Page 67 of No Vow Broken

“Apparently, my friends are not as skilled as you at throwing a bachelor or bachelorette party,” he quipped.

“Very funny.”

“It really is,” he said with a laugh.

I took a moment to check myself in the bathroom mirror. The outfit looked pretty good and felt comfortable, too. Guess I had to chalk one up for Mom.

I opened the door, fully dressed and carrying my clothes. “Hey, Mom, how’s Dad holding up through all of this craziness?”

Mom instructed me to sit on the bed as she handed me the ankle boots. “Honestly, he’s madder than I’ve ever seen him. He’s ready to sue whoever is responsible for these attacks and has made it his life’s mission to walk you down the aisle, even if he must purchase a bulletproof tuxedo to do it.”

“That shouldn’t be necessary,” Slash said. “I hope.”

“Me, too.” I stuck my feet in the boots and zipped up the side. They fit. I stood, thankful the heel was kind of chunky and not too high.

“You look lovely,” Mom said, fussing with my hair. “Comb your hair and add some earrings and it will be perfect.”

I had already combed my hair but didn’t see the point in mentioning it. “Thanks for bringing the boots, Mom, and for advising me. See you downstairs shortly.”

“I’ll see you there,” she said after giving both Slash and me a quick kiss on the cheek.

Slash walked my mom out, and when he returned to the bedroom, I was rooting around in my purse for a pair of earrings. I felt a little guilty about my hair not looking great, but since Mom was right about the outfit, I added the earrings as a concession to her.

It was time to see how alert the paparazzi were.

* * *

We were supposedto be at the church by three o’clock. After confirming the arrangement with the hotel restaurant management and the Secret Service, Operation Stealth—the covert plan to get us out of the hotel unnoticed—began precisely at 1:55.

Earlier in the morning, Amanda had driven Xavier to his house in Silver Spring to pick up something he said was very important and had then gone on into DC to pick up a centerpiece for the reception. We wanted them to rendezvous with us in a vehicle away from the hotel so we could get to the church without the paparazzi following us. When I called Xavier with the plan for Operation Stealth, he was just heading back to the hotel.

“Xavier, tell Amanda not to come back to the hotel before we meet with the photographer, but to drive straight to the parking lot of the grocery store with the orange roof that’s right off the main road near the turnoff to St. Michael’s.”

“Why?”

“We’re going to try and sneak out of the hotel without attracting attention, in the hope of keeping them away from the church for now. If you guys can rendezvous with us there, you can take us on to the church.”

“I’m not with Amanda,” Xavier said. “She dropped me off at the house. I’m driving Basia’s new SUV back.”

“Why do you have Basia’s car?”

“I needed extra space to carry some stuff to the hotel. I thought having an extra car would be practical, too, just in case. Not that anythingwillhappen, but just in case.”

I couldn’t blame him for being overprepared. “No problem. Two cars work even better for us and save us from having to make two trips.”

“How many of you are headed to the church?”

I counted everyone aloud. “Slash, Elvis, Basia, Mom, Tito, Father Armando, and me. So, seven. If you can take Slash, Basia, Elvis and me, Amanda should be able to take Father Armando, my mom, and Tito.”

“Okay, if that’s what you want.”

“I do. I’ll call Amanda and give her the same instructions. Just remember to pull around to the back so you’re out of sight of the road and wait for us. If all goes well, we should be there two-fifteen. Hopefully, Amanda will be there, too, to take the rest of us.”

When I reached Amanda by phone, she was ten minutes closer to us than Xavier and readily agreed to the plan.

In the meantime, several of our friends and family gathered by the front door of the hotel to create a diversion for us. On Rock’s signal they rushed out and jumped in a couple of waiting vehicles with Hands and Beau driving. They sped out of the parking lot, catching most of the news crews by surprise. Nevertheless, it didn’t take long before a procession of news trucks and other cars was speeding off after them. A few suspicious ones hung around to see if a second group would depart.

Once the initial entourage were gone, we hurried to the back of the hotel, where the loading dock was located. The hotel manager had arranged for the driver of the Evercrust Bakery van, who happened to be his cousin, to deliver us inconspicuously to the nearby grocery store parking lot, where we’d meet Xavier and Amanda. For a hundred dollars in cash, the driver was more than happy to do it.

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