A Very Merry Superhero Wedding (Adventures of Lewis and Clarke) (17 page)

Tori heard the almost desperate worry in his voice. She looked over at the clock on the wall. Ten minutes to eleven. She closed her eyes and felt that enormous blanket of peace inside.

Please, God, help Joe feel your peace.

“Joe?” she said softly. “Are you listening to me?”

“Yes.”

“I am so sure I want to marry you, I’m willing to learn all your secrets over the next sixty years. That’s the way everyone else does it. But if you absolutely have to tell me something, you can tell me tonight, in our hotel room, in bed.” She couldn’t believe she’d just said that! She felt a grin stretch her lips. As much as she looked forward to consummating their marriage, she’d never spoken about it out loud. “I’ll listen to whatever you want to say then. Okay?”

After a pause, Joe chuckled softly. “It’s a deal, almost-wife.”

“All right then,” she said. “Isn’t there somewhere you need to be, almost-husband?”

“Yes, ma’am,” he said. “I’ll see you in a few minutes.”

Tori felt a huge grin on her face as she shut the door. She leaned there for a moment thinking
,
he’s almost my husband! I’m almost his wife!

The women finished their final preparations, then Tori’s dad came to escort her mom to the front of the church.

Dixie gently pulled the long gossamer-thin veil over Tori’s face. “You’re a most beautiful bride,” she said.

Tori smiled widely. “Thank you.”

A minute later, there was another knock on the door. “Everyone decent?” Owen called.

“Come in,” she said. “Are you ready for us?” She was so excited now that the moment was upon her, she almost couldn’t contain herself.

“Bridesmaids and flower girls to the front,” Owen confirmed. “I’ll chat with the bride for a moment.”

Hayley and Lexie blew kisses to her and left. Tori felt her smile widen as she turned back to Joe’s dad.

“I’m so excited,” she said. “My stomach is doing a little dance.”

Owen chuckled with her. Then he asked, “Joe came to talk to you?”

She nodded. “Yes, poor nervous man.”

Owen looked around the empty room. “And he told you…his secret?”

There were moments when Tori equally loved both sets of parents, and also wanted to move far away from them. They all wanted to be just a little too involved.

But the strength of the peace she felt muted her frustrations. She wanted to be generous and loving with them, especially on her wedding day. She took his hand in hers. “We are going to be fine, Owen. Joe and I are going to get through this together.”

Owen half-nodded and half shook his head. “This…meaning…?”

He was making her nervous. Her stomach twitched. Whatever Joe wanted to tell her, he could tell her tonight. Alone. With all the weeks of people trying to stop the wedding, she just wanted to get on with it before her stomach took flight on its own. She smiled up at him and squeezed his hand.

“We are going to be fine. You don’t have to worry about us.”
It felt like the energy building in her abdomen escaped with her words. She felt better.

Owen tilted his head at her, frowning. Then he smiled faintly back. “You’re going to be fine. I won’t worry about you two.”

His words sounded stilted, but Tori smiled and squeezed his hand again. “Good. Here’s my dad. Are we ready?”

Owen nodded, looking a little strange with a half-smile, half-frown. Danny led Tori down to the doors at the entrance to the sanctuary while Owen went a back way to come out in front next to Joe and the groomsmen.

Tori heard singing inside the sanctuary. It was beautiful, haunting, and full of emotion. “Who’s that?” she asked her dad.

“Joe’s friend, Mickey,” he said. “Amazing voice, huh?”

The song ended. At the brief silence, Tori knew the pianist had moved to the organ. She smiled up at her dad.

“My little girl is getting married,” he said, a catch in his voice. “You look like sunshine.” He looked down at her and Tori felt enveloped in over two decades of his love.

“I don’t deserve you, Daddy,” she said, “but I’m glad I have you.”

He started to say something, then cleared his throat and wiped at his eyes. He faced forward, patting and rubbing her hand on his arm.

Tori smiled and faced forward. This amazing joyful peace filled her in such a way that she didn’t feel the usual push of tears that strong emotions always brought out. She was such a heart-on-her-sleeve kind of girl. But today she felt stronger and more confident than she’d ever felt in her life.

As the organ music played, Bull led Lexie down the aisle, little Ben the ring-bearer walking in front of them. Then Joe’s oldest brother Carl walked Hayley down the aisle. Two of Joe’s younger nieces followed throwing out flower petals.

And then it was her turn.

Danny led her to the door. The crowd stood. A much bigger crowd than she expected on this snowy December day. At the front, Owen nodded to the man standing next to him.

Joe turned around.

He
r
Joe.

She smiled at him, feeling like she was indeed a sun burning brightly just for him.

The music played and Danny led her forward. When he put her hand in Joe’s, Tori felt like she was going to burst, her body hardly able to contain all the joy she felt.

She tried to focus on every detail of the service, to memorize it all, to enjoy every moment. But she felt like they moved on a helium cloud, a beautiful gravity-free dance that culminated in the words —

“I now pronounce you husband and wife.”

Tori barely registered that Joe’s dad sounded happy. She watched as Joe lifted her veil over her head, his hands shaking. She leaned forward.

He cupped her face in his hands and kissed her tenderly, sweetly. She raised her face to enjoy all the promises in that kiss, one hand lifted to cover his, the blessings bracelet tinkling near her ear.

Joe pulled back a little and they grinned at each other. He leaned his forehead against hers and whispered, “We did it.”

The joy inside tumbled out in Tori’s laughter. Then Joe leaned back his head and gave a loud, “Whoop!”

Their friends and family burst into laughing applause.

Joe wrapped his arms around her, and kissed her with passion and abandon, leaning her back over his arm. Tori kissed him until she thought she was going to lose her balance. She began to laugh.

He pulled her up tight to his chest, put one hand on her cheek again, and said, “I’m never gonna let you go.”

The next hour was a whirlwind of hugs and congratulations, a quick parade of pictures with the photographer — in attendance only because Bull had driven across the city to pick him up — and a fairly quick, light lunch that Tori could barely eat.

Joe rarely let go of her hand, and she couldn’t stop grinning at him.

Soon, her bridesmaids were helping her change into her going-away dress. Hannah and Dixie pressed a bag of wrapped sandwiches and other snacks into Joe’s hand for the plane ride. Hugs and kisses and not a few tears later, the two of them pulled on their coats and ran to Joe’s truck.

Someone had already started the engine and turned on the heat. Bless them.

Joe pulled Tori close and fastened the middle seat belt around her waist. “I don’t want you too far away,” he said.

Tori grinned up at him with a mile-wide smile. “I’m not going anywhere.”

He rolled down the windows so they could wave at everyone willing to brave the cold. Then he put the truck in gear. “You ready to start our new adventure together?”

“Yes!” Tori laughed.

Nothing could make her happier.

TWO things always surprised Joe Clarke at Christmas: the weather and the people of Double Bay.

Barely a week ago, there had been no snow to add a Christmas-y touch to the festive season. Today, without the help of friends and family, that freshly fallen snow would have kept him from getting married.

Ah, yes, the wonderful citizens of Double Bay constantly surprised him. They organized calling parties to let the wedding guests know that the wedding was still on. They organized driving parties to pick up those too afraid to brave the snow-covered streets. They even organized a baking party to feed the guests as they arrived at the celebration hours early.

As Joe drove to the airport with his bride, he counted his blessings, overwhelmed with the avalanche that had been tumbling down around them for days. He turned on the radio to the station that played all Christmas music this time of year. One of his favorite bands, Pentatonix, was singing.

Hark the herald angels sing, glory to the newborn King!

A Double Bay police car pulled up next to Joe and flashed its lights. Detective Arturo Paredes of the Superhero Liaison Unit waved and grinned and pulled ahead.

A police escort. Joe grinned. Time to hightail it out of town with his girl.

A Sneak Peek
at

UNEXPECTED SUPERHERO

Available now at major online retailers

CHAPTER 1

TORI Lewis was out of M&M’S. None in her purse, none in the glove box. Even the emergency packet in her briefcase had been consumed during her pre-wedding jitters. After the job interview she’d just endured for Half TV, a local cable TV station, she needed a chocolate fix. Now.

“I know I’m supposed to go to you for comfort,” she muttered to God as she pulled into a parking spot, “but if you wouldn’t mind, a package of M&M’S would jumpstart the process.”

The bell tinkled over her head as the door of Ed & Eddie’s Corner Market closed behind her. Tori stamped the snow off her boots as her eyes adjusted from the deepening twilight outside to the bright fluorescent lights of the store. It took her a moment to notice everyone in the store staring at her. Including the guy with the gun.

Tori froze. She always assumed her love of the colorful chocolate candy might one day destroy her figure, but she never expected her addiction to end in gunfire.

The gunman swung toward her. His bulky open coat couldn’t hide the fact that the skinny boy was no man. A Detroit Tigers baseball cap covered most of his brown hair, but not his panicky eyes. “What do you want?” His voice came out higher at the end and he cleared his throat. “Well?” he asked, forcing the word out at a lower pitch.

“Uhh…M&M’S,” Tori said. It sounded like a question. Her brain was having a hard time getting up to speed in this unexpected situation. God, help me.

Her eyes darted around the small store. An older woman cried and held a nearly hysterical younger woman, shushing her to no avail. One of the men held a baby ensconced in a little pink snowsuit. Another nodded quietly at her as if to convey caution.

Situation confirmed. She was hip-deep in doo-doo. Where was her big, strong new husband when she needed him?

The armed boy-man cocked his head toward the candy aisle. Tori didn’t know if he meant for her to move out of the way or if he was just being unusually helpful by pointing her in the right direction. Erring on the side of caution, she forced a fleeting smile and mumbled “thanks” as she walked past him and down the middle aisle to stand in front of the M&M’S. Now what?

The gunman turned back to Eddie, the cashier and half-owner of Ed & Eddie’s. “Hurry up before someone else comes in!”

“Easy, dude, easy,” Eddie said, moving his hands slowly toward the cash register. Eddie wasn’t very old either, early 20s or so, but he was sadly experienced in the holdup category. Tori couldn’t remember the details, but she’d heard bits and pieces of stories. Come to think of it, why did she shop at a store with a record anyway? She remembered Eddie had played sports in high school. Something like baseball or wrestling or karate could come in handy right now. Hopefully his sport hadn’t been cross-country running.

Tori glanced at the M&M’S next to her. More than ever she needed to stress eat. Could she open a package now and pay Eddie later? Maybe two packages. Her hands started to shake. She shoved them in her pockets.

Today was only day ten of her new and fabulous married life. She hadn’t wanted to go out today anyway and now this. Only two days ago she and Joe had checked out of their Disney World hotel, blue skies and temperatures in the 70s, nothing on their minds but a long and blissful life together. Tori prayed now that she’d make it to day eleven of that life. They hadn’t been married long enough to do anything except have sex – which was awesome – but she’d hoped for more. After all, they figured they’d have the rest of their lives together. Neither of them thought the “death” part of “till death do us part” would happen until there was a lot more gray hair involved.

The sound of a crying baby registered. Tori glanced over at the well-dressed man in the expensive trench coat. He kept his back between the gunman and his child. A gesture Tori would normally find heartwarming. But today it was the action of a man who wasn’t going to get involved. Great. He wouldn’t be of any use. So this is where equal opportunity gets us. Tori considered offering to hold the baby so he could help the other men save the day. Her self-esteem would be fine with that. Maybe if she were comforting someone, she wouldn’t feel like crying herself.

Enough! Tori wiped at her eyes. She was not letting some stupid, scared boy dictate her life and death. She’d spent too much energy changing her life into just what she wanted to lose it now. She chewed on her lip. What could she do?

A movement from the corner of her eye. She saw one of the men – the one who’d nodded calmly at her – edging closer to the gunman. Yikes. Should she duck or help?

A POLICE car raced past the entrance to Harborview Mall. Lights and sirens cleared a path among the post-Christmas shoppers. But mostly people moved to avoid the speeding white Toyota hurtling through the night like a rusty snowball.

The cars sped through two more lights. Divine intervention surely prevented a crash as the Toyota skidded on a patch of ice, nearly sideswiping another car. The police cruiser missed that particular bit of ice, but a close call at the next light had the cop in the passenger seat crossing himself with one hand while hanging on with the other.

Another police car parked in the next intersection forced the chase to take a hard right and brought them into a quieter industrial area. Quieter except for the jarring sirens. Large warehouse-style office buildings magnified the piercing sound and reflected the red and blue lights onto the snow. The Toyota picked up speed, blowing through three stop signs amidst honking horns and flying middle fingers.

The police cars slowed down enough to ensure that the chase continued to be accident-free. The Toyota made a left down an alley to avoid yet another police car, and raced out of sight.

SUPERHERO X looked up at the roof of the nearby three-story office building and spoke into a microphone concealed in his mask. “What do you see, Tick Tock?”

Team leader Tick Tock, Mickey Valient to the rest of the world, coordinated the car chase with the police. “It’s our lucky day, boys. They’re herding him right toward us.”

In the growing winter darkness, the men stood nearly invisible in their midnight blue outfits, masks covering the upper half of their faces. When they spoke, their voices came out with a metallic distortion courtesy of Tick Tock’s voice-disguising device.

Adrenaline rushed through his system as X waited on the ground. He missed being out with the guys. Had it only been two weeks? The rushed wedding and honeymoon had been exhilarating, but he was glad to be home and back at the work he loved.

Standing half-hidden in the alley, X grinned at his other friend and partner in crime-fighting. “Ready to play, big guy?”

Powerhouse, otherwise known as Bull Kincaid, smiled back, his pale skin and white teeth a sharp contrast against the dark mask. At least six and a half feet tall and built like a linebacker, Powerhouse usually played the “immovable object” against the unstoppable forces they came up against. He cracked his knuckles, then his neck. “Bring it,” he said.

Police sirens wailed in the night, getting louder.

“How close?” X asked Tick Tock.

“Just turned down the alley,” Tick Tock replied. “Get ready.”

Powerhouse peeked around the fence that separated the alley from the parking lot where they waited. Gauging the distance to the approaching Toyota, he stepped back and moved behind an overflowing metal garbage bin. He placed his hands and one shoulder against it, waiting, shifting his weight from one foot to the other in anticipation.

X waited behind him, anxious for the fracas to begin. Sometimes he got to be the front man, but tonight they needed Powerhouse’s muscle to end the chase. X tossed a short steel pipe from one hand to the other, feeling the rush of energy flow through his body. The gloves he wore were palm-less rather than fingerless. They protected him from leaving fingerprints, but allowed his skin to absorb the strength of the metal. He had been working on plans for flexible titanium-lined gloves before he met Tori, but the craziness of falling in love and getting married over the last two months had disrupted a lot of things. The gloves fell to the bottom of his to do list. Tonight he’d have to make do with the pipe.

X squeezed his right palm around the steel. Hot energy tightened his skin all over his body. The rush felt good. He put his new bride out of his mind and focused on the job at hand.

“Ready, set…” Tick Tock’s voice came through their earpieces.

X shifted onto the balls of his feet in anticipation.

“Now!”

Powerhouse shoved the garbage bin into the alley. The squeal of brakes, the crash of metal on metal as the car hit the heavy steel container full-on. Powerhouse jumped behind the garbage bin and locked his elbows. He kept the car from skidding toward the surrounding buildings by digging his heels into the snow-covered asphalt. X watched the pavement buckle behind his friend’s feet.

The car stopped with a final screech of damaged metal. X watched the doors for exiting passengers. His turn at bat.

The garbage bin began to roll toward the opposite building. Powerhouse pushed it to a flatter area. Less paperwork if there wasn’t any damage to surrounding private property. X didn’t like to waste time with paper when there were always more people to protect, more criminals to catch.

“Driver side,” came Tick Tock’s voice in their ears.

The driver side door flew open and X took his position. A young man stumbled out – maybe old enough to vote, not old enough to drink, but dumb enough to run. He looked over his shoulder toward the approaching police car, his feet already double-timing in the opposite direction.

Right into the path of Superhero X.

Wham!

The young man slammed into him and fell.

X grinned down, tapping the pipe against his thigh. He had only an inkling of what it felt like for someone to run into him. His brothers said it was like running into a steel wall. X put his palm out and raised his fingers twice. The universal sign for “come and get it.”

The driver gaped up at him from the pavement. One hand held his head. Must’ve cracked it on X’s chest.

“He’s not a mouse, X. Hold him for the officers.” Tick Tock sounded either exasperated or amused. X couldn’t tell through the voice-disguiser. “Powerhouse, another one on the passenger side.”

X shook his head slightly. There was no challenge in it when things went according to plan. He reached down to grab the driver. Not quick enough.

The man rolled away. Standing, he now held a 9mm pistol. Jogging backwards with the gun aimed at X, he ducked between two buildings.

X muttered under his breath. Careful what you wish for. More squealing brakes signaled the arrival of the police. X gave chase. A cop pounded a few yards behind him.

“He’s got a gun,” X yelled over his shoulder.

More sirens sounded from the front of the building. Police shouted to each other. X struggled to hear Tick Tock in his earpiece.

“Say again?” he shouted as he ran.

“Turn right. Bushes in front.”

The buildings gave way to the parking lot and X turned right. Three more police officers came running from their cars at the front of the building. X paused, searching the snow for footprints. He saw movement, halogen security lights reflected a flash of red fabric. He bounded into the bushes just as the driver jumped up with his gun.