Rock Star Wedding

roslynhardyholcomb.com

Rock Star Wedding

Smashwords Edition Copyright January 2013
Roslyn Hardy Holcomb

Discover other Roslyn Hardy Holcomb titles at
Smashwords including

The Lion in Russia (Pussycat Death Squad
#2)

Hot for Teacher

Dark Star

All rights reserved. This copy is intended
for the original purchaser of this e-book only. No part of this
e-book may be reproduced, scanned or distributed in any printed or
electronic form without prior written permission from Roslyn Hardy
Holcomb.

Cover Artist: Whit Holcomb

This e-book is a work of fiction. Though it
might refer to historical events and actual places might be
mentioned, the names, characters, places and incidents are either
made up by the author or used in a fictitious manner. Any
resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business
establishments, or locales is completely coincidental.

Chapter One

“Callie Denise Lawson, have you lost your
entire mind?” Edith Lawson’s voice rose to octaves previously only
heard on Mariah Carey songs. “What do you mean y’all aren’t going
to have a wedding? Getting married at the courthouse is for folks
who don’t have any people. Unless...” She lowered her voice almost
to a whisper. “You aren’t in a hurry to get married before you
start showing are you?”

“Mama!” Callie screeched into the phone. “I
am not pregnant! You know better than anyone that I haven’t seen
Bryan for weeks. When could I have gotten pregnant?”

“I know. I know, but I had to ask. Well,
that’s settled, then. Reverend Tucker and everybody in that church
have known you all your life. They’ll have a hissy fit if you don’t
get married there.”

Callie couldn’t dispute the truth of that
statement. She’d been baptized at Maple Fork Missionary Baptist
Church and sang in the choir since she was a child. They’d given
her a scholarship when she went to college. Everyone in town would
want to be there; after all they were convinced that they were at
least partially responsible for reuniting the wayward couple.
Callie held her tongue as her mother continued her diatribe. There
was no real benefit to be gained in pointing out that not having
the squirrelly inhabitants of Maple Fork in attendance made a
courthouse wedding even more attractive.

Callie scooted up higher against the lavishly
padded headboard of the huge bed in Bryan’s suite at The Mark
hotel. She glanced over at Bryan who lay next to her vigorously
shaking his head and mouthing “No” at any suggestion of a wedding
in Maple Fork. Given recent events any ceremony would be like chum
in the water and would instigate yet another paparazzi feeding
frenzy. The long Storm Crow tour had finally ended, but they’d have
to be in the studio soon to record tracks for their new album, so
Bryan didn’t have much time. She knew he had no intention of being
separated from her any longer than was absolutely necessary. Callie
agreed. Having come so close to losing her love, she didn’t want
any more long separations either and agreed enthusiastically with
Bryan’s suggestions. However, when she called her mother from New
York to tell her their plans, Edith Lawson shrieked her dissent.
Callie nodded to Bryan, her mother would not be amused, but she
held firm. Maple Fork, as much as she loved it, was no place for a
celebrity wedding.

Bryan got up from the bed, and giving Callie
one last glance went into the bathroom to shower. He’d intended
that Callie join him there, but it seemed she and her mother would
be on the telephone for a while. He smiled to himself, she’d have
to make it up to him later.

When he returned to the room twenty minutes
later ready to take up where they’d left off the previous evening,
he couldn’t believe that Callie and her mother were still talking.
Wearing only a towel, he watched the animated conversation from
beside the bed. Callie was holding her own, but he knew a losing
proposition when he heard one. Finally, muttering a foul oath under
his breath, he removed the phone from Callie’s grasp.

“Okay, Mrs. Lawson. We’ll do it in Maple
Fork, but you’ve got exactly six weeks. After that, Callie’s going
back to California with me, period. We can get married in Vegas on
the way. I always liked those Elvis chapels.”

Callie rolled her eyes. Never in a million
years would she consent to be married in one of those tacky places.
A pink Cadillac wouldn’t be half bad though.

Bryan held the phone away from his ear as
Mrs. Lawson’s voice scaled up another crystal shattering octave,
“Six weeks! We can’t plan a formal wedding in six weeks!”

“Take it or leave it Mrs. Lawson. I’ve been
away from Callie too long, and I’m not waiting for my wife any
longer than six weeks.” He handed the telephone back to Callie,
confident that Mrs. Lawson would agree.

“Callie we’d better get busy working on that
dress. Your Aunt Catherine’s going to have to turn into your fairy
godmother...” Callie hung up the phone after her mother finally
wound down. She held it in her hand just staring into space until
Bryan finally reached up and took it from her hand.

“What is it babe? You look worried.”

Callie exhaled. “I was just thinking about
Daddy.”

Bryan gave her a wary look. “What about
him?”

“Mama didn’t bring him up so I didn’t either,
but I wonder how he feels about the wedding. He’s probably pretty
upset.”

“I thought that was his beef with me, that
there was no wedding.”

“Amongst other things.”

“So why would he be upset now?”

“I don’t know. It’s just odd that Mama didn’t
mention him the entire conversation. I’m probably just imagining
things. Now, before that call came didn’t you promise me all sorts
of delights?”

“I certainly did, let me deliver.”

***

“So, which one is it going to be Callie? Vera
Wang or Armani?” Naysa pushed the sketches toward Callie across the
insanely cluttered desk. “Armani’s doing the guy’s tuxes, and it’d
be really cool if he did your dress too. Of course, Wang’s sketches
are incredible, but then, they always are.”

Callie raised her eyes from the wreck the
stylist had made of her office. Tucked in the corner of her loft
apartment the office was usually a testament to Callie’s almost
compulsive neatness. Now it looked as though someone had set off a
prêt à porter pipe bomb. Naysa had arrived in Maple Fork less than
an hour ago and swept through the office like a tiny cyclone,
strewing fabric swatches and sketches in her wake. Bryan still had
commitments in New York, so he had sent his “people” to help out
with the wedding plans. Callie had only been back in town for a
week and had been too busy to even think. Despite the arduous trip,
Naysa somehow managed to look as though she’d stepped out of a
magazine. Even her makeup was still immaculate. Her plaid
mini-skirt, combined with of all things, combat boots made her look
like a schoolgirl gone commando. Somehow on her it looked edgy and
trendy, not absurd. Callie shook her head, no wonder people paid
good money to have her dress them. The girl had to be some type of
fashion savant.

“Naysa, I don’t know why Bryan sent you here.
I don’t really need a stylist. I told you my Aunt Catherine is
going to make my dress.”

Naysa couldn’t suppress a shudder. This was
worse than she’d thought. “Callie, I hate to point this out to you,
but you cannot have a rock star wedding in a homemade dress. The
tabloids will eat you alive.” Naysa shook her head firmly, her
perfectly coiffed hair in its China Doll bob shimmered with the
movement before returning obediently to its place.

Callie sighed, studying Naysa’s small frame
from behind her desk. It seemed she was going to be condemned to a
lifetime of being “handled” by tiny women. “Naysa, on the day I was
born, my aunt promised to make my wedding dress. If you really
think I’m going to tell her otherwise, you’ve lost your mind.
Besides, the tabloids have already done their worst, don’t you
think?”

Naysa threw up her hands in defeat. How the
hell could she argue with that? Callie
had
already been
tabloid fodder. How much worse could Joan and Melissa be? “Fine,
Callie.”

Callie continued in a conciliatory tone, “Let
Armani dress Tonya and my sisters, they’ll be thrilled to death to
wear designer dresses.”

Naysa almost swallowed her tongue. Ask Armani
to dress the bridesmaids but not the bride? What a concept! Then
again, this was shaping up to be the wedding of the year, he might
go along with it. She shuddered again. Homemade and couture dresses
in the same wedding? Naysa mentally cursed Bryan. Friendship be
damned he was paying through the nose for this one. She moved over
to the desk where Callie was busily picking up the detritus of her
arrival. Maybe she had a solution to this absurd problem. Too bad
she hadn’t thought of this before she made the trek to Maple
Fork.

“You know, Callie, my mother owns a fabulous
bridal shop back in L.A. I’m sure we’ll be able to find something
really great there.” Naysa felt a slight twinge of conscience. Her
mother probably wouldn’t appreciate having this dumped on her,
especially on such short notice. On the other hand, it was the
wedding of the year, even if the bride did insist on wearing a
homemade dress. Her mother had been dealing with brides for more
than two decades. One hillbilly/rock star wedding wouldn’t faze
her. Naysa surreptitiously crossed her fingers behind her back, at
least she hoped not.

Chapter Two

The after-rehearsal dinner was in full swing.
Maria Breedlove’s delight that her ‘son’ was finally getting
married was evident in the lavish flowers and sumptuously catered
buffet. The Breedloves had insisted on complying with tradition and
hosting the party, even though they weren’t in actuality the
groom’s parents. Bryan was for all intents and purposes an orphan
though as far as he knew both his parents were still alive, but
he’d lost contact with his father years ago and his mother was only
interested in the next check he sent her. Maria had spared no
expense, and the Maple Fork Country Club had never been decorated
so lavishly. Between the rehearsal dinner and the wedding the
following day, all the florists in town had been tapped out.
Flowers were shipped in from as far away as New York City. With
Callie’s encouragement, Bryan and B.T. had mended their breach. So
any possibility of fireworks between the two had been averted.
Unfortunately, no one had ever managed to negotiate a truce between
Naysa and Twist, and they could be counted on to provide
pyrotechnics on a moment’s notice.

“Twist, what in the hell are you talking
about?” Naysa hissed under her breath.

“You know goddamned well what I’m talking
about!” Twist snarled right back. “You and that kid!”

“Kid?” Naysa frowned up at him. What the
hell...“You mean Thad?”

“What other boy would I be talking about?
You’ve been all over him.”

“Damnit, Twist. If you wanted to have a fight
why the hell didn’t you just say so? Now you’re just making up
stuff to be pissed off about.” Naysa moved to walk away.

Twist grabbed her arm, “Are you really trying
to tell me that you didn’t spend almost all of the past two days
with him?”

“Of course I’ve been with him for the past
couple of days. It’s my job to dress him. How am I supposed to do
that if I don’t spend time with him?”

“I don’t think you have to spend two days
with a guy just to buy his freaking underwear!”

“Have you forgotten that I’ve spent almost
this entire month here in Hillbilly Hell helping Callie with the
wedding?” She paused for a moment, realizing that she was in a room
full of Maple Fork residents. “No offense folks,” she said
sheepishly to the room at large.

Tonya, well into her fourth, or possibly
fifth, glass of champagne grinned and gave the couple a thumb’s up.
Thank goodness for Naysa and Twist. For a moment there she was
afraid this party would actually be sedate and dignified. “None
taken,” she replied.

Naysa resumed her argument with Twist. “You
guys have a new album and probably some video shoots coming up, and
Thad wasn’t ready. You know how hard I’ve worked on his ‘geek chic’
look. I had to...” Naysa broke off her comments in frustration as
it was clear that Twist wasn’t listening to her explanations. She
raised her eyes heavenward and growled in frustration. The man was
so damned thick-headed. “Look William Tennessee Duncan...”

Twist cut her off. “Did you have to call out
my name like that?”

Naysa studied the veins bulging in his neck.
His handsome face with its square jaw and luminous emerald green
eyes had turned an unlikely shade of magenta which clashed horribly
with his vivid cardinal red hair. She paused for a moment to
consider the quirk in her personality that caused her to enjoy
needling him this way. Then she shrugged, oh well, no use wondering
about such things now. It wasn’t like she was planning to change
anytime soon. “Why not? Crazy as it is, its your name.”