A/N: Thanks for continuing to read, review, and follow! I really appreciate it. I apologize for the delay in updating. Between celebrating turning another year older and a few offsite meetings for work, writing time has been crunched. Thanks for staying with me! This chapter picks up maybe a couple of weeks from where the last one left off. Hope you enjoy this update!

/

"I'm going to have to call off the wedding." Jo said as she slumped into the chair across from her best friend.

Marissa glanced up from the file she had been reading in her office. "Excuse me? What happened? Why?"

"Everything that could go wrong is going wrong."

"Everything?"

"Pretty much."

Marissa studied her best friend. It was clear that Jo was depressed and stressed out with the wedding just under a month away. The lawyer checked the time and noted that it was approaching noon. "Come on. Let's get out of here, grab something to eat, and talk."

"But you have work."

"And it's obvious that you need to talk right now. Being your best friend and matron of honor trumps almost everything. Plus, I need to eat. I get cranky if I don't, and Bianca doesn't like it when I get cranky. You don't want to make Bianca mad, do you?" Marissa smirked.

Jo cracked a small smile. "No, I don't. The Kane women are downright scary when they get mad."

"Most people would agree with you." Marissa grinned, happy that she had gotten her friend to smile.

Jo laughed at that, and it felt good. She knew coming to Marissa had been the right thing to do. "True, and according to your wife, you're not most people when it comes to her and the Kane death glare."

Marissa simply shrugged, not disputing that fact at all, as she led Jo out of the office.

/

The friends each grabbed a sandwich and drink from a food truck located near the main entrance to the park. With food in hand, they found a bench to sit on. As they began to eat, Marissa turned to her friend.

"Okay. Let's start with the biggest problem, and then, we'll work our way down the list. We'll put our heads together and come up with a solution for each item. Sound good?"

Jo sighed and nodded. "Sounds good."

"What do we tackle first? What's the biggest stress point for you?"

"My dress."

"What about your dress?" Marissa had gone with Jo and knew how much her friend loved the wedding dress she had finally settled on.

"The bridal shop can't find it. They sent it out to the dry cleaners, and now, nobody can find it. Somewhere between the bridal shop and the dry cleaners, it got lost. They're both pointing at each other as to who is at fault. Now, I don't have my freaking wedding dress, Rissa! There is no way I'll be able to find a new one in time for the wedding!"

"Calm down. I'm going to be honest with you. That's bad, but it's nothing we can't handle. Actually, it's nothing that someone we know can't handle. Give me a minute." Marissa pulled out her cellphone and scrolled through her contacts.

Jo was at a loss as to who Marissa was calling and waited patiently to find out who would soon be on the other end of the line.

"Yes, is she in? Tell her that her daughter-in-law needs to speak with her, please. It's very important."

Jo had just taken a drink and started to choke when she heard Marissa asking for her mother-in-law. She was definitely caught off guard by Marissa pulling in Erica to help with the locating of her wedding dress. When she thought about it though, Jo supposed it made sense. Marissa wasn't messing around. She was bringing out the big guns.

After about a minute, Marissa's call was put through. As she talked, she patted Jo on the back to help with her choking. "Hi, Erica."

"Hello, Marissa. Is everything okay?"

"Bianca and the kids are fine. I didn't mean to startle or worry you. Sorry about that. I do, however, need your help with something very important. In fact, I think you might be the only one who can help, and I'm not exaggerating when I say that."

Erica breathed a little easier knowing that her family was okay. "That sounds rather ominous. I will do my best though. What do you need?"

"Well, it's not me. It's Jo. We've run into a bit of an emergency with her wedding dress. It's gotten lost between the bridal shop and the dry cleaners. Neither wants to take responsibility and is blaming the other. To make a long story short, they're not doing anything to resolve the situation. As you know, the wedding is in less than a month, and now, Jo is without a wedding dress. I will be completely honest with you. You are the only person I thought of who could possibly help."

"You did the right thing by calling me. I have no doubt Jo is upset."

"You would be correct. She's talking about cancelling the wedding."

"No. That will not be necessary. Let me make a few calls and see what I can do. In the meantime, text me the name of the bridal shop and dry cleaners. I think a discussion is needed with management to set them straight."

"I couldn't agree with you more. If you have any problems getting through to them, which I highly doubt, I'll put my lawyer hat on and deal with them."

"I think I might just mention that when I talk with them. I will call you when I have something for you. It should be no more than three hours. Tell Jo not to worry and under no circumstances is she to even consider cancelling the wedding."

"I will. Thank you, Erica."

/

Marissa disconnected the call and turned to her friend. "Erica is on the case. She said not to worry, and I quote, 'under no circumstances are you to even consider cancelling the wedding'. So, there's that. Oh, she needs the names of the bridal shop and dry cleaners."

"I can't believe you called Erica. She's going to call those places, isn't she?"

"Yes, she is going to talk with them. If I were to guess, I would say that she is going to be doing most of the talking. She is not going to count on them however to come up with a solution. Erica is going to call me back when she's done her magic."

"Wow. Okay, I feel a little better. I have to tell you that a couple of years ago I couldn't have imagined that Erica Kane was going to be helping with me with wedding disasters."

"I hear ya. I'm glad you're feeling better! Let's keep it up. What's next on the list?"

"The church. Some pipes burst, and they have some serious water damage. We won't be able to have the wedding or reception there."

"Oh, that's not good. Will Reverend McSherry still be able to perform the ceremony?"

Jo nodded. "Yes, she will, but we don't have a place. With less than a month, there is no way we'll be able to find a church for the wedding or a hall for the reception."

"Okay. Let me think." Marissa had a place in mind that would accommodate the wedding and reception since Jo and Greg had kept the guest list on the smaller side, along the lines of what she and Bianca had for their wedding. What Marissa had in mind as a solution for her friend, however, wasn't a decision she could make by herself. "I need to make another quick call." Marissa stepped away to have this conversation privately.

/

"Hey. This is a nice surprise."

Marissa smiled as soon as she heard her wife's voice on the other end of the line. "Hey. How's your day going?"

"Not too bad. How about yours?"

"Same. I can't say the same for Jo though."

"What's up? Something with the wedding?"

"Yeah, I'm afraid so. I'm with her now actually. She stopped by the office a little earlier and was really depressed. We're now having lunch in the park while she tells me what drove her to want to call off the wedding."

"What? Call off the wedding? No, she can't do that. Not unless Greg cheated on her, and I don't see him doing anything like that because he loves Jo way too much to hurt her like that. Plus, he's not a stupid person. He knows that he would face the wrath of both Jessica and you."

"True. Greg is in the clear on this though. There is a problem with her wedding dress. It's gone MIA."

"What?!"

"The bridal shop sent Jo's dress to the dry cleaners, and they are saying they never received it. Somewhere between the two places, it got lost. No one knows where it is, and neither side is claiming responsibility or doing much to help Jo find it."

"Of course not." Bianca paused. "You know, Mom might be able to help."

"I know."

Bianca chuckled. "You've already called her, haven't you?"

"I have. Erica is on the case."

"I almost feel sorry for them, almost. It's Jo we're talking about though, so all bets are off."

"I couldn't agree more."

"So, I'm taking an educated guess, and I'm going to say that Mom has contacted a designer who will most likely be in touch either today or tomorrow at the latest. Jo will have a new dress in time for the wedding."

"You think so?"

"I know so. I have a feeling you're calling about another problem."

"You know me too well. Some pipes burst at the church. There is some serious water damage. Jo said there is no way they can have the wedding or reception there."

"Oh man. It's going to be impossible to find another venue at this late date."

Marissa could hear her wife thinking.

"I can only think of one place for them to have it, our home. They can have the wedding and reception there if they want. Their guest list is right around the same size as ours, so we have more than enough room. Knowing you as well as I do, I'm guessing you're thinking the same thing, and you're calling to check with me." Bianca said knowingly. She grinned when she heard her wife chuckle on the other end of the line.

"It's pretty scary when you read my mind like that, especially when we're not even in the same room. You're right. I came to the same conclusion. I didn't say anything to Jo yet though. I wanted to check with you first. It's a big ask, and I would never offer something like this without you being completely onboard."

"Rissa, I know, and I'm good with it, honestly. We're talking about Jo, and she's family. If she wants to have it at our place, she is more than welcome."

"Thank you. I should get back and let her know. I also need to find out what other wedding disasters she is facing."

"Hopefully, nothing else major. Give her my love. Tell her to breathe and let her know that we are here for whatever she needs."

"I will. I love you."

"I love you too. I'll see you later. Oh wait! I just thought of two other things. If they want to have the wedding and reception at our place, see if Jo, Greg, and Jessica want to come over for dinner tonight, and we can start talking about how they want to set things up."

"That's a good idea. I will definitely do that and let you know what she says. What was the second thing?"

"It sounds like Jo could maybe use a girls' getaway."

"I like where this is going."

"I thought you might. See if you can steal her next weekend. I'll start making a couple of calls. I have something in mind that just might do the trick for her."

"I'm on it! Love you."

"Love you too."

/

"Sorry. That call took a little longer than I thought." Marissa said as she sat back down next to Jo.

"It's okay. Is everything okay?"

"Yes, it is. I wanted to let Bianca know what was going on with the wedding because I knew she would want to help. We talked, and if you and Greg our interested, we would like to offer the two of you our place for your wedding and reception."

Jo's eyes grew wide at the generosity of her friend. "What? Are you serious?!"

"I am, and so is Bianca. Now, if you want to have it somewhere else, we more than understand, but we wanted to put it out there for you an alternative. Our wedding was about the same size as yours, and having it at our place worked out great."

"Marissa. I … I can't … That is above and beyond. I can't ask you …"

"You're not asking. We're offering."

"It's so much work though."

"You forget the crew that comes with it: Bianca, me, Kendall, Zach, Greenlee, Ryan. You know, most of your guest list from Pine Valley. And don't forget the Devon contingent of Cory and Chris because you know they'll want to help."

"You're serious about this?"

"Yes, I am."

Jo hugged her friend as tears streamed down her face. "Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I don't know how I'll ever be able to repay you and Bianca. The two of you are lifesavers."

"You're welcome. There is absolutely no need to repay us. You're family. It's what you do for family. Besides, I know you would do the same for me."

"I would. Anything you need, just ask. Okay, I think I know his answer, but let me call Greg just to be on the safe side."

Jo pulled out her cellphone and called Greg, who had been equally as frantic as Jo was earlier. He was relieved and gratefully accepted Marissa and Bianca's generous offer. When Jo had finished her call with Greg, the two friends finished up their lunch.

"Oh, Bianca suggested you come over for dinner tonight, and we can start working on a layout for the big event."

"That's a great idea. Dinner is on us, however. Don't even try and argue with me on that. Could Greg use your grill?"

"Sure. I know he covets it." Marissa chuckled.

"Yeah, he does, but at least, he's honest about it. We'll take care of everything for dinner then."

"Don't forget Jessica."

"I won't. In fact, I think I'll see if she's up for making something for dessert. You know, I haven't told her about the wedding disasters yet. I didn't want to stress her out if I could avoid it. Now, I don't have to worry about it. Dammit, I think I spoke too soon. The invitations were mailed a few weeks ago and have the wrong venue on them."

"I'm on it. I'll call Kendall when I get back to the office. Fusion has a very good local printer they use to handle emergency jobs for them."

Jo shook her head, grateful to have Marissa's steady hand at this point. "You think of everything, don't you?"

"I do my best. Oh, there is one condition for our help."

"Alright. What's that?" Jo wasn't too concerned to hear this.

"Bianca said that you needed a girls' getaway, and I couldn't agree more. So, we're kidnapping you next weekend. She's making all the plans."

Jo laughed. "Okay. I think I can accept that condition. Is it really kidnapping though if you tell me it's going to happen in advance?"

Marissa shrugged. "Technicalities. Okay. I need to get back to the office. You can tell me about any other wedding emergencies along the way."

"Sounds like a plan. Although, the other are minor in comparison." Jo reached out and hugged Marissa again. "Thank you for talking me off the ledge and stopping me from canceling the wedding. Best Matron of Honor, ever."

"You're welcome." Marissa smiled as the two friends headed out of the park.

/

On the other side of the park, a dark-haired man watched Marissa and Jo. He pulled out his cellphone and called his client. The private detective had been following the redhead for almost two weeks, and she was none the wiser.

"Yeah, it's me."

"How many times have I told you not to call me? I'll call you." The voice on the other end of the line hissed.

The private investigator rolled his eyes. This client was way too much into cloak and dagger for his taste. "You also told me to call you if I had any interesting updates."

"Go on."

"She's meeting with another woman in the park, and there is a lot of touching and hugging."

"It's probably her wife."

"No, it's not her wife."

"Did you even look at the picture I gave you?"

"Yeah, I did, and I'm positive it's not her wife."

"How are you so sure about that?"

"Because the woman she's with right now is African-American, and the last time I checked, Bianca Montgomery isn't."

"Oh." There was a pause. "Well, did you get pictures of them?"

"Of course I did. I'm not an amateur. I've been doing this a while." That much was true. He also wasn't above crossing the line, however, and it was that reputation that had netted him this particular client. "I'll send you the pictures later. I gotta go. They're on the move." He disconnected the call before his client could say anything else.

/

"Hey, Mitch. It's Al."

"What do you have for me, Al?"

"Marissa and her friend Jo went to the park for lunch. That guy followed them and took some pictures. Still no idea who he is and why he's following Marissa?"

"No, I can't find anything on him, and it's driving me nuts. Keep following him and see if you can get anything with his DNA or fingerprints on it. Above all, make sure he doesn't do anything to harm, Marissa."

"I will. She's my first concern. I've got to tell you, I'm really glad Marissa spotted him last week and asked you to check into him."

"That makes two of us. She's smart and savvy. I don't know why people continue to underestimate her. Good work and keep me updated."

/

A/N: Yeah, I did that cliffhanger thing again. See you soon!