Page 20 of Love and Loathing

“I would hope not.” Diana pushed her glasses up her nose. “We wouldn’t want Allie and Jo to feel uncomfortable.”

Cecilia turned from the mirror and put her hands on her hips. “Well, what about us? You know how many women are coming to this party? We are seriously short on men. I say invite him.”

“We can’t do that; it’s not our party,” Caroline said. She moved away from the mirror, her subtle makeup and chignon making her even more beautiful than normal, and looked at Diana. “Do you need the mirror?”

Maggie May jumped up from her spot on the tub and duck-walked to the sink, her toes in the air so she wouldn’t ruin her paint job. “I need it!”

Diana threw her hands up and walked out.

“Maggie May,” Jessie scolded. “That was rude.”

“Five girls and one bathroom,” Cecilia said. “It’s kill or be killed. Diana was too slow.”

Jessie rolled her eyes and shook her head. She finished shaving her legs and rinsed them, then stood and grabbed a towel from the rack to dry off, using Caroline’s shoulder to balance herself. “Nice, Cecilia. Real nice.”

Cecilia sashayed her hips back and forth and grinned.

Ma stepped into the bathroom and looked her girls over. “Very nice, ladies. Maggie, don’t wear that red shirt you love. It’s not your color. Caroline, you look beautiful as usual.” She arched a brow at Jessie. “Could you make an effort to dress nice tonight? Brandon is going to be at this party, and I want all my girls looking the best.”

“Ma!” Jessie wished she was shocked, but her mom had been pushing them all toward Brandon for months. They no longer pointed out that he was forty-one or that he was into Allie. The woman heard nothing.

“I’ll look my best,” Cecilia said.

“I know you will, sweet face.” Ma looked at her youngest with adoring eyes, which then bulged. “But lawd, I hope you’re not wearing those shorts. I can see to the promised! I want you to catch a man, not a perv. Someone like Brandon.”

Cecilia had daisy dukes on. She swiveled her hips.

“Should we all throw ourselves at Brandon, then?” Jessie asked.

“Subtly hitting on him is better,” Ma said, and she brushed back a stray lock of brown hair. “Except for you, Caroline, of course. You don’t have to do any of that. You’ve already caught a wealthy man.”

Caroline flushed.

“Oh, is billionaire the only qualifier?” Jessie asked. “Does it matter if they’re kind or hard workers or honest?”

Ma slapped at her. “Keep it up and I’ll cancel your birth certificate.”

Jessie ducked out of the way of Ma’s swat, and she and Caroline hurried out of the bathroom and into Jessie’s room—shutting the door to Ma’s demands that Jessie not wear a baggy shirt. She bounced on her head and reached for the bag of chocolate caramels she’d purchased at Choco Latte today, shoving one in her mouth. Her eyes rolled back in her head. She’d have to personally thank Swayzie for making her day a little brighter.

Caroline was already dressed. She had on cute weathered jeans and a yellow top. Jessie had no idea what to wear. She opened her jean drawer, and Caroline went to her closet to search for shirts.

“Do you know what you’re going to wear?” Caroline pulled a couple of shirts from the closet.

“Not a clue. Not that it matters. It’s not like there’s going to be anyone there who I need to impress.”

Caroline brought over a white boatneck blouse and a red plaid that she would normally tie at her waist. “Have you checked the Fish in the Sea app yet? Maybe there will be someone interesting on there.”

Jessie rolled her eyes. “Aside from the fact that the installation of that app was a gross violation of my privacy—which I let slide cuz, you know, Pastor Brown—we live in a town so small we can throw a rock from one end to the next. We know everyone from every grade behind and ahead of us in high school, and most of the awkward dating between townsfolk happened in our teens years. Can you really think of anyone in town you’d want to go out with? I can’t. We all know each other way too well.”

“There can’t be any harm in looking, then, right?” Caroline grabbed Jessie’s phone and held it up, finger hovering over the app. “Please?”

Jessie sighed. “Fine.”

Caroline squealed. “Goodie. I can’t wait to see who you’ve been paired with. Now, let’s see.” She giggled. “A Slade, a Westbrook—oh, Pastor Connolly …” She glanced up. “I’m sure he’s very nice.”

Jessie’s eyes bugged. “You can’t be serious.”

Caroline showed the picture.

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