Page 80 of Jackal

Still, the urge to spill what I knew to Shivana was strong. Sometimes our secrets protected them, but sometimes they only protected the club. I hoped that once we had Church, I’d know what details I could share, or what details I needed to share. She was an astute woman, and her curiosity could end up costing precious seconds we may not have.

As much as I respected Hawk, I had to know she’d be safe. And my oath to this club was as much of an oath to Cindy, too. If anything happened to her, Raven would haunt me ‘til the day I died, then he’d be waiting at the gates of hell to have it out with me in person.

“Cindy, have some faith in your son. Have some faith in me. Okay?”

She nodded, blowing her short bangs with a puff of air.

I finished making the plates and Cindy said, “I’ll bring you some coffee and brew her some tea, then be right out.”

I stopped at the door. “Look at me, Cindy.” I waited for her eyes to meet mine. “Trust me.”

She nodded. “I’m gonna hold ya to it.”

There was no way these ladies would meet their destiny today. We just couldn’t let that happen.

Chapter 44

Shivana

“It’s gonna rain,” Daisy said as she stared at her phone.

We had set up camp in the rec room to do our hair and makeup and it was getting close to time to head to the venue.

Pulling out my own phone to check the weather app, I shrugged. “It’s fine. They said they could set up indoors and it’s plenty big enough. Maybe by the time the ceremony is over we can still mingle outside for some extra space.”

Lacy fanned her face as crimson splotches ran up her neck.

“No, no, no. You can’t cry. Your makeup is done,” I said as I ran over, shaking her shoulders. She needed to be jostled, not hugged. Hugging would just release the dam. “Deep breaths. In through the nose, out through the mouth,” I said in a soothing tone.

She took a deep breath in, then blew it out slowly. She repeated a few times until the red began to subside. “Isn’t rain on yourwedding day bad luck?”

“Only if we let it. Seriously, the venue said they are ready for plan B because, let’s face it, we’re in Georgia. Has there been a day we didn’t have a thunderstorm since it got hot? But they move out fast. Maybe it won’t even be raining for the ceremony. But either way, it’s fine.”

Even on the hottest and sunniest of days, a shower would pop up seemingly out of nowhere, drop a monsoon, then be done in ten minutes. The only problem with that was if we did try to have the ceremony outside once it passed, it would be so humid that no amount of hair spray or setting spray could save our hair and makeup.

“Inside sounds better to me, anyway. It’s hotter than Satan’s taint outside,” Daisy said.

“My hair will never last,” Jeannie said as she checked herself in the mirror.

The room was so girly and bright with all of us buzzing around in our teal dresses and makeup palettes being passed around. It was like a middle school sleepover.

Katie was quiet, but she helped with most of our makeup. Lacy did mine because, besides a little gloss, I was clueless.

“You look so beautiful. Katie did great on the makeup,” I told Lacy. “Maybe inside is best. I wonder if we can still tell her that?”

Pulling my phone out, I shot a text off to Angie.

Me: Hey, is it too late to just move it inside? The weather is iffy and the humidity could be an issue.

Angie: Already set up indoors due to weather. I messaged the bride and groom about an hour ago. Hope that’s okay?

Me: Perfect. See you soon for pictures!

After the initialmiscommunicationover canceling, Angie proved to be very helpful, attentive, and kind. It still seemed odd how she reacted, but she was probably having a bad day.

In my experience, most people don’t lash out at the person whoupset them. Instead, it’s whomever happens to be in the line of fire and pushes them over the edge. Could be the drive-thru got your drink wrong and bam! You explode over something small and silly. And even if it wasn’t that, she showed she deserved a second chance. The priority was to be sure Lacy had her special day.

“Great news! We’ll be indoors. Where’s your phone, Lacy? She said she messaged you a while ago.”

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