Wedding Bell Blues (37 page)

"Besides," and now he smiled proudly down at me. "You not only
broke
her nose, but your forearm broke two of her ribs, and you dislocated
her jaw. Remind me never to piss you off like that."

"You never could," I assured him and reached up to kiss his
cheek.

"Can I make a confession now?" he asked, his arm about my
shoulders
as we leaned against the wall and watched my sister leading her new
husband out onto the floor for the next dance.

My stomach did a slow roll, and I swallowed hard. After
everything
else that had happened today, I half way expected him to tell me he
really didn't love me. Well, he'd quickly learn he wasn't going to get
off the hook that easily. I'd made up my mind that we belonged
together, and I'd make it my mission to convince him I was right.

I can be very determined when I want to be.

"Sure."

"Your mother's scaring me. Have you seen how she's watched us
since the reception began?"

"What?"

That was the last thing I'd expected. Then, seeing
how nervous he was, I scanned the crowd, looking for Mom. There she
was, standing across the dance floor from us, with my grandparents,
several cousins, and their spouses. She nodded at something someone
said and then, as if realizing I was watching her, she looked in our
direction. As she did, a slow, almost lazy smile spread across her
face, and I swallowed hard. If she'd been a cat and I a canary, I'd
know she was looking at dinner. Instead, I moaned softly, realizing
exactly what was on her mind.

That two- or three-month grace period I'd so foolishly hoped
for before she started thinking about weddings again wasn't to be.

"You should be afraid, Colton, very afraid. I know that look."

"Oh, God." His arm tightened around my shoulders. "We could
sneak out. No one will miss us."

He was right. Here we stood, next to the doors leading
outside. Once
through them, we could cut across the lawn and around the clubhouse to
the parking lot. From there, it was an easy getaway.

"I need to tell Maryanne. I can't just leave without saying
something to her." No matter how tempting it was, I simply couldn't
sneak out without telling Maryanne goodbye.

"Let's to it together. Unless you think your mother will
tackle us and start making plans."

I swear, sweat actually pricked out on his brow at the
thought.

"I think it will be safe enough."

Hand in hand, we carefully crossed the dance floor to where
Maryanne
and Brett danced. As we neared, Maryanne whispered something to her new
husband, and they paused, waiting for us to join them. The moment we
did, Brett pulled me into a rib-crushing hug before pumping Colton's
hand and thanking us yet again for what we'd done that morning.

"Listen, little sister, Mom has that look in her eyes," I
commented
and hissed in warning as Maryanne looked over her shoulder to where our
parents stood. When she looked back, there was no mistaking her
amusement or her sympathy.

"Poor Jessie. She does have that look, doesn't she?"

"How about poor Colton?" He looked at Maryanne with puppy dog
eyes, and she laughed gaily.

"Listen, I know I shouldn't ask this, but-"

"Hush, big sister. I want the two of you to sneak out of here.
You both deserve it. Don't they, Brett?"

"You most certainly do," he agreed. "We'll even run
interference and
have another parents' dance. Wait until we have your folks out on the
floor with us and then sneak out. We'll see you when we get back from
the Bahamas."

"Thanks."

Colton shook Brett's hand again and then bent to
kiss Maryanne's cheek. I simply gave my sister a hug and whispered how
much I loved her.

True to his word, ten minutes later, Brett called for another
dance
with the parents of the bride. The moment the band began playing,
Colton and I ducked out the side door. I kicked off my shoes, smiling
as Colton bent to retrieve them. Then, hiking my skirt up to my knees,
I grabbed his hand, and we raced around the clubhouse toward the
parking lot. We might actually be lucky enough to get away with this.

"Where to?" he asked as we sped up the drive.

"Can you leave town now?" I hoped so because, if we stayed
here, my
mother would track us down. After she finished reading us the riot act
for leaving the reception early, she'd want to start planning our
wedding.

I didn't know if there was going to be a wedding yet, and I
sure as hell didn't want to run the risk of her scaring Colton off.

"Yep. I have the next week off, since they won't need me on
this case until it goes before the grand jury."

"Then let's go somewhere we can lie in front of a fire and not
worry
about going out or doing anything but being together. We deserve that
much at least."

"Sounds good to me." He reached out and grasped my hand. I
smiled
happily as he pressed the back of it to his lips. "Take a look in the
glove compartment."

Puzzled, I did as he said. Inside, carefully situated on top
of what
looked like a couple of maps and his maintenance receipts, was a folded
sheet of paper. The interior light came on, and I glanced at Colton.
The Cheshire cat smile he wore sent a spark through me. He was up to
something. But what?

"I thought you might like to spend a couple of days at Tahoe,"
he commented as I read the printout of a flight schedule.

"Sounds good. But this shows we have to stay overnight in
Vegas."

"I know. I thought we could try our hands at one of the
casinos."

"Sounds like fun."

"Oh, there's something else I'd like to do while we're there."

My heart beat a little faster. "What?"

"There's something I've always wanted to do, Jess, and this
seems like the perfect time to do it."

"Colton, just say it," I laughed.

"Okay." Now he grinned like a little boy on Christmas morning
and I
held my breath, wondering what he had in mind. "I've always wanted to
see a Vegas wedding. What do you say, Jess? How about getting married
by an Elvis impersonator while we're there? Think about the look on
your mother's face when we get back and show her the pictures."

I don't think I stopped laughing until we were at the airport
and boarding the plane.