Which made me smile a happy, private smile.
We were almost out the door when Cap called, “Remember.”
We turned back.
“Full circle drive around, once,” he instructed “You don’t want anyone seeing you casing the house, so even if you’re nervous, don’t go around again. All four of you keep your eyes out for someone watching it on the first go. Park a discreet distance away, but not too far you can’t hoof it flat out to get back to the car.”
He so knew none of us went to the gym.
He also wasn’t done.
“Listen to your guts, plural. If one of you gets a bad vibe, all of you haul ass. Yeah?”
“Yeah, honey,” Raye said.
Cap jerked up his chin, then put away a skillet with a forceful clatter.
We left.
We all then piled into Raye’s bright-yellow Juke she called Tweety (me and Raye in the front, Shanti and Gem in the back) to head to the storage units to switch out to the Kia Sportage, one of the three vehicles Arthur had provided to go incognito for missions.
We were on the road when Gemma said, “How is it cute when a man is essentially throwing a hissy fit in the kitchen?”
“I don’t know,” Shanti said. “Maybe it’s because he cooked Raye dinner in that kitchen. Then also did the dishes while Raye sat with her girls in the living room, making plans to commit their upcoming felony. And he managed to do that by tossing around some cookware and not tying her to the bed and sending us all packing.”
“Yeah, that must be how he pulled it off,” Gemma agreed.
“You know, if you want me to, I’m all in to make your wedding cake,” I told Raye.
“I’d hoped you’d say that, because I couldn’t imagine getting married without knowing one of your wedding cake extravaganzas was waiting for us at the reception,” Raye replied.
How much did I love every single member of my posse?
Allow me to answer that.
A ton!
“So I’m all in if you’re all in,” she continued. “But it’s not a gift, babe. We’ll be paying you.”
“On no,” I said. “It’d be my pleasure.”
“I know, babe,” she responded. “But Cap and I called Dad and Debbie yesterday to give them the news. When we did, Dad told me they’ve set aside some money for us to get married, and the amount is larger than a down payment for a house. I was floored. I lost it. Cried almost as much as you did this morning. It was so bad, we had to call them back. So we’re totally paying you.”
Raye had only recently reunited with her dad.
And, as this latest (further) proved, it was going really well.
“I love that they did that for you,” I said.
“No presh, but I’m bummed that means you’ll probably pick some swank venue and not do it in the courtyard,” Shanti put in. “The plans Bill and Zach put together for Alexis and Jacob were pimp.”
“Oh, we’re so totally doing it in the courtyard of the Oasis,” Raye announced.
Three cheers rang out in Tweety, and Raye was smiling again.
“And I see you’re not fighting it with Gabe anymore,” Raye noted, obviously to me, as the cheers died away.
“Nope,” I confirmed. “And it’s not that I couldn’t hold up against a hot guy onslaught. It’s because he’s a super good guy. I could get into how super good he is, but we have business to do, and me listing all his attributes would take all night. Though I’ll hint at it by saying, he rinses his own whiskers from the sink.”
