Once the door closed and Zoe and Lauren stood alone, the reporter smiled, tears glistening. “You look amazing.”
Zoe smoothed the snug bodice. “Does it look too tight?”
“Not at all. Pete is going to be so dazzled he won’t be able to say his vows.”
Zoe laughed. “I hope not.”
They fell into a silence that Lauren eventually broke. “I wanted to apologize.”
“You don’t—”
“Yes. I do. If I hadn’t been so trusting, I’d never have let Jenna know the details of your investigation.” Lauren choked. “You almost died. Again. And again, it was my fault.”
“She fooled us all. Even Pete.” Zoe thought back over the last week, most of which she’d been too swamped with last minute wedding plans to fully comprehend. “Any news on Dustin Landis?”
“The legal wheels are rolling on his release. He should be free and completely exonerated by the time you get home from your honeymoon.”
“Good.” Pete had told Zoe about Jenna’s confession, although he wasn’t privy to the details of the deal she’d cut with the FBI. There was even buzz about “antisocial personality disorder” and an insanity defense. “How about the DLK?”
“Since the feds now have a name and face, thanks to Jenna, it’s only a matter of time before they catch him.”
Zoe hated the idea of Jenna getting a light sentence after the havoc she’d wreaked, even if it meant taking a serial killer off the street.
“Not to change the subject or anything…” Lauren lifted her chin. “Who did you decide is going to walk you down the aisle?”
Zoe sighed. “No one. Pete’s sister had a heckuva time getting Harry to put on his suit this morning and told me he was combative about leaving his room.” She shook her head. “Alzheimer’s sucks.”
“No argument there. What about your stepdad?”
“We’ve been through this before.”
“Yes. But there’s something you need to know. I promised I’d never divulge my source, but I owe you. For the whole almost-getting-you-killed thing.”
“What are you talking about?”
Lauren returned to the door, turned the knob, and opened it a crack to peer out before facing Zoe again. “You’ve asked me over and over who told me you had a brother and who gave me the name of his birth mother.” Lauren swung the door open. Tom Jackson stood there in a black tuxedo, his over six-foot-tall frame filling the doorway. “Meet my source,” Lauren said. She looked up at Tom. “Talk to her,” she said to him before slipping out.
Zoe stared at her stepdad, her mind racing through the years and months. It made perfect sense. She’d known Kimberly would never share the information. But Tom had been Zoe’s father’s best friend all through school and beyond. He would’ve known everything. She should’ve figured out he’d been behind the search to find Scott.
Tom took one step inside and closed the door behind him. “You look beautiful,” he said, his deep baritone raw with emotion.
“Thank you.” Zoe’s voice cracked. She swallowed. No crying before the wedding. “I didn’t think you’d be here.”
His moustache twitched, not quite hiding a fleeting, sad smile. “I almost wasn’t.”
“Mother talked you into it,” Zoe said flatly, wishing like hell his presence was his idea.
“She can be persuasive.” This time the grin made it all the way to Tom’s dimples and stayed there.
Zoe’s tear-laden laugh caught in her throat. “You can say that again.” She thought of her mother last Saturday in front of Pete’s house. Imploring her…and Tom…to patch things up. What had Kimberly said?
Sometimes now is all we have.
In unison, Zoe and Tom both said, “I’m sorry.”
Zoe shook her head. “I’m the only one who needs to apologize. I should never have doubted you.”
“And I shouldn’t have been such a stubborn jackass. You’re my daughter. Not by blood. But in here.” He thumped his sternum.
“You gave Lauren the information about Scott’s mother.”
Tom nodded. “Kimberly said you’d found your brother. But then Patsy told me what really happened. Kimberly mentioned meeting Lauren last winter when she was back here turning over the farm to you, so I tracked her down and gave her what information I knew. It wasn’t much, but I figured her being an investigative journalist and all…” His voice trailed off as if he’d run out of steam. He cleared his throat. “I thought you could use a big brother. I’m sorry about how that worked out.”
“What I really need is a dad.”
Tears brimmed in Tom’s eyes, and he opened his arms wide.
Zoe crossed the room in three strides, her gown swishing, and flung herself into his embrace.
“I hear you’re in need of someone to give you away,” he said, his voice muffled by her veil. “I’d be pleased if you’d allow me the honor.”
So much for not crying before the wedding.
The strains of organ music drifted down the stairs as Tom, Zoe, and her two attendants prepared to ascend to the small sanctuary where Pete’s and Zoe’s closest friends awaited. When the music changed, Patsy started up the steps. A moment later, Rose followed.
Zoe’s heart threatened to burst through her chest. This was it. The moment she’d thought would never happen. Not to her. And with Pete, the man she’d so long held at arm’s length, fearing anything more would ultimately ruin a beautiful friendship.
“You’re shaking,” Tom said, smiling through his moustache.
She looked down at her bouquet of red and white roses. The flowers trembled. “I guess I am.”
“Do you need me to carry you up the stairs?”
“No, I think I’ve got this.”
Another change in the musical prelude was her signal to gather her long skirt and start the climb. One flight to a landing. A turn. And then a few more steps to the back of the aisle. She looked down at her feet in her white satin high-heeled pumps as she continued upward, careful not to catch a toe in her gown’s hem or miss a step.
When they reached the top, Harry stepped into view with his cane. “Well, hello, Sunshine.” His
