Murder Had a Little Lamb (37 page)

Kind of like my relationship with Nick.

I continued up the steps, carefully lifting the folds of ivory silk with one hand. In the other, I clutched an impromptu bouquet composed of pink, yellow, and white flowers I’d picked from Betty’s garden. Even though getting hitched at Town Hall isn’t supposed to be particularly romantic, I was so overcome with emotion that I was close to tears. After all, I was embarking on one of the most monumental experiences of my life.

I also expected it to be one of the most terrifying. Even though I’d already gone through a dress rehearsal, I just assumed that the butterflies that apparently reside in my stomach wouldn’t be any more cooperative the second time around.

Yet this time, I was enveloped in a strange sense of calm. It was as if I just knew I was doing what was right for me.

I paused, half-turning as I waited for Nick to catch up with me. Since he’d returned his rented tuxedo long before, dressing up in his wedding finery wasn’t an option. He’d offered to put on a suit and tie, but since that was what he wore to the law firm every day, I told him to wear whatever he’d feel most comfortable in. Given that directive, I wasn’t all that surprised that he’d emerged from Betty and Winston’s bedroom dressed in his best suit, his most conservative tie, and his favorite Led Zeppelin T-shirt, the one that was so badly faded it was nearly impossible to see the band’s picture.

When he saw that I’d hesitated at the top of the stairs, he glanced up at me with a look of concern. “Are you okay, Jess?” he asked anxiously.

“I’ve never been better in my life,” I assured him with a smile.

As soon as he reached the step I was on, I linked my arm in his, adding, “I just figured this was something we should be doing together.”

He squeezed my hand. “I like the sound of that word.”

A few minutes later, I stood next to him in front of the town’s wedding officer. As I glanced around at my surroundings, I couldn’t help noticing how different everything was compared to the last time around. No gorgeous Victorian mansion, no tuxedo, no sky-high wedding cake. Even that bottle of champagne was long gone.

But I didn’t care. Marrying Nick wasn’t about any of that. It was about him and me and the two of us being together for the rest of our lives.

“All set?” the wedding officer asked, smoothing the jacket of her dignified blue business suit. From the glazed look in her eyes, I got the feeling she’d done this quite a few times before.

But for me, all this was an exciting new adventure.

“Do you—uh.” She glanced down at her notes. “Wait a minute. Oh, here it is. Nicholas Burby. Do you, Nicholas Burby, take this woman—?”

“I do,” Nick said without waiting for her to finish.

A startled look crossed her face, then quickly vanished. I had a feeling this had happened once or twice before, too.

“Okay,” she said with a curt nod. “In that case, do you—that’s Jessica Popper, right?—take this man—”

“I do,” I interrupted.

And I did. I absolutely, positively, definitely, completely did.