"My groomsman was drunk before we even got to the church… and he ruined my dress by spraying champagne on it in the limo coming back from pictures at the beach…" Stephanie Plum shook her head as she walked alongside her two friends and her older sister, Valarie. All were dressed in huge satin dresses, each in a different pastel hue as each had served as bridesmaid to their now former roommate, Lauren and her now husband, David. Her groomsman, Lance Turner, had been her personal torment throughout the wedding prep, rehearsal dinner and yesterday. The wedding, the reception- Lance acted like the day was another keg party at Delta Tau Chi for "L-T to the 3rd power", as he referred to him and the other two Frat brothers in the wedding party.
"Considering these dresses, he did you a favor…" Mary Lou, Stephanie's friend from kindergarten looked down at the shiny satin multi- tiered confection she wore. They had all "forgotten" their hats and parasols as they departed the venue just as dawn approached- Dear God, what had the Lauren's mother been thinking picking these Southern Belle monstrosities. And they weighed a ton.
"My groomsman was obnoxious and so rude. He may have been pretty on the outside but he is dark and ugly on the inside." Lula shook her head. Lawrence Thomson thought Lula's humble beginnings as a ward of the state meant he could take what he wanted, and ever since Lula disabused him of the notion, he had been IMPOSSIBLE!
"Pretty is as pretty does. And yes, I was thinking of Joe Morelli." Stephanie snorted. All the girls had heard about the Bakery incident. And the "broken leg" episode that saw Stephanie leave Trenton New Jersey and move in with her sister Val and best friend Mary Lou in Florida six months ago, alongside the bride Lauren and Lula, who inherited the four-bed beach house from her foster mother two years prior.
"At least your groomsman didn't soil himself on the dance floor." Val smiled wickedly at her sister, before sending Mary Lou a sympathetic glance.
The girls started laughing again… All except Mary Lou who shook her head. "He is definitely not getting his deposit back on that tux."
"While it was wrong for us to have laced his smoothie with a fast-acting laxative," Lula said, "he was a big horse's ass bringing up the ex-fiancé as the better fit for the groom." Leopold Thornton, as best man to the groom, came to regret his rudeness. On the dancefloor, busting a move, when the eruption of diarrhea came on without warning, with liquid brown running down both the jackass's legs.
All the girls nodded in sympathy to their friend. Lauren deserved better. Leopold, not so much.
"Those were definitely not tears of joy…" Stephanie stated, remembering her friend's eyes flooding as the best man lamented the groom's loss. The bastard! What was even more annoying, he went upstairs to his room in the hotel, showered and changed, and came back to harass them, AGAIN!
"I don't know about all of you but my groomsman was perfect. Witty, charming and so funny." Val smiled at the group. "And he was exceptionally attentive all night." Brian Morgan, a high school friend of the groom, was the anomaly of the men in the bridal party- He was polite, he was not a member of the Delta Tau Chi like the "L-T to the 3rd power" frat brothers and he was openly, happily homosexual.
"Val, he is a gay man, he has always been and will always be gay." Stephanie told her older sister.
"That is why he is perfect for me." Val had been off men since her high school boyfriend Steve cheated on her at the prom. She moved to Florida right after graduation and had been working at American Express ever since. Two years later, when Lenny, Mary Lou's long-time boyfriend, decided to move to Japan with his family, Mary Lou applied to every college she could, and got into Florida International University. Since there was an opening at the time, Val invited Mary Lou to take one of the rooms at Lula's. She was halfway through her degree in International Business. After the Big Blue vs. Joe Morelli incident, and with Lula's blessing, they offered Stephanie refuge.
"The days of gay men marrying straight women are over, sweet girl." Lula confided.
"Do not ruin my dream of the perfect man with these useless facts." Val chided the girls.
"Well, I am grateful he created a distraction to help us get away and gave you the heads up that the other three were likely to show up on our doorstep once they figured out we got away." Mary Lou grinned at her friends.
"And now we need to find somewhere to hide till it is safe to head home." Stephanie said aloud what everyone else was thinking.
"I wish we brought a change of clothes." Mary Lou lamented. "And a change of shoes." Lace covered, high heeled satin shoes dyed to match each dress- SO UNCOMFORTABLE!
"I wish we could go to sleep." Lula said after a big yawn.
"I wish we had boyfriends who could chase the morons off." Stephanie said with a sigh.
Val rolled her neck. "I need coffee."
Lula's eyes went wide. "Oh my god, coffee, yes!"
"A gallon." Stephanie agreed.
"Diner action anyone?" Mary Lou offered. And so, the rumpled bridesmaids made their way to the 11th Street Diner.
Lester Santos and his cousin Ricardo were on leave and staying with their grandmother Rosa. They brought along two Army friends, Robert Brown and Pierre Broussard, to discuss what their post Army life would look like. None of the men expected to serve the twenty years for military retirement- as specialized soldiers they knew they needed a back-up plan, as one busted physical would end their time in their elite unit. They also wanted to be able to offer employment to soldiers, sailors and marines who otherwise didn't fit in most work environments.
They sat down in the 11th Street diner and ordered Mother Waffles, each had eggs over easy with Coffee while Ric ordered the Healthy Start and the fruit bowl and drank only water. It was glorious to be on leave and able to order good, fresh food.
Just as the food was delivered to the table, Les whispered to Brown and Broussard, "Walk of shame wedding party on your six"
Ric said nothing as he watched the four girls, all in their early twenties, enter the diner and sit at a booth on the opposite side of the entrance. It was hard to take them all in. A beautiful full size black girl in pale yellow, voluminous skirts was heading to the ladies' room, and he randomly wondered how all of her dress would fit in the stall. The two girls in the seats facing in his direction, a blonde in a shiny pink gown and a brunette in a shiny blue gown, both with the same unruly skirts, were examining the menu. But the fourth member of this bridal party, dressed in the lilac version of the hideous dress, was letting her hair down from the tight updo and the springy sun-bleached curls had him dreaming of running his hands though…
"Ric, man, can you pass the salt and pepper?" Broussard repeated a third time, finally breaking the trance Ric was under. "Man, where did your mind just go?"
"I think the uniform for staff should be Black Cargos and Black T-shirts." Ric said to the table, trying to get back to inking out a plan. "We can use Car Auctions to get top quality vehicles to start with. The cops pull in all kinds of hot wheels."
"And Ric knows all about hot wheels," Les said with a laugh, hinting at the reason Ric ended up shipped to Florida after Juvie.
The plans and considerations were still in the "Big Dream" stage, but Ricardo Carlos Manoso was determined to make this deal a reality in the next five to seven years.
Excusing himself to use the Men's room, he didn't like what he heard as he passed the table full of bridesmaids.
"I wish the guys had just taken no for an answer." The curly hair girl was saying as he passed. Ric never liked men who didn't accept a negative response from a woman.
On his way back to his table, he saw the girls counting coins on the table. He guessed they were short on their bill.
"Ladies, may I be of assistance?" He smiled kindly.
"I left my purse behind and didn't realize until after we ordered." Lilac looked up at him with beautiful blue eyes.
Ric took out his money clip and pulled off three twenties.
"Oh, that is too much." Blue said as she saw all the bills.
"I like to tip well. Your waitress is a single mom."
"Are you from around here?" Pink asked.
"My abuela, my grandmother, lives a few blocks away in a beach house."
"We live on the beach, too." Yellow offered. "Who is your granny?"
"Rosa Manoso. I am Ricardo Manoso."
Lilac responded, "Oh, I know Mrs. Manoso- she is the lovely Hispanic lady two doors down who has the lovely gardens. I am Stephanie Plum, this is Lula, Val, and Mary Lou." Yellow was Lula, Blue was Valarie, and Pink was Mary Lou. "It is nice to meet you, Mr. Manoso."
Ric smiled again at the girls. "My father is Mr. Manoso. Please call me Ric."
"Well Ric, if you are staying with Rosa, we can bring you back your money as soon as we can go home."
"Is there an issue that is keeping you from home?" Ric asked, remembering the earlier comment he overheard.
Lula nodded to him. "The best man and two of the groomsmen from the wedding we were in have my house staked out. They didn't like being turned down…"
"My friends and I could chat with them for you, if you like." Ric nodded to the table where Les, Brown and Broussard were still reviewing the ideas Ric had drafted for their future company. He called over to his table and the three men joined him, sitting at the table adjacent to the girls. Ric did the introductions all around and explained the problem to the other men.
"Do you think you could pretend to be with us? Like as boyfriends?" Mary Lou asked. "I told one of them that my boyfriend would not be happy with his advances."
"Which of us suits you, Ms. Mary Lou?" Ric asked.
"Mr. Brown closely matches the man I described."
"Okay. Ms. Val?"
Val blushed as she looked into Lester's beautiful green eyes. "Would you?"
Les lifted her hand to kiss her fingers. "It would be my honor."
Broussard looked to Lula and asked, "Will I do?"
"Absolutely big guy."
Ric took Stephanie's hand. "Will you allow me the honor of walking you home, Ms. Plum?" Stephanie nodded, blushing as much as her sister.
They settled the two table bills, collected the business plan paperwork and headed for the girls' place, and Ric thought the day was already looking brighter. Saving four lovely damsels in distress from the frat boys who could not hear the word "No" would start the day right. And Stephanie's curls… A bright day indeed.