Page 148 of Can't Get Over You
“What’re you doing here?” Jude suspected this wasn’t a coincidence.
“Saw Wyatt’s car out front. Figured something big was going on if he came into town.”
“Oh, fuck off,” Wyatt said. “Both of you.
“We’re on our way to getsandwiches,” Jude said. “But first, he has to pick up a cake to bring to aparty.”
“No shit? I want a sandwich. With mayonnaise and some roasted red peppers. Those suckers go down like eels.” Boone elbowed his brother. “Can I come to the party?”
“Yeah, sure,” Wyatt said in a dull tone.
“Is it like a cook-out, where we stand around a grill and shoot the shit?” Boone laughed because that was another thing their brother hated about parties.
After they got the cake, they stepped outside. “I walked here, so you mind giving me a ride?” Boone asked.
Wyatt didn’t bother answering, so the youngest brother got into the back seat, and they put the cake box on his lap. “Hey, can you do me a favor? Can you stop at the tux shop?”
Jude twisted around in his seat. “What for?”
“Got a thing to go to.”
“What thing?” Jude asked. “You’ve never worn a tux in your life.”
“Sure, I have.”
“Okay, fine. Since prom, you’ve never worn one.”
Boone wore a shit-eating grin. “Well, I am now.”
Wyatt turned into the parking lot of a strip mall and kept the engine running. Setting the cake on the seat beside him, Boone hopped out. “Be right back.”
The moment the door shut, Jude turned to his brother. “Okay, what’s going on? You’re not going to a party, and he doesn’t need a tux.”
But before he could answer, the back door opened, and Decker slid in. “Hey, man. What’s up?”
“Okay, what’re we doing here? Playing clown car? Who’s next?” When neither answered, Jude pulled out his phone to see if he’d missed a text message. “Am I forgetting something? A birthday? Anniversary?”
What would require a tux in July?
“Whose anniversary?” Decker opened the cake box and peered inside. “Why so small?”
“That’s just the top layer,” Wyatt said. “The kids were running around, knocked into the table, and it fell off.”
“What kids?” Jude asked.
“Cody and Amy.”
Cody knocked a cake over? “Where did this happen? He’s at camp today.”
But Boone was jogging back to the car, arms loaded with black tuxedoes. “Got ’em. Let’s go.”
Jude turned to Decker. “And what stop do you need to make?”
“Thanks for asking.” Decker flashed his superstar smile. “Can you hang a left at the light? I just need to run into the flower shop real quick.”
“All right, that’s enough,” Jude shouted. “Just tell me what’s going on?”
“That cake looks good,” Decker said. “The whole car smells like chocolate.”
