

I hadn’t liked my psych
rotations much. “I may have grown up around a lot of nutty people,
but I don’t plan on making a career of it,” I confessed, trying to
lighten my disinterest.

“
Well,” he laughed,
“believe it or not, psychiatry is better suited for a woman. It’s
not as stressful as the floors, and the hours can more conducive to
raising children. You might want to seriously look into
it.”

I glared at him.
Did he really just say that?

He cleared his throat. “I
mean, women like psychiatry more than most other areas of the
hospital.”

The band, next to the dance
floor, started belting out a snappy jazz tune. Michael put his
champagne down on a nearby table and took my hand.

“
Why don’t we
dance?”

Reluctantly, I let him lead
me to the dance floor.
One dance to be
polite and then I could go in search of David
, I thought. Once we were on the dance floor, Michael pulled
me close to him and put his arms around me. My immediate reaction
was to pull away and slap him. I smiled, instead, as he tried to
waltz me around the dance floor.

“
My mother said you were
quite pretty. I’m glad to see she was right,” he mumbled in my
ear.

I continued to smile at
him, ignoring his attempt at conversation. I was determined to
finish our dance and make a speedy exit.

“
She talked about you for
some time. She literally dragged me to this wedding to meet
you.”

I was going to have to say
something to dissuade him. “I’m flattered, but I know you probably
have other things to do. I won’t tell if you need to sneak out.
Getting set up is so uncomfortable.”

He gave a childish giggle.
“No, I’m glad I came. I have no intention of sneaking off, now that
I’ve met you. I must admit, I was apprehensive. I thought you were
going to look like your aunt.” That made me laugh. His face
suddenly lit up. “I wondered if you knew how to do that? You seemed
very serious there for a while.”