I clasped my hands in front of my chest as the opening strains of “Here Comes the Bride” seeped around the thick sanctuary doors into the foyer of First Community Church. Two ushers pushed open the double doors from the inside, revealing the petal-strewn aisle, a few hundred packed-in guests rising from the pews, and the most stunning man in Cherry County, Missouri, gazing right at me.

He raised an eyebrow as I stood motionless for a few seconds until someone nudged me not so subtly. I jerked to attention. As I lurched aside to let the bride and her father walk down the aisle, a blush started at the neckline of my new red, orange, and yellow floral dress. The heat moved upward until my face could have doubled as a stop sign.

The bride’s princess dress with gigantic, puffed sleeves and even bigger, newly permed long blonde hair instantly blocked my view. The ushers stepped inside the sanctuary and firmly shut the doors behind them. I hadn’t missed the glare one of them gave me before he disappeared. After the wedding, I would apologize to the bride. For now, I had to wait.

The church foyer was dotted with ornately framed mirrors, as some well-meaning deacon’s wife had once heard mirrors make a space look bigger. I took advantage of the one nearest me and checked my naturally curly auburn hair to ensure my hairspray was holding up.

I dropped into one of the plush, country-blue wingback chairs flanking the oversized double doors that led outside, and I stuck my bright red pinky nail between my teeth. Within seconds, I jerked my finger with its freshly attached press-on nail from my mouth and sat on my hand to protect it from myself.

My mind wandered to the man at the end of the aisle. Not the groom—his best man. The two had inherited the tall, blue-eyed Patrick family genes, but the older brother took the attractiveness level up a notch with his toned body, devilish grin, and a hint of bad-boy attitude.

Aidan Patrick was nearing forty, but the man could still fill out a tux. He had also been my aunt Starla’s high school sweetheart, which meant he was off-limits. That was for the best, as he’d never be interested in me—a slightly overweight church secretary with a limp. I thought I was a catch, but he wouldn’t. He also swapped out girlfriends at a staggering pace, which was not what I was looking for.

I hadn’t been invited to the Burns-Patrick wedding, but anytime a large, non-church-sanctioned event happened at First Comm, a staff member or deacon had to be on site at all times. This wedding might well be the event of the year in Cherry Hill, so I volunteered. Plus, I knew this church better than my own home, so if anyone needed anything, I’d be able to provide it with ease.

My lifelong best friend Trixie had been less than delighted when I told her about the wedding, as we had planned to spend the day celebrating our twenty-eighth birthdays. When she awoke to the most beautiful March day, she was undoubtedly even more annoyed. Instead of enjoying a nice lunch with friends at Dino’s, a totally fabulous Italian restaurant overlooking nearby Lake of the Ozarks, she was likely down the street chasing her two kids around the park.

With nothing better to do, I reached over and picked up a wedding program from a marble-topped accent table. “March 23, 1985” was emblazoned at the top, followed by the couple’s names: Miss Blair Burns and Dr. Shane Patrick. I skimmed through the names of their attendants and family members.

Blair wasn’t from Cherry Hill, so I didn’t know anyone on her side, including her eight—eight—bridesmaids. I did, however, recognize a few of the groomsmen’s names, and I knew all of Shane’s immediate family. Shane had been several years ahead of me in school, so I wouldn’t call us friends, but in a town of 3,224, you’re acquainted with almost everybody.

I wondered why the wedding was here at the Patrick family’s church instead of in Blair’s hometown, since typically weddings are held at the bride’s church. However, First Comm was the biggest and prettiest church in town. The stately building boasted stained-glass windows, a pipe organ, a towering steeple, prime real estate in Cherry Hill’s charming downtown, and a large parking lot. Those factors may have contributed to the decision.

Shane had opened his own medical practice in Cherry Hill six months ago, after working at the hospital in Jefferson City for a few years. He and Blair had made a pretense of living separately. Their new home included a detached three-car garage with an apartment on the second floor. Shane was supposedly camping out there while Blair lived in the house, but everyone knew they both lived in the house. There had been no small amount of tongue-wagging around the church about it.

When the couple had asked to hold the wedding at First Comm with Pastor Coker officiating, the deacons held a closed-door meeting about the appropriateness of our beloved pastor’s seeming approval of Shane and Blair’s living situation. My guess was the deacons caved purely because even though the couple didn’t often attend church, they did give a hefty tithe.

The warbling sounds of an older woman butchering “Time After Time” drifted into the foyer. Cyndi Lauper she wasn’t. I would never be able to enjoy that song again. As the last note died away, I pushed to my feet, crossed to the double doors leading into the sanctuary, and peeked through the slight crack between them. Shane and Blair were preparing to say their vows. The ceremony would be over in a few minutes.

Not wanting to be the center of attention again when the doors opened, I moved to the side of the foyer. A side door burst open and a woman rushed toward me. “Quick! The mother of the bride needs some tissues!”

I opened the antique armoire beside me and whipped out a fresh box, nearly hitting her face with it in my hurry. For the second time in less than thirty minutes, I was on the receiving end of a glare. The woman did mutter a quick thank you as she dashed back through the door.

Within minutes, the doors pushed open as the organist pulled out all the stops for the “Wedding March.” “Daaah-daaah-duh-dah-dah-dah-dah,” I sang aloud without realizing until the same usher from earlier shot me another glare. I gave him a sheepish look while continuing my “dahs” in my head as the bride and groom swept through the foyer and out into the spring sunshine.

Next came the matron of honor and Aidan, who gave me a wink as he passed by. I couldn’t help but grin back.

The bride’s parents followed the rest of the wedding party. Her mother was wiping her eyes, but she was alert enough to spot me and make a beeline across the foyer. “Would you be a darling and fix me a glass of lemonade? Thank you.” I struggled to stop my mouth from gaping open at the strange and specific request. Before I could respond, she was tugging Mr. Burns out the door.

———

“Beckett? What are you doing?”

There was no mistaking that southern drawl. My face burned again as I backed my top half out of a giant cabinet in the church kitchen. From my knees, I peered up at Greg Villanova, First Comm’s new youth pastor. “Looking for the lemonade. It has to be in here somewhere.”

“You mean this lemonade?” He pointed to a clear, plastic jar filled with pink powder with “LEMONADE” scrawled on it in permanent marker.

Mmm. I closed my eyes and thought about the scent of permanent marker. I could almost smell it in my head.

“Beckett!”

My eyes popped open. “Yes. The lemonade. Guess I was looking for yellow lemonade, not pink. I forgot we ran out of yellow.”

Greg reached his hand out to me. I shot him a confused look and shook it.

He sighed. “No. Let me help you up.”

I grabbed his hand and he hauled me to my feet.

“What are you doing here?” I asked. “You didn’t have to come to the wedding.”

“Some of the high school boys are coming over to my house tonight to watch the latest Indiana Jones movie. I thought I’d raid the church’s stash so they don’t eat up my entire paycheck.”

“Becky, do you have that lemonade yet? Mrs. Burns won’t shut up about it.” Aidan rounded the corner into the kitchen and stopped short. He grinned and leaned against the doorframe. “Sorry to interrupt.”

I glanced down. Greg hadn’t yet let go of my hand. I dropped it as yet another blush crept up my neck.

“Greg was helping me up. And I go by Beckett now. I have for years.” Beckett, my mom’s maiden name, was my official first name. When I was a baby, she always called me Beckett, but everyone else called me Becky. Uncharacteristically, Mom gave in and joined them. Like her, I loved my full name, so when I moved away after high school, I decided that was a great time to start using it.

“Your time in the big city of St. Louis made you decide to be all fancy?”

Greg interjected, “Hey, I don’t know who—”

I cut him off. “It’s fine. I’ve known Aidan my entire life. He used to date my aunt.”

“Used to?” Aidan raised one eyebrow. How did he do that? I tried it myself and failed so spectacularly he and I both laughed.

“Now about that lemonade ...” Aidan said.

“Let me whip some up. Won’t take a minute.” I grabbed a pitcher from the counter, measured out some powder, stuck it under the tap, and swirled it around while it filled.

I turned to Aidan. “What did you mean by ‘used to’?”

He smirked, nodded at the sink, and said, “You might want to watch what you’re doing.”

Lemonade poured over the top of the pitcher and through my fingers. I turned off the water and shook the sticky drink from my hand. Greg held out an ice-filled Styrofoam cup for me to fill and then handed it to Aidan as I rinsed and dried my hands.

“Thanks, Beckett. Thanks, Gary.” Aidan lifted his eyebrow again. “Nice hair, by the way.” Aidan grinned at me, spun around, and strode off.

“My name is Greg!” the man in question yelled at Aidan’s back. He turned to me. “What’s wrong with my hair?” He patted the short curls on top of his head and slid his hand down the longer hair in the back. “Rob Lowe wears his hair like this.”

“Nothing’s wrong with it. Aidan just likes to tease people.”

“I don’t think he’s funny.”

“Ooookay, no need to get worked up about it.”

“I’m not worked up.”

You could have fooled me. Time to change the subject. “Let me help you with those snacks.”

I helped him drag a large box of sports equipment away from the snack cabinet and made a mental note to ask the janitor, Arnie, to move the box somewhere more appropriate.

Greg and I filled two boxes with bags of chips and two-liter sodas before heading to the parking lot. As we crossed the crowded lot to his car, he said, “I think I saw that guy last night.”

“What guy?”

“The one who doesn’t like my hair.”

“Aidan? Where was he?”

“Right here in the parking lot. I arrived for the youth parents’ meeting as the rehearsal was letting out. Aidan and another man were arguing by a truck over in the corner.” He shifted his box into one arm and pointed to the far corner of the lot. “It was dark, and the other guy’s face was turned away from me, but the conversation was heated.”

“Hmm. Aidan does have a bit of a temper. That’s one of the reasons he and Aunt Starla broke up.” I dropped my box onto the backseat of Greg’s car.

“The other guy pushed him, but he just stood there. Didn’t hit him back or anything. Then he walked away. The other guy yelled something like, ‘You watch your back.’”

“Sounds like guys being guys.”

“I’m a guy, but I don’t push and threaten other men for the fun of it. Your friend must have done something to deserve it.”

“Knowing Aidan, he probably did. I’m not going to worry about it. He can take care of himself.”

———

It took me a half hour to wend my way back across the parking lot, because several people I hadn’t seen in a while stopped me to chat. They were in no hurry to drive out to the reception, as the wedding party had to take pictures first.

I circled the corner to the front steps of the church as the photographer was attempting to herd the bridal party back into the building. I had missed the receiving line, but as I wasn’t a guest, it didn’t matter.

The photographer succeeded in her quest after a few minutes of cajoling. The Patrick family got their photos taken first, so Mr. and Mrs. Patrick could head over to the reception.

Bright, spring sunlight streamed through the stained-glass windows on the west side of the sanctuary, creating colors and shadows that exasperated the photographer. The church’s architects wouldn’t have stopped to think about the effect of those west-facing windows on wedding photography. Sixty years earlier, weddings often weren’t even held in churches, and cameras were few and far between.

The groom and groomsmen were photographed next, followed by the entire wedding party and then the women. The Burns family went last, and they took the longest by far. The bride’s mother was very particular about where she wanted everyone to stand, and her grandchildren—the flower girl and ring bearer—weren’t old enough to stay in one place for long, especially after having taken the full-group photos earlier.

After about twenty minutes of chaos, the bride realized they hadn’t gotten a shot of the bride, groom, best man, and matron of honor. She called me over and asked me to make sure Aidan was still around to be in the final shots.

My scan of the sanctuary was futile. Several of the men were chatting with some bridesmaids near an open window in the back, but Aidan wasn’t among them. A few of the groomsmen were lounging on the pews in various states of dishevelment. One was missing his jacket. Another had dispensed with his bow tie and cummerbund. A brown-haired man had even changed his shirt.

I approached the group. “Anyone seen Aidan?”

Two of the men glanced at each other in silent communication, but they said nothing. One of the women piped up, “I saw him head out that door after the group pictures.” She pointed across the room to a door near the back that led to a hallway. “Then I saw a bridesmaid go through the same door after the women were done.”

The woman’s husband nudged her with his knee.

“What? I’m only saying what I saw. The woman is right over there.” She used her head to point toward the mixed group at the back. “The redheaded one.”

Also the prettiest one, I noted, when I spotted the woman standing a little off to the side of the others. Somehow, even though she was a redhead, she looked amazing in the pink bridesmaid dress. I headed over to her.

“Do you know where Aidan is?”

“Why in the world would I know where he is?” Her sharp response took me aback.

The man nearest her stepped over and wrapped his arm around her waist. “What’s the problem here?” He was wearing a suit instead of a tux, so he wasn’t part of the wedding party.

“I’m asking if anyone knows where Aidan is.”

His eyes flashed with anger for a split second before he said, “I don’t have any idea where that jerk is.”

“Ooookay. I’m sorry to bother you about this, but I need help finding him so we can finish up the pictures.”

One of the other men said, “I’m all yours. Tell me where to go.”

After giving instructions, I sent the helpful groomsman off to check the bathrooms. A few seconds later, the mother of the bride bumped into me as she rushed down the aisle, husband in tow. I grabbed the arm of a pew to keep from falling, took a few deep breaths, and alerted the photographer that I was trying to track down Aidan.

I exited the sanctuary and walked down a hallway, peeking into each room I passed. As I approached the kitchen, the sound of running water reached my ears. Pink liquid was flowing out the door and spreading across the hallway.

“Aidan? Are you in there?” I gingerly stepped through the pooling water and through the kitchen doorway.

I tried to come to a stop as I took in the scene, but my foot slipped, my bad leg buckled, and I slid through the running water. I shrieked and windmilled my arms in a failed attempt to catch my balance.

Though I managed to grip the edge of the countertop as I teetered and pulled myself back up, I overcorrected and fell forward. My head glanced off the countertop edge, and the last thing my brain registered before everything went black was a white dress shirt closing in on my face.

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