Wedded Bliss Read online

  Bliss’s mother nodded her agreement. “Not only that, but when you involve one member of the family, you generally get them all. It’d be rule by committee, and that’s just another word for organized chaos.”

  “Sounds like you’ve been to the Breaux Thanksgiving dinner.” Bob exhaled and tried to shrug the stiffness from his neck. “Yes, well, anyway, I thought since Amy got her dress from Neecie, maybe she could get the rest of the wedding there, too.” He paused. “Do you happen to know where she is?”

  Bliss shook her head. “Neecie didn’t say where she was going, but she left her phone, then lit out of here in a hurry. I really thought she’d be back before the end of the business day, but when she phoned, she didn’t say what time or even if she’d return.”

  “Well how about that?” Mrs. Denison pushed a peach slice around on her plate with the back of her fork.

  “Mama,” Bliss said slowly, “is there something you’re not telling me?”

  “If I weren’t telling you, then I couldn’t say I was, could I?”

  “That makes absolutely no sense.” Bliss gave her mother a look. “Mama, you’re hiding something.”

  Bob reached for the coffeepot. He’d lived with a daughter long enough to know things were about to get more than a little bit interesting.

  Five

  “I’m not hiding a thing, Bliss,” Mama said. “I just don’t know if I know anything, so I’m going to keep my mouth shut about it.”

  “That doesn’t make a lick of sense, Mama.”

  “Well, it’ll have to do for now.” Mama swung her gaze from the peach slice she’d been studying to their guest. “The real concern here is with Bobby. Looks like he’s up a creek without a paddle as far as this wedding he’s paying for goes.” She shook her finger at him. “How in the world did you end up with a wedding that big and no one to run things a month before the big day?”

  Poor guy. Bobby looked like he’d been hit with a wet dish-rag right between the eyes. He certainly never saw that change of topic coming. Bliss, on the other hand, fully expected her mother wouldn’t spill whatever news she had on the first attempt and would use any means to avoid questions. Changing the subject was her favorite tactic.

  Just wait until Bobby Tratelli went home. Mama would be talking before she knew what happened. Once Bliss got Neecie’s story out of her, she’d start quizzing Mama about why Bobby kept referring to his wife in the past tense. Much as she wanted to know, Bliss hadn’t figured out a polite way to ask.

  “Best as I can tell, it happened like this. First, Amy. . .” He looked over at Bliss. “That’s my daughter.” When Bliss nodded, he continued. “The contract she’d been negotiating finally got set for signing. Trouble is, the other parties are in London and the deal had to be completed before the wedding.”

  “Oh no,” Bliss said. “I can’t imagine having to leave with such an important event on the horizon.”

  Bobby’s gaze collided with hers. “I agree, but Amy didn’t seem worried in the least. Said everything was under control.” He shook his head. “She went over expecting to spend a week or two and then get right back here. Last night she called to say it would be another week.”

  “That’s not so bad, is it?” Mama asked. “That still leaves plenty of time until the big day. Or could it be you miss your girl?”

  Bobby seemed to consider the question a minute. “Honestly, Mrs. Denison, I’ll be happier when my daughter’s back home and this wedding is nothing but a sweet memory and a bunch of pretty pictures in a scrapbook.” He paused. “So, yes, even though this wedding’s driving me to distraction, I have to admit I do miss my little girl.” Bobby smiled. “Not that she’s so little anymore, of course.”

  Bliss felt the old tug of regret on her heart, the one that reminded her that while she was climbing her way up the corporate ladder, she’d climbed right past the place where babies and a family were. Her reward was to be left without either: no career and no family. Well, other than Mama and her numerous opinionated but lovable cousins.

  “What exactly do you need done, Bobby?” Mama asked.

  “That’s the trouble.” Bobby scrubbed his face with the palms of his hands. “I’m still trying to piece all that together. If my assistant weren’t in Hawaii, I’d probably have better luck following that paper trail.”

  “You poor dear,” Mama said. “Although I must tell you how wonderful it was of you to send Yvonne and Jack on that vacation. She talked of nothing else but that trip at the quilt guild meetings for weeks.” She paused to toy with her napkin. “I must say a body could get jealous if she were of a mind to. After all, I’ve got more than twenty-five years at my job.”

  “I didn’t know you had a job, Mrs. Denison.” Bobby gave her his full attention. “What is it you do?”

  “Why, I’m mama to Bliss, of course,” she said, sweet as pie. “I’d think that ought to get me at least a weekend in some place other than Latagnier, if not three weeks in Hawaii.”

  Bliss shook her head. If she didn’t know Mama so well, she might get her feelings hurt. This, however, was her mother’s way of teasing. She could tell it from the gleam in Mama’s eyes. No one could keep a straight face like Mama.

  Of course, Bliss could give as good as she got. After all, she’d learned from the master.

  “Well, that’s a good thing to know,” Bliss said. “To think I was going to send you on that quilt cruise to Alaska this summer for your birthday.” She feigned relief. “Now I can save my money and put you up for a weekend at the Snooze On Inn over in New Iberia, knowing you’ll be just as happy there.”

  Mama looked to be thinking of a retort, then seemed to reconsider. She gave Bliss a wink before patting Bobby’s hand again. “So, ignore my daughter, Bobby, and tell me about your problem at work.”

  “My problem at work.” Bobby dipped his head. “Well, Mrs. Denison, I’m afraid my good intentions are backfiring on me. I can’t find a thing in the office, I’ve been through three temps in the two weeks since Yvonne left, and right now I’ve got no one.”

  Mama cast Bliss a sideways glance. “Do you need some help, Bobby?”

  “Help?”

  He looked confused, so Bliss decided to come to his aid. “Mama’s offering to come work at your office until Yvonne gets back,” she supplied. “When Daddy took the sawmill over from Granddad, Mama kept his books and ran the office.”

  Her friend’s expression turned hopeful. “Seriously? You would do that?”

  “Well, of course I would, young man. I wouldn’t want my friend Yvonne to come back to a big mess. Now what time do you need me at work?”

  “I, um, that is, Yvonne generally arrives around eight. If that’s too early for you—”

  “Too early?” Mama pushed back from the table and rose. “By eight o’clock I’ve cooked breakfast, cleaned house, and walked a mile around the track behind my house. If I skip the cleaning, I can be there by seven thirty.”

  “Mrs. Denison, I’ll send someone to clean for you if you can get there that early.”

  While Mama seemed to be considering the offer, Bliss tried to keep from laughing out loud. Working for a week was exactly what Mama needed. Now maybe she’d stop babying Bliss.

  At least temporarily.

  “It’s a deal,” her mother finally said. “I guess I don’t have to ask about the dress code or where to park my convertible.”

  “I’ll trust you on both counts.” Bobby rose and stuck his hand out to shake with Mama. “I sure do appreciate this.”

  Mama waved away the comment and reached for her coat. “Pshaw,” she said as Bliss helped her shrug into the red wool number she’d been wearing for more than three decades of Louisiana winters. “You two young people don’t stay up too late. Tomorrow’s a workday, you know.”

  “Not for me, Mama,” Bliss said as she placed the familiar well-worn red leather gloves in her mother’s hands. “Tomorrow’s Thursday. That’s my day off.”

  “Good for you, honey,” Mama
said before making her good-byes to Bobby and linking arms with Bliss. “Walk me to the car, would you?”

  “Sure, Mama,” Bliss said.

  “Why don’t I help you to your car, Mrs. Denison?” Bobby asked.

  “No, thank you, dear,” her mother said sweetly. Too sweetly. “I’ll be needing Bliss, but you’re quite the gentleman for offering.”

  Bliss exchanged amused looks with Bobby, then pulled away from Mama’s grasp to snag her wrap from the peg by the back door. “Will you excuse us a minute?” she said. “I’ll be right back.”

  Something was up for sure. Mama never required an escort anywhere, much less to the front door. Any suggestion she might need help would have been met with a chuckle at best.

  They got all the way out the front door of the shop and onto the sidewalk before Mama decided to come clean. “All right, Bliss,” she said as she leaned toward her. “I think maybe Neecie’s in trouble.”

  “What?”

  “I didn’t want to say anything in front of Bobby, but I don’t think Neecie’s going to be much help to him in planning that wedding.”

  “Why’s that?”

  Mama craned her neck back in the direction of the shop, then returned her attention to Bliss. “Well, it’s funny how people think just because you qualify for a senior citizen discount that your ears don’t work anymore.”

  Bliss waited, knowing her mother would eventually get to the point. From experience, she also knew that hurrying her only served to slow the woman down.

  Once again, Mama inched toward her. “Especially in bathroom stalls. You’d never believe what’s overheard in the ladies’ room. Just let a woman get on a cell phone behind a closed door, and you’d be shocked at what’s being said.”

  “Mama, I don’t think gossip is an appropriate—”

  “Nobody’s gossiping here,” came her sharp retort. “If you’d listen, you’d know that.” She paused for effect. “Just this afternoon I was over at the Shoe Shack looking for some winter loafers. Well, the coffee got the best of me, and I had to excuse myself just as I was about to try on the most darling pair of periwinkle pumps.”

  “Really?” A chill wind teased the tails of her wrap, and Bliss gathered it tighter around her. Hurry up, Mama.

  “So, as I was saying, there I was, a captive audience, so to speak, when I heard a familiar voice in the stall next to me.”

  “Neecie?” Bliss supplied.

  “Yes, it was.” Mama placed her hand atop Bliss’s. “And, honey, she didn’t sound happy at all. Whoever she was talking to was getting a piece of her mind. I’d say that was around one o’clock, give or take a few minutes.”

  “One o’clock? That’s interesting. She dropped her phone off with me around noon, but I sure didn’t get the impression she was going shoe shopping. I mean, she seemed awfully upset.” Bliss shuddered. “What did you hear Neecie say?”

  “Honey, I don’t recall all of it, but she was giving someone a piece of her mind for causing her to close the store like she did. Mentioned you by name, too. Said she had to get her friend Bliss Denison to cover the phone and if the person on the line tried to call her at work they’d reach you. Then she said, ‘Yes, that Bliss Denison,’ whatever that meant.”

  “I have no idea.”

  “And then she said something really odd. I’ve tried to figure out what she meant, but then maybe I just didn’t understand.” Mama shook her head. “Someone flushed. Can you believe it?”

  “Well, Mama, it is a bathroom.” Bliss expelled a long breath. “So, what was the odd thing Neecie said?”

  “She said, ‘Maybe it’s best for everyone if you just stay gone.’ Least that’s what it sounded like.” Mama paused to search for her keys in the seemingly bottomless black leather purse she never left home without. “Oh, and there was something else. Neecie told whoever she was talking to that she’d already bought a plane ticket and it better not go to waste.” She lifted a ring that looked more appropriate for a jailer than a senior citizen.

  A car passed, and Mama waved, jingling the keys as she shook her arm. Bliss watched the taillights disappear around the corner as she pondered this piece of news.

  “And you heard all of this in the shoe store ladies’ room?”

  “You’d be surprised at what you hear at a shoe store.” She hit the button on the key ring, and her car chirped. “Something about trying on shoes. You love ’em as much as I do, but you miss the best part when you order online like you do. Go sit in a shoe store and see if I’m wrong.”

  “You sure we’re talking about the same Shoe Shack?”

  Mama chuckled. “Spoken like someone who has never experienced the healing properties of shoe shopping therapy done correctly.” Before Bliss could comment, her mother held her hands up to silence her. “You know I’m kidding, of course. The only place I take my troubles is to the Lord.” She paused. “Although I would venture to guess shoe shopping’s not a bad way to get your mind off things once you’ve prayed and sought His counsel.”

  “Mama!”

  “All right,” she said as she took a step toward her car. “I’m going home now.” After opening the door and settling behind the wheel, Mama pressed the button that rolled down the driver’s side window. “Bliss, I might have misunderstood what Neecie said, but there was no misunderstanding her tone. That girl’s scared of something.”

  Bliss thought back to earlier in the day and the look on her friend’s face. “Yes, Mama, I think she might be.”

  “Then we need to be praying for her.” Mama’s window rolled back into place as the car disappeared into the night.

  “I’ve already started,” Bliss said as she watched the Buick’s taillights disappear around the corner.

  “Started what?” Bobby asked from the doorway.

  Bliss jumped and whirled around to face him. “You scared the living daylights out of me, Bobby Tratelli.”

  “I’m sorry. I wasn’t trying to spy,” he said quickly. “I stayed back inside where I couldn’t hear, but it’s dark out. When your mother drove away, I was afraid, well. . .”

  “It’s all right.” Bliss gathered her wrap close and smiled as she walked toward him. “Thank you,” she said. “That was very nice of you.”

  Bobby looked surprised but said nothing. Rather, he stood tall and straight, his face partly hidden in the shadows. She looked up into his amazing eyes and wondered how so many years had flown by.

  Somewhere along the way, she’d forgotten about Bobby and Landon and all the fun they’d had at Latagnier High. When did life get so—

  “Bliss? You’re staring at me.”

  “I am?” She blinked. “Yes, well, I guess I was. I’m sorry.” A chill wind swirled past, and she nodded toward the door. “Would you like to come back in?”

  Bobby stuffed his fists into the front pockets of his jeans and hunched his shoulders. “I’d better not.”

  “Are you sure?” Bliss shrugged. “With all the talking my mother did, I never got to hear what you’ve been up to all these years.”

  He seemed to consider the statement for a minute before shaking his head. “Much as I’d like to, I can’t. Unlike certain people, I’ve got to get up and go to work tomorrow morning.”

  “Oh, c’mon,” Bliss said. “You’re the boss. Do you have to go to work early tomorrow?”

  “Yes, I have to.” He leaned down to give Bliss a quick hug. “You forget. Your mother will be there at the crack of dawn, most likely.”

  “All the more reason,” she called after him as he trotted to his truck. “I generally try to steer clear of Mama until after she’s had her second cup of coffee.”

  Bobby palmed his keys and glanced back over his shoulder. “Any particular reason?”

  “I could tell you,” Bliss responded, “but that would take all the fun out of it. Best you find out for yourself.”

  He froze.

  “I’m just teasing you, Bobby.” Bliss’s laughter echoed in the quiet night. “My mother ran t
he sawmill for close to three decades. She’d probably still be out there if Daddy hadn’t sold it and insisted the new owners leave Mama be. He figured he was helping her to enjoy her retirement.”

  Leaning against the hood of the truck, he watched Bliss’s slim figure disappear into the shadows as she stepped out onto the sidewalk. Now all he could see was her silhouette, a small woman with curves in all the right places and hair that was tossed about in the breeze.

  Strange, but it was all he could do not to request she take three steps in his direction so the streetlight would reveal her face again. Uncomfortable with the direction of his thoughts, Bob forced his attention back to the subject at hand.

  “So, are you saying your mother isn’t enjoying her retirement? Should I be worried that she might want to steal Yvonne’s job away from her?”

  “Stranger things have happened,” was Bliss’s cryptic comment.

  “Well this could be awful. Yvonne’s coming back to work a week from Monday.” He feigned confusion and tried not to join Bliss in her giggling. “I could have a real catfight on my hands if your mother refuses to give Yvonne the job back.”

  Bliss stepped from the shadows and revealed a broad smile. “You could indeed.”

  Moonlight washed over her features and enhanced high cheekbones and the slight tilt to her nose. Bob thought to go back and repeat the innocent hug he’d given her, this time lingering a moment longer. Instead, his feet remained glued to the blacktop road, the only sensible solution.

  After all, this was Bliss Denison. The same Bliss Denison who never looked directly at him because she was too busy trying to catch the eye of his best friend, Landon.

  The same Bliss Denison he’d been secretly in love with since the third grade.

  “You okay, Bobby?” She took another step forward. “You must be thinking that I’ve gotten you into all kinds of trouble.”

  Little did she know how much trouble he was in.