The Betrayal of Lies (2 page)

Elise remained quiet, her hands serenely folded in her lap, but her eyes gave away how awkward this exchange was becoming.

“Emily, don’t worry. I have every confidence in Elise. I know she can handle it,” Camille said. “Furthermore, I’ll still be involved, still overseeing everything.”

“Then why?” Emily knew her irritation was obvious, but she couldn’t help it. This was her wedding, after all.

“Calm down, Em,” Maggie said, patting Emily’s hand. “I’m sure Camille has a good reason. Don’t you, Cam?”

“Let’s hear it.” Isabel crossed her arms and settled back in her chair.

“I’ve given it a lot of thought, Emily,” Camille began, “and it occurred to me that if I’m working the event on the day of your wedding, I won’t get to enjoy it.” Camille paused, draping an arm loosely around Emily’s shoulders. “And I want to enjoy it, Em. I want to be a guest at this one. You can understand that, can’t you?”

Camille raised her eyebrows to Emily, asking for her agreement. “Elise will be there running everything on the day of the wedding. It’ll be perfectly fine.”

Emily’s gaze shot briefly toward Elise as she drew in a long breath, trying to calm herself.

“It will,” Elise said offering her a sweet smile. “I promise.”

Emily dropped her shoulders, resigning herself to the thought. Of course she wanted Camille to enjoy the wedding and the reception, not be flitting about, making sure everything was going off without a hitch. And it wasn’t like she and Colin were going to have a big lavish wedding anyway.

Picturing it all in her mind, she saw herself standing with Colin and the minister, reciting their vows in the beautiful gazebo Evan had built for her in their garden when they were first married.

Evan.
His name screeched across her mind. Would Colin appreciate or resent the symbolism of Evan watching over their ceremony?

“I understand what you’re saying, Cam.” Emily nodded. “You simply want to be a guest. It’s going to be a very small wedding in my backyard anyway. It shouldn’t take all that much work on the day of the wedding.”

“How small?” Maggie sat up straight and her bright blue eyes widened.

“Twenty or thirty people,” Emily replied. “I was thinking we can recite our vows in the lovely white gazebo and put the reception food and tables out on the deck. Nothing fancy.”

“That’s very manageable,” Elise agreed, writing something into her notebook.

“No, no, no,” Camille said, shaking her head. “Oh, Emily, that just won’t do.”

“What do you mean that won’t do?” Emily didn’t want some overblown affair. And wasn’t it her choice?

“You and Colin are too well connected in this town to have such a small wedding. No, no, no. People will be offended,” Camille explained.

“Offended? Like who?” Emily was getting irritated.

“Well, Colin’s boss, the Chief of Police, for one,” Camille responded. “And then there’s Maggie’s brother, the Mayor, and his wife, and all my family, including my brother, Peter.”

“Absolutely, we can’t forget Peter,” Maggie added. She had been carrying on a long-distance relationship with Camille’s brother for almost a year. Emily thought there might be an announcement of another wedding soon.

“And don’t forget Colin’s family members in California,” Isabel added. “Oh, and then there’s Ernie Kaufmann and his wife. He’s like an uncle to Colin.”

Emily nodded and rolled her eyes.

“What about your family, Emily?” Elise asked. “How many will there be?”

“I only have one sister in Maine, and she has a husband and three kids,” Emily replied. “Oh, and my friend Annie that runs the little bookstore downtown.”

“Do I need to continue to make my point?” Camille asked.

“All right, I get it.” Emily raised her hands slightly, in surrender. “We need a bigger venue, but Colin and I don’t want an over-the-top extravaganza. We want to keep it simple—no tuxedos or fancy gowns, a few flowers here and there, a small cake and some finger foods, with just our close family and friends.”

And maybe it might be better not to get married in Evan’s gazebo.

“How about Isabel and Alex’s place?” Camille looked around the table for confirmation. “Isabel? What do you say?”

“Sure, if that’s what Emily wants.” Isabel and her attorney husband, Alex, lived in a beautiful two-story home in one of the nicest neighborhoods in Paradise Valley. They often hosted parties on their expansive stone patio that overlooked a lush, sprawling lawn.

“Oh, I can see it now,” Camille beamed, obviously ignoring what Emily just said, imagining the event as she waved her hand through the air. “A beautiful wedding under a big white canopy on the lawn, and we can set up the food tables on the patio and have a lovely stringed quartet and dancing there.”

Emily shook her head in disgust.

Maggie’s face lit up with excitement. “And there’ll be lots of flowers and loads of sparklin’ lights and—”

“Listen to me! That’s not what I want,” Emily insisted. The feverish excitement screeched to a halt.

Isabel stood. “I think there are too many chiefs in this room, girls, and not enough Indians. This is Emily’s wedding we’re talking about here, and she should have whatever she wants. I’m happy to have the wedding and the reception at my house, if that’s what she wants. And that’s all I’m going to say about it.” She glanced down at her watch. “I need to get back to work.”

“You don’t like weddin’s much, do you?” Maggie asked, pursing her lips and flashing her sad puppy dog eyes.

“Not really. There’s a lot of time spent planning the thing, not to mention the money and stress, for something that’s over in a few hours,” Isabel said. “That’s why Alex and I eloped. We just wanted to get on with the marriage. For what we would have spent on a big elaborate wedding, we put a nice down payment on our house instead.”

“Well, there’d better not be any eloping for you, Emily.” Camille wagged a finger. “We’re going to make sure this is a fabulous wedding. This town will be talking about it for years.”

“Oh, no you don’t,” Emily cut in, irritated, shaking her head. Was the whole process going to be a battle? She raised her hands in question. “Isn’t anybody listening? That’s not what we want. Save the wedding of the year for your daughter, Camille. Colin and I want it kept simple. I don’t know how I can make that any more plain.”

Elise reached over and patted Emily’s hand, offering her a confident smile. “Don’t worry, Emily, it will be simple, yet elegant.”

“And the best part is that you won’t have to lift a finger,” Camille added. “Trust me.”

Emily rolled her eyes and breathed a laugh, not at all certain she got through to Camille. “Famous last words.”

Chapter 2

After meeting with the girls and her
new
wedding planner, Emily was spent. Rather than a planning session, it felt more like a wrestling match, trying to rein in Camille and Maggie and their extravagant ideas.

No matter how many times Emily had said small and simple, Camille and Maggie had put forth lavish and expensive ideas. Fortunately, Elise had skillfully battled to keep Emily’s wishes at the forefront, and Emily appreciated her for that. Maybe having Elise help her with the wedding plans, instead of Camille, was a blessing in disguise.

Emily had gone back to her office to pay some bills and do a few employee background checks before heading home for a late lunch. Now, mentally and emotionally exhausted, she turned her computer off and headed out the door.

As she was locking up, she again stopped and stared at the sign on her door. She slowly traced her finger over the letters, lingering over Evan’s name. Though she had locked and unlocked that door hundreds of times since Evan’s murder, she had seldom taken the time to consider the words on the glass until recently. As her marriage to Colin drew closer, she found herself becoming more keenly aware of it—aware she’d have to scrape his name off and finally let Evan go.

She pulled her car into the driveway of her neatly kept bungalow on the charming tree-lined street. Emotionally drained, a quick nap sounded like heaven. She kicked off her shoes as she came through the front door, grabbed a strawberry yogurt and a spoon from the kitchen, and headed to the bedroom.

Snuggling under her fluffy white comforter, she finished the yogurt and was asleep within minutes, but deep rest escaped her. Provocative and poignant thoughts of Evan filled her dreams, from their first meeting, their wedding, their move to Paradise Valley, and his eventual murder. The whole story played out in her head like a moving picture. The dreams were so real she thought she could reach out and touch him, but every time she tried to, he eluded her grasp.

After picturing finding him dead in his office, her vision took her to his funeral. It had been held on a cold, drizzly day, and as Emily had stood by his grave shivering, a chill rippled over her body and she shuddered. She woke with a start to find herself trembling, her comforter and blankets in a pile on the floor. Her bedroom was growing dark, telling her it was almost evening. Emily’s twenty-minute power nap had turned into five hours of restless sleep.

Her phone beeped a text on her night table. It was Colin and the message read
See you in 30.
Just enough time for a quick shower and change of clothes.

Bleary-eyed, she dragged herself out of bed and into the bathroom. The water flowing over her body helped to clear her head.

After toweling off and fluffing her loose honey-blonde curls, she moved to her closet where she grabbed a turquoise T-shirt that Colin said matched the color of her eyes. Then she slipped into a pair of fitted white jeans, added a little blush, mascara, and a quick swipe of lip gloss.
Voila!
She was ready.

The doorbell rang and Emily padded in her bare feet to answer it. She swung the door open and her handsome fiancé stood there, holding a bouquet of twelve chocolate roses.

“Hey, Babe,” Colin said with a grin, stepping into the house.

Emily welcomed him with an equally big smile. She felt so lucky to have him in her life. When they had met, it almost went in an entirely different direction. Emily had recently taken over her late husband’s private investigation business and she hadn’t responded well to a few of Colin’s comments that she had seen as condescending. Colin, on the other hand, had been a police detective in San Francisco before moving to Paradise Valley, and after the death of his fiancée he had purposely distanced himself from any romantic entanglements, trying to protect himself.

But, ultimately, Colin was unable to resist Emily’s passionate spirit and her feisty attitude. Her charm and strength systematically tore down the walls around his heart, and Colin’s protective nature showed Emily that she could open her heart again too.

At first, they worked opposite sides of the same cases—Colin investigating for the police department and Emily investigating to clear the accused, oftentimes hired by Isabel’s attorney husband, Alex. When the Chief of Police hired Emily as a consultant for the police department on a per-case basis, they had multiple opportunities to work side by side to capture criminals and solve cases.

They had been dating for a few months when he surprised her with a dazzling engagement ring, dropped to one knee, and asked her to marry him. That was six months ago and now the wedding was fast approaching.

Emily slung her arms around his neck and looked up into his sexy hazel eyes before planting a warm, wet kiss on his eager lips. Then she leaned back and smiled. “Chocolate roses?”

“Maggie phoned me this afternoon, said you had a pretty tough morning and I should be extra nice to you tonight.” He held the bouquet out to her. “I thought chocolate might help.”

He knew her too well. She laughed and snapped off a chocolate petal, popping it into her mouth. “It will.” Then she took his hand, led him back to the kitchen, and they prepared dinner together.

“After what Maggie said, I’m anxious to hear how your appointment went this morning. So, you have a new wedding planner, huh?” Colin said.

“Yes. Her name is Elise and she’s a complete doll. However, that wasn’t my initial reaction to the switch, which I’m embarrassed to say, wasn’t good. But after Elise stepped in and worked as my advocate, beating back Camille’s and Maggie’s outrageous notions, I’m warming up to the idea.” She broke off another piece of chocolate. “I think I’m going to really like her.”

Colin poured a couple of glasses of iced tea. “Sounds like maybe you’ll be adding a fifth to your group.”

Emily set their plates on the table, shrugging. “Maybe.”

They sat across from each other and shared dinner while Emily described all the details they had decided on for the wedding and Colin did what any good fiancé should—he smiled and nodded.

When they were done, Emily rose from the table and picked up her plate and glass, taking them over to the dishwasher. “What a battle it was to keep it simple, but Elise was amazing. She stood up for me and didn’t let Camille or Maggie get anything by her.”

“I can see why you changed your view on her.” Colin stood and helped clear the dishes off the table.

They worked in tandem to tidy up the kitchen, and then after a brief debate about what movie to watch they popped a DVD into the player, and snuggled on the couch to watch a romantic comedy. It wasn’t Colin’s favorite type of movie, but he let her pick this time without much argument.

“I’d better get going,” Colin said when the final credits began to roll. “I have an early meeting in the morning.”

Emily laid her head back against the sofa and he leaned over and kissed her, softly at first, then deeply.

“I hate to go,” he whispered. “But duty calls.”

Colin rose and Emily followed him to the door.

“One more for the road?” He slid his arms around her waist and drew her in. He kissed her long and slow, and a warmth rushed through her.

“Do you really have to go?” she asked, running her hands over his broad shoulders.

His phone began to ring. “Sorry.” He dropped his embrace to answer it. “Detective Andrews.”

Colin listened to the caller, then his gaze flew in Emily’s direction.

“What is it?” she whispered.