All Dressed in White

32

Yesterday turned out to be six days later.

Six days. In the past, Laurie had spent weeks reinvestigating an entire case, from beginning to end, before starting to film. But now they were at the Grand Victoria, just hours away from turning on the cameras. Even worse, those six days had been spent almost entirely on coordinating the logistics. Laurie felt as though she needed another month to dig into the facts, but the accelerated schedule gave her no choice other than to plow forward.

She felt the stress of the situation wash away as she walked through the breezeway at the hotel entrance. For a brief moment, it felt as though she had stepped back in time. She remembered Greg reaching for her hand. Happy Anniversary, Laurie. She assumed at the time they’d have at least fifty more.

“Mom!” Timmy was already heading toward the pool. “This place is awesome!”

The one upside of the ridiculously rushed timeline was that Timmy was still on summer break, so he and Leo were treating the trip as a vacation. It was ninety degrees and humid, but if Timmy had palm trees and a pool to splash around in with a few other kids, he’d be happy to stay year-round.

The resort was even more beautiful than she remembered-modern but inspired by classic villas of the Italian Renaissance. A man in his fifties wearing a tan poplin suit was heading directly for her. “Are you Ms. Laurie Moran, perchance? Irwin Robbins, general manager.”

She returned his friendly handshake and thanked him for all the help he’d already provided. Robbins hadn’t been kidding when he said that the resort wanted to help in any way possible. They had donated rooms for Amanda’s parents and the entire wedding party and provided a generous discount for the production team.

“And who’s this young man here?” Irwin asked, gesturing toward Timmy. “Your number one investigator?”

“Don’t tell anyone,” Timmy piped up, “but I’m undercover. I’ll be needing a pool for my work.”

Two hours later, Grace turned in a circle, gawking at the enormity of Alex’s suite. “This room’s the size of all of ours put together.”

For once, Grace wasn’t exaggerating. Alex’s suite was more like a large apartment, with an enormous living room. He generously suggested that his living room serve as a conference area for the team.

It was four o’clock, and they were meeting for one last team discussion before the first production session this evening-a reunion cocktail gathering for the wedding party and Amanda’s parents in the ballroom where Amanda and Jeff were supposed to have had their wedding reception

“Alex, the front desk clerk probably upgraded you when she saw those beautiful eyes,” Grace said.

Alex laughed. He was used to Grace flirting with him, and Laurie knew he got a kick out of it.

“Have you met Jeff’s college friends yet, Laurie?” he asked.

“Not in person, but I spoke to them on the phone. According to Sandra, they’re both rich bachelors.”

“The tall one, Nick, is a hunk,” Grace interjected. “But that other one? Austin? He’s lucky he’s rich. Now, Jeff, on the other hand?” She pretended to fan herself. “He looks so sweet and innocent, and has no idea how gorgeous he is. Of the three of them, he’s the catch.”

“Do I need to remind you he might be a murderer?” Jerry asked.

Timmy bounded into the room from the terrace, where he had been checking out the view of the ocean below. “Alex, did you bring a bathing suit? There’s a water park here with a slide that’s four stories tall!”

Laurie gave her son a hug. “Alex and I have to work. I told you: Grandpa’s going to be the one to take you. And believe it or not, Jerry was very excited about the possibility of joining you. If I can spare a few hours without him, he just might race you down the slide.”

“You don’t race on a super slide, Mom.” Timmy corrected her as if she had suggested that the Yankees were a football team. “It’s only wide enough for one person. And you didn’t even let Alex answer. Anyway, if Jerry can miss part of a day, why can’t Alex?”

“Because he’s busy,” Leo said, taking charge. “Come on, buddy. Let’s go down to the pool. We’ve got time for a short swim before dinner.”

Laurie shifted into work mode once Leo and Timmy were gone. She kept waiting for something to go terribly wrong, given how they’d rushed into production. “Jerry, have you confirmed that everyone is here?”

“To a person,” Jerry reported cheerfully. “I also did a walk-through in the ballroom with the camera crew. The hotel has staged it to resemble a smaller version of the reception Amanda and Jeff had planned. The room is absolutely stunning. White flowers and candlelight everywhere. I imagine that everyone seeing it-and all being together once again-should have quite the impact.”

Once they did a quick run-through of the participants and the points they wanted to cover in each individual interview, Laurie stood up and tucked her notebook in her bag as a signal that their meeting was ending.

“And what exactly is my role this evening?” Alex asked, smiling. Tonight’s gathering was not for interviews, Alex’s forte on the program.

“Just be your usual charming self.” The show always worked best when the participants were comfortable enough with Alex to let their guard down on camera. Without preliminary in-person interviews, he’d have to find alternative ways to build a rapport.

“And don’t forget the tuxedo,” Grace reminded him with a wink, as she followed Jerry out of the room.

“I apologize on behalf of my boy-crazy assistant,” Laurie said once they were alone. “I may have to call the human resources department to give her a refresher course on sexual harassment.”

Alex stepped toward her and took her into his arms. “Are we in any position to complain about romance occurring within your production team?”

She looked up at him as he leaned down to kiss her. “No, Counselor, I suppose we are not.”

Laurie found her father and son at the “active” pool, the most family-friendly of the resort’s four oceanfront pools. Timmy was hanging off one side of a float being steered by a slightly smaller child. It was just like her son to make a new friend within minutes of arrival. His father had been similarly outgoing. He was so much like Greg.

Her father was on a nearby lounge chair, one eye on his grandson, the other immersed in the latest Harlan Coben thriller. Years ago, he had given his business card to the author at a book signing, with an offer to answer any police-related questions he might have down the road. Laurie had never heard her father yelp so excitedly as when he spotted his own name in the acknowledgments of his favorite author’s next book.

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.