Page 66 of Space Cowgirl: Houston, All Systems Go
Nowshe wants to be quiet.
“You go out and herd them back to the dining room,” she whispers. “I’ll sneak out the back to the barn.”
“Sneak out?”
Jules rolls her eyes at me before cracking open the door to peek out. “Okay, coast is clear. Go.” When I don’t move, she grabs my arm and pulls me through.
Her blowing me a kiss is the last thing I see before the door closes.
* * *
“Holy shit.”
I walk into the kitchen to see Flynn standing in the newly trimmed-out archway between the dining room and the kitchen, head swiveling around. “Holy fucking shit.”
Sigh. “Yes, you’ve said that.” It’s like my siblings curse around me on purpose.
He runs a hand over the trim work, mouth open. “I’m in the right house, aren’t I?”
Flynn’s reaction to the ongoing construction is enough to help me shake off my sudden irritation toward Jules.
Sort of.
I’m mean, she doesn’t care if construction workers hear her come, but Flynn and Jackie seeing us come of the laundry room together is too much?
Trying to shake off the storm of emotions inside, I force a smile at my baby brother. “Don’t tell me you don’t like it, ’cause I’ll kick your butt.” Reaching over, I clap him on the shoulder. Maybe a little harder than I should. “Couldn’t have your wedding against a nineteen eighties backdrop, now could we?”
Flynn blinks at me. “You did all this…”—his head swivels around once more—“for me?”
“No, you moron. I did it for Jackie.” I push him back into the dining room. “Couldn’t let the girl have a reason to cut and run. Lord knows you probably give her enough.”
“Hey, now.” The surprised look on his face is gone, replaced by a cocky grin.
I peek back over my shoulder, looking for Jackie. “Speaking of, where is your much better half?”
Looking out the front windows, Flynn thumbs in the direction of the barn. “Jackie is out there with the wedding planner.”
That catches my attention. “Wedding planner? You mean Jules?”
“Uh, no.” My younger brother’s puzzled expression makes me wary. “Why would you think Jules is the wedding planner?”
I think of the flash drive, the phone calls, the endless lists hanging in my laundry room and cringe. “Maybe becauseJulesthinks she is the wedding planner?”
Flynn looks at me blankly.
I stare hard. “Isn’t that what Jackie told her?”
“No,” he says slowly. “I thought Jackie told her she was the maid of honor.”
“Well, yeah, but then she gave Jules that thumb drive with all the pictures and stuff on it.”
“Yeah, she gave one to me too, and one to the wedding planner she booked.”
We stand there blinking at each other, neither one of us liking the conclusion we’re drawing.
“You boys are fucked.”
Flynn and I start at Ray’s interjection. He wasn’t there when I came out to find Flynn, and I assumed he went home. But the knowing smirk on his face when he looks at me tells me he may just have stepped out once Jules and I became louder than the dryer.
