Page 37 of Love and Other Trials
His gut immediately cramped like they’d eaten bad flounder, which wasn’t true. No, this was what happened when your best friend’s fiancée treated you like a piece of meat.
“I know I love a man with confidence,” Terry finished in an equally flirty tone.
“Ariel,” Tricia cried, “we’ve justgotto see this wig.”
She gave a heroic smile. “I need to let Sherlock do his business, and then I’ll come find you. Will you be in the lodge?”
Tiffany strolled over and took her arm, her smile tight. “We’ll come with you. You remember our deal, don’t you?”
Her entire body went eerily still, making him wonder at the subtext. “Of course I do.”
“Well, then, we’ll come along. Don’t want you to get lost in the dark.”
“I have a flashlight.” She grabbed Sherlock’s leash as she let him out of the back and clipped it on. “Dax here had a long day. He hit every errand with me. You got my email update, right, Tiffany?”
“Yes.” Her sister didn’t let go as the group of women led Ariel along the winding path to their cottage, Dax following behind them. “I also got your suggestion for the watering cans for the sparklers, and I think that will work. Better than ugly tin cans.”
“That’s what I thought,” Ariel replied, stopping when Sherlock paused to take care of things.
Her sisters’ noses wrinkled up as she pulled a waste baggie out of her purse and cleaned up after her dog. Dax almost laughed. Bitchyandsqueamish. He’d have to remember that. “I’ll run ahead and grab the wig.”
The faster these women saw it, the faster he and Ariel could move on to other things. Like some serious necking on the couch. Or wig-pong for kisses.
He sprinted the rest of the way to the cottage, hoping to grab the wig and be outside before they arrived. If those women got inside, he had a feeling they were going to be impossible to dislodge. God knows what they would ask Ariel next.
They arrived at the cottage as he came back down the front steps, wig box in hand. “Here you go. Prepare to be dazzled.”
Tiffany rolled her eyes as she grabbed the box. Ariel stepped back until she was standing beside him. He rubbed her back, feeling the tension there. The Three Tornadoes clustered around as she opened it. Terry gasped as Tiffany held it up.
“But it’s still too short!” Tricia complained.
Tiffany drilled Ariel with another bridezilla glare that would have made a puppy piddle. “The whole point of getting a wig was to have your hair be long for the wedding. Like ours. So you fit in with everyone in the photo.”
Ariel straightened her shoulders. “But I don’t fit in, Tiffany. Why pretend?”
All three women turned to her with shocked expressions before their gazes hardened. Dax stepped in and held out his hands. “Ladies, we tried on the long wig, and let me tell you the God’s honest truth.” Because he had to sell it and hard. “She looked like she’d been attacked by wolves. In a fantasy movie. It. Wasn’t. Good.”
Ariel sent him an endearing look, one that made him remember how sweetly she’d clutched him while he kissed her.
“She would break the camera with that wig,” he continued, seeing Terry’s and Tricia’s expressions shifting. What he was saying was working. “Worse, her hair was so big and wild she’d stick out in the wedding photos. Tiffany and Rob are supposed to be the standouts, right?”
Tiffany put the wig back in the box and closed the lid. “Correct. Fine. If that was how it looked…”
“It was.” Ariel took the box back. “Do you remember that horrible yellow gingham dress with the ruffles Mother put on me with the bonnet for Easter?”
Terry pressed a hand to her chest. “That bad?”
“Yeah,” Ariel declared with a nod. “Nightmare quality.”
“Thank God Dax was there to avertthat,”Tricia cried out. “Mother cut you out of the Easter photos that year when she was scrapbooking.”
Stormy had cut her own daughter out of the photo? Jesus, who were these people?
“We’ll make sure my hair and makeup people give you extra time,” Tiffany announced.
Sherlock gave a low howl. Dax wondered if the mournful sound mirrored how Ariel was feeling. Extra time? He was getting pissed.
“Tiffany, I know you want everyone to look their best,” Ariel said quietly, “but I’ve had my hair and makeup done at all the other weddings, and it’s never worked. I look terrible.”
