Laurie made herself comfortable on the chair next to him. “I can take over from here so you can keep both eyes on your book for a while.”
“Timmy’s easy to watch these days. The kid would be more likely to save me from drowning than vice versa. Hey, by the way, I made another call to the local police about that photography intern, Jeremy Carroll.”
“Any luck?” she asked.
“Maybe. There’s a Jeremy Carroll, thirty-one years old, longtime local resident, whose height and weight listed on his Florida driver’s license would seem to fit the general description. He’s got a clean record except for a contempt conviction for violating some kind of court order. I called the court clerk and asked for a copy of the records. I’ll let you know what comes of it.”
“Thanks, Dad. I should talk to Brett about adding you to the payroll.”
“No amount of money would be worth having to take orders from Brett Young. By the way, don’t you need to get dolled up for the big reunion party?”
“You know me. Dolled up means brushing my hair and putting on some lip gloss.” Laurie knew that she was an attractive woman, but she never felt comfortable beneath layers of makeup and hairspray. She kept her honey-colored hair in a simple shoulder-length bob and rarely applied more than a single coat of mascara to highlight her hazel eyes. “And I do have a new cocktail dress that cost too much money, but I know I look good in it.”
“You’re beautiful just the way you are,” Leo said. “I know you’ve been stressed out about the ridiculous pace Brett’s expecting, but let yourself have some fun. You and Alex will both be dressed to the nines tonight. I’m happy to stay up with Timmy if the two of you want to make a night of it after the reception. Who knows? Maybe all this talk about the wedding that never came to pass will prove to be motivational.”
Laurie was stunned by her father’s suggestion. “Dad, we are so far from anything like that. Please don’t plant those seeds in Timmy’s head. Or Alex’s either, for that matter.”
“Okay, okay, I was only kidding. Lighten up.”
“Good. You scared me for a second.”
Her father was looking at her, his book now closed on the table next to him. “Laurie, I was only kidding about a proposal being around the corner, but I do want to say one thing. I’ve seen the way you keep Alex at a distance. Most of the time you’re very formal around him. You steer the conversation back around to work. And when Timmy asked about Alex going with him to the water park, you said no before Alex could even answer.”
“Dad, what are you trying to tell me?”
“I’ll be blunt. It’s as if you’re afraid of letting him see the real Laurie.”
“Alex sees plenty of the real me, Dad, but we’re not spring chickens who are going to drop our entire lives and run off together. We’re taking things at our own pace.”
“That’s fine, and I know you’re a grown woman and don’t need your father telling you how to live your life. But let me say this once, just in case it needs to be said. I know how much you loved Greg. We all did.” Leo’s voice cracked briefly. “The two of you had a great five years, but that doesn’t mean the rest of your life has to be lonely. Greg, of all people, would not want that for you.”
“I’m not lonely, Dad. I have you and Timmy, and Grace and Jerry, and, yes, I have Alex. You may want me to leap in faster, but we are in a good place, trust me.”
He opened his mouth to speak again, but she interrupted.
“Dad, do I ask why I haven’t seen you keeping any ladies’ company since Mom passed? There are several lovely widows I can introduce you to at church. They’re never shy about asking how you are.”
He gave her a sad smile. “All right, you’ve got me there.”
“Don’t worry about me, Dad. I know Alex cares for me. If it’s meant to be, it will happen naturally. We shouldn’t have to overthink it.”
Laurie’s own words echoed in her mind as she walked back to her room.
With Greg, there had been no time to overthink. She had met him because she got hit by a cab on Park Avenue. They used to joke that they were the only couple who legitimately had different versions of how they met. When Greg first met Laurie, she was unconscious. When Laurie first met Greg, he was shining a penlight in her eyes to see if she would finally blink. They were engaged three months later.
If it’s meant to be, it will happen naturally. When Laurie spoke those words to her father, she had been thinking about Greg, not Alex.
33
Jerry had told Laurie that the ballroom was decorated beautifully, but words didn’t do justice to the setting. It felt like a scene from a fairy tale. White roses and lilies were everywhere, and tiny white lights shimmered from the ceiling like stars on a country night. Grace and Jerry were dressed for the event. Grace wore a surprisingly unrevealing cobalt-blue gown, and Jerry looked dapper in his slim-fit tuxedo.
“The two of you clean up nice,” Laurie remarked. “Well done. We should get some great footage to set the tone for the show’s opening sequence.”
She glanced over at the camera crew. The lead cameraman gave her a thumbs-up to signal that he was ready. They would not be recording their voices, but they wanted to capture the moments when the participants first saw each other in the room. Then Alex in a voice-over would narrate the scene and identify the people.
Sandra and her children, Henry and Charlotte, were the first of the participants to arrive for the reception. Even with her elegant silk pantsuit, Sandra had found a place for a button of Amanda’s photograph, complete with the image of a yellow ribbon, on her lapel. Laurie greeted Sandra and Charlotte with hugs, and then introduced herself to Amanda’s brother, Henry.
“Oh, Amanda would have loved this.” Sandra wiped away a tear. “Everything is precisely the way she wanted it.”
Charlotte placed an arm around her mother and gave her shoulder a little squeeze. “As I recall, this is just the way you wanted it, Mom.”
“I know it is. I love to plan a party, it’s true. And the joy of planning this one-I wanted everything to be so perfect.”
“It would have been, Mom,” Henry tried to assure her. He then began fiddling with his bow tie. He was a handsome man, but with shaggy dark hair and more than a few days of stubble, he did not seem comfortable in formal wear.
Charlotte nudged her mother. “Jeff just walked in.”
Sandra stole a glance and then quickly turned away. “With Meghan, of course.” Her tone was reproachful. “I know I pushed for this, Laurie, but now that we’re here, I have no idea how to act. I truly believe one or both of them is responsible for Amanda’s disappearance. I wanted them to be here, but I didn’t think it would be this hard to be in the same room with them.”
Laurie placed her hand gently on Sandra’s arm. “Just do what comes naturally, Sandra. You don’t even have to speak with them if you don’t want to.” The beauty of reality television was letting the cameras capture human behavior, completely unrehearsed and unscripted.
“Wow,” Charlotte exclaimed. “Kate looks terrific. She hasn’t aged a day.”
Laurie turned to see a third person with Jeff and Meghan, hugging them both. She was slightly shorter than Laurie, around five-foot-four, with chin-length, bright blonde hair and round, rosy cheeks. In the old college photographs Laurie had seen, Kate had been the plain one compared to her two friends. But obviously she had put her best foot forward for an occasion like this.
“Did she bring the family?” Henry asked.