Wedding Tea Read online

  By the time our first cup of tea was cold, she knew all about the ex-boyfriend. We didn’t know he was the person in our backyard, but their breakup was ugly.

  It’s amazing how much stuff people put online for the world to see.

  In one of the pictures of the previously happy couple, there was a car. Teagan enlarged the image and got the license plate. Ran it through an app she had on her phone from chasing down the problems she had at her office.

  Next thing you know, Teagan and I are on our way to his apartment complex. Just to look around.

  What are the chances we would pull up just as he was leaving?

  Exactly.

  That’s why I’m one hundred percent sure Mom is watching over us.

  We followed him for a while. He’s a big guy. No reason to get our faces punched in when we have wedding pictures to take soon.

  When he pulled in for fast food, he parked right next to a police car.

  Thank you, Mom.

  We went in and sat down at his table. Teagan is bold like that.

  She explained that we knew what he’d done. We had him on video. We were trying to decide if we wanted to involve the police, which could really screw up his future, or if we just wanted to let him know that we knew what he’d done, and if anything at all happened in or around our property again, we were taking everything we knew to the police.

  She told him that our brother is a cop.

  That I work for an extremely powerful woman that thought of me as a daughter and wouldn’t think twice of burying him in a swamp, and that her husband — so is she calling Jessie her husband now? — worked for people he truly didn’t want to mess with.

  He confessed he’d trashed our backyard because there was nothing to trash in the neighbor’s backyard. He figured if the fence was down there was going to be a party, and he figured it was a huge blowout for his ex. Turns out she graduated early. An event that just happened to coincide with her great-grandfather’s birthday.

  He admitted it was stupid and childish. He offered to pay for any damages.

  Teagan wasn’t buying it.

  She’s never bought into the good boy made a mistake theory of life. Not even a little bit. And she told him so. She insists either you have integrity or you don’t, and circumstances don’t change that.

  When we left, he looked totally humble and repentant.

  Teagan explained to me on the way home that any guy who would sneak around and mess up the supposed venue for a graduation is not a good guy.

  And what was he doing sneaking around anyway?

  How did he know the fence was down unless he was spying on her?

  Teagan said she would bet big money that this isn’t over, but it also isn’t our problem. Unless he pulls something else before the wedding, we should probably just sit back and watch. Tell Roland’s people what we’d found. Just in case.

  And the detail that cinched it for Teagan: he called her ma’am. Twice. Proves he’s a bad seed. A guy that was raised well enough to call a female ma’am — even if the female is much too young to be a ma’am — does not mess up strangers’ backyards.

  When I told A.J. how Teagan and I had spent the day, he wasn’t too thrilled, but he stayed calmer than I thought he would. At dinner, I found out why. While I was out running around with Teagan, he went and talked to one of his friends from Old Town. He didn’t give me any details other than to say his friend would be checking into how Barry escaped and what level of danger he believed our household was in. A.J. said he needed to know if we were simply a random opportunity that Barry took advantage of or some part of an ongoing vendetta.

  A.J. didn’t say it, but if we’re part of a vendetta, I think we might be moving.

  To the moon.

  I didn’t get mad. Which took A.J. by surprise.

  “I get it. You have your sister, your niece, and your soon-to-be wife living in a house that may or may not be a target for a crazy person. The crazy person may or may not have it out for one or all of us. You need facts.”

  “Exactly. Thanks for understanding.”

  “Can I ask one favor?”

  He held me close. “Anything.”

  “Whatever the outcome, you tell me. No games. No protecting us. If Suzi and I — and of course Evelyn — are going to stay safe, we need to know what we’re up against.”

  “I promise.”

  “Promise not to leave anything out?”

  “I do.”

  I squealed. “Just think. You’re going to be saying those words for something so much better soon.”

  No further problems from the ex-boyfriend. Not yet anyway. The neighbor’s party went perfectly without any drama. I’d volunteered O’Flynn manpower to serve and clean up. The neighbors declined, but the next morning, we all got out there and helped get the backyards in shape. This fence-down policy is a great idea.

  ELEVEN

  TWENTY-FOUR HOURS. I’M getting married in twenty-four hours. Well, not exactly twenty-four hours, but almost. Can you believe it?

  Everything moved so slowly for so long; then all of a sudden it’s tomorrow.

  Teagan came over really early this morning. Well before the sun came up. Turned out, she had already talked to A.J. He’d sneaked out of bed, made me a cup of tea, then brought it to me and woke me up.

  “Teagan will be here in a few minutes. You need to wake up.”

  “I swear to God, A.J., if she has some crazy thing she got caught up in the day before our wedding, I’m gonna kill her dead and drag her out to gator alley. They’ll never find the body.”

  “No, it’s nothing like that. She has something special in mind. Just go with it.”

  “Okay.” I tried to get my eyes to focus. Since my brain hadn’t really kicked in, I was more ‘obedient robot’ than inquisitive bride-to-be. “What do I wear?”

  “Doesn’t matter.”

  “Curious. Can I take a shower?”

  “A quick one.”

  Fifteen minutes later, I was sitting at the kitchen table — my hair almost presentable — in jeans and a t-shirt. I’d taken a minute to slap on some mascara and lip balm. If Teagan wants glamorous, she should give me more notice.

  We drove around for ten minutes, me losing my patience.

  “What are we doing, Teagan?”

  “Timing is everything, dingleberry.”

  “After tomorrow, you can’t call me that anymore. You promised. No dingleberry once I’m married.”

  “So I’ll have to use it a lot today.”

  “Great.”

  I was about to tell her to take me home when I realized we were headed to the cemetery. “The cemetery?”

  “Yep.”

  “I hope you brought Kleenex.”

  “You’re fine.”

  My mom is in a bench in the chapel at the cemetery.

  Okay, she’d smack me for that.

  She is not in the bench.

  She has moved on to better things.

  Her body is cremated and in the bench. There’s a bench on either side of the altar. There are huge stained-glass windows behind the altar. I’ve been in the chapel on some pretty terrible days, like when we interred my mom, but it’s always beautiful in that room.

  Teagan taking me to visit Mom the day before my wedding was such a thoughtful thing.

  I was crying before I got out of the car.

  She was smart enough to have a lovely light blue hand towel.

  She knew this was going to get ugly.

  It didn’t even dawn on me that the gate to the cemetery was open.

  It’s not supposed to be open until after sunrise, and the sun was just starting to peek over the horizon. Such a beautiful time of day, when everything glows and turns interesting colors.

  When we got to the chapel, Teagan pulled open the door.

  Inside, the lights were on.

  There was a bit of decoration.

  The sun was just coming up, and the effect through the stained-glass windows was a
lmost magical.

  It still didn’t hit me.

  From the right side, Billy — our family priest — walked out.

  Then my father.

  Then A.J. and the rest of my family.

  Even Suzi and Gran.

  No kids. Everyone dressed very casually.

  I went straight to the ugly cry.

  We didn’t get married, exactly, but Billy blessed us and our marriage and our future.

  I was holding it together pretty well, considering, until I found out that it wasn’t Teagan’s idea, it was A.J.’s.

  He knows I’m insane — only an insane person would want something like this — and he loves me anyway.

  I lost my mind.

  Sinead had a small bouquet for me to present to a statue of the Blessed Virgin. Just like my mother would have done at a church wedding.

  She’s looking so pregnant all of a sudden.

  Even Seamus showed up.

  We all went back to Teagan’s for breakfast.

  Is it terrible to say that if this morning’s ceremony — or whatever we’re going to call it — was all the wedding I’d had, it would have been enough?

  A.J. and I decided early on there would be no bachelor party or wedding shower. We both have everything we need and most of what we want, and it just seemed wrong to spend money on that kind of party.

  I know it’s tradition, but we wanted to start our own tradition.

  Instead of a shower or a bachelor party, we asked that the money that would have been spent be donated.

  Troya took it on as a cause.

  By the time they were all done, they’d created the most beautiful memory book of what they had donated and to whom. And why. Beautiful stories.

  Sinead, our youngest, had decided to donate to an organization in Ireland that benefits senior citizens. Seamus, our oldest, had donated to a children’s organization.

  There were cattle and goats purchased to enable families to create and sustain income.

  There was a child sponsored for school.

  There’s a scholarship in my mother’s name.

  Clean water for thirsty people.

  All of their thoughtful and generous donations are so much more important and long lasting than a bachelor party or unneeded gifts. They meant so much more to us than a gag gift or a stripper.

  It made me equal parts happy and proud.

  The family presented us with the memory book at the breakfast at Teagan’s.

  It was already the perfect day, and the wedding doesn’t even happen until tomorrow.

  I worried that maybe we peaked before the actual event.

  I know.

  I’m neurotic.

  But I am getting better.

  Teagan explained that although there would be no bachelor party, the guys were going to kidnap A.J. for a few beers and darts after dinner. The girls would kidnap me, and we were going to have pizza and soda — in deference to our little preggos — and they would hold me captive until morning so that A.J. wouldn’t see the bride before the ceremony. I was told to pack a bag; I’d be spending the night at Teagan’s.

  I would not admit this to another living soul.

  Ever.

  But on the way home from Teagan’s.

  Before we got to the house with Suzi and Evelyn there to babysit us.

  We made a quick stop.

  Behind the big blue building on Blender and Bledsoe.

  We were really quick.

  We didn’t want to get caught.

  It was like high school.

  If I’d had a lot more fun in high school.

  Just before a late lunch, I drove over to Teagan’s for a final look at the dress, the veil, and everything else. I knew it was done. I knew it was perfect. I knew everything was ready and there wasn’t a single detail that I needed to address. I couldn’t help myself.

  A.J. came with me, but he stayed downstairs, and all the wedding stuff was up in Teagan’s dressing area.

  She already had her house cleaned up from breakfast.

  I almost fainted.

  Our little girl is growing up.

  She didn’t like that comment.

  She had me slather stuff on my face and put some special conditioner in my hair. We went to the salon later in the day and had my nails done.

  Do I sound scattered?

  I feel scattered.

  Time just seemed to be weird. It would feel like I had all the time in the world, and then I’d feel like the day was over, and it was time for me to panic because there was something I’d forgotten or something that didn’t get done, and then everything was in slow motion again.

  When we got back to Teagan’s house, nails shiny and heels soft, I took the opportunity to give her a gift.

  I’d been shopping for a long time. I didn’t want to get the typical bridesmaid gift, whatever that is, but I didn’t want to be too far out there, either.

  I ended up having a special charm made for her charm bracelet. She’s one of those people that actually wears such a thing from time to time.

  I handed her the little blue box.

  She smiled, opened the box, and looked completely confused. “What is it?”

  “It’s a charm for your charm bracelet.”

  “That much I figured out all on my own, dingleberry. What’s the charm?”

  “It’s a Vaccinium erythrocarpum.”

  “Okay, let me phrase it another way. What is a Vaccinium erythrocarpum?”

  “You might know it by its more commonly used name. It’s a dingleberry.”

  She burst out laughing.

  “Since tomorrow is the last day you will be using the word, I thought I’d get you something to remember it by.”

  “Vaccinium erythrocarpum. That’s a pretty fancy-ass term for a little piece of … ”

  “It’s actually a kind of cranberry that’s referred to as a dingleberry. Close enough.”

  “Cara, there are little shamrocks on it.”

  “That’s because there’s a place in Ireland called Dingle. I figured that dingle plus berry would be easier to explain, should the conversation ever devolve to things like that.”

  “God help me, I love it. I got you something, too.”

  “I thought we decided not to do that. Your donation was more than enough. You and Jessie were so generous. I don’t even want to think about what you guys spent on my dress.”

  “The donation really didn’t count. How often do you get to use your sister’s wedding gift as a tax write-off?”

  She ignored the fact that she’d spent outrageous money on my dress. I know she killed two birds with one stone by having the designer come over and do both our dresses. Agatha mentioned they had been planning on coming over on holiday, and she and her husband simply rearranged their schedules a little bit. It’s not like Teagan had to pay for their entire trip.

  She handed me a thin box a bit bigger than notepaper. “It’s my favorite, dingleberry.”

  I opened the box. Inside was a picture of the O’Flynns. Sinead was about two. Mom and Daddy looked so young. The picture had been printed on special paper and had a watercolor effect added to it. It was gorgeous.

  “Thank you. It’s perfect.”

  “A girl at the office does these on the side.”

  “She’s wasted at your office. She belongs in a gallery.”

  “Don’t tell her. We’d be lost without her. I have a question.”

  “There’s a possibility I have an answer. What’s up?”

  “I know that A.J.’s using his grandfather’s wedding ring. What did you guys decide on for you? I know you have that necklace as your engagement ring. You are wearing a wedding ring, right?”

  “Yes, Teagan. A.J. had it made for me.”

  “Wow.” She was actually impressed. Considering we couldn’t have more diverse opinions on jewelry, it made me smile.

  “It’s perfect.”

  “So?”

  “It’s an infinity-type design of triq
uetra.”

  “Trinity knots?”

  “Yep.”

  “Diamonds?”

  “Nope?”

  “Emeralds?”

  “Nope. Plain band. Celtic knotting all around. I love it.”

  “If it works for you.” All of a sudden, she didn’t seem so impressed anymore.

  “The reason I love it is that A.J. decided it was perfect for us. He did the research. He found out that a trinity knot is a symbol of love, honor, and protection. That’s what he wants our marriage to be. So do I. And it just so happens that the ring is stunning. Even you would wear it.”

  The look on her face made me laugh. “True. Nudged right up there with my diamonds.”

  “Teagan, you’re probably the only woman in the world that will have a dingleberry displayed proudly on your wrist next to diamonds.”

  “Yes, and when people ask me what it is, I’m gonna tell them it’s a perfect self-portrait of my sister the dingleberry.”

  When everyone got to the house for our in-place kidnapping, it dawned on me that there were no kids. Again. Troya explained her roommate Gavin and his partner had stepped up. They took the kids this morning so that everyone could be at the cemetery, and took them again this evening so the guys could go out with A.J. and the girls could stay in with me.

  Morgan smiled. “I know Gavin’s a nurse, but that’s a lot of work for one guy. Especially since the kids are so young.”

  Troya explained. “His partner works with kids, too. He’s the founder of Piddlemont Prep.”

  Morgan was the first to respond. “The elementary school academy? The one in the paper and on the news? The one that has won every award possible for teachers and kids alike?”

  “That’s the one.”

  “And to think I left Jordan with my neighbor. I can’t believe it. Such a missed opportunity. I’d love for Jordan to get into that school. They’re famous for their ability to get the students involved and really passionate about learning. Kids leave that place with such a strong foundation and a real lifelong passion for learning and understanding and giving back.”

  Troya nodded. “He’ll be at the wedding. He’s Gavin’s plus one. I’ll introduce you.”

  Morgan’s always-serene countenance had a bit of an edge of excitement the rest of the night.