Before she could decide, the music changed to the processional. The situation was out of her control. She made a few adjustments to Molly’s dress to prevent her from tripping over her skirt. The doors opened. Molly walked down the aisle and met Graham at the altar. He clasped her hands between his own, and they stared into each other’s eyes and pledged to spend the rest of their lives together. The pronouncement was made. Graham and Molly shared a lingering kiss and walked out of the grand hall, husband and wife.
Chapter 10
Molly’s prediction that Josh wouldn’t be able to take his eyes off Lisa turned out to be incorrect, but only because he was so disturbed by the feelings her appearance provoked that he resolved not to look at her again for the rest of the evening. One inadvertent glance while they were going into the ballroom for the reception was all it took to throw him into a pitiable state of confusion; he realized she was gorgeous, and he couldn’t understand why he hadn’t noticed before.
He reflected on the situation with a certain degree of desperation as he accompanied his siblings and Richard to the table they were sharing with Lisa’s family in the corner of the ballroom. His mind was in turmoil. What had changed? He hadn’t noticed anything special about Lisa during the ceremony, but then she had smiled at something Veronica had said, and the rational part of his mind had ceased to exist.
It was the first time he had actually seen her smile—a pure smile of pleasure without any pressure or obligation. He had never seen anything more beautiful. Her deplorable behavior suddenly didn’t seem so unforgivable. He found himself wanting to apologize to her for disrupting her life, wishing he could make friends with her, and wondering what it would feel like to kiss her on the lips. As she wandered around the ballroom with Veronica, he made a conscious effort to ignore her.
Shannon’s voice brought him back to reality.
“What do you think the odds are that I can convince the bartender to give me a drink?” she said. “I swiped Mom’s driver’s license, just in case, but she looks a lot older in this picture than she looks in real life, so I don’t know if it will work.”
“Shannon, that’s not a good idea,” said Josh.
“Why not?” said Shannon. “Mom and Dad won’t find out. No one’s watching us. Lisa’s annoying parents are too busy hanging out with their rich friends to pay any attention to us, and Richard couldn’t care less what we do.”
“On the contrary,” said Richard, who was still cradling the parcel in his arms. “I take my responsibilities very seriously, and I have no intention of allowing you to get drunk.”
“I’m not going to,” said Shannon, rolling her eyes. “I know my limits, so you don’t have to worry. Besides, you’re not responsible for me. You’re not even supposed to be here. Can’t you look the other way?”
“No,” said Richard. “It would reflect poorly on the family, aside from being a bad example to your little brother.”
Stephen shrugged apologetically.
“That’s ridiculous,” said Shannon. “It wouldn’t make any difference to Stephen. Seriously, look at him. He’s completely oblivious. Besides, he’s much too young to realize what’s going on.”
“So are you,” said Richard. “I suggest you sit down, shut up, and keep a sharp lookout for anything suspicious.”
“You can’t tell me what to do,” said Shannon.
Richard ignored her. Josh followed his gaze and saw Molly and Graham approaching. They were going from table to table, greeting the guests. Molly looked pleased, but Graham’s artificial grin indicated he wasn’t as happy with his married life as he wanted everyone to believe.
“Let’s see if he’ll take the bait,” said Richard.
He set the parcel on the table. Josh suspected it was the notebook. He thought Richard was being reckless, but there wasn’t time to protest. Graham and Molly were upon them. Richard scrambled to his feet and congratulated the newlyweds. Josh thought he sounded insincere, but Graham didn’t seem to notice. After a cursory glance at the parcel, he turned his attention to Richard.
“Thank you,” he said. “We haven’t met yet, but I know who you are. My upbringing was rather unconventional. Let’s just say my family belonged to a cult, for lack of a better term. When I was young, I amused myself by keeping up with current events. I wanted to be the first to know when the apocalypse was coming. My mother owned a little television set, and I would sit on the rug every night before dinner and watch the news, like a child listening to fairy tales. The sweetest saga of all was the demise of that monster Peterson. Believe it or not, you were my hero.”
“I was?” said Richard.
“Oh, yes,” said Graham. “You were extremely brave. From what I understand, you reported him as soon as you found out what he was doing, even though you knew he would accuse you of being complicit. You never backed down, even after they threw you into prison and ruined your reputation.”
“You went to prison?” said Stephen.
“It was a temporary thing,” said Richard. “It’s funny, until Graham reminded me, I’d forgotten all about it. It’s not nearly as exciting as it sounds—quite boring, actually. Not much to do. The food wasn’t good, either. I don’t recommend it.”
Graham laughed.
“I’m sure you weren’t so ambivalent about it at the time,” he said. “Without intending to be flippant, I’ve always loved a good martyr. I know it’s not much consolation, but you made a very strong impression on me. In fact, if it hadn’t been for you, I probably wouldn’t
