Disclaimer: I do not own the Hardy Boys or any of the canon book characters, and am making no monies from this story. Any Original Characters belong to the author(s).
This story was originally written in 2009. There are many technological differences from today's world. Co-written with RokiaHDA, who wrote back then under the name of Aspen. It is also the last work in the story arc.
As always, many thanks to Jenn "Sparks" Hart, who graciously allowed us to use Bella Scarpetti and April Wayne in our stories.
As always, thank you to Cherylann, Sarai and Max2013. Hope you're continuing to enjoy the story.
June Brides
By EvergreenDreamweaver and RokiaHDA
Chapter 11
Megan Wright pulled her little teal-blue Sunfire up next to the curb on Elm Street and turned off the engine. She had learned early on to park on the street, even when there was room in the Hardys' driveway, for there was often a great deal of coming and going in this particular house, and frequently at high rates of speed! Having to wait while someone moved a car wasn't always acceptable. Currently there didn't happen to be any room, for even though Joe's convertible was absent, Bella's car – the Miata which had belonged to her father Marco – was in its place.
Megan went up the walkway and mounted the steps to the front porch, enjoying the June morning, which was sunshiny but still cool. She raised her hand to knock, then stepped back, startled, as it suddenly opened before she could touch it!
Laura, equally surprised, gasped slightly, then recovered. "Goodness, Megan! I didn't realize you were here already! Well, good morning!" She stepped out on the porch, and Megan saw now that Laura was wearing gardening gloves and carrying a flat of some small plants in little plastic containers. .
"You're doing the flower thing again!" Megan smiled. "I love it when I see you working outside with flowers. It always reminds me of the first time I came here with Frank."
Laura smiled too, reminiscently. "I was trimming back the fuchsias in the hanging baskets," she recalled. "And I was extremely surprised to see Frank arrive here with a strange girl in tow!"
"And you offered to make me breakfast – you made scrambled eggs and toast; I remember – because Frank and I had just had coffee. Which was awfully nice of you, considering you didn't know me from a hole in the ground."
"Well…" Laura laughed a little. "I liked you – lots. I saw at first look that Frank was smitten with you. Deservedly. And since I was making it for Joe anyway, I was glad to include you and Frank" She set down the plants on the porch swing and took off her gloves to give Megan a warm hug. "That was a very special, extra-good day for the Hardy family – because it brought us you."
Megan sighed, returning the embrace. "Thank you. It was extra-special for me, too."
Eventually Laura reluctantly freed herself. "If there are going to be hanging baskets to trim in the fall I have to get these things planted," she smiled, gesturing to the little flower starts.
"And I better get inside and get to work," Megan agreed.
"Come into the kitchen for a cup of coffee in an hour or so, honey, okay?" Laura opened the front door and motioned for Megan to enter. "I know I'll want one after I do this!"
Megan walked quietly to the recently renovated room which now housed most of the paperwork and office paraphernalia for Hardy Investigations. It didn't seem that anyone else in the house was awake, for she could hear no sounds of activity anywhere.
A part of her had still not completely lost the overwhelming feeling of awed intimidation around Fenton that had plagued her for the first few months she'd dated Frank, but time and Mr. Hardy's warmth and patience had overcome most of it. He'd made it quite evident that he liked her, was happy that she and Frank had come to an 'understanding,' and these days, he apparently was pleased with her work, as well. Megan had begun to think of him as not only 'Frank's father' but something of a father-figure for herself, especially since he'd requested that she call him either 'Fenton' or some nickname or other. She still missed her own father very much, and wished he was still alive, but Fenton was slowly becoming someone she could talk to if she felt in need of some fatherly wisdom. The fact that he was also now her boss made it easy to facilitate conversations.
She'd been working for him part-time since late January. After the fiasco of the broken water pipe and flooded basement in February, when Fenton had lost a lot of his old files to water damage, one of her tasks was to type up all of his notes on current cases, either dictated or from what he'd written down. These hard copies were then carefully stored on the new shelving in the basement, high above any foreseeable water levels, as well as in computer files. She also sent out invoices to clients and recorded payments – glad she'd picked up some knowledge of bookkeeping from her accountant father – and did computer and other types of research for him when necessary. And when she had time, she worked on deciphering the water-stained papers that had survived the flood, and re-created the ruined case files.
Megan was in for a second surprise, for when she entered the office she found Fenton at his desk , scanning through a file folder. "Oh, Mr. Hardy! Good morning; I didn't realize you were here."
"Good morning, Megan." Fenton looked up and smiled as Megan slid her purse from her shoulder and set it under the small desk in the corner she called hers, then sat down in her chair. "Sorry if I startled you, but I've got a ten o'clock meeting with a client and I thought I'd get some work done before I left."
"It just seems to be a morning for my being surprised," she said, explaining her encounter with Laura at the front door.
"Well, you should be undisturbed once I leave. If you can keep Frank and Bella out, that is." Fenton's dark eyes twinkled. "I think you're safe from Joe; he's working this morning."
Demurely, she indicated the stack of files in her outbox. "I think I'll have plenty to keep busy. I finished those, but I did have a question on one of the dictation tapes."
"Let's clear that up, then; I've got some time now." Mr. Hardy set aside his paperwork and prepared to listen, as Megan put the tape in question into the player. He grinned when he heard it. "That was when I had a cold in April, wasn't it? No wonder you can't understand what I said – I can barely understand it, and I said it!" After replaying the section in question a time or two he figured out the gist of it, and Megan jotted the information down for later inclusion in her transcript.
"Those can wait," Fenton said then, "because I have a research project for you this morning. See what you can find about something called the Burkweller Society. There should be a lot of Internet references to it. I'm not looking for anything in particular, just general information about it. Oh, and if there are message board sites having to do with it, or member and client lists, check those out too, if you would."
Megan nodded, noting down the name. "Do you want me to make notes for you and print them off, or just forward the links to the sites to your e-mail?"
Fenton thought about that a moment. "Forward the links," he said at last, "but I wouldn't mind a printed summarization as well. With your comments, please." He winked at her evident surprise. "It's good practice, honey. I want to hear what conclusions you come up with, if any. Sometimes you have some insights I miss. And even if you do decide to slide over into law instead of investigation, like you mentioned awhile back, those insights are still very valuable."
She flushed warmly, appreciating the compliment. "Any correspondence to go out?"
"Not yet, but I'll probably have something this afternoon. Since you're just here in the morning today I'll leave the drafts on your desk and you can do them tomorrow." He paused, frowning. "You are here tomorrow, aren't you?"
She dimpled. "Yes. Tomorrow's Friday. I'll be here."
"Good." Fenton looked at his wristwatch and pushed back from the desk. "I've got to go to my meeting. Enjoy the peace and quiet." He patted her curls fondly on his way to the door.
Megan worked peacefully for a time. The house was silent, so evidently neither Frank nor Bella happened to be up yet, and Laura was outside planting her flowers. Megan was deep in the project Fenton had assigned, delving for information online, when a light tap on the door made her look up. She smiled in welcome. "Good morning, Bella."
"Hi there." Bella slipped into the room and closed the door behind her. "You busy?" she whispered.
"Relatively – but it's not something I can't stop doing for a few minutes. What do you need?"
"Did you hear about Callie's Bible?" the little blonde asked.
"What about it?" Megan frowned in confusion. "Or – do you mean it's been found?!"
"Yes!" Bella nodded vigorously. "At least that's what Joe said last night – but he didn't say anything more about it! He didn't say where it turned up, or who found it, or anything! So I thought maybe Frank told you…?"
"Nope." Megan shook her head. "I haven't even talked to Frank since yesterday. I'm figuring I'll see him today, of course," she added with a smile.
"Darn!" Bella pouted.
"The important thing is that Callie has her Bible back, isn't it?" Megan couldn't help smiling as she pointed this out. Bella was so funny when she felt she simply had to know things!
"Well, sure, but…"
"Maybe you can find out from Frank today."
"Or maybe you can find out from Frank today, and then tell me," Bella countered, and headed for the door. "I'm going to go find myself some breakfast. Where's Aunt Laura, do you know?"
"Outside, planting flowers," Megan replied absently, already turning her attention back to her computer search. She barely heard Bella's departure.
#####
"Sit. Stay." Seated at the Wayne household kitchen table, April indicated chairs with an imperious gesture, her eyes glinting with that hint of coordinator madness that had taken her over – ever since Jack had proposed, Dani accepted, and Dani asked for help planning the wedding. She had a pink clipboard with a pen attached sitting on the table, and the familiar notebook which Megan Wright had dubbed her 'Book of Lists' in her hand. "I have some things to go over with you."
Jack – and Dani, who had arrived a few minutes before – had intended on having an intimate breakfast together, only to find April in business executive mode. They exchanged looks that said 'What, again? Now?' but meekly complied. After all, sometimes you had to pick your battles. They had learned that when it came to their upcoming wedding, April usually meant business…and surprisingly enough, she seemed to know what she was doing! It wasn't like April was trying to make decisions for them. She merely made sure that decisions were made, and in a timely manner.
However, did she have to do it during breakfast?!
"What is it?" Dani asked warily.
"Flowers?"
"Flowers?" Dani echoed, raising her eyebrows. "I thought we were all set on flowers."
April turned slightly pink. "I know, I know, don't worry; we ordered the flowers for the church together. I've confirmed that they'll be delivered to the church – and the reception hall – in time for everything to be set up. And the bridesmaids' bouquets are all set, and the guys' boutonnieres, and I added Bella's wrist corsage. But there's one last, minor little detail: which bouquet did you choose? You were down to two, last I heard. These." She handed Dani two pictures, one a vivid spray of bright red roses, the other a cascade of white roses, stargazer lilies and dendrobium orchids, with greenery and silvery accents.
Dani and Jack looked at them. After a moment Jack gave a shrug, smiling. "I think they're both nice; you choose," he said.
Dani didn't hesitate. She handed back the picture of the white lilies and roses. "This one. I love this one. That's what I want."
April nodded, smiling. She made a note on the photo, and another one on her clipboard. "Now…the cake has been ordered, and will be ready on time – or so I've been promised. Dresses – well, you found yours ages ago. It's supposed to be ready to pick up on Monday, don't forget. The rest of us have our final fittings the following Thursday – and we'll all look like dreams! Bella said she found a dress that coordinates with ours, and is having shoes dyed to match."
Jack, listening, had to restrain himself to keep his smiles from turning into undignified grins. It had taken a wedding – his wedding – to turn his tomboyish, independent little sister, whose idea of 'dressing up' had meant a clean pair of jeans, into this fashionista with an eye for every detail. He blinked, trying to catch up with April's nonstop spiel.
"…and the tuxedos are ordered and were fitted, right? And you decided on cummerbunds and bow ties – right, Jack? Jack? Right?"
"Uh – yes, uh-huh." Jack twined his fingers with Dani's and lifted her hand to graze a brief kiss on the back. "They're that green slice color."
"Apple Slice!" The reproving cry came in unison from both April and Dani.
"Right, Apple Slice. But…uh…isn't that green?"
"Yes," Dani said patiently, "but it's a beautiful lightish green that's not too light or too dark, and it deserves to be called by its correct name."
Jack valiantly managed not to roll his eyes at this, and felt very proud of himself for his restraint. He inwardly wondered if they'd lost their minds – his fiancée and his sister, that is – not himself! "Go on, sis," he prodded. He had other things to do today, after all, such as having breakfast with Dani.
"Bella says Marco's is ready to do the catering for both the rehearsal dinner and the reception, even if Enrico has been griping about it ever since he learned of it. He's fond enough of Bella to go along with whatever she wants – although I'm not sure I'd want to be around him the day of the wedding, and I haven't even met the man! His reputation precedes him." She grinned. "Fortunately, he's not coming with the catering team that's bringing the food; he's staying in New York."
"Bella was so sweet to offer that – I love the food at Marco's. We've eaten there a couple of times when we were in the city, and it was yummy…and I know they do not do event catering! This is a one-time-only deal!" Dani squeezed Jack's hand.
"Their chicken Parmesan is to die for," Jack conceded, freeing his hand so that he could loop an arm about his bride-to-be. "And I can't even pronounce what Dani ordered last time…"
"Never mind that," April rebuked, waving her clipboard at him. "One very important detail here: have you two finally decided on where you're going for your honeymoon? Or are you still playing games with me about it?"
The two exchanged smirks, but didn't say anything.
April huffed impatiently. "I'm not asking just to be nosy, you know! I'm trying to HELP you! Your wedding is less than three weeks away and you'll never get reservations anywhere if you don't step on it! Or…okay, maybe you didn't want me to know…?"
Dani laughed and relented. "Yes, yes, we've decided. It wasn't that we didn't want you to know; we were trying to save you more work. Don't worry; we've already made reservations at a lovely little place in the Dominican Republic. Sand, surf, beaches, lovely little shops, places to go parasailing and snorkeling and diving – and unbelievably romantic settings. What's not to love? Although I will admit, it took some discussion – we couldn't make up our minds between that and Jamaica."
April heaved a sigh of relief and made a checkmark on her clipboard. "About time," she muttered. Then, "I thought you were considering St. Thomas?"
"We thought about it," Dani admitted. "But most of the Caribbean tropical islands have a lot of things in common, and—"
"And the D.R.'s less expensive," Jack put in.
"And it's plenty romantic for us both," Dani concluded with a laugh.
April sighed a little. "I'd love to go to the Caribbean," she said, a trifle wistfully.
"Sis, I love you dearly, but you are not coming along on our honeymoon!"
She burst into laughter. "I know that! I wasn't hinting! Besides, I'm looking forward to some peace and quiet around here while you're gone. But…some time…it would be nice." She stared dreamily past them out the window for a moment, then returned her gaze to Jack and Dani and smiled mischievously. "Just remember to bring me back a present!"