Dad had liked to smoke the occasional joint, but he had otherwise steered clear of harder drugs, preferring beer and spirits—as long as they weren’t Copper Summit. I’d just repeated what Dad had ranted about the sheriff at home.
My parents weren’t always wrong about people. Unfortunately, they were often correct and that was another facet of the issue. “If he could’ve arrested me on the spot, he would’ve.”
“I was appalled by how he acted that day.” Autumn downed her mimosa like it was a shot. “How did Daddy describe him?”
Junie hummed. “He said . . . God, what was it? ‘If that man ever cracked open a law book . . .’ ”
“‘If the sheriff has ever cracked open a law book,’” Summer said in a low voice, mimicking her dad, “‘then I’m a rocket scientist.’”
Junie nodded so enthusiastically the pink ends of her hair bounced. “Yes! ‘He’s like the yeast in our mash, Junie. Gassy under the right conditions.’ ” She’d used the same gruff tone as Summer and dissolved into giggles.
Everyone started laughing, and I joined them. For a girl who’d felt like the whole town was against her, it was nice to see that I hadn’t been the only one not wearing rose-colored glasses. The main difference between me and the rest of Bourbon Canyon was that they knew when to keep their mouth shut—or they hadn’t needed to open it in the first place.
A phone started to buzz and everyone looked at theirs.
“Oh, it’s mine.” Ruby stood, phone in hand. “It’s for the wedding. I’ll be right back.”
She rushed into the house.
“I cannot wait for the wedding.” Autumn sighed. “I’m giddy at the thought of seeing Tenor stand in front of everyone with her.”
“He’s so happy,” Summer said. “We’ve wanted that for him for so long.”
Ruby opened the door and stumbled out, her face pale.
“Oh my god.” Wynter jumped up and crossed to her.
“It’s nothing.” Ruby let out a maniacal laugh. “It’s so nothing.” She fanned herself with her hand. The knuckles of the one clutching the phone were white. “It’s just the cake. So why do I feel like I’m going to have a panic attack?”
“What happened to the cake?” Summer asked.
“Nothing. And nothing will because it’s not happening.” More disbelieving giggles shot out of her rapid fire. “The bakery in Bozeman double-booked and they have people out on vacation, so guess whose cake order they dropped?” Ruby’s big blue eyes filled with tears. “I guess we don’t need a cake. It’s not, like, critical or anything.” She sniffled.
“You want one though,” Wynter said, “and the one you picked was gorgeous.”
“How can we help?” Scarlett asked. “I can make cupcakes, but I can’t decorate that well.”
“I’ll do it,” I said, startling myself. What was I thinking? I’d made cakes for potlucks, but I’d only played around with piping bags at home, and it’d been a while since then.
Ruby turned to me and nothing but hope surged in her wide eyes. “You will?”
I sat straighter. I didn’t want to let her down, but dammit. Could I do this? “Making the cake is not the issue, but I don’t have a lot of experience decorating. What look were you going for? How many tiers?”Please no more than three.I’d made exactly one of those before.
“Three tiers and then three dozen cupcakes,” Ruby said, swiping through her phone. She pointed the screen toward me. “It’s a really simple design. Wildflowers twisting down the sides, and then one different type of wildflower on one dozen of the cupcakes. So they’re mixed around, like the pastures.”
Oh, shit. The cake Ruby showed me was an art piece. Smooth cake with off-white frosting had a hint of crumb layer, giving the cake a less formal feel. Wildflowers that were either real or fake, but definitely not frosting, twined along the side.
I squinted at the photo. “Are those pressed wildflowers? I don’t know if I can do that,” I confessed. “I don’t want to show up at your reception with a Pinterest fail.”
“I’ll take anything.” Ruby waved the phone around. “You don’t have to do the real wildflowers. I’ll take fake. I’ll take anything. I don’t want to be a bridezilla, but I really want cake. Isn’t that a thing? To have a cake?”
“It’s a thing if you want it,” Wynter reassured her. She dipped into the house and came back with the bottle of Original. “I think you need to have a drink.”
Wynter added a splash of bourbon to Ruby’s almost empty glass.
“I don’t want you working the wedding.” Ruby’s earnest gaze was on me. “I want you there as a friend. I don’t have many.” She clamped her lips shut and pink tinted her cheeks. “You guys are all I have.” She clasped her hands on her lap.
The sisters surrounded her, murmuring to her, saying the kindest things.
