Page 6 of A Hot Sauce Halloween

“It’s always easy in the movies,” I say. “The girl walks into the bridal shop, looks around once, and bam. There it is. The perfect dress. And — gasp. It’s on sale!”

“It took me forever to find a dress I actually liked.”

“Well,” I flip open a magazine, “this is the last thing I need to figure out. Everything else is in place, for the most part.”

Evey lays a hand on her swollen belly. “Whoa,” she says, wincing.

I sit up. “Whoa?”

She focuses hard for another moment before sitting back. “False alarm,” she mutters.

“Are you sure?”

“Trust me, I know the difference. I almost named Zachary Braxton.”

I chuckle. “Okay, then.”

Evey slaps the table. “Mary! You come out of your room. Right now.” She furrows her brow at her stomach for a few seconds, then sighs. “Dammit.”

“Zachary came on his own time,” I say. “Mary will, too.”

“Well, obviously, mine and Vin’s kids will not inherit the Silva punctuality. You’re lucky Jake isn’t as lazy as I am.”

“You’re not lazy,” I say, chuckling. “You’re fashionably on-time.”

She smiles. “I like that.”

“Monica taught me that,” I admit.

“Clever girl. She’s going places.”

Jake walks in from the hallway and recoils at the stack of magazines on the table. “Yeech,” he says. “Bring back the crime scene photos.”

“Ha-ha,” I say. I pick up the magazine and face it toward him. “What do you think of this one?” I ask, pointing at a cute halter dress with a long train that stretches over two pages.

He squints at it. “Okay,” he says.

“Okay?” I repeat.

“I can see myself taking that off you.”

I smack his arm with it. “Be serious!”

“I am serious!” He laughs. “That’s exactly what every groom thinks about when they see the dress.”

I scoff. “No, it’s not.” I look at Evey. “Is it?”

She nods. “It is.”

“Really?”

“The more buttons, the better,” she says. “They see it as a challenge.”

Jake points at her. “Truth.”

“Duly noted,” I say, dropping the magazine onto the table. “Is Charlotte down?”

He takes a bottle of water from the fridge. “Passed out the moment her head hit the pillow,” he says.

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