Rest in Pieces (A Southern Quilting Mystery, #9)

BEATRICE PEERED OUT through one of the windows on the doors leading into the sanctuary. She turned to smile at her daughter, Piper, resplendent in her wedding dress and glowing with happiness. "It's a full house," said Beatrice. "I think most of the town is here."

Piper grinned back at her. "Considering that I'm a local teacher, the mother of the bride is the minister's wife, and the groom's family has lived here forever, that's hardly surprising, is it?"

Piper smoothed down her dress, which didn't really need any smoothing. It was a simple and elegant white satin dress with a drape of tulle from her waist to the floor. She wore a fingertip-length veil over her dark hair. She smiled at Beatrice, who was wearing a waterfall-style jacket with lace applique over a long tank with lace detail and a full-length skirt, all in a silvery gray. "You look beautiful, Mama."

"I was about to say the same to you!" Beatrice blinked rapidly to disperse the pesky tears that kept stinging her eyes. "I wish your father were alive to see this. And to walk you down the aisle. He would have been so proud of the woman you've become."

Piper gave Beatrice a quick hug. "I miss him, too, Mama. But don't worry that I'm somehow missing out on anything. I love having you walk me down the aisle."

"And I love walking you down. But I wanted to give you something to help you feel as though your dad were here, too." Beatrice stooped to pick up a small box. She opened it to reveal a simple gold bracelet with a ring attached. Piper gave a little gasp and slipped it on her wrist. "I know your father would love that you have his old ring."

Piper gave her mother a wordless, grateful look and then hugged her.

Beatrice gave her hand a squeeze as she let her go. She cleared her throat. "The church has never looked lovelier." Beatrice peeked out the window again, taking in the pew ends draped with tulle and baby's breath bouquets. She saw Ash, handsome and relaxed and beaming in a tuxedo, walk out at the front of the church with his father, Ramsay, who looked somewhat less-comfortable in his tuxedo, but still so happy. Beatrice's friend, Meadow, as the mother-of-the-groom, was already seated and kept irrepressibly turning around to look at the back of the sanctuary. She glimpsed Beatrice this time and grinned at her.

Piper's attendants for the ceremony were some of her former students. They were giggling quietly in a group a few feet away from Beatrice and Piper. The church's choir director gestured to them to fall in line, whispering reminders to them and opened the door.

Pachelbel's Canon in D began playing in the sanctuary and Beatrice took a deep, steadying breath. "That's our cue, sweetheart."

But Piper was already at the door, holding her arm out to her.

The church was completely filled with old friends and new. Wyatt smiled at them as they slowly made their way down the aisle to the front of the beautiful, old church. It was a late-afternoon wedding and sunlight streamed through the colorful stained glass onto the wooden pews and the stone walls and floors. A quick glance at her daughter told Beatrice that Piper only had eyes for Ash ... and he for her. Ramsay tugged at his tux and winked at Beatrice as they approached. Then, after a few words, Beatrice sat down in the front pew, watching as her daughter joined her life with Beatrice's new son.

A young soloist friend of Piper's sang Ave Maria and Beatrice's eyes prickled again with happy tears at the old hymn. Rings were tenderly exchanged, vows given, and before Beatrice knew it, Piper and Ash were married and striding, glowing, back down the aisle as an usher offered Beatrice his arm to lead her out of the church. Walking down the aisle, she saw her friend, Savannah, give her an approving nod. Her tenderhearted sister, Georgia, was dabbing up her own tears and smiled at her mistily through them. They sat with Posy, who looked to be trying to restrain the unpredictable Miss Sissy from getting up and following Beatrice out of the church.

Beatrice knew that Ash and Piper would be staying back at the church for photos, some even with Wyatt. She and Piper had had photos taken before the ceremony, so she needed to hurry on to the reception site to make sure, once again, that everything was set up and ready to go.

As she drove to the park that sat on the lakefront, Beatrice once again thanked God for the good weather. Piper and Ash had wanted an outdoor reception. Beatrice had realized that this was going to either be absolutely perfect and beautiful or a complete disaster. The weather was ideal and the location was, too: with the Blue Ridge mountains rising before them and the sun glinting on the small lake. They had tents set up and Beatrice's quick walk-through, her second of the day, showed that everything was in order.

Piper had taken inspiration from past weddings and incorporated quilting into the decorating of the tents. Hanging quilts added texture to the white tents and blocks adding a pop of color to the white tablecloths of all the tables. Ash's favorite cuisine was his mother's food, and to prevent a determined Meadow from leaving her mother-of-the-groom duties to cook, they'd hired a caterer who had Southern cooking nailed. The aroma of fried chicken wafted on the gentle breeze. The crowning glory was June Bug's marvelous wedding cake. It was, naturally, in a quilted design, a diamond hexagonal quilting with fresh flowers adorning the top. Beatrice's mouth started watering. She knew from experience how delectable June Bug's cakes were and she remembered that Piper had bucked tradition and opted for a chocolate cake with raspberry filling and buttercream icing.

Beatrice was still admiring the cake when she spotted June Bug standing shyly at the edge of the tent. "June Bug, this looks like an absolute masterpiece. And I know from past experience that your wedding cakes taste just as good as they look, which is amazing because I remember eating wedding cakes back in Atlanta, and they all tasted like cardboard."

June Bug smiled at her, eyes twinkling. "I made it especially good today, since it's for Piper."

"Did you make it to the ceremony?" asked Beatrice, frowning a bit. "I should remember, but all I saw was a blur of people."

"I made it there. And it was lovely," said June Bug. "Then I ran over here as fast as I could. I sat in the balcony."

Then there was no time left to talk as the guests started arriving at the reception. Beatrice had put June Bug's eight-year-old niece, Katy, in charge of the guestbook. Her serious expression changed to smiles when she saw Beatrice. Katy's straight brown hair was pulled back with a blue ribbon that matched her carefully-starched blue dress. She gave Beatrice a shy wave and Beatrice gave her a quick hug. "Thanks for taking this on again, Katy. You did such a great job with the guestbook last time."

Katy flushed at the compliment and said in her quiet voice, "Thanks for asking me."

As guests walked in, the catering staff lit candles on each of the tables, lending a warm glow to the insides of the tents. Guests filed up to Beatrice to tell her how beautiful the wedding had been. The band was finishing setting up their equipment and was quietly warming up. Savannah, Georgia, and Posy came up and hugged Beatrice.

"I've finally stopped crying," said Georgia with a light laugh. "I don't know why I got so emotional. It was just such a lovely wedding." She gave Beatrice a quick hug.

Savannah said in an approving tone, "And very organized. The ushers behaved perfectly. They were practically in military precision."

A smile touched Beatrice's lips. Savannah always admired symmetry of any kind. Her quilts usually reflected this.

Posy said, "I especially loved seeing all the young people in the ceremony. I'm guessing those precious children were Piper's former students?"

Beatrice nodded her head. "They were girls that have kept up with Piper through the last couple of years. Sometimes they'll pop by the school to see her and show Piper how much they've grown and what they're up to. Piper loves it."

Georgia said, "They looked so proud to be part of the big day. And they all wore white, too!"

Beatrice said with a smile, "Piper thought it would be easier if they simply wore whatever white dress they had instead of making them all buy the same dress. That way, most of them wore their Easter dresses or could have easily borrowed a dress from a friend."

"It was good the children could be Piper's attendants, since you needed to walk her down the aisle," said Savannah in her brusque, practical way.

Beatrice said, "Very true." She glanced around. "Where's Miss Sissy?"

"Near the food, of course," said Posy with a laugh.

Sure enough, Beatrice spotted Miss Sissy with a plate heaped with fried chicken, ham biscuits, and green beans. She appeared deep in concentration as she tried to find room on her plate for fried green tomatoes.

Savannah also spotted Miss Sissy's plate and quickly said,...