By time we leave Muddy Waters Distillery, Braxton is the only one of us who can walk in a straight line. It’s a tight fit in the back of the car, and I make sure to sit squarely between Mandy and Ray. Braxton drives us to a seafood restaurant so we can pad our stomachs with a little lunch. I soak up the alcohol with the breaded shrimp appetizer and half a salmon patty sandwich before I excuse myself and dip outside.
Full reception here. I call Thom and put the phone to my ear.
“Well, if it isn’t Thing One,” Thom answers.
“We meet again, Thing Two,” I reply.
“And Thing Three!” Marlee’s voice squeaks in the background.
“You’re on speakerphone,” Thom comments. “Clearly.”
“Good. Maybe you two can help me out.” There’s a white painted bench outside the restaurant, but pacing back and forth helps me think. “We have a code green.”
“Who’s pregnant?” Marlee asks.
“Pregnancy is code pink, dove,” Thom tells her. “Susie is talking about an interloper. Who is it? Have one of Cora’s ex-boyfriends followed her down?”
“Not Cora,” I explain. “Ray. His childhood friend slash first love is here.”
Thom sighs. “First loves are a hell and a half. No one can win with nostalgia. Get her out of there now.”
“Can’t. Braxton has claimed her as his plus one. It’s his latest scheme to blow off the wedding, and frankly, I think he might have a chance with this one.”
“He’s out of control, puppy.”
“I know.”
“Do something about your boyfriend.”
“He’s not my boyfriend,” I clarify. “We just…you know. Entertain each other.”
“Look, unless you have a circus tent under there, I suggest you stop entertaining and start using it to your advantage.”
“What do you mean?”
“Distract him. Subdue him with your feminine wiles.”
“I don’t have any of those.”
Marlee screeches in the background.
“I have to go,” Thom says. “I think Marlee just thumbtacked her thumb. You’ve got this, Susie.”
“But I don’t—” The line goes dead.
I don’t know what I’m doing.
I flop down on the bench and stare at my phone. Okay, Susie. Think. You’re the one in charge of this wedding. And no one can ruin that, not even a code green. You have a legal pad, a phone full of contacts, and a dress with pockets. Sleepless, maybe, but your bun is holding up surprisingly well, and you look really cute today. Letty wouldn’t have handed you this assignment if she didn’t think you could do it. You can conquer anything—even Braxton West. Get your head in the game.
I drop my phone into my pocket just as Ray and the gang start pouring out of the restaurant.
“Whew! I don’t think I could put another thing in my mouth,” Ray announces.
“Well, there go my plans for the rest of the night,” Mandy sighs dramatically.
Ray chuckles. “Watch it, girl.”
Yeah, watch it. “Where’s Braxton?” I ask and get to my feet.
Ray twists around. “He was right behind us.”
“He’s settling the tab,” Mandy adds.
Sure enough, Braxton steps out not moments later, tucking his wallet back into his pocket. While Ray, Mandy, and Colburn fall into conversation, I decide to take a page out of Mandy’s bad pickup line book and slip beside Braxton.
“Man with the big wallet,” I murmur. “I wonder what else is big?”
Braxton scrunches his eyebrows together. “What?”
“You know what.” I wiggle my eyebrows and nudge him with my shoulder.
“No,” he says flatly. “I don’t.”
“Hey.” Ray’s voice drowns out my failing attempt to be coy. He lifts his phone. “Ma’s having a bonfire tonight…we pull one out every time we can get everyone together. Y’all are all invited.”
“Me too?” Mandy asks.
“Of course,” Braxton inserts himself. “You’re my plus one.”
He steps beside her, and his hand settles protectively on her back. I want to rip my hair out.
“All aboard the wedding train!” Ray says and gestures toward his truck.
16
Braxton
The Daltons, it turns out, go all out with their bonfires.
By time the sun starts to set, they already have a pile of logs set up behind the house. Ray does the honors of getting the fire going, and it’s not long before the flames catch.
I watch the fire as it burns, incinerating the smaller sticks first and then eating through the bigger logs. Mandy sits on the flat log beside me, sipping her beer. Cynthia and Candace share a Corona Light beside Colburn as they huddle away from the smoke. Susie, Lena, and Roxanne flank my right.
Mandy and I haven’t looked at each other. Not once. She’s got her hawk-eyed vision locked on Ray, and I’m watching my sister. Cora’s raven hair gets lost in the inky black of the sky when she tosses her head back and laughs at another one of Ray’s mediocre stories. Cora and Ray’s knees brush, and every now and then, he kisses her cheek or her neck. When she rests her head on his shoulder, I can’t stop myself from speaking up.
“So you ride horses, is that right?” I ask Mandy loudly enough to stop any other conversation.
Mandy’s smile looks shy in the firelight. “Sure…me and everyone else here.”
“Something of a pre-requisite to living in the south?”
She chuckles. “My pops owns a stable not far from here…it’s how Ray and I became friends, actually. We used to ride together.”
“Riding horses,” I say. “How romantic.”
My eyes lock with Cora’s. A frown tightens the corner of her mouth.
Suddenly, Cora lifts her head from Ray’s shoulder and looks around the circle. “I just want to take a second to thank everyone for being here…it means the world to me to get to know Ray’s friends and family. I know you haven’t known me very long at all, and it must be overwhelming for some of you to have this stranger suddenly entrenched in your life…but you’ve welcomed me with nothing but open arms. I’m so grateful for it.”
“Oh, dear, you’re an angel to say that. Come here.” Ray’s mother hooks an arm around Cora’s shoulders and pulls my sister into a hug. “You’ve been a delight. You and your brother. And we can’t wait to meet your parents.”
My heart tightens in my chest.
“Oh…” I watch as Cora gently peels herself out of Mrs. Dalton’s arms. “My father isn’t with us anymore. He passed away.”
“I’m so sorry to hear that.” I feel sympathetic eyes on me, and immediately my skin turns to stone.
“It was a long time ago,” I say, brushing their pitying looks off.
“What about your mother?” Roxanne pries.
“She’s sick,” I interrupted. I tell a little white lie so Cora doesn’t have to. “She won’t be attending unfortunately.”