Chapter 13

“And then I told Susie that she should never wear green again. I only put her in it because I knew that bitch was prettier than me. Not when she's wearing baby poop green though. Granted, the color pictures from the wedding are a new level of hideous, but the black and whites turned out fantastic.” Emily Smith took another swig of her mixed drink and grinned at Gracie. “Have any bridesmaids you hate?”

“No,” Gracie said. She'd developed a throbbing headache during the last thirty minutes of drifting from table to table, making pointless small talk.

“Really?” Emily pursed her thick lips at Gracie with obvious skepticism. Her dyed blonde hair was piled high on top of her head in an elaborate bun that was supposed to look like a bow made of hair. “Isn't Cal related to April Lynne Hale?”

“He is. She's not in my wedding.” Gracie took a sip of her not so virginal daiquiri. Amelia Kay Hobbs had overheard her ordering a drink at the bar and made it clear to point out to everyone within hearing distance that Gracie wasn't 21 yet. The bartender had promptly given her a virgin strawberry daiquiri. Katie had soothed Gracie's injured pride by discretely dumping her own shot of cinnamon vodka into the glass. Strawberry cinnamon wasn't a flavor combination Gracie would ever have chosen, but she wasn't quite ready to toss the drink into the trash in favor of a coke.

“What about your cousins?” Emily pointed in the direction of Michelle and Lacy, who were currently partying like it was 1999 on the dance floor.

“Nope.” Gracie surveyed the busy room and wondered whether anyone would even notice if she just walked out. “We're not close.”

“Hmm. I'd heard you were having some problems with your family. Rumor has it that Addy's walking you down the aisle. Any truth to that?”

Gracie felt her cheeks flush with a mixture of hot embarrassment and annoyance. She'd suspected the question was going to come up tonight. It was one of the reasons she'd said no to having a bridal shower and had only wanted a handful of people at her bachelorette party. “Yes. It's true. Addison is walking me down the aisle. What of it?” Gracie knew she sounded defensive but she didn't care.

“Your Daddy didn't want to walk his baby girl down the aisle?” Emily's tone was unmistakably catty.

Gracie bit her tongue before she could say something she'd most likely regret. “Addy offered. I took him up on it.”

“Gracie, I think it's time to start another game, don't you?” Katie broke into the conversation with a smile. She was holding a half-eaten slice of pizza in her hand and she looked anything but ready to start another one of the terrible party games she and Trish had devised.

“Absolutely,” Gracie clapped her hands together with fake cheer. “What game are we playing?”

“Oh goody, more games.” Emily made a big show of yawning. “I think most of us would rather drink and dance.” She waved one hand in the direction of the dance floor. “Of course, dancing would be a lot more fun if you'd invited any men to this party. Where is Addison?”

“With Cal,” Gracie said flatly.

“Are they coming here?”

“Is the groom supposed to show up to the bachelorette party?” Gracie asked.

“I think you'll really like this game,” Katie talked over the both of them. “Everyone needs to form a team. I think we should do ten groups of four, just because we might run out of toilet paper if we did twenty groups of two.”

“Toilet paper?” Gracie eyed Katie skeptically.

“You'll like this,” Katie promised. “Trust me.”