Free The Wedding: A Faces of Evil Short Story by Debra Webb Page B

case was closed and Jess had less than a day before her wedding to the man she’d loved for twenty-five years.

 
2
    3309 Dell Road
    Mountain Brook, Alabama
    Saturday, December 19, 1:30 a.m.
    Empty boxes were scattered all over the floor. The distinct evergreen scent of the Fraser Fir mingled with the lingering smell of sugar cookies. Jess stood back and surveyed the enormous tree. Dan had borrowed his father’s truck and driven out to the Christmas tree farm first thing Thursday morning. He’d brought the tree into the house and set it up so they could hang the first ornament together before leaving for the office. The beautiful angel sitting on the very top of the tree made Jess smile. They’d hoped to get home early enough after the rehearsal dinner to finish decorating but that hadn’t happened.
    This morning—yesterday morning, technically—she and Dan had left for work and, according to his mother and Jess’s sister, it was bad luck for the groom to see the bride again until the wedding. It was a ridiculous superstition in Jess’s opinion, but she wasn’t about to test fate. Particularly after the summer she and Dan had survived.
    Though she’d missed Dan, Jess and Lily and the bridesmaids had spent the evening doing fun, girlie things. The mani-pedis had been first, and then dinner and going over the preparation list for the big day. Everything was set. Except Jess didn’t feel fully prepared.
    She wrapped her arms around herself and ran down her mental checklist. Bear, their sweet but huge yellow Lab, was staying with Detective Cook for the next week. Cook had picked him up after work yesterday. Hayes would be keeping tabs on the house for Jess and Dan while they were in Barbados. Harper was in charge of the team in Jess’s absence.
    Everything had been arranged. She and Dan were packed. Although Katherine and Lily had taken care of all the wedding planning, Jess had selected her gown, the veil and shoes as well as all the flowers and most of the music. The rest she had gladly left in their capable hands. She had never been more grateful for that decision than she was this week. Despite the careful planning and meticulous execution of every little thing, Jess felt oddly out of sorts as the final hours before the wedding ticked away.
    Somehow there seemed to be too many things undone. She stared at the tree, inhaling the rich scent. It was almost Christmas and she hadn’t hung the rest of the ornaments. She supposed it didn’t really matter since they wouldn’t even be here for Christmas. Yet, not having a decorated tree in their new home for their very first Christmas as a married couple felt wrong. She wanted to return from their honeymoon and smell the scents of the season all through the house. She wanted them to take down the decorations together the way they had in that tiny apartment near Boston College all those years ago.
    Maybe this unsettled feeling was just nerves. Jess pressed her hand to her belly. Her sister had been right about most everything so far. She had hit the twenty-week mark in her pregnancy and only gained a few pounds. The worries about her gown fitting had been unnecessary. It fit like a glove. Finding one she loved hadn’t been nearly as problematic as she’d feared. She’d known the moment she saw it that it was the one.
    Jess smiled. Tomorrow—today, she reminded herself—she would become Mrs. Daniel Thomas Burnett. She blinked at the emotion that immediately filled her eyes. She had been in love with him since she was seventeen years old. As their college days had come to a close, so had their relationship. They’d spent almost two decades apart and both of them had been married before. Somehow none of that had been able to keep them apart.
    “Jess?”
    Lily Colburn, Jess’s older sister by two years, shuffled into the room, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. The huge hair rollers and well-worn chenille robe reminded Jess of their mom. She vividly recalled watching