the fellow beside her in the torn jeans and flip-flops?”
“That’s her husband. I heard he’s a billionaire too,” Kerry Chu whispered back.
“It’s like all my patients these days—I never know whether the kid in my dental chair is homeless or owns Google,” Ray said gruffly.
After everyone in the wedding party had been introduced to one another and Jason Chu had snapped enough pictures of himself with the supermodel and Nick’s hottie cousin Astrid—who he swore had to be that babe from House of Flying Daggers—Samantha began corralling everyone into position for the procession up the aisle.
“Okay, after Mehmet has made sure all the guests have taken their seats, the procession can begin. Jase—you need to escort Aunt Kerry up the aisle first, before you come back for Mom. Once you get Mom to her seat, you’re done and you can take the seat next to her. Now, I need Alistair Cheng. Where are you?” Alistair identified himself as Samantha checked the chart on her iPad. “Okay, you’ll be escorting Astrid Leong up the aisle, since she is representing Nick’s family. That’s Astrid over there. Will you remember her tomorrow?”
“I think so. She’s my cousin,” Alistair said in his usual laconic manner.
“My bad—I didn’t realize you were a cousin too!” Samantha giggled.
Nick’s phone started buzzing again, and he dug into his jeans pocket in annoyance. It was from the same number, but this time it was a text message. Nick scrolled to the text, which read:
Sorry—tried everything I could to stop Mum. Love, Dad.
Nick stared at the text again. What on earth could his father mean?
Samantha began barking out new orders. “Okay, now it’s time for the groom and his best man to enter. Nick and Colin—both of you will be at the staging area to the left of the pavilion while all the guests are being seated. When you hear the cello solo begin, that’s your cue to walk down the path toward—”
“ ’Scuse me for one sec,” Nick said, dashing away from the arch. He stood at the back corner of the forecourt, frantically trying to call his father. This time, it went straight to voice mail: “I’m sorry, but the person you called has a voice-mail box that has not been set up yet. Please try your call again later.”
Damn. Nick tried calling his father’s regular Sydney number, an avalanche of dread suddenly beginning to engulf him.
Colin came up to check on him. “Everything okay?”
“Um, I don’t know. Hey, don’t you have security wherever you travel?”
Colin rolled his eyes. “Yes. It’s a big nuisance, but Araminta’s father insists on it.”
“Where’s your security detail now?”
“There’s a team posted outside the gates, and that woman over there is Araminta’s personal bodyguard,” Colin replied, indicating a woman with a frizzy spiral perm seated inconspicuously among Rachel’s relatives. “I know she looks like a bank teller, but let me tell you, she’s former Chinese Special Forces and can disembowel a man in under ten seconds.”
Nick showed Colin the text message from his father. “Can you please call your security people and request extra backup for tomorrow? I’ll pay whatever it takes. We need to go into full lockdown and make sure that only the people on the guest list are allowed onto the property.”
Colin grimaced. “Um, I think it’s a little too late for that.”
“What do you mean?”
“Look dead ahead. Twelve o’clock.”
Nick stared for a second. “No, that’s not my mum. That’s a cousin of Rachel’s from New Jersey.”
“I mean look up. In the sky…”
Nick squinted into the bright blue sky. “Oh. My. Fucking. Hell.”
• • •
“Viv, is Ollie ready?” Samantha said, bending down to give Rachel’s little toddler cousin the blue velvet pillow for the wedding rings. The boy took hold of the pillow for two seconds before it suddenly blew out of his hands. The branches on the towering oak trees began to tremble, and a deafening hum filled the air. From out of nowhere, a large black-and-white helicopter zoomed over the portico and hovered above the great lawn as it slowly began to land. Samantha and Rachel stared in horror as the wind gusts from the giant propellers began to tear apart everything on the portico like a tornado that had just touched down.
“Get away from the trellis! It’s coming down!” a workman screamed as everyone began running for cover. The arch toppled over just as the trellis began to collapse. Parts of bamboo began blowing off the structure at high speed, and the wisteria buds were blown clear off