Free Vegas or Bust: An Aggie Underhill Mystery by Michelle Ann Hollstein, Laura Martinez

look, and spun around on the heel of his brown loafer.  He headed in the direction of the elevators in search of the wedding chapel.

Chapter 5
    The wedding chapel was small and quaint, yet beautiful.  When they arrived, Jack was standing near the entrance and greeted them.  He thanked them all for coming. 
    “Aggie, I’m so glad that you could make it,” Jack said, giving her a gentle hug.
    Aggie was a little taken back by his friendliness.  She thought it was rather odd considering she seemed to be the only one left out of the social loop on My Corner.  “Thank you for inviting me,” she said graciously.
    “It’s our pleasure,” he said, giving her hand a gentle squeeze and covering it with his other hand.  “Miriam will be so relieved to see you.”
    “Relieved?” she asked as he released her hand.  Aggie wondered what he meant by relieved.  She felt that was a rather peculiar thing to say.  “What do you mean by…”
    “We have gifts,” Anita said, butting in and giving Jack a big, exaggerated hug.  It was obvious she didn’t like the amount of attention Aggie was getting.  She made sure to stand directly in front of her, blocking Aggie from Jack’s view, while taking hold of both his hands.  Being that Aggie was a good foot or so taller, she could see Jack right over the cute little blonde bobbed head.  “Miriam had mentioned that we should bring the gifts to the reception after the ceremony.  She said there’d be no where to put them until then.  So, we’ll just slip back to our rooms to pick them up afterwards.  I have a huge gift for you!”
    Aggie could feel the blood drain from her face.  Her legs wobbled and she began to feel a bit lightheaded as if she were about to pass out.  She wondered how she could’ve forgotten to bring a gift.  Since it was a last minute decision to come to Las Vegas for the wedding, she hadn’t even thought about it.  Her mind had been preoccupied with thoughts of getting rid of her dreadful houseguests, packing, and traveling.  Not once did buying a wedding gift cross her mind. 
    Aggie decided that after the ceremony she’d drop by the gift shop in the casino before the reception.  She knew she couldn’t buy a Las Vegas souvenir because not only would it be tacky, they’d know she’d forgotten to buy a gift.  She’d have to search for something that didn’t have Las Vegas stamped on it.  Maybe she’d get lucky and be able to find a blank card, any decent card would do.  Hopefully she’d be able to find one with some pretty flowers on it.  She could write a little something like, “Congratulations,” or “Wishing you the best,” and then stuff a check inside as a gift. 
    Yes, she thought.  That’ll work.   Newlyweds always need money.  And the happy couple would have no idea that she’d forgotten to buy a gift.  It was the perfect plan.  And maybe they’d be so happy with the generosity of the money she’d given them that they’d actually send her a friend request on My Corner to thank her as soon as they got home.  She’d show Anita that she was just as popular as her.  In fact, she was going to go all out and become more popular than Anita just to put her in her place.  She bet that Miriam and Jack would appreciate receiving a graciously large amount of money any day over a silly wedding gift that would rarely be used.  Seriously, how many times do useless wedding gifts get shoved into the back of cupboards or closets and collect dust? 
    “Oh, you’v e talked to Miriam?” Jack asked Anita.  His shoulders slumped with relief.  That meant she was all right.  She was just avoiding all contact with him until the wedding.  Her superstitions had gotten the better of her. 
    “Yes,” Anita said.  “We chatted about a week ago.  She was so excited.  She told me all about her dress and about what she had planned for the wedding ceremony…”
    “Oh,” Jack said, cutting her off and frowning.  That