“The wedding’s in twenty-five minutes.”
The older woman walked away from the desk, heading toward the busy lobby. “Excuse me,” she asked in a voice as loud as an umpire’s, “does anyone here know how to fix a printer? This young man is trying to stop a wedding and win his girl, but he needs a particular paper to do so, and the printer is jammed.”
The entire lobby, which had been buzzing with activity moments before, came to a halt. The guests and employees began to murmur as they all stared at him.
“Isn’t that sweet,” a woman gushed.
“Do you love her?” another woman asked.
“Yes,” he said, his face flushing. “I love her. Can anyone help me?”
A middle-aged man called out, “Why do you need the paper?”
Garrett put his hand on top of his head. “I just do.”
A woman hit the man on his chest, giving him a disapproving glare. “Roy! What kind of question is that?”
“It’s a logical question, Bev!”
She scowled and gave his arm a slight shove. “Give him your printer.”
“What?”
“Let him print off his paper thingamajiggy on your printer.” She glanced over at Garrett. “Roy has a portable printer in his bag here. He can set it up and print off your paper.”
“Thank God.” Garrett hurried over to the couple and watched as the man slowly pulled his printer from a bag and set it on a coffee table in the lobby.
The man glanced around. “I need an outlet.”
Garrett took the cord and plugged it in, then proceeded to watch the man set up the machine as slowly as humanly possible. A crowd gathered in a tight circle around them as he waited for the printer to warm up.
“Can I do anything to help?” Garret asked, running his hand through his hair and glancing up at the clock.
“What time is your wedding, dear?” Roy’s wife asked.
“At five. In fifteen minutes.”
“Look out. Get out of the way!” a man shouted as the crowd parted. He appeared in the opening, wearing a hotel uniform, and handed a paper to Garrett, gasping for breath. “I heard about your situation while I was standing in line at the bakery. Is this what you need?”
Had the desk clerk called him? Garrett didn’t care how he’d heard, only that he had what he needed. He snatched it from the man’s hand and scanned it. “Yes. Thank you!” Then he grabbed the man’s face and kissed his cheek. “Thank you!”
The employee grinned from ear to ear and blushed profusely as Garrett let him go and turned to the elderly gentleman who was still working on his printer. “Thanks for your help, Roy.”
“Go get ’er!” his wife shouted, punching her fist into the air.
It was only as he ran toward the front door that he realized he’d parked valet. He’d have to wait several minutes for them to get his car.
“I need a taxi,” he told the valet parking attendant.
“He’s about to stop a wedding!” a young woman shouted out to the employee. “Make it snappy!”
The employee glanced at his hand. “With a legal document?”
Garrett released a groan. “It’s a long story.”
The attendant shook his head, warily eyeing the papers. “I don’t know, dude. I’m not sure I should get involved.”
Realization washed over Garrett, and he held them closer to the man. “You don’t understand. I’m trying to save the bride. The groom is threatening her, and this will protect her.”
The attendant’s eyes widened. “Well, why didn’t you say so?” He looked around the drive, a frown wrinkling his forehead. “It might take several minutes to get a taxi though.”
“I don’t have several minutes!” Why hadn’t he thought to have his car pulled out of the garage while he waited on the printer?
A hipster-looking guy in his twenties, a beanie cap on his head despite the August heat, tapped Garrett’s arm. “Where’s the wedding?”
“Uh . . .” Garrett shook his head. “The First Presbyterian Church.”
A murmur went through the group of twenty-some-odd people who had gathered around him.
“We can drop you off,” the young guy said. He turned to the woman next to him. “Can’t we?”
She nodded enthusiastically. “Yeah! But I want to watch.”
“Sure. Whatever.” Garrett nodded and waved his arm. “Just get me there.”
“Let’s go,” the guy said, leading him out to a tiny compact car parked in front of the hotel. His female companion climbed into the back while Garrett slid into the passenger seat, his knees tucked under his chin. He was surprised to see a small crowd of people following them.
A young woman leaned into his open window, her eyes bright with excitement. “He said the First Presbyterian Church, right?”
“Yep!” Garrett’s new driver said, starting the car. “See you there.”
To Garrett’s horror, several people were hopping into the cars parked around them. “Oh, my God. Are those people following us?”
“Well, yeah,” the woman in the back said with a laugh, huddled over her phone. “You always hear about this kind of thing, but who ever gets to see it? Shoot, people are tweeting about it. There are hashtags even.”
“What?”
She laughed. “Yeah, there are two—#legalweddingcrasher and #fixtheprinterstopthewedding. The second’s kind of long, but it seems to have the most tweets. A hotel employee even tweeted that he was racing back from his break to help.”