“Everything okay?”
“Mostly.” She leaned in and lowered her voice while they picked through the crowd. “Kaci’s momma insisted on doing everyone’s makeup. You see the bridesmaids yet? Her momma’s turning this wedding intoSteel MagnoliasmeetsThat Seventies Show.”
Instead of heading toward the ballroom, Cheri led her up the back stairs to the second floor. She slid a key-card into the door slot, then pushed in. “Kaci? Found her.”
“Thanks, sugar.” Kaci poked her head out of the bathroom, looking like an albino raccoon with purple lips. She shooed Cheri away. “Go on and make sure our mommas aren’t fighting over that big flower to-do, will you?”
Cheri inclined her head, her brown eyes flashing in easy amusement. “Yes, ma’am.” The door clicked shut behind her.
Kaci yanked Anna into the bathroom. “Ol’ grandpappy’s here, isn’t he?” Her pulse fluttered in her neck. She grabbed onto the yards of lace enveloping her, twitched it between her fingers, dropped it, then grabbed it again. “I swear I saw his car drive up when I was looking to see if Lance was here yet.”
“Did you invite him?”
Kaci cocked her head and planted a fist on her hip. “Do Ilooklike I need more wedding drama?”
She looked like she needed a tequila shot and a ticket to Vegas. “Kaci. Forget your mother. Forget your ex-husband.Forget the flowers. You’re here today to marry Lance, and that’s what matters, right?”
Kaci’s hands wobbled. Her lips crumpled. “You’d tell me if I was making a mistake, right?” She flitted her hand at the door. Her engagement ring caught the light and sparkled in the mirror. “My momma, she says she ain’t doing this so I can ditch another one. I didn’t ask her to do it at all, but what if I’m not really the marrying kind? Or what if Iamthe marrying kind, but I’m not thebeingmarried kind?”
Her eyes shone with unshed tears. Anna’s heart squeezed for her friend. “What’s the first thing you do every morning?”
Kaci visibly swallowed. She nodded. “Go on.”
“Who’s the first person you call with good or bad news?”
“Keep talking, sugar.”
“Who do you trust more than anyone to understand what you need, when you need it?”
A crocodile tear rolled down Kaci’s overly rouged cheek. “Ol’ grandpappy never got it.”
“If you saw them side-by-side, would you still take Lance, or would you walk away from both of them?”
Kaci smacked her. “Quit talking stupid. Of course I’d marry Lance.”
Anna smiled. “Then what’s the problem?”
“No problem.” Kaci yanked her skirt and adjusted the girls. “You go on and get lined up for your seat. I’ve got a man to get hitched to.”
She gestured to Kaci’s face. “You want some help with that first?”
“Lordy, yes.”
She pulled a small stash of makeup wipes from her purse, and the two of them went to work making Kaci look like Kaci again. “So, if ol’ grandpappy did show up,” Anna said nonchalantly, “it wouldn’t bother you?”
Kaci’s brow furrowed. “You know what? I don’t think it would.”
“Even if he made a scene?”
Kaci dropped her eyeliner. “Did that man make a scene at my wedding before it even started?”
“Not yet.” Anna glanced at her phone. “At least, not that I’m aware of.”
“Hmph.” Kaci grabbed the liner again and leaned into the mirror. “It’d be a story for the grandkids if he did.”
“Youareone-hundred-percent certain you’re divorced from him, right?”
Kaci smacked her in the arm again. “Someday I’m gonna be asking you the same question. Won’t be so funny then.”
