Gina Cresse - Devonie Lace 03 - A Deadly Change of Heart by Gina Cresse

dress through the clear plastic.  “This is gorgeous.  Where’d you get it?” she asked.
    That was all it took.  We’d both been stood up at the last minute by our inconsiderate fiancés, we were both planning weddings, and we were suddenly and unexpectedly free for lunch.

 
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Chapter Eight
     
    P amela Smythe had met Bradley Parker at the bank where she worked as a teller.  She spilled all the details of their whirlwind courtship over appetizers at Tucker’s Grille.
    Her youthful innocence amused me.  I guessed her age to be around twenty-five.  She had short blond hair and big blue eyes that batted like butterfly wings.  Her petite figure, though too short to be a model, complimented her expensive designer outfit.  If she was wearing makeup, I couldn’t tell.  Her complexion was clear and smooth and slightly flushed.  Her dainty hands boasted a French manicure, and if I were a betting woman, I’d say her toes were done the same way.
    Pamela didn’t classify her thoughts into compartments.  She didn’t separate intimate personal details from the subjects more commonly considered safe, like the weather.  She was an open book, withholding nothing, even from me, a perfect stranger.  There was no filtering of thoughts going on before she allowed them to flow freely from her lips.  I would call her child-like in that regard.  She obviously had never been betrayed.
    For every personal anecdote she conveyed about first kisses and long romantic walks on the beach with Bradley, I’d return some comment about Craig’s shoe size or the color of his hair.  I knew in my heart that I’d found the greatest guy in the world, but I didn’t want to boast about it.  I just knew the instant I felt the least bit smug, somehow I’d lose every good thing that Craig had brought to my life.  Lucky.  That’s what I felt — lucky that the years of empty searching were over.  My mind drifted for a moment and I had to snap myself back to reality.  Pamela was chatting away and I’d missed her last sentence.  I blinked my eyes and refocused on the conversation.  
    She informed me that her wedding was to take place in three weeks, and she was nowhere near ready.  I already knew this, of course, but I feigned total astonishment.  Nothing would make me happier than to upset Bradley Parker’s underhanded scheme to squash her wedding-day dream by dragging her off to Las Vegas.
    I watched her covet the dress I’d hung from a hook on the end of our booth and I suddenly had the unfamiliar feeling of being a big sister.  I found the thought of Bradley Parker subjecting her to the same ordeal he’d put Diane through almost unbearable.  I wanted to grab her and shake her and tell her what a terrible mistake she’d be making by marrying such an awful man.  Tact forced me to keep my mouth closed.  After all, wh at if I was wrong about Bradley?   Maybe he didn’t kill Diane.  Maybe he was really a nice guy.  Maybe he was just misunderstood.  Maybe the Earth is flat.
    “You know, I could help you get ready for your wedding,” I offered.  “I have the time and you certainly seem to need the help.”
    Pamela breathed out a heavy sigh of relief.  “Would you?  I’d be so grateful.”
    I smiled and nodded.  “I’d be happy to.  It’ll be fun.  We should start by finding a dress right away.  After lunch, I’ll take you to Ann Marie’s.  That’s where I got mine.” 
    For a moment, I thought Pamela was going to cry.  “That would be wonderful.”
    I removed a small notepad from my purse.  “Let’s make a list of what you still need to do before the wedding.”  I clicked the end of a ballpoint pen and waited, poised and ready to write.
    She studied the ceiling.  “Let’s see.  I guess I should have some flowers,” she said.
    I raised my eyebrows and proceeded to write.
    “Do you know a good photographer?” she asked.
    “You haven’t found a photographer?” I