Page 139 of Merry Me
“THREE!”
She launched the bouquet over her head with the power of a woman fueled by mimosas and marital bliss.
Gasps. Screams. A full-on scramble.
Arms flailed. Shoes skidded. Someone fell.
And then?—
“I got it, you heathens!” a voice shrieked.
We all turned to see?—
MeMaw.
Standing center floor, victorious, bouquet in one hand, cane in the other, and smug as a cat in cream.
A stunned silence fell.
“Damn right, I caught it,” she declared, adjusting her sequined bolero with flair. “I may be seventy-blessed-and-fabulous, but I still got the reflexes of a teenage cheerleader and the hips of a disco queen, and I’m feeling frisky for some whiskey if you know what I mean.”
Laughter erupted. Levi doubled over wheezing. Someone whistled. Because yes…we did all know what that meant.
MeMaw tucked the bouquet under her arm like a footballand blew kisses to the crowd. “Don’t be jealous. I’m taking applications.”
“She’s unstoppable,” I whispered, half in awe.
“Honestly,” Ellie said. “I aspire to that level of amazingness.”
As the crowd slowly dispersed, Paige was doubled over laughing, and MeMaw was already telling someone she “preferred diamonds over daisies, but she’d make it work.” I slipped out the side door and into the hallway.
I needed a bathroom. And then I needed Easton.
Preferably in that order. Though, depending on how long the line was, I could be persuaded to rearrange.
The laughter faded behind me as I padded down the dim corridor, the music muffled now, heels swinging from one hand because I wasn’t about to go into a public bathroom with bare feet even if they were wrecked.
I turned the corner and…stopped dead.
Terry.
Easton.
Andher.
Brittany was standing there in her pretty blue dress, staring at Easton like she wanted to eat him.
I didn’t love that.
“I’m not asking for charity,” Terry was saying, his hand laid dramatically over his chest like he was on stage. “Just a little help. It’s prostate cancer. Stage four. Doctor says it’s slow-growing, but the bills sure aren’t. You know how it is—specialists, scans, medications, and that’safterinsurance takes their sweet little cut.”
He gave a strained chuckle, like he expected Easton to laugh, too. He didn’t.
“I wouldn’t even be here if it wasn’t serious,” Terry added quickly, sensing the silence. “I don’t want pity. I just need a couple grand to stay ahead of the hospital. That’s nothing to a guy like you, right?”
Easton said nothing.
Nothing at all.
