“Don’t be.” I patted her arm. “It’s not your fault.”
“But maybe if I hadn’t been here today, she wouldn’t have called off her wedding.”
“I don’t want you to think about her anymore, and I mean it. Every time you worry about her, you’re letting her win. That’s all this is to her—a game.”
Natalie twisted her ring around her finger. “Okay. You’re right.” Her phone beeped and she glanced at the screen. Her face split into a wide grin. “Brock is coming to get me for lunch.”
I couldn’t help smiling in return. “Sounds like fun.”
“He says he wants to pay for the wedding dress now—full price, no discounts.”
Lorea opened her mouth as if to protest, paused, and said, “Thanks, Nat.”
Natalie squeezed Lorea’s hand. “Thank you.”
“I’ll print up a receipt,” I said.
Brock had already put down a hefty deposit for the wedding, so Lorea hadn’t waited for payment before getting started on Natalie’s dress. His check in the amount of eleven thousand dollars would pay off the loan to Walter Mayfield but wasn’t quite enough to order the next shipment of dresses. Unfortunately, I wasn’t sure Lorea would be able to place another order anyway, with all the criminal activity attached to these dresses.
A white Cadillac Escalade pulled in front of my shop, and Brock jumped out. His close-cut light brown hair and megawatt smile reminded me of Matt Damon. He was so down-to-earth that if I hadn’t seen him in the movies, I never would have believed he was a millionaire. He greeted Natalie with a kiss and flashed another grin in Lorea’s direction.
“Do I get to see the dress?”
“No, sir. You don’t,” Lorea shook her finger at Brock. “It’s bad luck.”
“But couldn’t you make an exception? I’m a pretty lucky guy—just look at this beautiful woman who agreed to marry me.” Brock put his arm around Natalie’s waist and pulled her to him. She looked at him with adoration, and he gave her another light kiss.
Watching the lovebirds, I was more determined than ever to create the wedding of Natalie’s dreams. If Sylvia stayed out of the way, I’d have plenty of time to devote to the rest of the preparations.
I had barely sat down when someone entered the shop. Turning slowly, I caught sight of a beautiful bouquet of red roses against the backdrop of a familiar brown uniform. Colton lowered the roses and smiled at me, his cheeks darkening with what must have been as close to a blush as his brown skin would show.
“I’m sorry,” he said as he approached with the bouquet. A wave of relief washed over me as he lifted a grocery sack from Roxy’s. “And here’s some chocolate to go with my peace offering.”
“Thank you, Colton,” Lorea murmured from behind me. She was always sneaking up on me.
“Yes, thank you,” I echoed. “It all worked out. I was able to order another cupcake stand. I bet you’ll be back with it tomorrow.”
“I’ll be extra careful.” He handed the roses to Lorea, and I saw the way his eyes met hers for a half second.
I felt my face redden as I thought how crazy I had been earlier. Colton wasn’t going to fetch the diamonds. He went to buy an apology, and I was about to meet with Tony and tell him my suspicions. I shivered. Someone was still after me. Fear pricked my heart when I thought of how close the danger might be, and I didn’t have a hint of who might be stalking me.
At noon, I met with Frankie Lawson of Sun Valley Lodge and gave her the bad news that Sylvia’s wedding had been cancelled.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if she changed her mind tomorrow,” Frankie said. “She’s so dramatic, she’s probably doing it to get attention.”
“She seemed pretty serious.” Then I thought about the way Sylvia had taken off her ring and carefully tucked it into her purse. Frankie could be right.
Frankie flicked off an invisible speck of dust from the cuff of her black business suit. “I’ll call Mrs. Rockfort and see if she would like me to hold the date. It might be interesting to get her reaction.”
“You’re a saint. I purposely have not called her yet.” That woman had me on a pathway to an ulcer. Delegation was something I had perfected in my contacts with her. “I need your help for something else, though.” I explained as briefly as possible the theft of the wedding gowns and subsequent police investigation, including my need to meet with Tony in private.
Frankie nodded. “Sure. I’ll just put you in an empty guest room off the main floor.”
“Thank you.” I was so grateful for Frankie’s tact and ability to stifle her curiosity. She probably wondered why I hadn’t met Tony at the police station but accepted my vague explanation. A moment later, a knock sounded at the door, and I recognized Tony through the frosted glass.
Frankie escorted Tony and me into an empty room. Before I spilled the beans on my unlucky part in the business of diamond smuggling, I needed to have some assurances.
“I have some information that I should have told you, but please don’t be angry with me.”
Tony lifted his eyes to the ceiling and huffed. “Adri, I already asked you not to play detective.”
“And I wasn’t. Honest. I know about the diamonds because of something I found, but I didn’t—couldn’t—tell you.”
“You can tell me. I’m a police officer, but I’m also your friend.”
“I want to tell you, but I need a promise from you first.”
Tony held up his hands. “What’s this about?”
“Just promise me that you will not take any more of my wedding dresses for the investigation.”
“I can’t make a promise like that. I could take all of them now, based on that one diamond we found.”
I crossed my arms over my chest. “Fine.”
Tony narrowed his eyes, and I could hear him noisily exhale as he scrutinized me. “I can’t make any promises, but
