Scarlet Nights (Edilean 3)

Luke threw open the front door, a glass of champagne in his hand. “I have a houseful of excited women. Well, really only two women, but they’re making enough noise that it sounds like New Year’s Eve.”

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bsp; “Luke!” Sara’s mother called. “We need you.”

“I suggest you slip over to Tess’s house to change. I’ll come and get you when it’s time. Okay if I’m your best man?” When Mike nodded, Luke said, “If you come in here, they’ll put you to work.”

“Doing what?” he asked, but Luke had already shut the door.

Mike went to his sister’s apartment, showered, shaved, and dressed.

In his pocket were two new platinum wedding bands that Sara’s mother had given him when he’d gone to them to arrange the marriage. He’d thought they would protest his outrageous plan, but they hadn’t. Mike had told them that Greg was a criminal and he wanted something from Sara that he could only get by marrying her. To Mike’s surprise, neither of them had questioned his story. Ellie said, “What can we do to help?” When Mike told them he wanted to marry Sara that night, he’d hardly finished the sentence before Ellie went into action. As for Dr. Shaw, for a second there were tears in his eyes, then he jumped up and went to work helping his wife make arrangements.

“From Kimberly?” Mike had asked when she’d handed the rings to her. “No questions asked?”

Ellie smiled. “You fit into Edilean very well,” she said as she left the room.

“You’ve done it now, boy,” Dr. Shaw said. “Once they accept you, they don’t ever let you leave this town.” He made sounds of eerie music.

“I heard that,” Ellie called from down the hall.

Now, in Tess’s apartment and dressing for his wedding, surprisingly, Mike felt good. As he waited for Luke to come and get him, he again called Tess. Her pills hadn’t worn off, and combined with the hormones of pregnancy and having just told Rams about the baby, she did little but cry.

“I wish I were there,” she kept saying. “I wanted to see you get married. And Sara …”

Rams took the phone and asked Mike to let Tess listen to the ceremony.

“Of course,” Mike said, then looked up to see Luke in the doorway. It was time. He followed Luke to the main part of the big, old house.

Mike was shocked at the sheer quantity of flowers that draped the entrance of the house.

“They’re for a wedding that’s to happen tomorrow,” Luke said from beside him. “We figure no one will know if the flowers spend a few hours here.” They were standing in front of the big parlor fireplace, which had been made into an altar, with an archway of roses and ferns. Big bouquets of white roses with blue ribbons dangling from them made a pathway through the room.

“Nervous?” Luke asked.

Mike nodded. “I was calmer that time I faced two men with automatic rifles.”

“We really need to talk about your life. How’d you get out of that one?”

“Knives. I always carry—” He stopped talking because music began to play over a stereo system, and Luke hurried back down the aisle. Moments later he reappeared with his hugely pregnant wife in a wheelchair.

There were only three couples there, just six people, but the music and the flowers and the beautiful house made it feel like a true ceremony.

When the wedding march began to play and Sara appeared in the doorway on the arm of her father, Mike knew he’d never seen anyone so beautiful in his life. Her dress was of lace over satin, very old-fashioned-looking, and fit her perfectly, smoothing down over her hips to flow out gently into a skirt. She had on a traditional veil that covered her face, and Mike couldn’t help feeling pleased that he’d get to lift it. It almost made the wedding seem real.

When she reached the little altar, Dr. Shaw gave Sara’s hand to Mike and he squeezed it. Under the veil, he could see her smile.

Beside them, Luke dialed Tess and Rams to let them hear everything over the speakerphone.

Mike and Sara turned to her mother, who stood there in a long white robe, a Bible in her hands. When she’d told Mike she was ordained to conduct wedding ceremonies, he hadn’t been surprised.

Now, Ellie’s eyes were red, and her nose swollen from crying.

“Dearly beloved,” she began, then had to stop to blow her nose. “We are gathered here today—” She stopped again because her tears were dripping.

“Daddy!” Sara hissed at her father, who was standing behind Joce in her wheelchair.

Chuckling, Dr. Shaw went to help his wife get through the ceremony.