27

Linda

As the afternoon wore on, I had another glass of champagne and some of the delicious canapés. But I couldn’t stand to hear another conversation about stocks and bonds or have any more fake conversations with the ‘dad’ Axel had hired for me.

“Look,” I said to him at one point, after he launched into a story about us going golfing in front of a crowd of Axel’s friends, “who do you think you’re kidding? How old were you when I was born, anyway? Fifteen?”

“Hey, quit it, lady,” he muttered. “I can’t break character. This is research for me, anyway. I’m playing the father of the bride in a Wes Anderson movie next year.”

I sighed in frustration and stomped off. I couldn’t even remember why I’d agreed to do this. The whole thing was crazy anyway. I left by the back entrance and went out to the parking lot, where the limousines were parked. I thought it wouldn’t be so bad to recline on the comfortable seats and think happy thoughts. So I went to the first one and opened the door.

I screamed with shock.

So did Sara.

I wasn’t even sure what I was looking at until the tangle of ruffled silk and lace rustled and rolled over, and revealed Sara, looking crumpled in her dress on the floor of the limo. But I was utterly shocked when I saw who she’d just rolled off.

“ZEKE?”

Axel’s best man for the day sat up in the car, his carrot-top hair in a tangle. His cheeks were red, and the pair of them looked out of breath. He adjusted his tie and slipped his jacket on. “I…uh…sorry,” he said quickly, looking around in utter embarrassment.

“It’s not what it looks like?” said Sara.

“We, uh, just met,” said Zeke. “She was just…”

I just carried on staring at them, not knowing what to say. Then, an enormous smile spread across my face.

“I guess it really is true what they say about the best man and the maid of honor,” I said, giggling.

“Please don’t tell ‘Lex,” said Zeke. “I’ll see you later, Sara,” he said, nodding towards her and smiling. “It was good to meet you.”

“You too!” she said, waving at him. Then she turned towards me, and I could see the fire burning in her big brown eyes.

“What?” she said, but I couldn’t stop laughing.

“How long have you two known each other?” I said.

“Long enough,” said Sara haughtily, and turned around and went back inside. I folLindend her, splitting my sides.

***

“You’re KIDDING me,” said Axel, when I told him in the limo on the way to The Blue Orchid.

“Scout’s honor,” I said, beaming. “In this very limo.”

“In this…” Axel said, before stepping up off the chairs and brushing the seat below him. “Wow. I guess you never can tell.”

“I didn’t really think she was his type,” I said.

“I didn’t really think he was hers!” said Axel.

But he was smiling again. And it made me happy to see him smiling. Axel was dressed immaculately for the day, in a tuxedo with a wing-collar shirt and a handsomely tied bow tie. He had a red rose pinned to his lapel, and I admired the way the lapels of his shirt showed off his broad, muscular chest. I wanted to put my head against it and rest, and I thought about it for a moment. What would be so bad about telling him the truth? That I liked him? That I thought more of him than just a friend? If we weren’t in this difficult situation, then I could tell him what was really on my mind.

But then I looked up and saw a plume of smoke rising from around the corner.

“Is that what I think it is?” I said, looking up at it.

Axel folLindend my gaze. I looked at his eyes, blue and cold. Then, I saw them brighten and glimmer with interest.

“Isn’t that on our street?” I said.

“Yeah,” he said, rolling down the window. I saw him lean out, craning his neck to look.

Then, I heard him gasp. It was just a tiny sound, a rush of air sucked into his lungs. And that frightened me more than anything.

Because Axel Linden was angry, grumpy, and downright distant at the best of times.

But he was never panicked.

We turned the corner.

“Stop,” said Axel. “Stop the car.”

“What?” said the driver.

“I SAID STOP!” he thundered, quickly opening the door and sliding it to one side.

“Hey, what are you—” said the driver.

But Axel had gone. I followed behind him, hitching the long skirts of my wedding dress out of the car. But when I stood up and turned to look down the street, I let out a cry. A howl of shock.

It was burning.

The Blue Orchid was on fire. Tongues of flames reached up through the windows on the upper floors, while an enormous ball of fire blazed in the dining room downstairs. I could see the bar going up in flames, and hear the bottles of liquor smashing in the heat, fueling the blaze as it sped through the building. I could feel the heat from two hundred yards away, and smell the smoke and ruin.

But nothing in that devastation and ruin could match the look on Axel’s face. His eyes were wide and his ruby-red lips were curled, as he watched, open-mouthed. I rushed to his side, and he turned to me.

“It’s gone,” he whispered, and then I remember screams, shouts, and sadness. And I thought about how many people had told me that I’d remember this day for the rest of my life.

Axel

In hindsight, it was probably a good thing that the police arrested me. If I hadn’t been then I would probably have dived into the burning building, to try and put out the fire.

Luckily, everyone was safe. The only people there had been Gabriel and another cook, who were preparing to serve the wedding banquet and a couple of servers. They’d gotten out in time.

I found myself in another interrogation room in the local precinct, only this time, my wrists really were cuffed to the table. Opposite me, two detectives were sitting. I had at least ten years on both of them, and they were trying to play hardball with me. Only it wasn’t working one bit. They’d been at it since the afternoon and now it must be getting dark outside.

“You know where your fusebox is, Axel?”

“Of course I do,” I replied. I could smell the smoke in my clothes. “It’s in an alcove on the ground floor.”