Page 22 of The Best Man Wins

“Mandy?”

When Ray sees the baker, he stops short. She bursts into a big smile, runs up to him, and tosses her arms around him. He nearly lifts her off the ground with a hug before he sets her down.

“Heck, girl, I didn’t know you’d be here!”

The baker-apparently-known-as-Mandy gives him a half shrug. “’Course I am! Word got around you were getting married, I knew I had to be involved.”

I smell trouble and size up Mandy. She is Ray in female form—burly, noisy, with a hell of a laugh and a familial way about her that makes you feel like you’ve been friends forever.

“Hi!” Cora steps forward with a smile that clearly means introduce me, please.

Ray (smart man) distances himself from Mandy and hooks his arm around Cora. “Cora, this is Mandy. We practically grew up together. Mandy, this here is my bride-to-be.”

“Ain’t you a lucky lady?” Mandy says and gives Cora a quick hug.

“I know you’re on the clock. We won’t keep you,” I interrupt quickly. Time to diffuse this Mandy situation fast.

“Nonsense. Why don’t you sit down with us?” Cora says. “We’d love to have you. You can tell us all about your cakes.”

Now I see the West family resemblance. Cora, for all her poise and pretty smiles, is a smart girl. She’s wearing one of Braxton’s shark grins. Keep your friends close, your enemies closer, I suppose.

If Mandy senses the shift in the air, she doesn’t let it bother her. “Aw, ain’t you a sweetheart? I’d love that. C’mon, let me show you to the room.”

There’s a peach-colored curtain dividing the two rooms, and we step through it and into a spacious back room. At the long table sits the final piece of the bridesmaids’ party. Ray’s sister—Lena, a sweet girl with a pretty smile—introduces herself to us.

We all sit down, Ray and Cora at the center of the table, the two C’s perched together like parakeets in a small cage next to Cora, while the rest of us fan out around them. Across the center of the table are five large slices of cake, cut up into pieces so everyone can have a taste, with place cards in front of them.

“Isn’t it darling?” Cynthia says.

“I could eat the whole damn cake.” Lena jabs Ray in the side, and the both of them laugh.

“Attention, everyone!” Cora stands up and clicks her fork against her water glass to get everyone’s attention. “I just wanted to thank you all for coming here today…it’s so nice to see my bridesmaids all together!”

She gets applause for that.

“My girls…my CC’s, who I’ve known forever. And then Lena and now Mandy…I can’t wait to get to know you and love you like I know Ray loves you. I know this was short notice for everyone…it was short notice for us. We met five months ago at a friend’s party…and it’s been a whirlwind of a ride.” Her hand rests on Ray’s shoulder, and he reaches up to give it a squeeze. He doesn’t take his eyes off her, not once, and my heart patters in my chest. “We just wanted our wedding to be like our courtship…we didn’t want to draw it out or make it too insane. When you know, you know, so…” Cora smiles and extends her hands. “Let’s eat cake!”

Everyone agrees with whoops and cheers.

“Also!” Candace jumps up to her feet and lifts a hand to get everyone’s attention, and the table settles down again. “Bridesmaid party Thursday night at Two Roads Tavern. It’s the only place in this town that received four point eight stars on Yelp. Be there or be dead.”

At that rousing little addendum, everyone grabs a plate and starts to pass the cake around. “You’ll be there, won’t you, Susie?” Cora asks, leaning over the table to look down at me.

“Of course.” I smile. “Wouldn’t miss it.” Apparently, I’m an honorary member of the bridesmaid club now.

A piece of carrot cake comes my way, and I pluck a square off the plate with my fork and set it down on the small tasting plate in front of me. Carrot cake isn’t great for weddings, but I like it, so I’ll indulge even if I know I’m going to vote no on this one.

“Are any of these gluten-free?” Cynthia asks.

“Or vegan?” as Candace.

“Oh, um…” Cora starts flipping through the placard. “I’m not sure. Let me see…”

“They have gluten. And they ain’t vegan, unfortunately,” Mandy says. “Good news is a cake’s a cake. It’s not gonna bite you.”

“Processed sugar and yeast…” Cynthia shudders. “I’ll have to work out twice a day for a week just to work this off.”

“Don’t get me started,” Cora chuckles. “You should’ve seen the breakfast Ray’s mother made this morning.”

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