“I’ll go with you,” Grandma Lyn insisted as she plucked the various containers of makeup from the vanity and tucked them away in a nylon carrying bag. “Chores are more fun with company along for the ride.”
“Okay,” I said with a resigned sigh. “Thanks for the heads up, Dana. We’ve got it covered.”
I only knew one vegan, but he was adamant and one hundred percent committed to his lifestyle choice. I didn’t want to leave him out while everyone else got to enjoy their meals. Frank from the pet store was a newer friend and not one I wanted to make feel unwelcome, seeing how socially awkward he was most of the time. I considered it a huge compliment that the die-hard introvert was willing to face his social anxiety to celebrate my nuptials.
We hung up and Nan finished with the veil, then raised both arms over her head and let out a little victory shout.“Success!”
I stood carefully and hugged each of my helpers before shoving them toward the door.“Thank you. I love you both. Now get out of here. We have less than an hour until go time, and I need to make sure you’re both back and ready for the ceremony.”
“Okay, if you need anything—”
“If I need anything, I’ll ask someone else. Now shoo!”
The two elderly women rushed out, and one tiny dog rushed in.“Mommy, I’m here!” Paisley shouted by way of greeting. “Oh my gosh, you look so beautiful! Like a Cocker Spaniel or—” Her eyes grew wide with wonderment. “Or a Poodle even!”
I laughed.“Thank you, Paisley. I feel beautiful,” I admitted. “Think Charles will like it?”
“He will love it! Although I think you look just as beautiful when you first wake up in your pajamas and your breath smells funny.” Her tail wagged so hard, her whole body shook, meaning this was an earnest compliment and not a jab at my unpleasant morning breath.
I carefully knelt down to place a pat on her head.
Paisley shivered and shook happily, continuing to wag that tiny, mostly black body of hers.
I picked the happy dog up and stood again, moving toward the window.“What’s going on out there? Anything I should know about?”
“There are men with cameras and big sticks, and a lot of people have started arriving. I’ve made sure to bark at them all for you.”
I chuckled.“Thank you for keeping watch.”
She stopped wagging her tail for a moment to say,“It is my sworn duty as your guard dog.”
“Of course. What else is going on? Is Charles here?”
Her tail started up again.“I smell him here, but I haven’t seen him yet.”
We both fell quiet as we surveyed the yard from our secret spot in the window. I couldn’t see much with the balloon canopy taking up so much of the area, but I could occasionally make out the silhouettes of people passing beneath.
Paisley’s fur bristled and her body stiffened, then she let out a sharp, high-pitched bark. The kind she made whenever she saw another dog anywhere near our yard.
I took it to mean Nan’s friend Gertie had arrived with her husky mix, Cujo. Yes, I had a lot of cats in my life, but relatively few dogs by comparison. The energetic Cujo was Nan’s running buddy. He’d also helped me with a past case involving the former mayor and his kidnapped golden retriever. Ahhh, memories.
“Shh, shhh,” I told the Chihuahua in my arms, stroking her back as I spoke. “They were invited, remember? I promise that no one is coming who shouldn’t.”
Paisley’s ears drooped. “If you’re sure.”
“I am,” I said, even though I wasn’t. But who would want to crash a small-town Maine wedding in the middle of the afternoon?
Paisley fixed her eyes somewhere in the distance and spoke with a soft, even voice.“Will you still be my Mommy even after I have to move away?”
Ouch, right in the feels.
“Of course, Paisley. I will always love you, and I will always be in your life. But you know Nan is your human, right? She’s the one who adopted you from the shelter, and she’d be very upset if she had to live apart from you.”
“But aren’t you upset that I’m moving away? I am. I don’t want to leave.” These words were whimpered. If I wasn’t careful, I’d start crying too and ruin the makeup Grandma Lyn had worked so hard to set into place.
“I will miss you lots, but I’ll be by almost every day. It won’t change that much.”
“Do you promise?” She stared up at me with large black eyes shimmering with tears, just as they always did, no matter how she seemed to be feeling.
“I—” Before I could say anything, a loud crash sounded from the hall, drawing our attention toward the door.
12
“Do you think anyone heard us?” a voice whispered from the hall. It was the same one I’d heard last night, but who’s was it?
“Probably not, but we should be careful just in case,” a second speaker chimed in.
“Then we’re ready for the next phase of the plan?” Was this a third speaker? It was hard to tell with how muffled the voices were coming through that door.
“Yes, I think so,” one of them said, and then nothing.
“Hello?” I called out when the whispering subsided, but the speakers must have already left.
“Could you tell who that was out there?” I asked Paisley before setting her gently on the floor.
“No, I didn’t recognize those voices at all,” she yipped in apparent irritation with herself for not knowing. Sometimes she took her duty as watchdog far too seriously, especially since no one was ever afraid of the five-pound shivering fur baby.
“Well, let’s go see what all that fuss was about.” I strode to the door and pulled on the knob, but it wouldn’t budge. What the heck?
This was an old house with many updates and additions made over the years. Because of one such update, the door to Nan’s bedroom swung outward while most of the others swung in. I twisted the knob and pushed at the door, but nothing happened.
Okay, this was bad.
Paisley caught on to our current predicament and began barking,“Hey, everyone. We’re stuck! Help!”
I traced the room back toward the vanity and picked up my phone, but it was dead again. Okay, I definitely needed to upgrade to a newer model. This thing was not holding its charge at all lately.
Without a working phone, we were well and truly stuck. But surely someone would notice the bride was missing, right? Someone had to be coming to rescue me and Paisley.
“I don’t get it,” I told her after uselessly attempting the door again. “The knob won’t turn at all. It’s like we’re…”
A horrible realization hit me square in the gut.“Like we’re locked in.”
Nan had fished out the old skeleton key to her room and locked up last night after the disaster with the dress.“We can’t let the same thing happen to your gorgeous veil,” she’d reasoned, and I appreciated her so much for it.
She must have left the key in the doorknob, but who would have locked me in? And why the crash?
“Mags?” I called out hopefully. Perhaps she was still in her room working on the surprise she had for me. “Mags!” I shouted louder.
Well, if she was there, she definitely couldn’t hear me. She probably had music on her headphones as she liked to do when she worked.
“Christine?” I tried. “Christine!”
This time I received an answer, though it wasn’t from the person I was calling.
“What are you shouting about in there?”
“Octo-Cat!” I cried with relief. “Someone locked us in. Can you get help?”
“Just how is he supposed to do that, dear sweet child?” Grizabella interjected. “The only other person who understands us is currently unavailable. We just saw her drive away with the other old woman.”
“I’ve got it covered, my lovely fluffiness,” Octo-Cat said confidently. “Be back with help soon!”
I briefly wondered what my cat had planned, but it wasn’t long before a giant commotion sounded outside. I cracked the window open so I could better make out what was going on beneath the guise of the helium canopy.