Unbelievable (18 page)

I spotted Cole. My heart skipped. It took me a second to recognize him. I’d only seen him in scrubs. He needed to get out of scrubs more often
, because,
wow
, he looked delicious. I went to his side, fighting the need to sink into his arms.

Time for the façade I’d mastered so well over the years. I smiled boldly. “You look hot,” I whispered, settling next to him.

“Lilah, we’re in church,” he chastised.

“God created that face, Cole. I guarantee you He agrees with me.”

“Somehow I can’t picture God saying hot in the same sense you are.”

“Point taken. How about magnificent, or divine? Both
godly words. You look divine.” I smiled at his pink ears.

We all stood as Maggie, escorted by Booker, came down the aisle while a quartet consisting of two violins, a viola, and a cello played Pachelbel’s
Canon
. Seth’s eyes filled with tears as soon as they met Maggie’s.

Cole leaned over and whispered, “Pastor Williams was
Seth’s pastor when he was a little boy growing up in Syracuse. He’s been a friend of the family for years.”

“Who gives this woman to be married?” asked the pastor when Maggie and Booker reached the altar.

“I do,” said Booker, placing Maggie’s hand in Seth’s. She stepped over, handing me her bouquet, and then she and Seth moved toward the altar.

Both wanted a traditional ceremony, though each had written a few lines they wanted to exchange. Pastor Williams performed his part beautifully, speaking words of love and commitment. He looked at Seth and, quoting Shakespeare, said, “
Now join your hands, and with your hands your hearts
.”

I looked at Cole and with a smile he mouthed, “
Henry the IV.”

Pastor Williams then turned the ceremony over to Seth.

Seth took Maggie’s hands in his. “Maggie, you have brought so much joy and happiness into my life. You’re a rare and precious jewel, and I’m honored you want to spend the eternities with me. I can think of no one I want more by my side, sharing the ups and downs of life. With you, I am whole. I love you, and promise to always love you.” Seth dabbed a tear from his eye as he finished.

“Seth,” Maggie began, her voice barely above a whisper. “Never have I met someone so loving and giving. Never have I felt so loved and wanted. It’s because of you I’ve been able to heal and move on. You held me up when I was weak and broken. You gave me room to grow and learn, to believe in myself and my worth. Your love makes me a better person. I want you by my side forever, helping me fight the good fight. I know that together we have it all, and apart we are incomplete. I love you, and promise to always love you.” When Maggie finished, she kissed Seth tenderly on the mouth.

There wasn’t a dry eye in the church. Tissue flew to every eye, including mine. Except for Cole. He sat soberly, his eyes fixed on the happy couple.

“I now pronounce you husband and wife. Now you may kiss,” the pastor teased.

No one needed to tell Seth twice. He grabbed Maggie, playfully leaned her back, and kissed her soundly. Applause erupted and he set Maggie back upright, while pumping his fist in the air.

I leaned over to Cole. “They look so happy, don’t they?”

“Beyond happy,” Cole said quietly. “Beyond happy,” he repeated.

The reception hall sat adjacent to the church, and the crowd meandered their way over slowly.
Hundreds of spring flowers adorned the place. Bright pink tulips sat in white vases, while vines smelling of sweet honeysuckle hung from decorative glasses attached to the wall by ornate wrought iron. Ten round tables spread across the room, and chairs covered in light green fabric circled around. In the center of each table, cradled in short glass bowls half-filled with water, pink and white rose petals intermingled with yellow floating candles.

The spread of food lay impressively on long buffet tables against the far wall. They had grilled chicken that
called to me, along with colossal shrimp and crab legs. A man in a chef’s hat stood at the end table, carving prime rib for the guests. Cole piled his plate with shrimp, crab, and even managed a little prime rib.

“You’re not going to eat any veggies?” I questioned.

“Sure, this is just my first plate. I’ll get those on my second, maybe third time through, depending on how much room I still have in my stomach.” He looked at me as if I should already know this information. I made a small note in my head to talk to God about the unfairness of life. Why could a man eat three plates of food and not gain an ounce, yet if a woman even thought about eating a piece of chocolate, her hips spread?

I draped my free arm around him and we walked to a nearby table while I traced small circles on Cole’s back. He almost dropped his plate twice. We got to the table and he sat with his back tight against the chair as we ate. “I’ve missed you these past couple days,” he said quietly. I nodded in agreement. I was about to put my hand on his knee when Booker appeared out of nowhere with a plate full of food similar to Cole’s.

“Can we join you?” Timidly at his side stood Tess from the ER. She was dressed in a bland gray dress and flats, though I had the feeling the flats were so she wouldn’t tower over everyone. She had to be close to six feet tall. Her eyes were cast down to the floor, as usual.

“Sure,” Cole said, holding out a chair for Tess. She quietly thanked him, at least I think that’s what she said since I could barely hear her.

“Hello again, Lilah. Beautiful ceremony, don’t you think?” Booker asked.

“Yes, very.” I slid my chair closer to Cole as Booker sat between Tess and
me. “How’s the shrimp, Tess?” She about jumped out of her chair when I said her name.

“Sorry,” she laughed quietly. “You startled me.”
Seriously?
“The shrimp’s wonderful, as are the rolls.” Her manners and grammar were impeccable. She had a grace about her that I hadn’t noticed at the hospital. Of course, at the hospital she sat in a corner filling out paperwork. Not a huge need for grace doing that job.

“So tell me, Tess,” Booker leaned in playfully, “does Cole have his own private suite at the hospital? I mean, he practically lives there so I assumed they’ve probably given him
a suite, if not his own wing by now.”

“I do not practically live there.” Booker shot Cole a
get real
expression. Cole’s reaction cut off any answer Tess might have given, not that she’d have spoken again. “I’ve not slept there in a month,” Cole defended, rather weakly if you ask me.

Booker laughed heartily. “Oh, a whole month. You’d better be careful or they’ll give your suite to someone else.” Both men laughed.

“I’m doing better. Staying at Seth’s helps. I just hate going home to an empty place,” he admitted.

“Where are you going tonight?” Booker asked, before stuffing half a cow in his mouth.

“I thought I’d stay at Seth’s. All my stuff’s still there.”

“Okay, but remember the old expression ‘three’s a crowd
,
’” Booker said, practically swallowing his food whole.

“‘Three’s a …’ Wait, I thought they were flying to Hawaii tonight. Aren’t you taking them to the airport?” Cole asked wide-eyed.

Booker grinned. “Nope, change of plans. They decided to spend the first few days as husband and wife in their own home. They fly out Monday.”

“Great.” Cole looked sick.

“Relax, you can stay at my place,” Booker assured Cole. “We can stop on the way home and pick up a razor, and I do believe you left a set or two of scrubs at my house. I’m sure I can find them.”

“Scrubs? You expect me to wear scrubs for two or three days?”

Booker froze, his fork halfway to his mouth. “You’re kidding, right? Doc, I’ve known you for over eight years and tonight’s the first time I’ve seen you in something other than scrubs. If it weren’t for that bandage on your wrist,” Booker pointer to Cole’s left wrist, were there was indeed a bandage I hadn’t noticed, “I would not have recognized you today.”

“That’s so not true,” Cole said rolling his eyes.

I watched the banter between the two men with envy, and thought to myself,
this is how brothers should act.
My brothers had dysfunction down to a science. Their teases were verbal punches, aimed at hurting each other as much as possible. Inevitably, the verbal punches escalated to physical punches. My mom, and later Birdie, would usher me away.

“Excuse me, I need to use the restroom,” Tess said quietly
as the music started overhead. She glanced around as if she looked for someone, and then stood silently.

Both Cole and Booker stood, as did I. “I’ll join you, Tess.” She nodded and we left the guys to fend for themselves.

“Those two are pretty entertaining, don’t you think?” I asked Tess.

“Yes.” She didn’t say anything else until we both stood at the sink washing our hands.

“Are you and Booker dating?”

“Oh, no,” she said. For the first time there was a little animation in her voice. “
Cole set us up. I mean, I know Booker. He used to come down to records a few times and talk to me. I worked there before transferring to the ER, but we’ve never gone out before.”

It was the most I’d heard the woman speak, ever. It was also the first time I’d seen her eyes. She wore contacts, dark brown contacts.
In the bright bathroom lights I could also see that her hair’d been dyed. I couldn’t tell the original color, but it was definitely dyed.

A disguise
. I’d been around my father enough to know when someone wore a disguise and this woman definitely was, for whatever reason.

“Did you grow up around here?” I asked as we walked back to the table.

“No.”

“Is your family nearby?”

“No.” Again, nothing more offered.

I decided to try one more time to draw her into a conversation. “How long have you lived in Port Fare?”

“A while,” Tess said. Two words … a slight improvement.

My paranoia kicked in. Did Tess work for Daddy? Did he hire her to keep an eye on me? All my anguish from the past two days came roaring back.

“Are you okay?” Tess asked.

I didn’t realize I had stopped walking. And breathing. I sucked in a lungful of honeysuckle filled air.

“Yes, fine.” I increased my pace, needing to sit down.

Stop with the paranoia already
. Tess worked in records before being transferred to the ER. No way had Daddy hired her to watch me.

I heard Tess call after me about needing to get something to drink, and that was all I could make out as the music blar
ed overhead.

Thankfully the music wasn’t as loud by the tables.
I arrived at the table in time to hear Cole teasing Booker about the time he mistakenly arrested the mayor’s wife for shoplifting. Booker laughed so hard he had tears running out his eyes.

“In my defense, I was a rookie at the time,” Booker explained, wiping his face.

“What did you do?” Cole asked. He had a fresh plate of food in front of him, all desserts, not a single vegetable.

“When he showed up to bail her out, I told him it was ‘Take Your Favorite Politician to Lunch’ day, and I knew with his busy schedule I’d have to do something drastic to get his attention.”

Cole shook his head. “And he bought it?”

“Yup, or maybe it was because I invited his wife to go along. I took them to the most expensive restaurant in town. Cost me a week’s wages.”

“You’re one lucky guy,” Cole said shaking his head.

“Lilah, what happen to Tess?” Booker looked around the room. “Did you lose her?”

“She wanted something to drink,” I answered.

Booker spun around on Cole. “You owe me big time. That woman
never
talks. I’ve heard more noise from a dead body than I’ve heard out of her.”

“She’s very sweet, Booker. Besides, I thought it would be good for her to get out and meet people. I overheard
a few nurses talking, and they said she has no friends and lives alone,” Cole said. He took a bite of a delicious looking piece of strawberry pie.

“She lives alone because all her roommates have died of boredom,” Booker insisted. “I may have to arrest her for manslaughter.”

I laughed. Booker looked at me and smiled. “Sorry. She’s very sweet. I’ve nothing against her, but she’s afraid of her own shadow. I wonder what’s made her like that.”

“Oh, no,” Cole said, setting his fork down.

“‘Oh, no’ what?” Booker asked, slightly agitated.

“You’re going into rescue mode again. Maybe she’s just shy, did you ever think of that?”

I could almost see Booker’s mind working. His brow tightened as if deep in thought. He shrugged casually, a little too casually. Apparently Cole thought so, too, because he said, “Booker, you have enough on your plate. Let it go.”

“You’re probably right,” Booker replied.

“Booker. Promise me you’ll let it go.”

“Cole—”

“Promise me,” Cole demanded.