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That sounded like a great idea — except I’d already promised Victoria all my time over the next couple of days, and there was no way I’d be able to call all the various outlets and try to convince them I needed to know where those items were going.
I explained as much to Calvin, then added, “But I’ll call the bank and lock down the account, and then I’ll follow up on all this other stuff after the wedding.”
“Better lock down all your accounts,” he responded, his expression grim. “We don’t know how this person was able to access the one, and they might try to go after your other ones, too.”
So that was why I spent the next two hours on the phone, making sure I’d be contacted if anyone tried to charge anything over a hundred dollars on any of those accounts. Luckily, Calvin still had his own separate checking account, the one he’d had before we got together, and there was plenty of money in it to cover bills and any other household expenses that might crop up before we could get this whole mess straightened out.
By the time I was done, I felt as if I’d been run over by a truck repeatedly, so Calvin made me a comfort meal of grilled cheese and tomato soup, and we went into the living room to watch TV afterward, with my head pillowed on his shoulder and Sadie curled at my feet. That evidence of domestic tranquility made me feel a little better…but not all the way.
Just who had broken into my accounts, and how?
Worry about it later, I told myself. You’ve done your due diligence, and now you need to focus on Archie and Victoria.
All the same, I knew I’d be very glad when the entire event was safely over with.
16
Taking the Plunge
I’d already resolved not to say a word about the theft from my checking account to either Archie or Victoria, or even Hazel. Unburdening myself wouldn’t change anything, and it was far more important to me that my friends could enjoy their special day, even if none of us could quite ignore that this wasn’t the wedding they’d been planning for all these months.
Part of the reason Victoria had wanted me at the house around ten-thirty was that the party supply company was supposed to show up at eleven to deliver the chairs and tables for the backyard reception. True to form, the delivery people arrived half an hour early, which meant I’d barely gotten there in enough time to start directing traffic. Hazel was nowhere to be seen, but that didn’t bother me too much. I loved her to death, but she often wasn’t the most punctual person in the world, especially when something involved her showing up before noon. How she dealt with being married to a rancher, someone who needed to be up at dawn most of the time, I had absolutely no idea.
Once I got the delivery drama handled — Victoria had been on the phone with the caterer and Archie was off picking up his suit, which had needed a couple of last-minute alterations — Hazel arrived, a portfolio tucked under one arm and her box of paints in her other hand.
“Did I miss much?” she asked.
Part of me wanted to make a sarcastic comment about how nice it was to see her — she was almost a half hour late by that point — but I bit my tongue. I knew I was on edge because of the mysterious draining of that one bank account, and going off on Hazel for being Hazel would have been pointless.
“Not a lot,” I said. “But now that you’re here, we can start setting up the chairs for the ceremony.”
She sent me a dubious look. “Shouldn’t you wait until Archie can help with that?”
“He’s off picking up his suit,” I said. “And I’m only four months pregnant. I can manage. It’s not like we’re moving an entire house full of furniture or something.”
She opened her mouth, as though to make at least a half-hearted protest, then appeared to think better of it, because she only nodded and said, “Okay.”
We spent the next fifteen minutes arranging the chairs in three rows of five on either side, leaving ample room for the aisle that Victoria would walk down. The flowers wouldn’t arrive until tomorrow morning, when there would be a mad rush to get them all set up and in their proper places, but for now, it was enough to make sure the chairs were ready to go, as well as the small dance floor that had been laid down over to one side.
“That looks good,” Hazel said once we were done, looking over the setup with a critical eye. “But now I need to get started on the reception book. Archie and Victoria just finally decided on their design last night.”
“Are you going to have enough time?” I asked, thinking she was cutting it a little close.
“Oh, sure,” she said easily. “I’m using watercolors, so they’ll dry fast. It’s not like I’m doing a massive oil painting or something.”
A while back, Hazel had suggested that she paint a custom cover for their reception book, something that would make it unique and utterly unlike anything they could have bought commercially. Both Victoria and Archie had said that sounded like a wonderful idea, and I had to admit I thought it was pretty cool, too.
In fact, I’d even needled Hazel about it, asking her why she hadn’t done something like that for Calvin’s and my wedding, but she’d only shrugged, saying she’d just heard about it in an artists’ forum where she hung out, so it wasn’t like she could have painted one for me.
I’d accepted that explanation and hadn’t thought much about it after that. However, just like too many other pieces of this wedding puzzle, the reception book sounded as if it had gotten pushed to the very last minute.
“I’m going to use the kitchen table for my workspace,” she told me. “I figure I’ll be out of the way, but close by in case you need me for something.”
“Well, now that we have the chairs set up, there isn’t a whole lot for me to do until the caterer drops off their stuff,” I replied. “Or at least, the things that are coming today. The cake and some other bits and pieces have to be delivered tomorrow morning.”
She nodded, and took her supplies and the reception book over to the kitchen table, which I had to admit was a great spot for that kind of work, with its wide surface and the natural light that came pouring in through the large window next to it.
I was just wondering if I should go in search of Victoria — it seemed as if she’d been on the phone with the caterer for an awfully long time — when she appeared at the kitchen door, nose wrinkled.
