Charlie sped out toward the islands, maneuvering his way through the large rocks hidden beneath the surface with the knowledge of a person who had spent his life navigating the water. The boat behind them dropped into Charlie’s wake, drafting up behind them and forcing Charlie to duck and weave to avoid the bullets that were randomly shot at them.
Lindsey dug out her phone and tried to reach Emma, but she got cut off when she dropped her phone as Charlie jerked the boat into a hard left to try and ditch their pursuers. It worked, but only for a few seconds. They were cruising past Bell Island, and Lindsey saw Sully and Robbie standing on the dock. As they passed, she could just see Sully’s eyes go wide as he took in the scene of his bride bouncing past him as their boat pounded off the waves with another speed boat in hot pursuit.
Lindsey dropped to the floor of the boat, trying to find her phone. It had slid under the control panel and was soaking wet from the spray. With her heart racing and her adrenaline surging, she didn’t feel the cold, but her fingers were stiff as she tried to call Sully and tell him what was happening.
“Darlin’,” he answered. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but a boat chase was not on the wedding itinerary.”
He sounded so at ease. Lindsey instantly felt his calm fall over her like a blanket.
“It’s Jamie Briggs,” she shouted over the wind and the sound of the engine. “She killed Mancusi. I figured it out and left a note for Emma at the police station. Jamie must have seen it.”
“All right, we can handle this,” Sully said. The sound of an engine came through the phone, and Lindsey knew he was entering the chase. She hated that he would be in harm’s way, but she also knew that if anyone could stop Jamie, it was Sully. “Tell Charlie to lead them to Horseshoe Island. We’re going to trap them in the cove. Robbie called Emma. She and Kirkland are coming in the police boat. Don’t worry, darlin’, it’s going to be just fine.”
Lindsey shouted Sully’s directions to Charlie. He nodded. Another pop sounded, and Lindsey looked back to see that Jamie and her attorney were gaining on them. She didn’t want to think poorly of Josh at the marina, but the speed boat coming at them looked like a bullet, while their boat seemed to saw through the waves more like a dull bread knife.
She saw Blaise raise his gun, and another pop sounded, followed by a splash just off the side of the boat. It occurred to her then that if he ever actually hit the boat, they could sink into the freezing water and likely die of hypothermia without the aid of bullets. Her hair whipped across her face, obscuring her vision. Not a bad thing, she thought as she hunkered down beside Charlie, trying not to be a target.
They whipped around the islands, the spray from the sea drenching them. Lindsey lost the feeling in her fingers and her toes. Her teeth were chattering so hard she was afraid she might crack a tooth, but Charlie drove like a madman, in a good way, and soon they were cruising around what Lindsey recognized as Horseshoe Island. Sully had taken her there on a few boating trips. The beach was one of the finest in the area, and the owner was very generous about sharing it with the locals.
The tricky part here, if Lindsey remembered right, was navigating the barrier of rocks that protected the cove. A boat could scrape along the bottom of one and lose its hull. She assumed Charlie would slow down as a precaution. He didn’t.
He whipped the boat in and out of rocks like a needle pulling thread in and out of a cloth. There was a loud bang behind them, and Lindsey glanced back to see that Jamie had scraped the side of her boat against a rock. Blaise lost his balance and dropped his gun over the side of the boat as he flailed his arms, trying to regain his footing.
Jamie was screeching at him, with Teddy clutched in one of her arms. Blaise turned his head to yell back at her, and their boat hit another rock, sending both of them to their knees. Jamie released Teddy, who bounded to the bow and began to bark. Lindsey was certain it was a cry for help. With no one at the controls, their boat maintained its speed, slamming into the jagged ring of rocks repeatedly until there was a terrific crack and their boat split clean in two, dropping them both into the water and sending Teddy forward until he was perched on the tip of the bow.
“Let’s save the dog,” Lindsey said, grabbing Charlie’s arm and pointing. He was already on it, turning their boat and gently cruising up alongside that half of the boat, which was rapidly sinking.
“Take the wheel. Keep it steady,” Charlie ordered as he draped himself out over the side and snatched the little dog up by the sweater. Teddy began to lick his face immediately, and Charlie smiled as he clutched him close and moved back to the controls.
Lindsey saw Jamie and Blaise clinging to the back end of their boat just as Sully and Robbie arrived, with Emma in the police boat right behind them. Sully navigated the rocks, arriving just in time to grab the two before they went under. Once inside the treacherous rocks, he pulled up alongside Emma’s police boat and handed over Jamie and Blaise, who were wet and shivering and immediately started blaming each other for the crimes they had just committed.
“It was all his idea!” Jamie cried. She snatched the heated blanket Emma handed to her. Glancing at Lindsey and Charlie, she shrieked, “Teddy! Give me my Teddy!”
“Like hell,” Charlie muttered. He opened his coat and zippered Teddy inside so that just his round little head poked out.
“My idea?” Blaise roared. “You’re the one who found her note to the chief,” he pointed to Lindsey before he continued, “and decided we had to kill her because she figured out that you had stabbed Mancusi to death with those stupid dog shears you carry.”
“They’re not stupid, they’re essential,” she argued. “And he had it coming. He was blackmailing me. I had to stop him before he could talk. He ruined everything.”
“So you stabbed him,” Blaise snapped. “I told you when we hid his body in the boat at the marina that it was going to ruin us.”
“How was I supposed to know they’d find him? It’s winter. No one is boating right now,” she said. “Besides, that wouldn’t have happened if you’d taken out the boat and dumped him like I asked.”
“I told you I don’t know how to drive a boat,” he argued.
And so it went, back and forth.
“And once trapped, the rats turn on each other,” Robbie observed. He and Sully were coming alongside Lindsey and Charlie.
Sully gestured to Robbie to take the controls. Without a word of warning, Sully jumped from his boat to theirs, snatched Lindsey into his arms and held her tight.
“I think I died a thousand deaths when you went speeding past,” he said. His voice was gruff. He cupped her face and looked her in the eye while he ran his hands over her as if to reassure himself that there were no bullet holes.
“I’m okay,” she said. He kissed her cheek, her forehead, her nose. “I’m all right.” He kissed her again and again until she started laughing, trying to kiss him back. He hugged her tightly, as if he never planned to let go.
“Boss, not to interrupt the moment,” Charlie said. “But don’t you have a wedding to get to?”
Sully and Lindsey looked at each other and grinned.
“Oh, yeah, that,” Lindsey said. She reached up to push her hair out of her face. It was a snarled mess, and she was certain that the tears and snot she’d leaked from the cold had ruined her makeup. She wondered if Shanna was coming to the wedding—because she still had no idea who was actually going to be there—and if so, was the stylist going to have an episode when she caught sight of Lindsey?
The absurdity of it all struck her as funny, and she started to laugh. So much for a small, easy-to-manage wedding. Sully looked at her as if reading her mind, and he started to laugh, too.
Emma pulled alongside in her police boat. “Get yourselves to Bell Island, pronto,” she said. “People are freaking out. We can take statements later. I have to lock these two up, but don’t you dare start that wedding without me.” She turned to glare at her boyfriend. “Robbie Vine, you have some explaining to do.”
“Explaining?” he cried. “Did you not see how I was riding shotgun, getting ready to heave our anchor at them if need be? I felt like bloody James Bond. It was thrilling!”
“Thrilling?” Emma cried. “You could have gotten killed!”
“But I didn’t.”
“But you could’ve.”
“I’m just going to hop over there and try to save him from himself,” Charlie said. He was still holding Teddy, who looked delighted with the change in ownership. “Why don’t you lead us all out, boss?”
“With pleasure,” Sully said. He kept an arm around Lindsey as he picked up speed and steered them safely through the rocks and out of the cove.
Helpfully, Shanna was one of the guests at the wedding. One look at Lindsey and she closed her eyes for just a second as if centering herself, then she grabbed her emergency beautician’s kit and attended to the rat’s nest that had become Lindsey’s hair.
Beth, who’d been abandoned on the pier with Heathcliff, had been picked up by her husband, Aidan, when he’d realized what had happened. She met Lindsey in the master bedroom of Sully’s parents’ house, which had become command central for the wedding.
The moms popped in and out. Lindsey’s brother, Jack, dropped by with Stella. The crafternooners all visited. Nancy reported that Brendan had outdone himself on the cake and there was definitely more than enough for everyone. Because most of the guests had seen the boat chase, there was much explaining to be done. In fact, so much of her preparation was telling everyone about Jamie’s confession—that Tony Mancusi had killed Steve and that she’d killed Mancusi—that Lindsey didn’t have any time to think about the wedding or how many people were down there or whether she should be nervous.
In fact, before she knew it, her mother was handing her a bouquet of white anemones, red poinsettias, and eucalyptus fronds, all tied together with a white ribbon. She looked like she wanted to say something but was too choked up to speak.
Lindsey hugged her close and said, “I love you, Mom.”
“I love you, too. So much,” Christine whispered, tears already starting as she kissed Lindsey’s cheek and then turned to let Jack escort her into the ceremony.
Beth dabbed at her own eyes with a handkerchief. “Shoot, I was really going to try not to cry today.”
Lindsey smiled at her and said, “Come here.” She hugged her close and said, “Thanks for being my best friend all these years. I couldn’t do this without you.”
“Oh, now you’ve done it,” Beth said with a sob. She cried and then dabbed at her face with a tissue from the pocket of her dark green dress, cut in an A-line to accommodate her expanding belly. She clutched Lindsey’s hand in hers and said, “Without you, well, my life certainly wouldn’t have turned out as amazing as it has, so if anyone should be thanking someone, I’m thanking you.”
She hugged Lindsey again and then turned away with another sob.
“Is she going to be all right?” John asked.
Lindsey looked at her father, all buttoned-down in his tuxedo. She’d never seen him in formal wear before. “Yeah, she’ll be all right eventually. You look very dapper, Dad.”
“Thank you,” her father said. He adjusted his bow tie. Then he turned to her, and his gaze softened. “You look beautiful, Linds. Your mother and I . . .” He put his fist to his lips as if he had to cough, but Lindsey saw the sheen of tears in his eyes. He cleared his throat and continued, “We love you so much, and we hope . . . well, we hope that you and Sully have as happy a marriage as we’ve had.”
Lindsey felt her own throat get tight. Her parents and Sully’s parents were amazing examples of doing it right. She nodded and said, “I love you, too, and don’t worry. We will. We have your lead to follow for a long and happy life together.” She took a quick breath, trying to maintain her composure. “Thank you for that.”
Her father kissed her forehead and then held out his arm. Lindsey tucked her hand around his elbow, and together they headed down the stairs and through the house. The photographer surreptitiously snapped pictures as they went.
It had been decided that the service and the reception would be held in the big tent outside. In her green tea-length dress, with her hair done up and fastened with pearl-tipped hair pins, Beth stepped up to the entrance of the tent. As Milton Duffy held open the thick cloth curtain, Beth gave Lindsey one last glance. Her smile was quick and bright, pure Beth, and she gave a little wave and disappeared.
The sides were tied down, keeping the heat in, and a path of flower petals had been dropped in the snow. Music was playing, and as they stepped up to the entrance, which Milton had closed after Beth, Lindsey appreciated the cold bite in the air. It was like a gentle slap in the face, making her present in the moment.
She took a second to center herself, taking in the faint scent of woodsmoke on the air, the cry of a seagull in the distance, the gentle breeze that tugged at her restored hair and her long veil, the feel of her father’s strong arm beneath her fingertips and the swish of her beautiful ice blue gown with the delicate lace overlay at her feet. She was filled with gratitude for every single bit of this quiet moment.
Just then, Milton pushed aside the heavy curtain and gestured them forward. Lindsey and her father exchanged a look, and taking a deep breath, they entered the tent. Lindsey’s breath caught when she saw what the moms had achieved over the past few days. Twinkling lights shone down from above while thick garlands of holly and ivy and poinsettias were strung all around the tent, making it seem like an outdoor garden. It was breathtaking.
Charlie played his acoustic guitar, a beautiful melody, and Lindsey saw the guests rising to their feet as she and her father began their walk down the aisle, also strewn with flower petals. She saw so many faces she recognized: the library staff, the crafternooners, their friends and neighbors in Briar Creek, people who had come to mean so much to her over the past few years. Suddenly, she was immensely grateful that she’d given the stationer the wrong list. She couldn’t imagine getting married without all their nearest and dearest here.
She glanced up ahead and saw Sully. He looked devastatingly handsome in his black tuxedo and bow tie. His mahogany curls shone in the overhead lights, and his wide-eyed look at the sight of her more than made up for having to be at the mercy of Shanna’s curling iron twice in one day. The love in his eyes made her heart beat at triple time, and when he grinned at her and coupled it with a wink, she felt the same dizziness she always felt when he looked at her in just that way. She returned his grin and his wink, and his smile grew even brighter.
Just beyond Sully, she glimpsed the man who was officiating their wedding, wearing a thick white robe and deep green and gold vestments. She wondered if it was Sully’s uncle Carl after all, but no. She actually missed a step when she recognized . . . Robbie?
Grasping the reason for her stumble, her father steadied her, leaned close and said, “Turns out he didn’t just play a vicar on television. He’s actually ordained.”
Lindsey glanced from Robbie to Sully, whose eyes were twinkling, and she burst out laughing. This was perfect!
When her father handed her off to her groom, Heathcliff appeared from behind Sully and sat down between their feet like a perfect gentleman. Lindsey was certain her heart had never been fuller.
Robbie grinned at the three of them, and then in the voice of a very proper vicar, he said, “Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today in the presence of . . . this dog.” He paused, and Heathcliff barked. The guests laughed, which encouraged Heathcliff to bark again. Robbie raised one eyebrow and looked at him and said, “I suppose you think you could do a better job.” Heathcliff wagged, which set the crowd off again.
Lindsey took the opportunity to lean into Sully as she whispered, “If this ceremony is any indicator, I think we’re going to live happily ever after.”
Sully grinned at her and said, “Of that you can be sure, darlin’.” And she knew he spoke the truth.