Chapter 16: The Wedding

The Prospect Club garden held two hundred white chairs and a rose arch that must have cost more than my car.

I came in through the side gate at five minutes to two.

I wore the black suit I had bought for my grandfather's funeral.

Hannah walked beside me with her hand under my elbow, and the detective followed two steps behind.

Two uniformed officers stood at the hedge, and nobody on the lawn had noticed them yet.

A string quartet was playing.

Marissa stood under the arch in an ivory dress, with her bouquet held low over her stomach.

Lyle stood across from her in a morning coat, and he was holding both her hands.

The officiant said something about trust.

Celia sat in the first row in dove grey, with her cane across her knees.

She saw me first.

Her face did not change, but her hand tightened until her knuckles went white.

"If anyone here knows a reason," the officiant said, and smiled at the quartet, because nobody ever did.

"I do," I said.

Two hundred heads turned.

My voice carried farther than I expected it to, over the roses.

"Hello, Lyle."

He didn't flinch.

He let go of Marissa's hands and spread his own.

He gave the guests the warm, easy smile that had charmed every office on the Carrow floor.

"Toby. You're a little late for the toast, but we saved you a seat."

Keep reading free with an account. Start She Left Me in Traction, Then the Will Made Me Her Boss from Chapter 1, then sign up free to read the rest of this chapter.