Oh, no...
“I told Gabrielle that you’d be happy to help her out of her little crisis.” Evelyn’s voice rose from the corner of the room. “Aren’t you, my dear?”
Ophelia had been so distracted by the purple dress she hadn’t even realized her great-aunt was sitting in the corner of the suite. The seventy-four-year-old stood and crossed the floor in a haze of beautifully coiffed gray curls, flowing golden fabric and rose perfume. Now a widow, Evelyn had been a beauty pageant contestant when she was younger, and always dressed impeccably.
“Hello, Auntie, I didn’t see you there.” Ophelia hugged her gently, her own heart still racing from the fear there’d been an actual emergency. But as they pulled apart she saw a flicker of what seemed to be genuine worry cross her great-aunt’s face, and Ophelia felt another twinge of concern.
Hang on, was her great-aunt actually worried about this? Or was there something else going on?
“You sure everything’s okay?” Ophelia asked Gabrielle. “When you said there was a crisis, I thought something was actually wrong.”
“Of course, something’s really wrong.” Gabrielle’s brown eyes widened and Ophelia couldn’t help but notice she was only wearing one contact. “I’m getting married on a cliffside at sunset tomorrow and one of my bridesmaids didn’t show. I can’t just have three bridesmaids standing on one side and four groomsmen on the other. It will completely throw off the symmetry.”
Symmetry? Ophelia bit the insides of her cheeks and managed to stop herself from snorting.
“I got all the bridesmaids matching heart-shaped lockets to wear,” Gabrielle went on. “Sadly, I’ve already given Chloe hers, but it’s too late to do anything about that now. I guess this means none of the other bridesmaids will get to wear theirs, either, so your outfits match.” She sighed. “Of course, you’re welcome to stay in Chloe’s hotel room. It’s a five-star hotel and I’d love to have the whole wedding party staying together. Now, there isn’t any way you can rustle up a date for yourself, can you? Jared told me you’re hopelessly single, but it’ll also throw off the seating plan if you don’t have a date.”
Hopelessly single? She was a thirty-one-year-old career woman, not some teenager in a 1950s movie who’d just been dumped on prom night. Ophelia felt her jaw clench. She hadn’t wanted to be a bridesmaid in the first place and now this whole thing was snowballing. It was just one weekend, she reminded herself. And this was family. She’d just grin and bear it. By tomorrow night it would all be over. “No, I won’t be bringing a date,” Ophelia said.
Gabrielle’s lips turned down in a pretty pout.
“I’m sorry, but did you know you’re missing a contact?” Ophelia added. “Do you need help finding it?”
“Wow, you’re right!” Gabrielle blinked twice and then laughed. “What an odd thing to even notice about someone! I guess I’ve been so distracted with wedding plans I didn’t realize.”
“Sorry,” Ophelia said automatically, then wasn’t exactly sure why she was apologizing for trying to be helpful. “It’s a hazard of my job. I’m used to noticing the little things. You never know when one victim’s missing contact is the key to catching a serial killer.”
She meant it as a joke, but Gabrielle didn’t laugh. Out of the corner of her eye, Ophelia could see her great-aunt frantically signaling her to drop the topic. She definitely seemed a bit more on edge than usual.
“But Jared said you were some kind of science nerd who worked with animals?” Gabrielle asked.
“Well, I’m working on a PhD in using DNA markers to help track the endangered Rocky Mountain wolf population,” Ophelia said, “and also working full-time for Santa Fe PD’s Crime Scene Unit.”
In fact, she’d received a wonderful financial grant that covered most of her studies, so most of her salary could go to covering her day-to-day living expenses. She’d always felt passionate about conservation but had also realized pretty quickly during her undergraduate science degree that her greatest strengths lay in the lab. Now all she had to do was successfully juggle her work with her research, and she’d be able to fulfill both her dreams of being a CSI and doing life-changing research. It just meant hitting some pretty tight PhD deadlines that often had her researching and writing late into the night. She barely had time to eat and sleep, let alone think about finding a date for her second cousin’s wedding.
“Ophelia has always loved animals,” Evelyn said, “and I’m sure she won’t mind stepping in as an emergency bridesmaid.” She turned to her great-niece. “Do you, Ophelia?” Evelyn asked, firmly.
“No, of course not, Auntie.” Although Jared had promised he wouldn’t try to rope her into the wedding party. Ophelia and Jared were both only children and, despite their differences, were the closest thing each had to a sibling. With the same blond hair and blue eyes, they even looked like brother and sister. Ophelia’s parents had traveled a lot for work and her own grandmother had died before she was born. Evelyn had stepped in, inviting her to spend every holiday and vacation with her and Jared. Ophelia could do this much for them.
“See, I knew this would be sorted out,” Evelyn said, turning to smile at Gabrielle. “Ophelia’s been a bridesmaid more times than I can count.”
“Four, actually,” Ophelia said softly. “This will be number five.”
She was practically an expert at smiling uncomfortably in a dress she’d have never chosen for herself, while standing next to a beamingly happy couple.
“Five times,” Evelyn said brightly. “You know what they say—”
Please, don’t say it.
“Always a bridesmaid, never a bride!” Evelyn said. “You know, I worry sometimes that nobody’s going to marry this one. Which would be a shame, because Ophelia is so wonderful and I love her like my own grandchild. I thank God every day for bringing her and Jared into my life.”
That was her great-aunt in a nutshell—accidental insults and a genuine compliment in the same breath.
Evelyn waved her hand toward Gabrielle. “Now go visit with your guests. Ophelia and I will see how the dress fits.”
“Thank you so much for this. I owe you one.” Gabrielle disappeared out the door and closed it behind her.
Evelyn sighed. “I wish you wouldn’t do that.”
“Do what?” Ophelia pulled the dress off the hanger and disappeared with it into the adjoining room. The sooner she got trying the dress on over with, the sooner she could go join the party.
“Talk about things like murders and crime scenes,” Evelyn said. “It’s impolite. Besides, you never know who you’re going to meet at an event like this, and no man wants to marry a woman who pokes around in blood and guts for a living.”
“Which is why I expect I’ll never get married,” Ophelia called, lightly. A few minutes later she emerged again in layers of flowing purple fabric and did a little spin. “Thankfully, the dress isn’t terrible.”
Her great-aunt looked her up and down, critically.
“No, it’s not,” she conceded and dropped into a chair. “Which is a relief, considering.”
“Considering what?” What exactly was Evelyn concerned about? Ophelia knelt down beside her. “Auntie, what’s wrong? You can tell me.”
“Absolutely nothing you need to worry about,” she said firmly. “Gabrielle’s parents are just running late because their flight from Europe was delayed due to a storm. So Jared just needed some help sorting some money things with the venue. You know they’re buying Jared and Gabrielle a piece of land near the Pecos Wilderness as a wedding present?”
“Yes,” Ophelia said, “he took me up there a few weeks ago to show me, before he put the offer in. Got my help to tie balloons to the trees for when he took her up to surprise her with it. Said they were going to build a house there ‘where the mountains meet the sky.’ It was all terribly theatrical.” The land had been beautiful but completely undeveloped, except for a small shack the previous owners had left behind, but the views had been extraordinary. “Is there some problem with the land?”
“Oh, I’m sure it’s nothing.” Evelyn waved her hands airily as if batting away invisible cobwebs. “There was just a minor hiccup with the initial down payment, due to restrictions on foreign buyers, so he had to step in and cover it. They’ll pay him back. Plus, this whole wedding has just been so lavish.”
Evelyn pressed her lips together as if she’d been about to say more and caught herself.
