Page 74 of Trouble Walked In

Della took a step forward, her hands raised into a stance Lizzie had seen in movies. Had her sister been taking self-defense classes? “You didnotjust call my sister a bitch.”

Jay’s eyes widened in surprise, then narrowed. “What the hell you think you’re going to do about it,princess?” He spat the word out like it was a high-dollar swear word.

Lizzie put a cautionary hand on Della’s shoulder. The last thing she needed was for her sister to get into a fistfight, and nobody came into her home and threatened her or anyone else with violence. Her need to fix the situation vanished. She’d put up with a lot for a client, but there were lines, and this jerk had just stepped over all of them.

“Get the hell out of my house.”

“Or what?” He took another step forward. He was so close she could look down her nose at him now. "You can’t fire me. You don’t get to tell me what to do.”

“Yes, she absolutely can.” Della’s voice was lower and more serious than Lizzie had ever heard it. “This is private property, moron, and as of now you’re trespassing.”

“You got no idea who you’re dealing with.” Jay’s gaze turned calculating. “What did they say your name was? Bellamy? I know that name from somewhere?”

“A lot of people have that name,” Lizzie said. Her stomach did an uneasy little jump. The way he said it made her thoughts go down a spiral of worst-case scenarios. Della was not an unknown country girl anymore. She was a well-known, celebrated music phenomenon. If this guy realizedthat, there was no end to the amount of trouble he couldmake for all of them. Most of the town had no idea Lizzie Bellamy was related tothoseBellamys, and she wanted to keep it that way. “Get out of here, before I call the police.”

Della glanced at Lizzie. “I learned a neat trick with thumbs that’ll make him cry. Want me to try it out?”

Jay opened his mouth to speak, then seemed to see something that made him rethink whatever it was he’d been about to say.

Lizzie glanced behind her. Renic and Mark filled the doorway. They didn’t say a word. They just silently menaced from the background.

“Don’t bother. I quit.” Jay kicked the chair for emphasis. “I’ll make sure my cousin and everybody else knows exactly who ruined his wedding, Bellamy. I got connections. When I’m done, all this place will be good for is a pigsty.”

Lizzie stepped to the side as he stormed past.

For a few seconds, Lizzie thought Mark and Renic were going to move, but then they both stepped to the side as if by unspoken agreement and let him pass.

Renic glanced at her, and then he and Mark followed DJ Jay out.

She could hear his continued tirade until the front door closed behind him.

“What a freak,” Della said. “Good riddance. The wedding’s better off without him.”

Lizzie groaned. “I can’t believe I just did that. If he recognized you, we won’t have enough security to handle the crowd. And how am I going to tell the bride that she’ll have no music for her reception?”

“Even if he did recognize me, nobody would believe him. Who would ever think Della Bellamy would run away to a backwoods place like this?” Della patted her on the shoulder. “And trust me, playing the radio would be better than thatcreep. She’ll probably thank you. I seriously doubt it was her call to have him here in the first place.”

“It wasn’t, but that doesn’t fix the problem. I have two hours to put this room back together.” When she’d anticipated something going wrong, she’d had no idea it would gothiswrong.

Della squeezed her arm. “I’ll help put the room back. It won’t take long. The cake’s still in one piece, so there’s no real harm done. Right?”

That wasn’t exactly true. Real harm had definitely been done, but there had to be a way to fix it. There was always a way. “Thanks, Dell Bell. That’ll help a lot. Now I just need to find a fill-in for DJ Jackass.” She thought of all the people she knew in town, but none of them were performers of any kind. She needed something better than a DJ at this point. She needed a singer.

She eyed her sister. It couldn’t be Della. Her sister needed to stay out of sight just in case. It had to be someone else. Someone really good. Someone who would make the bride forget her wedding plans had changed because she was already so thrilled with the excellent job he’d done at her rehearsal dinner. Jacob stayed until the last person went up to bed and the lights were out. “I hope Jacob Evans doesn’t have the late shift at the bar tonight.”

Della smiled. “I think the bride wouldlovethat.”

Chapter Eighteen

Renic and Mark stood at the front door and watched the loudmouth DJ reload his equipment into the van.

“You know that guy?” Renic asked.

Mark shook his head. “He’s probably from Rochester. Maybe Syracuse.”

“Does he really have connections?” Renic leaned against the doorframe, casually watching the man as he got into his van, still vomiting swear words.

Mark shrugged. “The dude’s probably all talk.”

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