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Yelping, I managed to redirect the blow enough to only strike a glancing blow to his forehead, but he belly flopped to the floor and lay still.

Holy disaster!

Slash reached my father just as he lifted his head. “What happened?” Dad asked shakily.

“Lexi,” responded Slash as he checked his pulse and eyes and pressed a handkerchief against the wound on the side of his head.

“Should have known.”

“I was trying to save you,” I said, dropping to my knees next to him. “Those birds were attacking you.”

“I know. Thank you for saving me, sweetheart.” He put his head back on the floor.

“Is he going to be okay?” Basia asked anxiously. I looked up and found everyone, including the two priests, hovering around us in a big circle.

“I am pretty sure he will,” Slash said, helping Dad to a sitting position. “Fortunately, Lexi is about as accurate with a flower stand as she is with a gun. So, once we get the bleeding stopped, we’ll give him some Tylenol and he should be good to go. Luckily, it’s just a little bump. Lexi apparently pulled the swing just in time. It doesn’t look like it needs stitches.”

“No worries. I have the medical emergency response plan,” Gray said. “There’s a full medkit in my car. I’ll go get it and we can get him patched up.”

“That will have to do,” Basia said. “Thanks for being prepared, Gray.”

“Thanks be to God,” Father Armando said and made the sign of the cross over my dad and then after a moment’s pause, over me. I wasn’t sure why he did that, but I guess it couldn’t hurt.

We got Dad into a pew and Gray patched him up while Slash kept checking his eyes for a concussion after asking a series of questions. Dad seemed to be feeling better in just a few minutes and shooed us away. Father Mulroney brought him a cup of water, and Gray gave him the Tylenol. Dad took the medicine and then looked over his shoulder at where he’d fallen.

“I presume they got my sandwich.”

I glanced at where the sandwich had once been. There were a few scraps of paper and plastic, but the sandwich and the birds were gone. “Sorry, Dad.”

“No problem, pumpkin. Should have listened to you about the sandwich. Thanks for coming to my aid.”

Sighing, Basia addressed the group. “Okay, who had the disaster recovery and contingency plan for attacking a member of the wedding party with a flower stand?”

There was silence among the group.

“Just as I suspected,” she said. “We weren’t proactive enough.”

I stood up, confused. “Excuse me. Medical emergency response plan? Contingency planning? This is a wedding, not a military operation. What’s behind all this, Basia?”

She took my face in her hands, looked me straight in the eyes and with love, and a perhaps a little twinkle, said, “You are, Lexi.”

SEVEN

Lexi

After the rehearsal, most of us returned to the Bluff House in various cars, but not mine. Even though my car had somehow avoided actual contamination or spillage, the crab incident effectively put my car out of commission. Slash and Xavier headed to the hotel in two cars to pick up Slash’s parents, Nonna, and the rest of the hotel group.

The Secret Service screening upon arrival went quickly as everyone had become familiar with the routine. However, I noticed the agents were different than the ones on duty when we left. Shift change, I supposed.

I went up to my room to freshen up and to be alone for a bit to regroup. No surprise there. I would have liked to stay there for the rest of the evening, but it was just postponing the inevitable. This was a party half in my honor and if Slash had to show, so did I.

I glanced out the window and noticed the faint full moon rising in a spooky halo through the overcast sky, providing some dim light to the yard. I wished I could stay longer, but I finally brushed my hair and headed downstairs.

Mom and Dad were already in the dining room when we arrived. My mom, as usual, looked stunning in a tight-fitting, royal-blue dress with matching shoes. Her blonde hair was curled around her shoulders, and single-drop diamonds dripped from her ears. She held a glass of champagne in one hand, while her other hand rested on Dad’s forearm. Dad, sporting a large gauze bandage on the right side of his head, looked handsome in a navy suit with gleaming cuff links and a royal-blue tie. He cheerfully greeted Father Armando as the priest came into the room.

Mom spotted me and hurried over. “How was the rehearsal?”

“You mean besides Dad?”