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Nobody turned her way, so she focused on Alonzo’s grandpa. “At least take him to your room. He needs to go to bed. I hope your other grandchildren are already in there waiting for you.”
He didn’t budge.
“Or I’ll take him to my room,” Rita said.
His brows furrowed, but at least he left for the hallway, albeit in a huff.
Rita rubbed her belly and turned to Ariana. “Now what?”
“I’m going to take you to your suite. You need your rest as much as Alonzo does.”
“How am I going to sleep? My wedding has turned into a massive disaster — a groomsman is dead and myabuelitais still missing! Grayson doesn’t even know we found Alonzo. Everything’s ruined!”
“There’s still time for everything to come together for your ceremony tomorrow. Here’s what we’ll do. I’ll get your jacuzzi bathtub set up so you can take a relaxing bath and—”
“While everything is falling apart around me?” Rita exclaimed.
“Yes. All the pampering from earlier has obviously worn off. What you need is to relax so you can get some sleep. Tomorrow’s your big day.”
“The ceremony isn’t going to happen. One of Grayson’s groomsmen isdead!There’s no way he’s going to want to go on with the festivities. Everything is a wreck!”
Ariana put her arms around Rita’s shoulders and guided her to the suite, trying to be as encouraging as possible. It was hard, given the valid points the bride-to-be kept bringing up.
How could anyone know what would happen the next day?
Once in the room, Ariana went straight for the tub. She set it up, making sure to keep the water from getting too hot because of the pregnancy. When it filled, she put the jets on the lowest setting.
Flashes of lightning kept streaking across the sky on the other side of the large picture window. Given the amount of rain pelting the glass, it was a miracle she could see any of the bolts. She drew the curtains to block out the storm.
When she turned around Rita was sitting on the bed with tears streaming down her face.
Ariana embraced her. “Do you want me to stay with you? I was going to see what I could do out there, but—”
“No. I want you to look for myabuelita. The thought of her wandering around lost and confused makes me sick.”
Or with a crazed killer. But Ariana kept that thought to herself.
“I’m sure she’s fine,” Ari said. “You found Alonzo, and there was a perfectly reasonable explanation. I’m sure it’s the same kind of thing with her.”
“You think my elderly grandma fell asleep while playing hide and seek?”
“No, but I’ll bet she’s fine and has an interesting story waiting to tell us. One day, everyone will look back and laugh about it.”
“I doubt that. There’s nothing funny about any of this.”
Ariana helped her off the bed. “Let’s get you in the tub. At least you’ll feel a little better. Do you need anything else?”
“Tell Grayson where I am when you see him.”
“Definitely.” Ari gave her a heartfelt squeeze before heading to the door. “Oh, and one more thing.”
“Yeah?”
“Don’t let just anyone in.”
“Believe me, I won’t.”
That was a relief, and Ariana felt better for all of thirty seconds.
