Caught on Camera

Chapter 15, Part 27

Chapter 15

The Bouquet Hunter

Half an hour later the wedding planner tracked down the three groomsmen and two bridesmaids in the hotel's air-conditioned rustic bar where they'd recently settled gratefully into deep leather chairs. Half-empty glasses of water dotted the surface of a granite-topped half wooden barrel that served as a coffee table.

The frazzled middle-aged woman's mauve linen shift badly needed ironing. She collapsed into a chair, the day's strain evident in thin pinched lips and rosy slashes of freshly applied blush that flamed incongruously on pale skin. Rachel learned her name was Veronique – surely a fake French name for a woman with a thick Boston accent. A female waiter scurried over to take her drink order.

Veronique asked after Tiffany's health. Garth sat slumped, sleeves rolled up, morosely staring into the distance. He roused himself to mutter, "Tiffany kicked me out of her room." Rachel felt for him, poor guy. Worrying about the girl sucked the life out of him.

Without further preamble, Veronique relayed Halden's instructions. The wedding banquet had been rescheduled for nine p.m. to accommodate indoor photos of the bride and groom with their relatives, and to give the bride's medication sufficient time to resolve a splitting headache. She swiped at her phone screen, then read off the salon appointments for each member of the wedding party to have their hair styled and, in the bridesmaids' case, makeup freshened for the evening's festivities. Tiffany was not expected to attend. She reminded the men to drop off their soiled clothing to the concierge in the lobby for one hour dry cleaning service.

"One last thing regarding the family group photos," the wedding planner said. "The bride's bouquet is, ah--"

"History?" Wade interjected.

"Pulverized?" Mickey offered. Asta stretched out a tanned arm to give his shoulder a warning push.

The wedding planner's sharp eyes skewered Wade and Mickey. "I was going to say 'unavailable'." She shook her head, straight bleached white hair swishing across her shoulders. "The bride's unfortunate, ah--"

Wade raised his brows. "Melt down?"

"Candy went berserk," Mickey corrected easily. "She flayed that photographer with her bouquet like a madwoman. Never saw anything like it, onscreen or off." Then he yelped in pain and swore.

Garth raised his head. "What gives?"

Mickey pointed an accusing forefinger at his sister. "Asta kicked me!"

"You deserve it," he gloomily rumbled. "No matter how outrageous Candy's behavior, that's our sister-in-law you're trashing. She's family."

Asta nodded, grim furrows between her fair brows. "For better or worse."

The wedding planner sniffed in agreement and peered over reading glasses at Mickey. "Really, Mr. McNichol. That was uncalled for." She waved mauve-tipped fingers in the air vaguely. "Stress. The excitement. These things happen." Then she remembered the task at hand. "Let's move on. Bottom line, the bride needs a replacement bouquet for the family photos and to toss at the reception."

Rachel recoiled deep into the leather chair, willing herself invisible. No such luck. The woman's questioning tilt of the head targeted her. "I've lost mine," Rachel reluctantly admitted.

"Lost?" The frosty response chilled Rachel more than the cool air from an overhead vent. "How on earth did you lose a three hundred dollar bouquet?"