Mob Wedding Mayhem by Ally Gray Page A

Carr High School. I’ve heard all about this company you’re running, and I know your secret, too.”
    Stacy’s vision blurred for a moment. So this is what it’s like to have an out of body experience, like the kid who can see dead people , she thought irrationally, almost calmly. Everything she’d worked for was about to go bust, every lie she’d ever forced herself to tell, every half-truth and misdirection she’d ever tossed out there, all of it had been pointless. She should have known that someday, somehow, someone would find out.
    It was almost a relief, in some ways. The secret was out, and her days of living a lie were over. There would be no more deception, no more juggling act as she fought to keep all her balls in the air. Of course, there’d be no more paychecks, and there might even be no more grocery shopping after their past clients sued her, but at least it would be over.
    She snapped out of her trance when she realized the woman was still speaking.
    “I remember you,” the woman repeated in a surprised voice, causing Stacy’s eyebrows to crease together as she tried to place her. Finally her stomach dropped. She’d fought through so many obstacles and endured so much stress during the past few weeks of the busy wedding season that she’d never bothered to think about anyone finding out her secret, that Abigail was no longer running the show. The company’s entire reputation hinged on Abigail and her status as the most sought-after coordinator in the country, and Stacy had been so busy playing referee to a bunch of brides and their high-maintenance needs that she’d never given a moment’s thought to protecting their good name.
    “I, uh, I’m sorry, I don’t know what you mean, would you excuse me?” she stammered before turning tail and racing inside the building as fast as she could with as much dignity as she could project. She flew right through the doors to the old house, down the hallway with her heels clicking on the hardwood floors, and out the front door. She punched the unlock combination on the driver’s side door of her car and threw herself behind the wheel, slamming and locking her door behind her. She patted her pockets for her keys in order to flee, but remembered that she never had room in her pockets during a wedding for something so useless as car keys, not when there were sewing kits, tissues, stain remover wipes, and various other tools of the trade that had to be on her person at all times.
    Stacy pulled her earpiece out of her ear and tossed her radio set on the seat beside her, throwing her head on her hands against the steering wheel. It had all come to this. She’d worked so hard all these years, and had put up with so much from so many people. Then there was this wedding, the ultimate test of her patience and her decision not to drink on the job. All of it was for nothing, as it only took one random stranger who claimed to be from her past to bring down her carefully built house of cards.
    A knock on her window startled her. She sat bolt upright and looked at the face peering into her car. Her heart stopped when she saw the woman’s face practically pressed against the glass. Stacy sighed and stepped out of the car. There was nothing to do but face the music, and at least this way the two of them would be alone in front of the building and not standing in front of the wedding party.
    “Stacy? I’m so sorry! I was only kidding, I didn’t know you were sensitive about it!” the woman cried as she grabbed Stacy in a hug, leaving her bewildered and disoriented. “I promise, I won’t say a word about it. You were always so smart and so confident, I never dreamed you’d be upset about your secret. And honey, it’s nothing to be ashamed of! We’ve all had a little work done, there’s no reason to keep it a secret from everybody! But I promise, if you don’t want people to know about your nose job, I won’t say a word! Scout’s honor!” The woman held up