Blondie—I mean Brandy—hands me a hot pink business card that I fully intend on using someday, and I give her a few jars of the jam she never got a chance to try. I think Brandy and I could be good friends. We have at least one thing in common—our terrible taste in men.
I hear Artie and Ivy having a hushed conversation about cayenne pepper and the bottle of lotion Earl keeps in his office at the shop, but I’m too delirious from our kiss to focus on anything but the way Ivy’s lips glisten from the mix of her cherry chapstick and my clear lip gloss in the sun. I press my fingertips to my lips, delighting in the sensational buzz still tingling from our kiss.
At a nearby booth, a Liz Phair song plays loudlyfrom a Bluetooth speaker, and when Ivy glances my way, she winks. The sun casts a glowing halo around her svelte form, and stars dance in her opal eyes, making her look like she were plucked straight out of a film scene.
It looks like I got my movie moment after all.
14
YOUR SISTERLY DUTY
DELILAH
Delilah:
I need your help, and since you are engaged to marry my little brother, that makes you legally my sister. I don’t have any other sisters, but I’m pretty sure it means you are obligated to drop everything and help me. It is your sisterly duty.
Dottie Lynn:
Consider everything dropped. What’s up? Do you need me to come out there? Because my friend’s husband has a private jet so I can get to Tennessee in a jiffy.
Delilah:
You’ll take any excuse to name-drop your billionaireposse, won’t you?
Dottie Lynn:
Pretty much. Did I tell you that James gave me his credit card to cover the expenses for a launch party he had me plan and forgot to ask for it back? That thing has no limit, Delilah! I’ve booked half the wedding vendors with it.
Delilah:
Dottie, can you please focus?
Dottie Lynn:
Does Sadie need a pony? Or maybe a Rolls-Royce? How about an outdoor sauna for you? I’m telling you, he won’t even notice.
Delilah:
DOTTIE LYNN!
Dottie Lynn:
Oh, she’s middle-naming me! Right. Okay. I’m focused. What do you need my help with?
Delilah:
I want to have sex with Ivy but I don’t know how.
Dottie Lynn:
…okay. Okay. Okay.
Delilah:
Can you say anything besides ‘okay’?
Dottie Lynn:
