Neighing with Fire: A Mystery (Colleen McCabe Series) (26 page)
Read Neighing with Fire: A Mystery (Colleen McCabe Series) Online
Authors: Kathryn O'Sullivan
She parked behind the car that had been traveling down the beach in advance of her, exited, and heard the murmur of excited voices. She squinted, trying to make out who had already arrived.
“You’re going too fast. Slow down,” she heard a familiar voice say in front of her.
“I can’t be late, Mother,” came the response.
That could only be one mother and son duo—Myrtle and Bobby.
“Why don’t you go ahead,” came Nellie’s voice. “Myrtle and I will be fine.”
“Good morning,” she said, catching up to the women.
“Oh, good morning,” Nellie said. “Is that Sparky with you?”
Sparky panted loudly at the sound of his name.
“Bobby told us about the Lacy boy,” Myrtle said. “Too bad. He was a good kid.”
“Which makes it all the more unfortunate,” Colleen said.
“Wonder what coulda got into him,” Myrtle said as they walked toward the LED lights strung up in Autumn’s driveway.
“We’ll have plenty of time to speculate about that later,” Nellie said. They moved along the lit driveway. “Isn’t this lovely?”
Colleen didn’t know how Autumn had managed it, but the balloons that had been tied around the statues’ wrists were now lit from the inside and bobbed in the breeze like champagne bubbles.
“At least I can see now,” Myrtle said. “Why couldn’t they have done this at a normal hour?”
“Because then it wouldn’t be a sunrise wedding,” Colleen said.
“I think it’s nice,” Nellie said.
“Hmpf,” Myrtle said, eyeballing the statues.
Nellie chuckled and took Myrtle’s arm. “I see I’m bringing the crab to the beach.”
“Nell!” Myrtle exclaimed, then snorted a laugh and squeezed her friend’s arm.
“I’ll leave you ladies to visit with the others,” she said, impressed that Nellie had put Myrtle in a lighter frame of mind.
She went in search of Autumn, peered out back, and found the woman bustling about looking somewhat distraught. “Thank goodness you’re here,” Autumn said dashing toward her. “My don’t you look nice,” she added, nodding with approval.
“Thank you,” Colleen said. “You don’t look too bad yourself.”
“Yeah? I should have worn bright orange to get everyone’s attention. I haven’t had any luck getting folks down to the beach. Maybe they’ll listen to you. You mind?”
“Not at all.”
She didn’t know how her requests would have any more sway than Autumn’s entreaties, but she put on her best chief voice and for the next half hour helped Autumn and Pinky corral the wedding party and guests down to the beach—as it turned out, no easy task as people were busy socializing about the wedding and occasionally whispering about “poor Aaron Lacy’s” arrest. Even Sparky managed to round up a few guests to the spot where Pastor Fred would preside. The sky was lightening. If all was to go according to plan they’d need to begin soon.
“Has anyone seen the pastor?” Autumn asked, panic creeping into her voice.
“You keep everyone here,” Colleen said. “I’ll go see if he’s wandering around up front.”
Colleen jogged up the stairs, reached the top, and stopped. Heading up the stairs was Bill. The ocean wind blew at her back, causing her beige blouse and pale blue cotton skirt to billow around her. She froze. He climbed the stairs and she self-consciously tugged at her skirt.
Pinky rushed from the house with the bouquet Fawn had forgotten inside, saw Colleen gazing at Bill, said, “You’re a lucky man” to Bill, dashed by her with a wink, and hurried to the beach.
“You look beautiful,” Bill said.
She should have said thank you, but she wasn’t accustomed to being told she was beautiful, so she stood there with a dumb smile on her face.
“Am I the last to arrive?” he asked, bringing her back to the moment.
“No. We’re waiting for Pastor Fred.”
“After the lecture he gave us about being late?” he asked, astonished, and they both laughed.
She peered over her shoulder back at the horizon. The sky was lightening. “If he doesn’t get here soon, you might have to do the honors,” she said, and smiled when his face paled. “I’m kidding. I’m sure he’ll be here.”
As if on cue, Pastor Fred appeared from behind the house and raced toward them. “I’m here!” he called. “I’m coming!”
“Would it be right to tease a pastor?” she asked Bill as the man climbed the stairs.
“No,” he said, amused. “Guess we better get down to the beach.”
She and Bill rapidly descended the steps. The group cheered when Fred appeared at the top of the stairs. Sparky joined in with several barks.
Pastor Fred scrambled to the shore, positioned himself with his back to the ocean at the top of the circle of people, and inhaled deeply. “Everyone, take your places,” he said. A giggle rippled over the gathering. They had been in their places for some time.
“Music please,” Fred said.
One of Fawn’s friends strummed a ukulele and then, much to everyone’s astonishment and delight, Myrtle and Pinky began to softly sing, “Somewhere … over the rainbow…” in perfect harmony. Colleen was amazed. Pinky was right … Myrtle did have a lovely voice.
Kenny, Bobby, and the guys escorted Fawn’s girlfriends, Colleen, and Autumn to the ocean side of the circle. Colleen gazed over the group and spotted Rodney, the parents, and then Agent Morgan. The investigator waved, pointed to the good-looking woman next to him, and mouthed “Mrs. Morgan.” She smiled, gave a slight nod, surveyed the rest of the joyful group, and discovered Bill beaming at her. She felt her cheeks flush the color of the crystal around her neck, but she didn’t care. She was happy—and people were supposed to be happy at weddings.
“I believe you’re next,” she heard Fred say, and all eyes were on her.
“What?” she asked.
“Your quote for the bride and groom,” Autumn whispered.
“Oh right.” She reached into her skirt pocket, retrieved the paper, and cleared her throat. “This is a quote by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi that I think is not only good advice for Fawn and Chip, but perhaps for all of us.” She took a breath and read, “‘Let not the din of the world, and the thick and thin of life, disturb the fullness of love in us. Let us be full of grace, and full of light.’”
She folded the paper and glanced at the bride and groom. Fawn’s eyes welled with tears and Chip gave her a thumbs-up. She caught Jimmy grinning at her with pride. See, she thought, I do have a heart.
“That was lovely,” Fred said, removing a card from his jacket pocket. “And now I, too, would like to read.”
Chip leaned toward the pastor and said, “I don’t mean to tell you your job, Pastor, but I think you might have to get to it.”
She glanced at the ocean. It was true. Any minute now the sun would peek its glorious crown over the horizon.
“It appears the good Lord wishes me to get on with it,” Pastor Fred said.
A wave of good-natured giggles rippled over the party. Attention shifted to witness Fawn’s and Chip’s vows to one another. When Chip removed the ring from his pocket and presented it to Fawn, she gasped, kissed him, and then quickly apologized to Fred for “skipping ahead.”
Finally, the moment came. Pastor Fred turned to the assemblage and pronounced Chip and Fawn husband and wife as the sun burst over the horizon. A brilliant orange glow flooded the sky, the gathering applauded, cell phones and cameras clicked, and Fawn and Chip embraced in a long, sweet kiss. Colleen searched for Bill, who was standing on the perimeter of the circle. He waved and smiled warmly at her, his eyes wrinkling at the edges in the way she loved. There was only one wedding she could imagine that could be more perfect.
KATHRYN O’SULLIVAN
is a winner of the Malice Domestic Best First Traditional Mystery Novel Competition. She is also an award-winning playwright and creator of the Web series
Thurston
. She is a theatre professor at Northern Virginia Community College. O’Sullivan lives in Reston, Virginia, with her husband, an award-winning film and video director and cinematographer, and their rascally rescue cat.
Visit her Web site at
www.kathrynosullivan.com
, or sign up for email updates
here
.
Also by
Kathryn O’Sullivan
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Contents
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
A THOMAS DUNNE FOR MINOTAUR BOOKS.
An imprint of St. Martin’s Publishing Group.
NEIGHING WITH FIRE
. Copyright © 2015 by Kathryn O’Sullivan. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.
Cover designed by David Baldeosingh Rotstein
Cover illustration by Ben Perini
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ISBN 978-1-250-06641-1 (hardcover)
ISBN 978-1-4668-7419-0 (e-book)
e-ISBN 9781466874190
First Edition: May 2015