Breaking the Rules

CHAPTER

TWENTY-ONE



FRIDAY, MAY 8, 2009

6:49 P.M.


Danny was silent as Jenn drove the car they’d rented just that afternoon over to the police station to pick up Eden and Izzy.

Well, they’d pick them up, assuming everything went as smoothly as possible and Eden wasn’t going to be held for whatever various crimes she’d committed.

“It’s really funny how we can’t seem to hold on to more than one rental car at a time,” Jennilyn said, glancing over at him as she braked for a red light.

“Yeah.” Dan looked back at her, his smile wry. “That’s the really funny part of all this.”

“Sorry,” she apologized. “I was just trying to talk about something other than—”

“The fact that we’re going to bail my screw-up of a sister out of jail?” he finished for her.

“She’s not a screw-up,” Jenn told him. “She’s actually really brave. I don’t know if I would’ve done what she did. I mean, yes, I would’ve done it without hesitation to protect you or Ben or my brother’s kids … But for someone I barely know? I mean, I would’ve tried to help, sure, but …”

“What do you call it, though,” Danny asked her, “when those so-called courageous actions put someone else in danger? Yeah, Eden saved Neesha from whatever it was those men wanted from her—assuming it really was Neesha that she saw and not some other weird little Asian hooker-girl. But, okay. Let’s agree it was her. And great. By getting herself arrested, Eden put Ben back in danger from crazy Greg and Ivette. Do you honestly think anyone at CPS is going to want to let Ben anywhere near Eden now? It is called Child Protective Services.”

Jenn forced a smile, because here it came. The conversation she’d been waiting for ever since Izzy first called from the police station, an hour ago. “Of course not,” she told Danny quietly. “But what if Eden truly believed that those men were going to harm Neesha? She knew she’s not the only one capable of protecting Ben. She knew that we have a Plan B.”

The light turned green and she accelerated through the intersection, aware that he was still watching her. She glanced at him again, and he sighed and said, “Plan B. The plan you hate.”

“I don’t … hate it,” she said. “I just didn’t want to do it until we absolutely had to. And with Eden being arrested …” They were pretty dang close to absolutely having to.

He was silent, just watching her.

“Make it nice,” Jenn said, trying to be upbeat and positive in the face of this looming disaster. God, this was not what she wanted—to do this out of sheer necessity. To leave her job and move all the way across the country to live with this man that she loved, a man who said he loved her, too, but really—mostly—only needed her. She forced another smile. “Do it right, and I’ll split the cost of a fancy hotel room with you, so we can have some privacy tonight.”

“To do what?” Dan asked. “Let you give me head? Terrific.”

She had to laugh. “Oh, wow, and all this time, I thought you liked it.”

He laughed, too, exhaling his exasperation. “You know I do—and like is an understatement,” he told her. “I just want … You know what I want.”

And, God, when Dan looked at her like that, she did know.

“Three more days,” Jenn reminded him. “Unless … Well, if you were a doctor and your patient was a Navy SEAL, wouldn’t you pad your recommendation for no strenuous lifting or activity by at least three or four days? Knowing that the SEAL was going to cheat?”

He looked at her with such transparent delight, she had to laugh.

“You’re going to let me cheat?” he asked, then added, “It’s not really cheating. It’s more like redefining the rules.”

“Fair enough,” Jenn said as she pulled into the police-station parking lot. It was crowded despite the time of night—or maybe because of the time of night. “Like I said, make it nice, Gillman. And yes, I’ll help you redefine the rules tonight.”

“I love you,” he told her as she found a spot down at the end, and she used the excuse of parking to keep from looking at him, for fear he’d realize just how difficult this was going to be for her.

Dan loved her, yes, but in his own way and … Huh. That was funny, that was exactly what he’d said to Ben, about Eden loving Izzy.

“Jenn, really. I’ve never loved anyone the way I love you. And to think you’d be willing to do this for me is …” His voice was thick with emotion and he had to stop and clear his throat. “It’s the best gift anyone’s ever given me.”

And there it was. She didn’t want the fact that she was helping him gain custody of Ben to be the best gift he’d ever received. She wanted her love for him—plain and simple—to hold that coveted status.

But she was living here, in reality, not in some fairy-tale-flavored alternative universe.

“Well, you’re lucky,” Jenn said as she put the car in park. “Ben’s such a sweet kid. He makes it easy to say yes—to the question that you haven’t exactly asked me yet. Not today, anyway.” She looked around them at the battered car parked next to them, at the sun-bleached and sagging wooden fence that was in dire need of repair that was in front of them, at the starkly blocklike municipal building she could see in her rearview mirror. “Although this isn’t quite the romantic epicenter of Las Vegas. But then again, this isn’t exactly about the romance, is it?”

“I don’t know,” he said, taking her hand. “I think it’s pretty perfect. But I never really needed the soundtrack with the swelling violins, or the glorious sunsets … When it comes to romance, LeMay, all I need is you.”

She smiled at that—how could she not? It was both sweet and poetic. And when he leaned in to kiss her so tenderly, it nearly took her breath away.

God, he was good. He’d always been good at getting his way.

He pulled back the merest fraction of an inch to ask her then, his breath warm and sweet: “Jenni, will you marry me?”

He kissed her again before she could answer, and it was clear from the way he deepened that kiss that his thoughts had already wandered to the rule-redefining part of their evening.

But he made himself stop, and he was laughing as he put some distance between them. “It’s crazy, but I’m actually nervous that you’re not going to, you know, say yes.”

He wasn’t kidding, so Jenn put him out of his misery and said it. “Yes.”

But he didn’t kiss her again as she’d expected him to. Instead he just kept smiling into her eyes. “Right now,” he whispered, “I am the happiest man on the planet. And taking into consideration that I’m sitting where I’m sitting …? That’s saying something.”

He just kept smiling at her, so she finally leaned in and kissed him. Maybe if she could just keep kissing him, this wouldn’t be so bad, this ache of disappointment that she was feeling, knowing that he was going to marry her because he had no other real choice—at least not a choice he was willing to accept.

But there were things that needed to be done—and discussed.

“So what’s it going to be?” she asked, purposely keeping her voice light. “An Elvis impersonator, or—ooh, I know! The Star Wars Chapel. There’s got to be one somewhere in Vegas—complete with costumes. We could get married as Wookiees.”

Danny laughed, but then his smile faded as he looked at her. “You are kidding, right?”

“I don’t know,” Jenn said. “Make it Star Trek and I might not be kidding. To have a ceremony officiated by a Vulcan in a Starfleet uniform?”

But he laughed as he said, “Seriously, baby, let’s do this at least semi-right. I heard Zanella telling Lopez—you remember Jay, right?”

Jay Lopez was one of the SEALs who’d come to New York last spring to help protect Maria when she’d received threats from a lunatic. “I do,” Jenn said, but then laughed. “Sounds like I’m warming up.”

“Works for me,” Danny said, and he kissed her again. “Really, Jenni, this is so great. I just … It means a lot to me and … Anyway, Zanella told Lopez that when he and Eden got married, they found this place where they rent wedding gowns, and they’ll do your makeup and … He said it was actually pretty nice. And okay, yeah, they used a cartoon version of the bridal march—Bugs Bunny singing ‘Here Comes the Bride’—but what do you expect from Zanella and my sister, right?”

“Do they rent tuxes?” Jenn asked. “Because if I’m in a gown …”

Danny nodded but then shook his head. “Yeah, but no, I’ve got my dress uniform in my bag,” he said. “I was thinking that we could swing back home and pick it up. When we get Ben.”

“Ben,” she said, surprised. “You want Ben to come …?”

“Well, yeah,” he said. “And, you know, Eden and …” He rolled his eyes. “Even Zanella. Do you mind? Because if you’d rather it was just me and you—”

“No,” Jenn said. “No! That’s fine. I’m just … a little surprised.”

“They’re family,” Danny said. “Regardless of everything, they’re still …” He shrugged. “They’re my family. Maybe we could do something this summer—fly back east—to, you know, celebrate with your family.”

Oh God, she hadn’t even thought about what she was going to tell her parents and her brothers. Hi, everybody, I’m in Las Vegas and I’m on the verge of marrying a Navy SEAL that none of you have met. And oh, by the way, we’ve got an instant teenage ward, whom I’ll be taking care of while my new husband goes off to war … Yeah, probably better to wait and tell her mother after the fact. Maria was a different story, though. She could call Maria while Dan was dealing with helping Izzy get his sister released.

“Or, I guess we could wait a few days,” he said, because she hadn’t responded, “so they could fly out, but—”

“That meeting’s tomorrow,” Jenn finished for him. “You want to do this tonight.”

“I do,” he said, “but that doesn’t mean we can’t—”

“It’s decided,” Jenn said. “We’re doing this tonight.” And then she kissed him, because there was nothing more to say, and kissing Danny always helped to ease any and all disappointment and pain.


It helped that the blue truck had been stolen.

And it helped that Eden’s description of what went down matched—exactly—the statements from half a dozen witnesses.

And it really helped that everyone in a several-block radius agreed that the driver and passenger of the stolen blue truck had definitely had at least one weapon between them, which they’d fired three times.

No one, however, had seen the little Asian girl that Eden claimed to be trying to protect. Or that the man crossing the street toward her had had a weapon that he looked ready to use on the girl.

But the City of Las Vegas took child prostitution very seriously, and an investigation had been opened. Unfortunately, that investigation made it impossible for Eden to hide her now-former place of employment. Or her stage name.

And when her brother came into the interview room where she’d been questioned and requestioned over the past few hours, the first thing he said to her was, “Jennilyn LeMay? Honestly?”

Eden braced herself for the storm of crap that was sure to come, but all Dan did was laugh his disbelief as he sat down across from her at the gray metal table. He still moved a little bit slowly and carefully, and she knew his injury was troubling him.

Not that he’d complain.

“You’re unbelievably lucky,” he told her, “that Jenn thinks it’s funny.”

“I’m so sorry,” Eden said. “It happened so fast. Her name just popped out of my mouth, and—”

“I think it also helps that she’s changing her name to Gillman,” Danny interrupted her. “We’re getting married tonight.”

“Oh, Lord,” Eden said, closing her eyes. “Danny, I’m so, so sorry that I got arrested. Izzy’s right. I honestly didn’t think beyond—”

“It’s actually a good thing,” he interrupted her again. “I wanted her to stay, and now she’s going to. So, thank you for messing up. There’s a first, huh?”

She didn’t know whether to take him seriously, and because of that she wasn’t sure what to say.

“I know that’s not why you did what you did,” he continued, “but I’m grateful just the same.”

He was serious. He was sitting there, looking her in the eye, and thanking her for what she’d done.

God damn you! Don’t you ever think before you do anything?

Maybe this was cosmically correct. Izzy was as angry as Dan usually was when she messed up. And here Dan was, cool and calm, and actually thanking her.

“Izzy’s really mad at me,” she told him, fighting back the tears that welled in her eyes.

“You drove a car toward a man with a weapon, who’d discharged that weapon at you in the recent past,” Dan pointed out. “I’m feeling a little what-the-hell myself.”

“The man who was going after Neesha,” Eden explained, “had a gun and he was going to kill her. I could tell from the way he was moving—it was like he wasn’t even … human anymore, and I know that sounds ridiculous but—”

“It doesn’t,” he said. “I know what you mean.”

“You do?” She gazed at him, and he sat there looking steadily back at her. This was probably the most eye contact they’d had since, well, since that awful year that Charlie had died, when Eden had turned fourteen and stupidly climbed into John Franklin’s car.

“Yeah,” Dan said. “Killing’s not always easy to do. For some people, there’s a disconnect. Others … come alive, which can be even scarier to watch.” He sighed as he studied her. “You sure it was Neesha? I’m not convinced I could pick her out of a lineup, and I’m good with faces.”

“I’m sure,” she told him. “I called her name, and she turned.”

Dan nodded, and exhaled hard. “Well, okay.”

“We need to find her,” Eden said. “Whoever those men are? They’re serious. She’s in trouble.”

“You and Zanella can do that tomorrow,” Dan said. “Maybe take Ben with you. Tonight I need you to stay with him, because, well, Jenni and I are going to spend the night at a hotel, in the honeymoon suite.” He smiled.

Eden smiled, too, because it was so … odd. Her too-serious older brother was having a solid case of the goofies about the fact that Jenn was going to marry him.

So she leaned forward to ask, “You really don’t think you could have closed this deal with Jenn, just with a little dinner and moonlight?”

“I tried a few days ago,” Dan admitted, “but I kind of screwed it up.”

“Wow, I can’t imagine that,” she said. “The Gillman curse, striking Captain Perfect.”

His smile faded. “Jesus, Eden, I really hate when you call me that,” he said.

“I really hate that you think I’m a terrible person,” she said, and to her absolute horror, she started to cry. She stood up so that she could turn away, her chair screeching as she pushed it back across the linoleum floor.

“I don’t think you’re a terrible person,” Dan said. “I think you’ve made … some really terrible choices. I think you’re great with Ben. And I hope, whatever happens, that you stay close. To him.”

“Not you?” she asked.

“Well, I’ll be living in the same apartment as Ben,” he said, “so …”

“Maybe I’ll visit when I get out of jail,” she said.

“You’re not going to jail,” Dan told her. “Izzy’s on the phone with a lawyer. The rental-car company’s looking like your biggest headache, but Izzy’s already up in their grille—literally—about the fact that the car he rented didn’t have working air bags. When the dust finally settles, I think the worst you’ll have to deal with is a fine and an inability to get a driver’s license without taking some kind of punishment class. Driver’s ed, you know?”

Eden turned and looked at him. “That’s … all? You mean, they really believe me? The police and the detectives and … You?”

“There were a lot of witnesses,” he pointed out.

“Ah yes, the witnesses,” she repeated. “That’s where I’ve gone wrong, most of my life. My very worst choice was that I didn’t make sure, whatever I did, that there were plenty of witnesses.”

“Look,” Danny said, but then stopped. He looked up at her—he was still sitting at the table—and he sighed and shook his head.

“What,” she said, coming to sit back down across from him. “Come on, Dan. Lecture me. We both know that’s why you came in here. Because even though I’m apparently not going to be thrown in jail, the entire world now knows that I was working as a stripper and—”

“That’s not,” he said, still shaking his head. “Why I … Actually, I came in to invite you to my wedding. We’re gonna go to the same place where you and Zanella … went. I’ve seen the picture and … You looked really great …”

Her mouth was hanging open and she closed it. “When did you see the picture?” Izzy had worn his dress whites, and she’d worn a rented gown that was designed for brides who were six months pregnant. Her boobs had been humongous and the dress had been so low-cut that it was a costume malfunction waiting to happen, but the picture—a portrait taken as part of the wedding package that Izzy had paid for—had come out great.

“You’re kidding, right?” Dan said. “I mean, come on. Zanella carried that picture around with him, wherever the team went. He had it laminated. I have this memory of him, on a medical helo, bitching at me for bleeding on the damn thing while he wiped it dry.” He paused. “You do know what he did for me? The battlefield transfusion …?”

Eden looked at him. “What?” she said. “The what?”

“It’s called a battlefield transfusion,” her brother told her. “I was pinned down by a sniper. I was hit—a bullet nicked my artery.” He pointed down at his right leg. “I was dead. I was sure I was going to bleed out, because there was no way they could evac me out of there, not until the sniper was contained, and that just wasn’t going to happen soon enough.

“So Zanella gets some medical tubing and some needles, and you know, when I say that, it sounds like he strolled to the local CVS, but this motherf*cker had a shitload of ammo and … The sniper motherf*cker, not Zanella, although he can be a real motherf*cker, too.”

Eden nodded. “I get it. What happened?”

“So Zanella leaves the minimal cover that we’ve got to go get this shit, and then comes back with it and …” Danny shook his head in disbelief. “Apparently—I was out of it by this time—he used himself as my own private blood supply. A needle in his arm, blood going out, and a needle in mine, blood coming in. He gave me so much of his own blood, Eed, he nearly died. He needed a transfusion, too, which is why we both ended up in the hospital in Germany.”

“Dear Lord,” Eden breathed. “I didn’t know. I didn’t realize he was in the hospital, too.”

“Figures he wouldn’t tell you. What a douche.”

“How could you call him that?” Eden asked. “He saved your life.”

“That doesn’t make him less of a douche.”

“I think you’re a douche,” she said, laughing her indignation.

“Yeah, well,” he said. “You’re probably right.” But then he got serious. “Some people just don’t get along. He pushes my buttons. He always has. He probably always will.”

“Have you asked him to stop?” Eden asked her brother. “And not like, Jesus, Zanella, f*ckety-f*ck the f*cking f*ck! But more like, Izzy, please, don’t do that right now, it’s a hot button for me, so I need you to give me some space.”

Danny itched his ear. “I’ve only done it, you know. The f*ckety-f*ck way.”

“He’s really smart,” Eden told him. “And he’s really, really a good guy, Danny. He had a kind of unusual childhood—”

“And ours was normal?”

“Good point,” she said. “I just think he would really like to be friends with you.”

“Well, he’s coming to my wedding,” Dan told her.

“Best man?” she asked.

Danny made a face. “I … think I’m going to ask Ben to do that.”

“That’s a great idea,” Eden enthused. “Ben will be thrilled—and Izzy will, too.” She stopped herself. “Assuming he’s over his anger—and capable of being thrilled.”

“He’ll be over it,” Dan told her. “He’s got the attention span of a—”

“Don’t say it,” she warned him. “If he’s going to stop jumping on your buttons, you have to give him something in return.”

Dan laughed. “Zanella hasn’t exactly agreed to anything yet.”

“He will,” Eden told her brother. “All you have to do is ask.”


Ben’s sister, Eden, saved her life.

Neesha had absolutely no doubt about that.

Todd had been ready to kill her. He’d told her as much during his visits. If you try to leave this place, we’ll find you. We’ll hunt you down and kill you, like the animal you are …

He was the animal, having sex with a powerless child.

After spotting him, there at the hamburger place where she was supposed to meet Clarice, Neesha had run, despite knowing that it was over, that she was surrounded, with Eden and her car so close by. There was nowhere to go to hide, and no way she could outrun that car, let alone the bullets from Todd’s gun.

But she’d run anyway, and when she’d turned to look back, fully expecting to see her death approaching her, she instead saw Eden as she drove her car toward Todd, as if trying to run him down. He’d turned to run—away from Neesha, buying her valuable time.

And Neesha had kept running.

She’d run until she couldn’t run anymore. And it was clear, by then, that Todd wasn’t going to find her—and that Eden had saved her life.

It had taken Neesha a while to figure out where she was, and then to figure out what she was going to do.

It wasn’t a difficult choice. She knew, whether or not Clarice was responsible for bringing Todd to the hamburger place, that she couldn’t go back to Paradise Road. She would have to try her luck elsewhere.

Or she could take a risk and go back to Ben and Eden for help.


FRIDAY, MAY 8, 2009

8:12 P.M.

“What do you think of this one?” Jenn held the dress up in front of her as Eden looked up from her perusal of the racks.

Dan’s sister frowned. “Too busy and … Too long-sleeved. You’ve got great arms and beautiful skin. Let’s give Danny a heart attack, okay?” She held up a dress that was strapless, with a fitted bodice that had bustier-like stays and a relatively full skirt. “I think you should try on this one.”

“Yeah, hello,” Jenn said. “Have you looked at me? I’m not particularly well endowed up top.”

“But that’s why God made Wonderbras,” Eden told her with a smile. “There’s a lingerie drawer over there.” She pointed over to the changing area. “Just pull your size and take the entire drawer into the dressing room with you. I’ve got the dress.”

Eden led the way, and sure enough there was an entire drawer filled with different types of bras in Jenn’s simultaneously large and meager size. Large number, small letter, that is.

But Eden was running this show, and she put the gown on a hook in one of the changing rooms, and with the briefest of glances into the bra drawer, she reached in and plucked one out that was both strapless and heavily padded. “What color dress do you want me in?” she asked as she handed it to Jenn.

“Oh,” Jenn said. “I really don’t know. I guess … I like … blue?”

“Blue it is,” Eden said. “I’ll pick out a couple that’ll fit me, and let you choose. Give a shout if you need help getting that on.”

She vanished back toward the racks as Jenn went into the changing room and looked at the dress, and then the bra she was holding in her hands. She put it down—there was a chair in there, it was a big open area—and unfastened the robe she’d put on after showering in the spa-like bathroom.

This place was nicer than she’d imagined from its cheesy-sounding, sexual-innuendo name. Of course, a happy ending was what happened at the close of a fairy tale, too. It wasn’t just a euphemism for an orgasm.

“You’re going to help me with my hair, right?” she called to Eden, her stripper slash fashion consultant slash soon-to-be sister-in-law.

“Of course,” Eden called back. “And I’ll help with your makeup, too. Although the lady who works here? Izzy calls her Mrs. Fudd, on account of her husband looking like Elmer—we should probably find out her real name—but she’s very good and—Ooh, look at these! What size shoe are you?”

“Ten,” Jenn said as she put on the bra and … hello! She looked in the mirror, turning to see herself from all sides. Wow, wasn’t that quite the dramatic effect? Who knew? “I could just go barefoot …”

“No, no,” Eden said. “You okay with a small heel?”

“Define small,” Jenn answered.

“Two inches?”

“I’d prefer something lower,” Jenn said honestly as she took the gown that Eden had picked off the hanger. She slipped it on. “I really like the way Dan is taller than me. Not many men are, and …”

“Say no more,” Eden said. “We’ll go with one inch—just enough to make your legs look like a million dollars.” She imitated Dr. Evil when she said those last few words, and Jenn had to laugh. No wonder Izzy was enthralled.

“Except, you know what, Eden? I really don’t think anyone’s going to see my legs,” Jenn pointed out, just at the very moment that she looked in the mirror and realized that there was a huge slit up the front of the dress that completely exposed her left leg, from the very top of her thigh all the way to her foot. “Okay, so I’m wrong about that. Wow. I definitely need some help with the zipper.”

She pushed open the curtain as she held the dress up to her chest.

Eden was there instantly, pulling up the fastener. “Deep breath,” she said. “And don’t worry, you won’t be holding it in the entire time. There’s stretch in this thing. You can exhale … now.”

“Yikes,” Jenn said as she looked at herself in the mirror. The bra gave her cleavage unlike any she’d ever had before, and the shaping of the bodice gave her an hourglass figure, while the skirt hid her too-generous hips and …

As large as she was, she did have rather nice, very shapely legs. Even she had to acknowledge that.

Eden set a pair of shoes in front of her—slip-ons with the tiniest nub of a heel—that were covered with sparkling rhinestones. Jenn wouldn’t want to take a hike in them, but they were definitely perfect for this dress.

Still, she wasn’t quite sure … “Isn’t a wedding gown supposed to be demure?” Jenn asked. “I mean, that’s the point of wearing virginal white, isn’t it?”

“Are you a virgin?” Eden asked, and she didn’t wait for Jenn to respond, instead answering for her. “No. Is this Las Vegas? Why, yes, it is. Trust me, this dress is demure for Vegas. I mean, you could go with something in red …”

Jenn laughed as she turned back to the mirror to look at herself again. “I’m pretty sure Dan wanted me wearing white.”

“You look amazing,” Eden told her. “And the rental’s for the entire night. You can leave in it, you know, go dancing or … whatever. Just bring it back tomorrow before three. Izzy and I didn’t get a chance to do that—we went right to San Diego after we got married. But you will. And you should. Danny’s gonna want to … Well, wedding night.

Right?”

The door opened and Eden turned, ready to pull the curtain closed—in case it was Danny. Which was sort of stupid. Not only were superstitions like that one—the groom shouldn’t see the bride’s dress before the wedding—ridiculous, they didn’t really apply to people who married in order to gain custody of a teenager.

But it wasn’t Dan, it was Mrs. Fudd, the woman who helped the strange little man with the faux-British accent who ran the place. The accent was particularly odd because he did look quite a bit like Elmer Fudd come to life.

“Finding everything?” Mrs. Fudd asked brightly. She was wearing the most amazing beehive wig, as if they’d caught her on the way to an audition for a B-52s tribute band. Still, she seemed to love her job.

“We’re doing great,” Eden reported.

“You are,” the woman enthused as she peeked in at Jenn. “Oh! That’s such a beautiful dress, dear. You make quite the striking figure.” She turned to Eden. “What about you?”

Eden had put three blue dresses on a separate rack outside a second dressing room, and as the woman looked at them, she said, “Oh, no, dear, those are mother-of-the-bride dresses. You’ll want something younger.”

She immediately bustled toward the section of the room that held the bridesmaid dresses.

“No, no,” Eden called after her. “You don’t have to … See, I wanted something with a little jacket, just like these. I’m … a little chilly?”

She was totally lying, and Jennilyn knew exactly why. Eden—who shared Dan’s genes and was gleamingly gorgeous—didn’t want to risk outshining the bride.

But Eden turned to Jenn to say, “I hope you don’t mind. I wanted something that covered me a little bit more. I’m tired of feeling overexposed.”

Jenn smiled back at her. “Are you sure you don’t want to wear something that’ll give Izzy a heart attack?”

“Yeah, thanks, but no,” Eden said, rolling her eyes. She was trying to be upbeat and light, but Jenn didn’t miss the unhappiness in her eyes as her smile became forced. “I don’t think that’s a good idea. I already almost gave him a real one tonight and … He’s still not exactly talking to me.”

“You do know that you could’ve been killed,” Jenn pointed out.

“A person could be killed just walking down the street.” Eden took the dresses she’d picked out into other changing room and pulled the curtain.

“But you weren’t exactly walking down the street,” Jenn reminded her. “You took a real risk—for someone you barely know.”

“Yeah, well,” Eden said from behind the curtain, “you should talk—doing what you’re doing for Ben.”

“I’m doing it for Danny, too,” Jenn pointed out.

“And I did what I did for Ben,” Eden told her. “And for me. And you. For the little girls we once were. And all the other little girls who need help escaping from dangers they didn’t ask for, in their crappy lives.”

She pulled open the curtain to reveal a dress that, yes, did make her look a little older, with its lace jacket and high-necked top. Still, it fit her nicely.

“I’ll wear this one,” Eden said, “if it’s okay with you.”

Jenn nodded. “You look very elegant. I approve.”

Mrs. Fudd was on her way back, holding out two different dresses, both of which looked like something Cher would’ve worn to the Oscars in 1985.

“We’ve decided on this one, thanks,” Jenn cut her off before she could speak. “I think we’re ready to move on to hair and makeup.”

Mrs. Fudd didn’t argue, she just put the dresses onto another rack and graciously led the way. “You both have shoes?” she asked.

“We do,” Eden answered as she grabbed her bag, too. “Jenn, pretend you’re not listening, okay? Or plug your ears.” She turned to Mrs. Fudd. “I’d like to pay for this—all of it—but my brother Danny, he’s the groom? I know he’d never let me. So I’m wondering if I can’t pay for most of it anyway, and have you charge him for only the very cheapest basic wedding, and I don’t know, maybe tell him you’re giving him some kind of special military hero upgrade? He’s a Navy SEAL and he was just wounded in Afghanistan, and he’s trying to get custody of our little brother, so he doesn’t have a lot of money to spend, but …”

Mrs. Fudd had stopped, there in the hall that led to the room with the makeup mirrors. She looked from Eden to Jenn and smiled. “Do you want to tell her, dear, or should I?” she asked Jenni.

“I pulled her aside and asked to do essentially the same thing,” Jenn confessed to Eden, “while you were in the shower. I know Dan’s stressing about money, so …”

Eden laughed. “Great minds think alike.”

“They do,” Jenn said, hugging the younger woman. “I’m going to love having you as a sister.”

Eden hugged her back, hard. “Me, too. And Lord, I’m so sorry for—”

“Shh,” Jenn told her, pulling back to look into Eden’s eyes. “No worries, no regrets. This is what it is. We’re going to make the best of it.”

“You’re not the only ones who think alike,” Mrs. Fudd told them, taking a tissue from her sleeve and dabbing at her eyes. “Both Irving and young Ben came in a few minutes ago, requesting to pay for the ceremony as a wedding gift to the bride and groom. My husband, Alistair, let them do just that—plus he gave them our deepest military discount.” She turned to Eden. “I’ll let you sort it out with the two of them, so you can be part of the gift giving, too.” Then back to Jenn, with a tremulous smile: “But not you—you’re the bride. You know, it’s a very good omen, dear—when you start your life together surrounded by such wonderful family and friends. Now, come along! Let’s do your hair and makeup. We’re going to make you both look marvelous!”


FRIDAY, 8 MAY 2009

2030

Izzy had a very definite sense of déjà vu when the music started and the doors at the back of the chapel opened but then immediately shut again.

All the rows of folding chairs, separated by a central aisle with a red carpet runner, were empty—as they had been when he and Eden got married.

But then, unlike now, he’d stood alone at the altar, waiting for her to “process” down the aisle. Back then, they’d invited both Eden’s mother and Ben, but Ivette had been securely under Greg’s thumb, and neither had showed.

Although if Izzy had known as much about Ben then as he did now, he would have insisted on driving over to the kid’s house and helping to arrange a little E&E for him—escaping out his bedroom window, and then evading Greg for the hour that Izzy and Eden had gotten wed.

Of course, that was back before Greg had boarded up both windows.

But right now the kid was standing next to Izzy, between him and Dan, as they all exchanged a look, like, I thought Eden and Jenn were coming in.

But then, okay, there it was, the doors opened again, and this time Mrs. Fudd, with her rockin’ 1960s hairdo, made sure they stayed open all the way and even stuck little jams into them with her pointy-toed shoes. She nodded and smiled at Mr. Fudd, who was standing in front of them, ready to officiate—if and when the bride ever made it into the room.

But then there they were. Eden and Jennilyn, both holding bouquets of silk flowers. Walking down that aisle together, arm in arm.

Beside him, Ben said, “Whoa,” and Danny drew in a deep, sharp breath.

Because, damn, Skippy. If Handel’s Water Music hadn’t been playing, Izzy would’ve been tempted to sing a chorus or two of that old ZZ Top song. She’s got legs, she knows how to use them …

Jennilyn LeMay had transformed into a bona fide, resplendent goddess. She dazzled in that dress, and if Izzy had had any remaining doubt whatsoever as to what Dan saw in her, it was gone.

Not that he was on the verge of hip-checking Danny to the side and trying to marry the woman himself. No, his appreciation was just that—admiration for a beautiful woman, with a capital W-O-M-A-N.

Besides, Eden was walking beside her. And Eden was Eden—she’d look gorgeous in a gunnysack. But in the dress she was wearing, with her hair up off her shoulders and her makeup artfully applied, she looked sophisticated and elegant.

Not at all like a crazy person who’d leap into a car and play demolition derby with a pair of truck-stealing, homicidal gunmen.

She looked back at him somberly, as if she, too, didn’t quite recognize him dressed up the way he was. And the smile she gave him was small and rather sad, as if she knew what he was thinking—that he no longer had any reason to hang around.

Dan and Jenn were going to gain custody of Ben. Izzy had absolutely no doubt about that. One conversation with Jenn, and the social workers were going to start begging her to take them in, too.

Which meant Eden was free to go live her life.

And that meant Izzy should probably go and schedule that appointment with that divorce lawyer, the sooner, the better. Because the longer he stuck around, the more likely he was to run into circumstances like this evening, where Eden did whatever the hell she wanted while he was forced to watch with his heart in his throat.

It would be a totally different story, if he could truly make himself not care, if he could just say whatever to everything but the freaking great sex.

But he did care. He cared too much.

And unless he got out, ASAP, he was going to get crushed like a bug.

The sound of Danny’s uneven breathing brought Izzy out of his private misery and back to the moment: music playing, women still marching down that interminably long aisle.

His lame-ass brother-in-law was having trouble keeping his air going in and out steadily. Danny-Danny-bo-banny sounded like he’d just run a 5K, or as if he’d just taken the stairs up, at a run, fifty flights. He was clearly as nervous as shit and it was entirely possible he was going to fall over. Just, bam! Hit the floor. Izzy had experienced a similar loss of blood to his brain when he’d been on the receiving end of a gorgeous processing bride.

Ben was oblivious, just standing between them in his rented tux, grinning his ass off, so Izzy nudged the kid and leaned close to whisper, “Be ready for your brother to faint.”

“I heard that,” Dan whispered back, his eyes never leaving Jenn. “And I’m fine. I’m not going to f*cking faint.” But then he exhaled hard—pushing everything from his lungs, in a rush.

And that was not a good way to breathe if you didn’t want to faint. “Just be ready,” Izzy whispered to Ben, who was now wide-eyed.

“Zanella,” Dan whispered back, “I would really appreciate it if you would please keep your … thoughts to yourself for the duration of this ceremony. It’s kind of important to me.”

Well, wasn’t that a civilized request? “Absolutely, bro,” Izzy told him.

“Starting right now,” Dan said, adding, “Please.”

Two pleases from the fishboy, within four-point-five seconds. That had to be some kind of relationship record for them.

Done and done. Izzy didn’t say it aloud. He kept it to himself, as requested.

It was then that Eden and Jenn made it up to the altar, where—thank you, baby jeebus—now Jenn could hold on to Dan and keep him from falling on his face.

Before Mr. Fudd began to speak, Izzy took the opportunity to cross over and stand next to Eden.

His wife.

For now.

But probably not much longer.

For richer or poorer, for better or for worse, in sickness and in health, as long as we both shall reside in the same apartment in order to take care of your brother Ben …

Yeah, definitely not much longer.

With this ring, I dub thee obsolete.