Royal Trouble (43 page)

"Wow, that is unbelievable, Charmaine," Peter piped in.

The woman nodded and shot him a smile, then segued, "Yes, it is and so is our weather for tomorrow.  Shaun, won't you tell us about it."

Wes shut off the set and threw the remote on the dresser.  "St. George Church downtown.  Ten o'clock.  What time do you think she'll be there?"  Wes would go camp out there tonight, if he didn't think Roxanne would argue.

"We'll go around eight in the morning.  Let's get some sleep," she said and grabbed her duffle bag to head to the bathroom.

Leigh Ann stood at the window of the dressing room upstairs at the church staring blindly out the window.  The gray clouds that threatened rain, perfectly matched her mood.

If it rains on your wedding day, you'll have good luck
in your marriage
.

That's what her mother told her last night when Leigh Ann heard the weather report on the ten o'clock news.  Right after the news after the reporters basically made her look like equally bad news for Lester Fallon.  People must think she was an idiot now, since they thought she had single-handedly caused Allison Rook's divorce.  Since they made it look like she had just run off and worried everyone, then miraculously showed up again alive and well.  And now she was marrying a man old enough to be her grandfather.

All because her mother was an idiot. 

Leigh Ann's biggest downfall was loving her and wanting to protect her family.  She had spoken to Lester last night, and her mother was right.  He wasn't kidding.  If she didn't marry him, Lester would hang her mother from the highest flag pole in town.  In the process, Leigh Ann knew she would get dragged through the mud too.  Former Miss Texas would become an even bigger laughingstock than her crazy mother.

So Leigh Ann was about to make the biggest mistake of her life to save them all.  Last night she had assured Lester she was going through with the ceremony today.  She was going to become Mrs. Lester Fallon, the fifth in a series of young blondes to wear that title.  The only difference is they were running up the altar toward him on their wedding day, because he was rich.  Leigh Ann would be wanting to run back out the front door.  She still wasn't a hundred percent sure that wasn't exactly what she would do.

If she did go through with it, her marriage would probably also be the shortest of Lester's previous marriages, because as soon as the 'I dos" were done, she was going to file for divorce.  The man might pressure her into marrying him, by threatening her mother, but there was nothing he could do to make her change her mind about that.  When her mother had that note in her hand, Leigh Ann was calling a lawyer.

There had to be some loophole about being forced to marry under duress.  She knew there was a similar law about contracts, and marriage was a contract.  Like the prenuptial agreement she had signed in front of Lester's attorney last night.  Her mother had been there, and Leigh Ann wanted to strangle her as she made nice with the man, smiling and laughing at his stupid jokes and innuendoes. 

Nothing about this fiasco was funny in the least.  Her mother could stand there laughing, because
she
wasn't the one standing here at this window in a corset tight enough to stop her breathing.  No, her mother was probably driving the wedding planner crazy downstairs.  Almost four hundred guests would be downstairs to witness her stupidity.  A thousand were going to celebrate at the reception.

Last night she had dreams about Wes that kept her sane this morning.  She knew they would only ever be in dreamland though, she would only have him in her dreams, because this was drama he was never going to understand.  Wes would never understand what she was doing here today.  Hell, she didn't even understand it.

Those dreams had given her enough comfort though to get through the night with at least an hour's sleep.  This morning she still had blue circles under her eyes.  The makeup lady had to apply concealer with a putty knife to hide them. 

What the cosmetologist wasn't able to hide though was the frown on her face.  Leigh Ann had to look like the saddest bride in history.  Because that is exactly what she was.  Except for the dark ages when marriages were arranged, did a bride pine for a man other than her bridegroom on her wedding day.  That is exactly what Leigh Ann was doing.  She wanted Wes, so badly she felt like if she didn't have the corset on so tightly her heart might just shatter in a million pieces.

Yet another tear tracked its way down her face, and Leigh Ann sucked in a shuddering breath trying to hold the rest back.  Turning back to the vanity on the other side of the room to fix her makeup, Leigh Ann caught the heavy tiara her mother had insisted she wear, before it fell off of her head.  You would almost think this was a royal wedding the darned thing was so big.  Her neck hurt from trying to hold both it and her updone hair up on her tired neck.  If she tripped on the heavy train on her dress, she was afraid she was going to pitch forward and break her neck. 

Maybe that would be the solution to this whole mess. 

Wouldn't that make some interesting headlines tomorrow?  She wondered what her mother would do, what Lester would do then.  Maybe they'd marry each other, because misery did love company, and she had never seen two more miserable people in her life.

Leigh Ann reached up a hand to wipe away yet another tear.  The new ten-carat engagement ring that Lester had slid on her finger last night felt like a ball and chain.  It was gaudy and screamed it, just like the peacock of a man she was marrying.

And if all that wasn't bad enough, she had gotten a single rose, a yellow rose, yesterday, but it wasn't from Lester.  Someone had delivered it to the church, and one of the parishioners had brought it out to Lester's house where she was staying.

Leigh Ann had a bad feeling she knew exactly who had sent it too.  Redmond Jones was out of jail now, and he had heard about the wedding, so he sent that rose to send a message to her. 
You're mine
. 

That's what the notes that accompanied the roses before said.  This time he had skipped the note, because last time that is what busted him.  He had left his fingerprints on the card.  With those prints and handwriting analysis they had proven he was the man harassing her, and she had gotten the restraining order.

Because she was scared, terrified actually, Leigh Ann told her mother and Lester about it last night, but both had blown her off.  Lester told her that he would have enough security here today to fortify Fort Knox, and she didn't need to
worry her pretty little head about it
.  After those condescending words from her husband-to-be, Leigh Ann vowed not to tell the bastard if she got a dozen of those roses from Red Jones, but she did get a small can of mace that she tucked between her breasts.  That gave her some level of comfort, unlike the piece of paper that was supposed to restrain the man, but obviously meant nothing to Red.

She would protect herself on two fronts.  If Red showed up, she would show him that she wasn't afraid of him anymore, and if Lester tried to put his hands on her, she was going to empty the can on him. 

Just the thought of either man touching her curdled her stomach.

Someone knocked at the door, and Leigh Ann glanced at the clock.  Nine-Thirty.  The witching hour had arrived.  That must be her escort to the festivities, she thought as she grabbed the heavy train of her dress in her hand, and walked toward the door.  Leigh Ann felt like Anne Boleyn must've felt when the executioner came to get her the morning of her beheading.  And like the infamous queen she lifted her chin as she twisted the knob.  She only wished they would give her a sack to cover her face, so she didn't have to look at Lester Fallon when she married him.

Flanked by a stone-faced guard on either side, the wedding planner held Leigh Ann's heavy train as she walked down the hallway to stand in the anteroom outside the archway into the church sanctum.  The woman dropped it to shove a bouquet of white roses into her hand, then moved behind her to fluff and spread out the massive train.  When she was satisfied, she fluffed Leigh Ann's veil, then pulled the blusher down over her eyes.

"You look like a queen today...you must be very excited," the woman chirped then stood back from her inspecting her with a critical eye.

"Oh, yes, I'm just
thrilled
to pieces," Leigh Ann replied sarcastically, but the woman evidently missed it.  She buzzed around her a minute more, then walked to the door to let the organist know they were ready. 

The wedding planner might be ready, but Leigh Ann sure wasn't.  Panic settled in her chest, and between that and the corset, she couldn't breathe.  The lack of oxygen made her dizzy and she teetered on the four-inch heels her mother had picked out to go with the heavy dress.  Spots danced before her eyes and Leigh Ann tried to push them away, but they just got more numerous and closer together.  Suddenly, a black curtain covered her vision and she couldn't see anything.  The music got farther and farther away, as Leigh Ann's knees got weak, right before she felt herself falling.

A really strong scent teased her senses, dragging Leigh Ann out of the nice dream she had been having.  Wes had come to rescue her.  He had run right up the aisle of the church and told Lester Fallon and her mother she wasn't going to marry Lester.  He told her that he loved her, and wanted to marry her instead.  Such a wonderful dream, and so far from reality she realized, as she opened her eyes to see her mother's agitated face hovering over her. 

The only one that would save her from disaster today was herself.  Leigh Ann was alone now, nobody was watching out for her.  Not even her own mother, she thought watching her stare at her with angry blue eyes. 

Leigh Ann figured out from the way Trudy Baker had been acting since they got to Dallas, that her mother's only concern was for her own self, and getting out of the situation she was in with Lester.  It had probably always been that way, she just hadn't realized it.  Roxanne had realized that a long time ago, and her sister had tried to tell her.  Grandma Nell had tried to tell her.  Her own daddy had tried to tell her. 

But because Leigh Ann had been beaten down and manipulated by her mother so long, she hadn't believed them.  She was in this situation, because she had been too blind to see it for so long.

"Leigh Ann wake up, you're making a scene," Trudy Baker hissed, slapping Leigh Ann's cheek hard.

"Ouch."  That slap had been a lot harder than was necessary, and not only that, her mother's breath smelled of alcohol of some sort.  It was ten o'clock in the morning and her mother was drinking?

It's five o'clock somewhere
. 

She thought her mother had kicked her problem, she told Leigh Ann she had years ago.  It looked like Trudy Baker had lied.  Her mother was skunk-drunk, and obviously pissed that she had the ill manners to pass out, before she could marry Lester Fallon to pay off her debt. 

Anger mixed with disgust shot through Leigh Ann as she sat up.  Her head swam, but with the help of the two security guards who were standing behind her mother, she was able to get vertical.  The jury was still out as to whether she would stay that way, but she rounded on her mother.  "Get them out of here.  I want to talk to you in the dressing room now."  Leigh Ann was shocked at the venom in her voice, her mother must have been too, because her mouth dropped open, her eyebrows lifted and she stepped back.

Trudy wasn't stunned long though, she stepped forward to grab Leigh Ann's arm, then tried to force her toward the doorway to the church.  "The guests are wait---"

Leigh Ann jerked her arm away to hiss, "The guests can wait til the cows come home, because I am not marrying Lester Fallon, Mama!"

Trudy gasped and put her hand to her throat.  Leigh Ann heard voices inside the church, and then she heard the priest tap on the mike.  "It seems there's a bit of a delay folks...the bride needs a moment more.  Please be patient."

Trudy leaned close to her ear and growled, "Leigh Ann Baker, you need to get your ass in that church.  You are marrying Lester, and that's final."  She made another grab for Leigh Ann's arm, but she sidestepped her.

"No, Mother, I'm not.  You can go in there and marry him, but I won't.  This is your problem, not mine.  You need to be a big girl and deal with your own problems."  Just like Leigh Ann was going to do from here on out.  She had been trying to do that since she left her mother, but now she wasn't going to try.  She was going to do it.

Her mother had squandered every penny of the considerable life insurance money her daddy had left her to make sure she could take care of Leigh Ann and her sister.  It was about time for her to be an adult and get a job like every other person in the world.  "If you need money Mama, get yourself a job, because you aren't going to sell me into bondage to Lester Fallon to pay off your debt to him."

"I've done everything I could for you, and this is how you pay me back?" Trudy wailed, her voice raising an octave higher with every word.  Her mother's chest heaved beneath the silver mother-of-the-bride dress she wore.  "You are ungrateful, Leigh Ann Baker.  You owe me everything you are.  You owe me this."

"I don't owe you a damned thing.  You owe
me
for using me to live out
your
fantasies for so many years, for living your life through me."  Leigh Ann was so filled with emotion, overcome by it, she had to stop and collect herself.  "I love someone else, so I am not going to marry Lester Fallon today or any other day.  You can tell him that." Leigh Ann contorted herself to try and grab the zipper at the back of her dress, but couldn't reach it. 

Grabbing the train in her fist, she dragged it as she stomped over to one of the two silent guards standing behind her mother. 

"Unzip me,
now
!" she demanded forcefully.  The man's eyebrows shot up, but he did as she asked then quickly stepped back from her. 

"You
promised
!" her mother wailed, flailing her hands.  It looked like her mother was about to have a stroke, her face was so red.  Leigh Ann stepped out of the dress, so she was standing there in her thong, thigh high stockings, corset and four-inch heels.  She unpinned the crown from her head and dropped it on top of the wedding dress.