Hitched

64

The celebration at Club Zee started to die down at around five. They’d all watched the footage of Jeffrey and Victoria getting out of the car. The image of a bearded Victoria throwing her arms around Jeffrey was a sight to behold.

Joyce thanked Wally for his hospitality and everyone else for being part of the search party. “I’m going to have my foot checked out at the emergency room. But please. Come out to my house anytime after eight tonight. We’re ordering pizzas. I feel like I have a new lease on life and I don’t want to stop celebrating!”

At the hospital, Joyce was examined and her foot was X-rayed. Other than a bad sprain, she was given a clean bill of health.

Tom and Cindy were with her. “Let’s go get my car,” he said, “and I’ll drive you home.”

Joyce started to say something, then stopped.

“Is something wrong?” he asked.

Joyce smiled up at him. “Nothing at all.”

Cindy decided it was time to interfere. “I think Joyce wants to warn you that her ex-boyfriend might show up. But we plan to pack up his things and throw them out on the street.”

“Thanks, Cindy. You have a gift for getting straight to the point,” Joyce said with a smile.

“Your ex doesn’t worry me,” Tom said with a strength that made Joyce feel tingly.

An hour later, Joyce was settled on the couch in the living room, her foot on the coffee table, her crutches leaning on the edge of the couch, and most important, Tom right next to her. Cindy called the pizzeria and placed a big order, then opened up a few bottles of red wine.

By 8:01, Joyce’s house was bustling with activity. Romeo was going crazy.

“Hello!” he called from his cage. “Hello!”

Regan and Kit and Tracy and her friends arrived together. Like Joyce, Tracy was enjoying a new lease on life. “Let’s turn on the TV,” she said, reveling in the images of Jeffrey’s public humiliation.

Brianne was sitting on Pauly’s lap, looking like a woman in love.

The mood was one of celebration.

Joyce’s crutches fell to the floor. “Let me get them out of the way,” Regan offered. She picked them up. “I’ll stick them in the front closet.” She opened the door, and there was another pair of crutches staring her in the face. “Joyce, it looks like you didn’t need these.”

Joyce waved her hand. “They’re my ex’s. He was hurt on the job and milked his injury for all it was worth.”

“I personally think that limp of his is fake,” Cindy stated as she sipped her wine.

Regan’s cell phone rang. She looked at the caller ID but couldn’t tell who it was. “You mind if I take this in the bedroom?” she asked Joyce. “It’s a little noisy in here.”

“Go ahead,” Joyce said.

Regan walked down the hall, flicked the light on in the bedroom, and shut the door behind her.

Dana, the producer of the Patrick and Jeannie show, was on the phone. “Regan, I’m finally heading home but I thought you’d be interested in a call we received about the stolen dresses. An elderly woman says she found an antique-white lace button on the ground in a cemetery near Atlantic City. She was visiting her husband’s grave. It reminded her of the button from her wedding dress sixty years ago. It has a tiny logo on the back with the initials A and C. She took a picture of it and e-mailed it to us. You might want to take a look at it.”

“I don’t know whether Alfred and Charisse have that logo on their buttons. But I can’t imagine what the thieves would be doing in a cemetery with the wedding dresses.”

“I can’t either. But who knows?”

Regan frowned. “Can you do me a favor, Dana, and e-mail the picture to Alfred? If it is one of his buttons, he can call my cell phone.”

“Sure, Regan. We also received a call earlier from a woman who wants to make trouble for Brianne and her fiancé, Pauly. She said she was with him yesterday and wants to talk to Brianne.”

“Oh, great,” Regan said. “Give me her name.” When Regan hung up with Dana, she went back to the living room and signaled for Brianne and Pauly to join her down the hall.

“What is it, Regan?” Brianne asked as the three of them slipped into Joyce’s bedroom.

“I hate to be the one to tell you this,” Regan said with hesitation. “But the producer of the Patrick and Jeannie show said someone named Monica called the station. I guess she wants to stir up some trouble.”

“I already took care of her, Regan,” Brianne boasted as Pauly looked up in the air. “That’s the reason we were late getting down to Club Zee. Pauly told me the whole story. Monica is Pauly’s ex. She went out with him right before he met me. He lent her money, and she refused to pay him back, especially after he dumped her for me. Yesterday he went to her place to try and get it back because he didn’t think we had enough cash for our honeymoon. He’s been out of work and money is tight, but that idiot didn’t care. She finally agreed to pay him. They went to the bank, and she withdrew the cash. Five thousand dollars, by the way. Pauly said she was threatening him, and then with all this publicity about the April Brides, he was afraid she was going to make trouble. She had thought they’d end up married. Then when I said on the show that all his ex’s were losers, he was sure that she wouldn’t keep her mouth shut.”

Pauly was still looking up at the ceiling.

Brianne broke into a wide smile. “I told him that no matter how hard she tries, I’m not going to let that witch come between us.”

“That’s my Brianne,” Pauly said with pride. “That’s why I love her so much.”

“And we’re going to have a good time spending that money on the honeymoon!” Brianne added. “It was Pauly’s right to get it back, and I’m glad he did. I can assure you, Regan, she won’t be calling the show again. I called her up and gave her a piece of my mind this afternoon.”

“Well, I’m glad that’s settled,” Regan said. “Let’s rejoin the party, shall we?”

When they went back to the living room, Romeo had just been let out of his cage.