All Dressed in White (16 page)

“And don’t forget the tuxedo,” Grace reminded him with a wink, as she followed Jerry out of the room.

“I apologize on behalf of my boy-crazy assistant,” Laurie said once they were alone. “I may have to call the human resources department to give her a refresher course on sexual harassment.”

Alex stepped toward her and took her into his arms. “Are we in any position to complain about romance occurring within your production team?”

She looked up at him as he leaned down to kiss her. “No, Counselor, I suppose we are not.”

•  •  •

Laurie found her father and son at the “active” pool, the most family-friendly of the resort’s four oceanfront pools. Timmy was hanging off one side of a float being steered by a slightly smaller child. It was just like her son to make a new friend within minutes of arrival. His father had been similarly outgoing. He was so much like Greg.

Her father was on a nearby lounge chair, one eye on his grandson, the other immersed in the latest Harlan Coben thriller. Years ago, he had given his business card to the author at a book signing, with an offer to answer any police-related questions he might have
down the road. Laurie had never heard her father yelp so excitedly as when he spotted his own name in the acknowledgments of his favorite author’s next book.

Laurie made herself comfortable on the chair next to him. “I can take over from here so you can keep both eyes on your book for a while.”

“Timmy’s easy to watch these days. The kid would be more likely to save me from drowning than vice versa. Hey, by the way, I made another call to the local police about that photography intern, Jeremy Carroll.”

“Any luck?” she asked.

“Maybe. There’s a Jeremy Carroll, thirty-one years old, longtime local resident, whose height and weight listed on his Florida driver’s license would seem to fit the general description. He’s got a clean record except for a contempt conviction for violating some kind of court order. I called the court clerk and asked for a copy of the records. I’ll let you know what comes of it.”

“Thanks, Dad. I should talk to Brett about adding you to the payroll.”

“No amount of money would be worth having to take orders from Brett Young. By the way, don’t you need to get dolled up for the big reunion party?”

“You know me. Dolled up means brushing my hair and putting on some lip gloss.” Laurie knew that she was an attractive woman, but she never felt comfortable beneath layers of makeup and hairspray. She kept her honey-colored hair in a simple shoulder-length bob and rarely applied more than a single coat of mascara to highlight her hazel eyes. “And I do have a new cocktail dress that cost too much money, but I know I look good in it.”

“You’re beautiful just the way you are,” Leo said. “I know you’ve been stressed out about the ridiculous pace Brett’s expecting, but let yourself have some fun. You and Alex will both be dressed to the
nines tonight. I’m happy to stay up with Timmy if the two of you want to make a night of it after the reception. Who knows? Maybe all this talk about the wedding that never came to pass will prove to be motivational.”

Laurie was stunned by her father’s suggestion. “Dad, we are
so far
from anything like that. Please don’t plant those seeds in Timmy’s head. Or Alex’s either, for that matter.”

“Okay, okay, I was only kidding. Lighten up.”

“Good. You scared me for a second.”

Her father was looking at her, his book now closed on the table next to him. “Laurie, I was only kidding about a proposal being around the corner, but I do want to say one thing. I’ve seen the way you keep Alex at a distance. Most of the time you’re very formal around him. You steer the conversation back around to work. And when Timmy asked about Alex going with him to the water park, you said no before Alex could even answer.”

“Dad, what are you trying to tell me?”

“I’ll be blunt. It’s as if you’re afraid of letting him see the real Laurie.”

“Alex sees plenty of the real me, Dad, but we’re not spring chickens who are going to drop our entire lives and run off together. We’re taking things at our own pace.”

“That’s fine, and I know you’re a grown woman and don’t need your father telling you how to live your life. But let me say this once, just in case it needs to be said. I know how much you loved Greg. We all did.” Leo’s voice cracked briefly. “The two of you had a great five years, but that doesn’t mean the rest of your life has to be lonely. Greg, of all people, would not want that for you.”

“I’m not lonely, Dad. I have you and Timmy, and Grace and Jerry, and, yes, I have Alex. You may want me to leap in faster, but we are in a good place, trust me.”

He opened his mouth to speak again, but she interrupted.

“Dad, do I ask why I haven’t seen you keeping any ladies’ company since Mom passed? There are several lovely widows I can introduce you to at church. They’re never shy about asking how you are.”

He gave her a sad smile. “All right, you’ve got me there.”

“Don’t worry about me, Dad. I know Alex cares for me. If it’s meant to be, it will happen naturally. We shouldn’t have to overthink it.”

•  •  •

Laurie’s own words echoed in her mind as she walked back to her room.

With Greg, there had been no time to overthink. She had met him because she got hit by a cab on Park Avenue. They used to joke that they were the only couple who legitimately had different versions of how they met. When Greg first met Laurie, she was unconscious. When Laurie first met Greg, he was shining a penlight in her eyes to see if she would finally blink. They were engaged three months later.

If it’s meant to be, it will happen naturally.
When Laurie spoke those words to her father, she had been thinking about Greg, not Alex.

33

J
erry had told Laurie that the ballroom was decorated beautifully, but words didn’t do justice to the setting. It felt like a scene from a fairy tale. White roses and lilies were everywhere, and tiny white lights shimmered from the ceiling like stars on a country night. Grace and Jerry were dressed for the event. Grace wore a surprisingly unrevealing cobalt-blue gown, and Jerry looked dapper in his slim-fit tuxedo.

“The two of you clean up nice,” Laurie remarked. “Well done. We should get some great footage to set the tone for the show’s opening sequence.”

She glanced over at the camera crew. The lead cameraman gave her a thumbs-up to signal that he was ready. They would not be recording their voices, but they wanted to capture the moments when the participants first saw each other in the room. Then Alex in a voice-over would narrate the scene and identify the people.

Sandra and her children, Henry and Charlotte, were the first of the participants to arrive for the reception. Even with her elegant silk pantsuit, Sandra had found a place for a button of Amanda’s photograph, complete with the image of a yellow ribbon, on her lapel. Laurie greeted Sandra and Charlotte with hugs, and then introduced herself to Amanda’s brother, Henry.

“Oh, Amanda would have loved this.” Sandra wiped away a tear. “Everything is precisely the way she wanted it.”

Charlotte placed an arm around her mother and gave her shoulder a little squeeze. “As I recall, this is just the way
you
wanted it, Mom.”

“I know it is. I love to plan a party, it’s true. And the joy of planning this one—I wanted everything to be so perfect.”

“It would have been, Mom,” Henry tried to assure her. He then began fiddling with his bow tie. He was a handsome man, but with shaggy dark hair and more than a few days of stubble, he did not seem comfortable in formal wear.

Charlotte nudged her mother. “Jeff just walked in.”

Sandra stole a glance and then quickly turned away. “With Meghan, of course.” Her tone was reproachful. “I know I pushed for this, Laurie, but now that we’re here, I have no idea how to act. I truly believe one or both of them is responsible for Amanda’s disappearance. I wanted them to be here, but I didn’t think it would be this hard to be in the same room with them.”

Laurie placed her hand gently on Sandra’s arm. “Just do what comes naturally, Sandra. You don’t even have to speak with them if you don’t want to.” The beauty of reality television was letting the cameras capture human behavior, completely unrehearsed and unscripted.

“Wow,” Charlotte exclaimed. “Kate looks terrific. She hasn’t aged a day.”

Laurie turned to see a third person with Jeff and Meghan, hugging them both. She was slightly shorter than Laurie, around five-foot-four, with chin-length, bright blonde hair and round, rosy cheeks. In the old college photographs Laurie had seen, Kate had been the plain one compared to her two friends. But obviously she had put her best foot forward for an occasion like this.

“Did she bring the family?” Henry asked.

“Her mother is minding the children,” Sandra replied. “I guess a true-crime TV show isn’t the best family vacation.”

Except in my household, Laurie thought, amused. She excused herself to make her way over to the Colby crowd of participants, pausing nearby to eavesdrop. She heard Jeff tell Kate and Meghan that it was “surreal” to see his planned wedding reception with Amanda re-created.

“It’s certainly a far cry from our reception,” Meghan said. “Margaritas and take-out barbecue in our apartment was more our speed.”

Laurie couldn’t tell if she sensed resentment in Meghan’s tone. If Kate was at all suspicious of Jeff and Meghan, or disapproving of their marriage, she didn’t show it. They sounded like three old friends catching up.

•  •  •

“I’m sorry to interrupt,” Laurie said, “but I wanted to introduce myself.” Meghan never had found the time to talk to Laurie directly, and she had only spoken to Kate on the phone. Meghan seemed to withdraw as both Kate and Jeff said they were excited about the possibility of discovering new clues about Amanda’s disappearance once the show aired.

Kate suddenly turned toward the entrance. “Take a look, guys. Nick hasn’t changed a bit, but get a load of our little Austin, all grown up!”

Kate leaned in toward Laurie to fill her in on the backstory. “Nick was always a ladies’ man, even in college. Austin was Nick’s sidekick, but very much in his shadow. A complete disaster with women, he was always coming on too strong.”

“Well, I don’t know about his success in the dating market,” Laurie said, “but I doubt he’s in Nick’s shadow in all respects these days. The two of them flew down here on Austin’s private jet.”

The men were making a beeline for their old college friends.

“La dee da,” Kate exclaimed, when Austin reached them. “A private jet, I hear. Who’d have thought that the Austin we knew in college would be doing that?”

“Careful, Kate,” Austin protested good-naturedly. “I can probably dig up some old pictures from when you stayed way too long at happy hour.”

Clearly these friends were used to good-natured banter.

Laurie noticed Nick nudge his friend Austin. “Heads up,” he said. “We may have some competition for female attention at the bar tonight.”

Laurie turned to see Alex walking into the ballroom. She felt a catch in her breath. His face was slightly tanned already, and his tuxedo fit him perfectly. Laurie immediately looked down at her own dress and was glad she had splurged on it. But she wished she had put on more makeup.

“You look beautiful, as usual,” Alex said as she walked toward him.

“And of course you’re the essence of the man about town.” As she spoke, she was aware of the instant warmth from the closeness of their bodies.

The last person to arrive was Walter Pierce, the family’s patriarch. Unlike his ex-wife Sandra, he marched directly up to Jeff and greeted him with a strong handshake. He even congratulated him and Meghan on their nuptials and wished them a lifetime of happiness.

As Laurie scanned her cast of characters, she couldn’t help but notice how the dynamic changed once Walter entered. Having said his hellos to Amanda’s former fiancé and their friends, he moved directly to his family, where he remained for the rest of the night. The exchanges she had heard between Sandra and her children flowed less naturally. Every member of the Pierce family now seemed to focus on Walter. Was his flight okay? Did he like his room? Did he
need another drink? Even with everything that had happened, he was still the head of the family.

Were there ever children who didn’t care what their father thought of them? Laurie wondered. Then she answered her own question. No.

After ten minutes she went over to the lead cameraman.

“I just asked the wedding party and Sandra’s parents to stand together for a group shot,” she said. “We’ll close with that.”

As they lined up and faced the camera, it was clear that this was not a typical wedding photograph. The earlier polite veneer was gone. Jeff had his arm protectively around Meghan. Tears were spilling from Sandra’s eyes. No one was even attempting to smile.

Is it possible that someone in the wedding party could have hated Amanda enough to take her life? Laurie wondered. Unless the man in that grainy surveillance video or some other random stranger was the killer, it was highly likely that one of the people staring at the camera had killed Amanda.