I offer a hesitant smile, but Grace pulls a face and turns her attention to her fingernails.
Nora doesn't seem to be affronted. Judging by the look in her hooded gaze, she's already three sheets to the wind.
"We've already found several fabulous dresses for your lovely bridesmaid." Nora's words slur together in a jumbled mess, as if all of them are in a race for the finish line and her tongue is tripping them along the way.
My mom eyes Nora through slitted lids. Maybe she'll see hiring her is a bad idea.
"What's in this stuff?" Mom asks as she frowns at her drink and then sets it on the little table beside her chair.
I introduce Grace to my mom and Nora, and then a bell jingles. I look over my shoulder to see Tia and Marie storming through the door. Eyebrows knitted together, they glare at Grace as they make their way toward us.
I cringe when Grace cocks a hand on her hip and locks gazes with Marie.
I can already tell this is going to be one fun wedding.
Before anyone can say anything, I decide to intervene. "Tia, you remember my mom from my graduation party?"
Tia stops glaring at Grace long enough to smile at my mom. "It's so nice to see you again, Mrs. Domingo." Her voice rises several octaves as she holds out her hand.
My mom stands, and rather than shaking Tia's hand, she opens her arms for a hug. "Call me Jenny." She pulls Tia into a hug. "Since we're going to be family," she adds with a wink as she pulls back.
The tight lines around Tia's mouth soften. "You can call me Rosa."
"Who do we have here?"
Mom smiles warmly at Marie, and it makes me want to vomit. Marie doesn't deserve a smile. What she deserves is a kick in the ass.
"My niece, Marie." Tia eyes Grace with derision. "Christina's other bridesmaid."
"Oh, how exciting!" Mom clasps her hands together, beaming at all of us.
"Yes, yes, very exciting," Tia says with a flick of the wrist.
I can already tell she's got another agenda, and my gut ties itself in a knot when I fear what it may be.
"So... " Tia says as she taps her chin. "Christina tells me the wedding will be in San Antonio."
"Yes." Mom sighs as her eyes glaze over dreamily. The poor woman is totally oblivious to the estrogen overload in the room, which I'm beginning to realize is toxic in large doses. "Nora has already booked the hotel. It's going to be beautiful."
I hear a small giggle, and then watch as a rack with gowns topples behind my mom, followed by another, and another. I cringe as the wedding dress dominoes continue to topple. The saleslady shrieks and rushes to the disaster. She must think Austin is having its first earthquake, but I know what force of nature could be capable of such destruction. My brothers.
Mom shrieks and spins around. "Gio, Manny, where'd you go?"
I gasp, and my mouth suddenly goes dry. "You brought my brothers?"
Mom heaves a frustrated groan as she climbs through the rubble. "The babysitter cancelled."
"I said it would be okay for her to bring them," Nora slurs, by way of drunken apology.
Mom finds them under the last toppled rack. They are giggling uncontrollably and flopping around like fish out of water as she hauls them up.
"What have you done?" Mom shrieks.
Manny, the youngest, squirms out of Mom's grasp and rushes to me. He clutches my leg, looking across at my mom with a trembling lip. "Sissy, save me!"
I reach down and haul him up on my hip. He reeks of tart cherries. His mouth is coated in a thin layer of grime and what looks like pink dye. When he wraps his arms around my neck, it feels like he's rubbing my skin with super glue.
"Ohhh, your hands are all sticky." Wincing, I set him back on the ground as I unstick his hands from my hair.
"You naughty boy! Where did you get that candy?"
Looking up, I see mom holding my oldest brother Gio at arm's length. Gio is kicking and squirming, acting like a mental patient trying to free himself of his restraints. His hands and face are covered in sticky paste, too, and I can only imagine the condition of the dresses.
"Christina, honey, I can't stay." Mom says apologetically as she wipes her hands down the sides of her pants.
"That's okay. I'll stay with her." Tia folds her arms across her chest. "I'd like to contribute something to this wedding."
I resist the urge to roll my eyes. I'm certain my mom is too frazzled to pay any attention to Tia's blatant sarcasm.
"Thank you, Rosa," Mom says as she pulls Manny from me and hauls the boys out the door.
I'm not sure, but I think I hear Gio say, "Miss Nora gave us the candy," but his little voice is drowned out by the sound of the bell.
I look at Nora, whose gaze is focused on the bottom of her champagne glass. Why would Nora give my hyper brothers candy? And at an expensive dress shop of all places? I had to have heard Gio wrong.