The Home Court Advantage (29 page)

The rest of the week was kind of a blur. My office gave me some time off, which I appreciated. Braden also took a couple of personal days and he enlisted his mom to organize the wedding, a project she performed with great talent and skill. She managed to secure the musical talent of Stanford Benson, (also known around Philly train stations as Stan the Bluesman) to play a special dedication for our first dance. She not only invited Ahmet and Damla, she put in a huge order for their special Turkish pastries. Their desserts would be sampled by senators, congressmen, judges and various other notables. Since they would all be joining us at the engagement party turned wedding reception later, Claire even made sure that they all had formal clothes to wear. She thought of everything.

Senator Pierce and my dad quickly assembled more security than the Pentagon had and arranged for us to have access to a private plane and a room at a lovely resort for a long weekend on St. Thomas the following week. My mom dedicated her energy to trying to get her relatives to behave themselves. She had the toughest job of them all. She also came into Philly several times that week, and took me shopping for my dress, veil, and shoes, out for mani/pedi, to have my hair trimmed and styled, all the good girlie stuff. She and I talked a lot about marriage, the ups and downs, the give and take. In case I haven’t mentioned it, my mom is an incredible woman.

Braden and I spent our time mostly talking and planning. We took the first steps toward forming The Justice Project and found some nice Center City office space. The week flew by. Before I knew it, it was Friday evening. My parents, along with my aunt, uncle and cousin would be arriving any moment along with …Bubbe.

The Pierces had planned their house party carefully. Beth had conveyed my anxiety to Claire, who, in turn, had felt guilty. She didn’t want me to be embarrassed, so she had purposely invited the most questionable relatives of theirs who she could find as well, which was how Derek came to be there. Braden and I went to Bryn Mawr together that evening. He was planning to stay overnight there with his family and I would return to the Ritz with my parents and stay with them in their suite there until the next day. He squeezed my hand as we saw the two limos pull into the drive.

“I love you, Gabrielle,” he said solemnly.

“I love you too Braden,” I replied, trying not to sound overly fearful.

The doors of the lead car opened and my parents stepped out looking fabulous. They came over and hugged Braden and I warmly. Then doors opened on the second car and my stomach dropped into my shoes.

“Oy vey! A cab to a train to a car! What are you going to put me in a rowboat next? I’m an elderly woman!” It was Bubbe.

“What are you complaining about?” My cousin, Rachel, exclaimed in her heavy New York accent. “You rode in luxury on the Acela and you were driven in style in a limo! It’s not like your son-in-law tossed you in the trunk of a Chevy Nova!”

“Enough already!” My Aunt Ruth said, looking like she was on her last nerve. “The two of you have been arguing since we left Penn Station. You’re giving me a headache!”

“Braden, you remember my relatives I’m sure,” my mother said with a smile.

“I do, Judy.” He laughed. “Hello everyone! Welcome to my family’s home. Let me get you inside and introduce you to my parents, Tyler and Claire.”

“This is a nice place!” My Uncle Ira said, looking the house over. “So your father’s a senator, Braden!” As he passed by me he said, “Good job, Gabrielle!” in a whisper loud enough for half the house to hear. I rolled my eyes heavenward.

“You see this, Rachel?” Bubbe asked. “This is what you get when you keep a man happy! You make sure that when you’re married you keep giving him whatever he asks for in bed, Gabrielle!”

“Oh, my God,” I whimpered. Braden put his arm around me reassuringly.

“We’ll have to introduce her to Derek,” he suggested with a smile. We all went inside and we introduced my relatives to Braden’s relatives. Claire had amazing hostess skills! She had found a second cousin who owned a string of tuxedo rental places in New York. He and Ira were talking some serious dry cleaning before long. My Aunt Ruth found a common interest in daytime television with a rather loud cousin with a heavy Boston accent. Rachel and Derek hit it off immediately. That was interesting. I would have imagined that she would have been more interested in Drew. Speaking of Drew, he and Bubbe and a couple of frat boy cousins were having a great time drinking, playing poker, telling dirty jokes and smoking cigars out on the patio. Which meant that Braden and I were able to relax and enjoy some time with our parents together.

“So Tyler, I understand that you popped the question after six weeks too,” my dad said.

“I knew right away that young lady was right for me,” he said, smiling at Claire lovingly. “I guess that Braden inherited my decisiveness
and
my impatience.”

“Well, Gabrielle must have inherited my courage and adventurous spirit because I accepted his proposal after eight weeks of dating,” my mom added, gesturing at my dad.

“
You’re
courageous? Have you met her mother?” my dad joked. “Never question how much I love your mom, Gabrielle,” he said looking at her adoringly.

“When Braden asked me I said he was the bravest man I knew besides you.”

“I can’t believe that at this time tomorrow you’ll be my wife,” he said looking at me in much the same way that Tyler had looked at Claire and my dad had looked at my mom. Seeing that look I knew that it would be okay.

We stayed until nine and then Braden and I hugged each other tightly and went to spend some private time with our parents. We knew that while they were thrilled, it also wasn’t easy for them to see their babies grown up. After a lovely night full of laughter and tears with my parents I found myself getting ready for my wedding the following day in their suite, accompanied by Jess, Lily and Beth. They were acting as my bridesmaids and they had all bought very pretty matching dresses in a deep sapphire blue that looked great on all of them. I had bought a simple white (yeah, whatever!) bias-cut silk sheath wedding gown and I wore my diamond necklace and long sheer veil attached to the back of my head with a beautiful diamond clip that had belonged to Braden’s great-grandmother.

My parents had reserved the entire floor for close friends and family. Braden’s family had taken over the floor above. It was still only four when I was finished getting dressed and made up and I wanted to go walk to work off some nerves, so we set out to see who was around.

“You look so gorgeous, Gabrielle, I can’t wait to see Braden’s face when he sees you,” Beth said, sounding emotional. She had told me that there had been plenty of laughter and tears at the Pierce home the night before as well.

“I can’t wait to see him. I’ll bet he looks amazing,” I answered just as we turned a corner. I saw someone else who amazed me in the hall up ahead of us. I knew that bellman!

“It’s him!” Lily suddenly cried out. The figure looked up quickly and took off down the hall. Without even really thinking about it, I hiked up my skirt and took off after him.

“Wait, Gabrielle!” Jess cried. When I didn’t stop, my friends, loyal until the end, took off in pursuit with me. The bellman ran into a stairwell and I ran after him. I could hear him a flight below and I did everything in my power to follow and not break my neck. After two flights I heard him exit and I followed, yelling for him to stop. Jess. Lily, and Beth were not far behind me. He had exited onto a mezzanine that connected with the grand staircase. As I chased after him I heard a voice call to me from below.

“Gabrielle?! Baby, what are you doing now?!” Braden called out. I realized that this probably looked kind of odd, a bride and three bridesmaids chasing a bellman around a fancy hotel. We did seem to be attracting some attention. I hoped that they hadn’t let the media in yet.

“Stop him, Braden! It’s him! The stalker!” I saw five figures, Braden, Cam, Drew, Adam and Mark, all dressed in tuxedos, come bounding up the grand staircase with hotel guests scurrying to get out of their way. When they reached the mezzanine they took off after us and now all eight of us were in hot pursuit. The bellman dove onto an open elevator.

“Shit!” Braden swore. “Watch to see what floor he gets off on and call up to me on the stairs.” With that the five guys took off for the stairwell.

We watched and saw that he had stopped at my family’s floor again, which I called up to Braden and headed back up the two flights myself with my friends right behind me. When we got there we saw the guys knocking on doors and searching. Suddenly, I heard my cousin Rachel’s voice scream out from around the corner. We all headed in that direction and threw open the door to find Rachel in bed … with Derek! We all came to a crashing stop, almost knocking one another over.

“He went that way!” Rachel screeched and pointed to an open door.

“Why did Sam Walker just run through here?” Derek asked much more calmly.

“Who?” Braden asked, bewildered.

“Sam Walker, that sleazy fuck who works for the Hill Group. He must be trying to get some dirt on somebody.” I wondered how sleazy a person would actually have to be for Derek to call him sleazy.

“Hi, Gabrielle!” Rachel said. “You look gorgeous, darling! Mazel Tov!”

“Thanks. I see that you’ve met Braden’s cousin, Derek.”

“Get dressed! I may need you to identify him!” Braden demanded. Suddenly I heard a male voice yell out.

“Hey, lady! Back off! I didn’t mean to barge in on you! Ouch! Cut it out!”

“Who in the hell are you?! I didn’t call a bellman! Oy gevalt! What kind of crazy goddamned hotel is this?! The privacy of my own room and some meshugener bellman comes crashing in?!”

“Oh my God! He’s in Bubbe’s room!” I cried out. “Nobody deserves that!” I ran toward the sounds and my posse followed me.

We ran through the door and back into the hall where we saw Sam Walker go flying out a door up ahead while being chased by my grandmother who was beating him with a handbag. She was a fast old bugger. I noted that she left her cane behind. She was slowing him down and we were making ground fast but as we rounded a corner I saw that he had a straight shot for another open elevator.

“Get him, Bubbe!” I yelled. Just then I heard a familiar yip. They had brought Bruno and he was in my parents’ suite! I saw a teeny tiny head poke out of the doorway! “Bruno! Baby! Go get him! Go get the bad guy for Mommy and Daddy!” Like lighting Bruno shot out of the room and launched himself at the fleeing bellman, grabbing onto his ankles and sinking his teeth in. Walker screamed out in pain and fell to the floor where Bubbe overtook him and started beating him again with her handbag. We finally caught up and pulled Bubbe and Bruno off the beaten man on the floor. The guys continued to subdue him while we called security and the police.

They arrived shortly after and took Sam Walker, who was complaining loudly that he was being chased without reason by a bunch of crazy people, into custody and charged him with stalking and harassment. That was just for starters. We asked them to take him into a room for a few minutes first, though, before taking him to police headquarters, since Senator Pierce would probably like to speak to him.

Our parents had been alerted to what was going on and came up to meet us. Beth took Bruno with her to give him a special treat for being a hero. Drew took Bubbe down to buy her a martini as a reward for taking down a guy a foot taller and forty years younger than her. Someone had been sent to get Derek, who seemed to know this guy and he showed up five minutes later very calm, completely dressed and not at all disheveled.

“Well hello there, Sam,” Derek said as he strode into the room. “Still working for the Hill Group? Or can’t they afford you now that they’re out of the kinky party business?”

“You’ve been to plenty of those parties yourself, Mr. Fuckin’ High and Mighty.”

“Yeah, but just as a guest. At least I’m not a pimp,” Derek replied with a smile.

“What’s the Hill Group?” Tyler asked.

“It’s the group that owns Club 51. You know some of them already, Marla Benton, Veronica and Roland Mason, and Cole Stevenson.”