Page 84 of A Star is Scorned
As the guests had begun to file in, Livvy had filtered in with them, kneeling by a display of candles and pretending to pray anytime someone looked in her direction. The fuller the church got, the fewer people noticed her. And she was able to survey the Church of the Blessed Sacrament more keenly. The aisle was lined with a cloying overabundance of flowers—shocks of whitefreesia and hot-pink daisies that didn’t go together even a little bit. Her eyes nearly bugged out of her skull when a man in a brown jumpsuit led three peacocks down the aisle and tied them to little ropes surrounding the altar.
Well, there was no accounting for taste, she supposed. Though the presence of large birds with beaks and talons might significantly complicate things.
She recited the plan to herself in her head, making sure she wasn’t forgetting anything. If they pulled this off, it would be a miracle. Especially now that she had peacocks to contend with. Maybe she should try actually praying while kneeling here. It couldn’t hurt.
But any thought of prayer evaporated as a hush fell over the crowded pews and a woman at the front began warbling a rather off-key version of “I Love You Truly.” Livvy crept forward in her best imitation of a solemn nun, concealing herself behind a marble pillar as she watched the procession begin.
Flynn led the way, with a woman she thought might be his mother on his arm. Livvy’s heart fluttered at the sight of him in his top hat and tails. Rallo sat on his shoulder, and she had to laugh at the monkey’s matching hat and bow tie. She and Rallo locked eyes for a brief moment, and the monkey chittered at the sight of her.
Flynn’s head snapped in her direction, and she pulled herself more tightly behind the pillar in the nick of time. She hoped Flynn hadn’t seen her yet. It would ruin everything.
“Rallo, no!” she heard Flynn gasp. But she didn’t allow herself to look at what transpired. This wasn’t a good hiding place. It was too exposed.
She looked at the high marble pulpit to the side of the altar. There was a rope across it, so they wouldn’t be using ittoday. Maybe she could sneak up there when the crowd was distracted.
Another voice interjected, “Keep going. Lionel will find him.” That was Dash, calling out to Flynn from the back of the church. She reminded herself to breathe. They’d gone over the plan at least ten times. Dash knew what was supposed to happen. He would keep them on course. Rallo was meant to distract Flynn, not give them away. But she had to trust that Dash was ready to improvise.
Livvy leaned back against the pillar and closed her eyes, trying to calm herself, when she felt something tug at the hem of her habit. She looked down and saw the mischievous little monkey standing at her feet.
“Nuts,” she muttered under her breath. She knelt and scooped him up as the monkey wrapped its soft, furry arm around her neck in an embrace. “I’m happy to see you too, Rallo, but you have to go back to Flynn.”
Rallo stuck out his tongue and burrowed his head into her chest. That was a no, then.
She turned her head and peered over her shoulder. Flynn was finishing his march to the altar with the reluctant posture of a man headed for the gallows. The loss of Rallo seemed to have robbed him of his willpower.Just hang on, Flynn.
Shortly behind Flynn followed Dash and Joan, arm in arm. Dash was Flynn’s best man, and Joan was a bridesmaid at Flynn’s request. When they passed by her pillar, Dash nodded in Livvy’s direction, so subtly that only someone looking for it would notice.
Rallo peeked his head out from the folds of her black habit and looked between her and Dash. Did the little rascal know what they were up to? No, he was a monkey. He couldn’t possibly.
A flurry of other bridesmaids and groomsmen processed in,and then it was time for the bride to make her grand entrance. The woman singing wrapped up her song, and the organist began to play Handel’s “Processional.”
The guests in the crowded pews stood and turned to face the back of the church, where Rhonda Powers was dressed in a gown that looked more like an ornately decorated petit four than a wedding dress. Livvy couldn’t help but roll her eyes.
Her mouth went dry as she spied Stanley Devlin on his niece’s arm. The bastard was walking Rhonda down the aisle to marry a man he’d blackmailed into it. His sickeningly smug smile made her want to claw his eyes out.
But this was Livvy’s moment to act. While the rest of the church was distracted, she seized the opportunity to scamper from her place in the shadows to the stone stairs that led to the pulpit. She clung tightly to Rallo, snuggled in her robes, as she sprinted toward them and fell to her knees once she was tucked behind the marble wall that surrounded the stairs.
She held her breath and listened. The “Processional” continued, and everything appeared to be going off without a hitch. No one had seen her.
She continued to crawl up the steps until she reached the flat landing of the pulpit. She was now above and to the side of the altar where Flynn and the wedding party stood. She snuck a peek as Devlin deposited Rhonda at the altar, making a show of kissing her hand.
Livvy concealed a scoff of disgust at his attempt to play the chivalrous gentleman. She wished that they could expose him. But for now, the plan was to disgrace his family. The only way to get Flynn out of this was to create a scandal—and the only way to do that was for Livvy to make a scene.
Livvy ducked back down and listened as the priest began theceremony. “‘Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to celebrate the union of these two individuals in holy matrimony.’”
Not if I have anything to say about it.
She settled back against the inside of the pulpit and waited for the ceremony to go on. It would be quite some time before they reached her cue, so she might as well get comfortable. She half listened, waiting for the words, “Speak now or forever hold your peace.”
She would then interrupt the ceremony and claim that she was working at the convent the night that Rhonda abandoned her baby on their front steps. That Flynn could not marry this woman who had conceived a child out of wedlock and then concealed it from him. It wasn’t true, and it was going to require the best acting she’d ever done in her life. But, as Judy had helped her realize, she was excited to tackle the challenge. Part of her did genuinely feel bad about besmirching Rhonda Powers’s reputation with such a gargantuan lie. But it was the only thing she could come up with on such short notice that would stop the wedding and leave Flynn’s own reputation intact.
After only a few minutes, Livvy had a crick in her back from crouching in the pulpit. She tried to adjust and Rallo squirmed. He crawled out of her habit and began bouncing around the small area where they were hiding.
“Stop,” she hissed through clenched teeth, praying no one could hear her above the priest’s droning below.
She reached for him, springing forward, and he jumped away, eluding her grasp. She climbed to her knees, hoping it would be easier to catch him if she wasn’t sitting down, but Rallo gave her a look of disdain and jumped up onto the ledge of the pulpit.
Stanley Devlin was in the middle of a reading about love being patient and kind. Livvy slowly pushed herself up, tryingto only expose the top of her head as she crept up behind Rallo, hoping if she snatched him down, no one would notice. But the monkey was too quick for her.
