Roy, the hyena who’d taken Margaret to the hospital, had been forced to flee Sugar Creek and go into hiding from Eugene’s men, but now he had returned. He and his family were no longer on speaking terms, so Knox’s pack had offered him a job at their dairy, and their protection.
“Hey, everybody! Are we ready to pick out some sexy bridesmaid dresses?” Amelia called out, walking up to their coffee table. “Just kidding, there’s no such thing.” She plopped down next to Heather. “Can’t wait until you’re back at work. Vern was back last night, by the way.” She whispered in Heather’s ear, “Zucchini.”
“Dear God. I’m so, so sorry I missed that.” Heather laughed behind her hand. She’d told everyone at the hospital that she needed a little time off for wedding preparations, but she was going back to work the following week.
“And it’s so exciting that you get to live here and go to school here and everything,” Amelia added to Margaret. “Are you excited?”
“I’ve never been to a real school before,” Margaret said nervously. “I was, uh…homeschooled. Do you think they’ll like me?”
“They’ll like you or I’ll bite their faces off,” Lark announced.
Olive patted her arm. “They’ll love you,” she said.
“Bite their faces off! I love it,” Amelia laughed.
Janet gave her daughter a reproving look. Lark cleared her throat and tried to look wide-eyed and innocent. “Just an expression!” she said brightly.
“Oh, look, Kerry actually came. I didn’t think she would,” Amelia said, pointing at their nurse manager. Kerry looked like a different woman when she was off duty. Her hair fell around her face in soft waves and she wore a blue flower print dress and blue espadrilles.
“Sorry I’m late. Slept in a little this morning and then I just got Amelia’s text. What did I miss?” she asked. She looked at the bridal shop. “Is someone getting married?”
“Me!” Heather beamed. “Knox and I are getting married next month.”
Kerry shook her head as she sat down at the table. “Good lord, it’s about darned time. Everybody wondered what took you so long.”
“It’s true,” Amelia nodded. “They’ve only spent the last year molesting each other with their eyes.”
“You hush!” Heather said, embarrassed. “There are impressionable teenagers present. Anyway, Kerry, I want you to be one of my bridesmaids,” Heather said. “And by the way, you know Knox’s deputy, Clarence? He’s been wanting to ask you out for ages, but he’s shy. But I am seating you two next to each other at my wedding. So, you know. Get a couple of drinks in him and I think he’ll work up the courage to ask you on a date.”
Heather had finally convinced Clarence that if she and Knox could work out, there was no reason he couldn’t ask Kerry out.
“Really?” A strange expression appeared on Kerry’s face. Her mouth twitched. Then it curled upwards at both ends. It was an expression that Heather had never seen before.
“My God, she’s smiling,” Amelia whispered.
“And you owe me twenty bucks.”
“Heather!” Knox called out from the window of his patrol car; he’d pulled up when she wasn’t looking and now he was idling at the curb.
Heather hurried over to him and leaned in to kiss him briefly on the lips.
“Can I join you lovely ladies?” he asked, grinning at her.
She kissed him again, then shook her head. “No, light of my life, you can’t see me picking out wedding dresses, because it’s bad luck. Please tell Clarence that Operation Kerry is a go, so he’d better dress up real fancy for the wedding and he should start thinking of first date ideas. And now, I must reluctantly send you on your way.”
“You love me but get the hell out?”
“Something like that.”
“It’s okay,” he said, with that delicious look of promise gleaming in his eyes. “You’ll make it up to me tonight.” And her mate gave her a jaunty wave as he drove off.