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Jolene had the gall to call this gathering a “work party,” in the style of Amish people who get together to make a quilt or build a barn. I didn’t think Amish women typically had a Camel hanging from the corner of their lips while they worked, like Jolene’s aunt Lulu. Also, the Amish employed more lenient leaders than Jolene, who had the tendency to become a little bossy when it came to her nuptials.
“It has to be at least fourteen inches to make sure each bow has about three inches of hanging ribbon on each side,” Jolene told us. I would have questioned whether Jolene was serious, but she didn’t respond well when I laughed at her “All bridesmaids must cut their hair to exactly three inches below the shoulder by March” edict.
Pointing out that the printing company would have cut these ribbons for an additional $250 would have resulted in huffy eye rolls from Jolene’s battalion of cranky cousins. Besides, Aunt Vonnie, who had somehow heard my full opinion of the bridesmaids’ dresses, was already giving me the dagger eyes.
The McClaine clan alpha couple—known to Jolene as Mom and Dad—lived in the main house on the compound, a quaint little yellow farmhouse, with white shutters and a porch swing, surrounded by a series of increasingly dilapidated trailers. Inside, the walls were decorated with Thomas Kinkade prints and silk floral arrangements saved from funeral services. Everything was neat and clean and protected by doilies. And everybody was naked. Which explained the doilies.
Jolene and her cousins whipped their clothes off the moment they got in the door, the way most people kick off their shoes.
“Does this bother you?” she’d asked the first time I stumbled into her mother’s house.
“I just don’t know where to look,” I said, settling for a strange orange silk-flower arrangement mounted on the wall. The truth was, as the only clothed person there, I felt weird. I felt more naked than Jolene.
The only cousin who was remotely friendly was Charlene, who had asked for my home and e-mail addresses twice in the four hours since meeting me. She wanted to be my best friend. Seriously. My best friend. You cannot be nice to people like Charlene. It’s like feeding a stray cat. The cat just keeps coming back until you have to move. So I was being overtly rude to her, which wasn’t really helping my standing with the rest of the family.
Fortunately, among werewolf women, the word “bitch” is not offensive. I was having a lot of fun with that.
“Hey there, bitches!” I called as I came through the door. “What are my favorite bitches up to today?”
The only response was a chorus of unenthusiastic, drawled “Hi’s” and “Heys. ”
“I know what you’re doin’,” Jolene muttered as she hugged me. “And it’s not funny. ”
“See, that’s where you’re wrong,” I said, tucking wavy crimson hair behind her ears. She scowled at me. “I’ll try to keep it to a minimum. ”
Jolene was clearly the Golden Child in her clan. Her mother, Mimi, and all of the aunts fawned over her, telling and retelling cute stories from when she was a cub. Any accomplishment or news from the other cousins was matched with something about Jolene. Jolene was the only one of her cousins to attend community college. Jolene could skin a rabbit in two bites. Jolene was Miss Half-Moon Hollow 1998. Jolene and Zeb would be the first couple in her family to plan an actual honeymoon—to Gatlinburg, Tennessee, which was where you went when you couldn’t afford to go to Florida but wanted to be far enough away that your parents couldn’t “drop in” on the wedding night.
“Jolene works at Uncle Clay’s sandwich shop,” Aunt Lola said, beaming beatifically at Jolene. “He says all the customers just love her. She’s so helpful, so sweet. She just makes everybody she meets so happy. ”
Raylene, Angelene, Lurlene, and Company let loose a collective sigh and synchronized eye roll. Sensing that the mob might be turning ugly, Jolene asked, “How’s the new job, Raylene?”
“Fine,” Raylene said, her voice flat as she concentrated on cutting the ribbon without fraying it.
“Just fine?” Jolene asked. “I mean, it’s got to be fun, right?”
Raylene shrugged. “Sure. ”
“Well, you seen one, you seen ‘em all, right, Raylene?” Angelene asked slyly.
“Angelene,” Mimi growled. (Yes, literally. )
“I just started as a cake decorator at the Sweet Tooth,” Raylene explained. “I specialize in adult cakes. ”
“Like Black Forest?” I asked. “That always seemed pretty grown-up to me. ”
I really missed Black Forest cake, or any kind of cake. I missed chocolate. Bah! I still can’t believe the last food I ate was potato skins.
“No, Raylene makes cakes that look like”—Aunt Tammy looked around as if there were spies lurking behind the lace curtains—”sex parts. ”
Raylene sighed. “I make penis cakes. ”
Well, at least I knew what we were serving at the bachelorette party.
“How does one get into the penis-cake field?” I asked. “Where do you buy the cake pans for that?”
Raylene stared at me, unsure whether I was teasing her or honestly interested. Sensing a lull in the conversation, Aunt Lola—Raylene’s own mother—changed the subject back to Jolene.
“We’re all just so excited about Jolene’s wedding. ” Lola sighed. “We’ve all waited for this, for just years now. And Zeb’s such an … he’s a sweet boy. Tell us again how he popped the question?”
Arlene muttered, “‘Cause we haven’t heard this story in almost an hour now. ”
Jolene obviously heard her cousin but ignored her. To be fair, I had heard the story a few times myself.
“Zeb had this big plan with a restaurant and hidin’ the ring in a soufflé,” Jolene said, smiling dreamily. “And then I stepped out my front door, he saw me all dressed up, and he blurted out ‘Willyoumarryme?’ and shoved the ring at me. It was so cute!” Jolene cooed, looking down at the little diamond ring for which Zeb had plunked down two months of his teaching salary. “He almost shouted at me when he proposed. He was supposed to have the waiters at Julian’s sing this cute little ‘Will You Marry Me?’ song. Most of them are in the high-school swing chorus, and when we got to the restaurant and they found out we were already engaged, they were so mad they had missed their chance to perform! After that, Zeb was afraid to order the soufflé. Who knows what they might have done to it?”
“Did he cry?” Lurlene asked. “I heard that human males cry at the drop of a hat. ”
The amazing thing about werewolves, who spend half their lives behind a human mask, is that they have terrible poker faces. It’s part of that canine earnestness thing. For a brief second, a look of pure annoyance flashed over Jolene’s perfect features. Lurlene smirked.
“How’s it goin’ with Roy?” Jolene asked. “Isn’t he the one who drives the ice cream truck?”
There was that annoyed flash again, only on Lurlene’s face.
“That was Ray,” Lurlene said, glaring. “Roy and I aren’t dating anymore. ”
“Wait, didn’t I see his name in the paper for somethin’?” Jolene said.
“Oh, he got busted for trying to sneak a brisket out of the Super Saver in his jacket,” Tammy said in the most helpful tone I’d heard in a while. “He would have gotten away with it if he hadn’t dropped the brisket. ”
“Oh! Is he the one who yelled, ‘Who threw this meat at me?’ and then tried to run out of the store?” I giggled. “Didn’t it take three Taser shots to get him down? Knowing that he’s a werewolf now, well, that makes a lot more sense … I’m not helping, am I?”
I ducked my head and pretended that measuring ribbons exactly was the most important thing in the world.
“So, Jolene, tell us all about your dress,” Aunt DeeDee squealed. “I haven’t seen it yet, but Vonnie said it’s just gorgeous. ”
Cue another eye roll from the cousins.
“It is,” I volunteered. “Re
ally gorgeous. ”
Cue another eye roll. Sensing the shift in the tide, Jolene generously switched subjects to Braylene’s son. “Mama finished Jake’s little captain’s outfit. ”
At my questioning eyebrow, she said, “Jake’s going to be our ring bearer. We found a pattern for an authentic period captain’s suit. I just hope he can get down the aisle without stripping it off. ”
“Have you found a figurehead yet?” Aunt Tammy asked.
“No, I’m thinking about having Uncle Deke carve one. ” Jolene pouted.
“Titanic didn’t have a figurehead. ”
Three guesses who said that. They all turned to me, the person who had dared to disagree with Jolene.
“I know. ” Jolene shrugged. “But it’s just so nautical and romantic. ”
“Actually, most figureheads on ships featured bare breasts because sailors believed that the best way to keep storms and misfortunes at bay was to have a woman sacrifice her dignity to the gods. Flash a little boob, get smooth sailing. It’s not so much romantic as Clash of the Titans meets Girls Gone Wild. ”
And if they weren’t staring before, they certainly were now. “I’m the only person in the room who knew that, aren’t I?”
Jolene wrapped an arm around me. “I love it when you pretend to be normal. ”
“Even when I was human, I wasn’t normal,” I admitted. I lowered my voice as the pack returned to their handiwork. “So, what’s Mama Ginger been up to lately?”
“Nothin’,” she muttered. “That has me worried. It’s been too quiet. Zeb said she’s been distracted by hatin’ your boyfriend, which is kind of nice. I know it can’t last long, but I’m enjoying it while it lasts. ”
“I think that’s about as healthy as you can expect to be,” I assured her.
Mollified for a moment, Jolene measured out several lengths of ribbon, rolled it back on the spool, measured it again, rolled it back. Grunting, she yanked the entire length of ribbon off the spool in a heap of blue sateen. When she picked up the scissors, I gently took the ribbon out of her hand. “Jolene, I may be going out on a limb here, but is something else bothering you?”
“Have you noticed anything odd about Zeb?” she asked. “I know this wedding stuff has him all stressed out, but he’s just been so distant, like he doesn’t even want to talk to me. And he’s been kind of mean. Some of the things he’s been saying are just hurtful. ”
When I gave her an intentionally blank look, she said, “Like that joke about me not being very smart. And I don’t think he realizes how much he talks about you. We’ll be out to eat, and he’ll talk about what sort of food you used to like. We’ll watch a movie, and he’ll say, ‘I’ve already seen this with Jane. ’ It’s just hard, you know? It’s like you’re an ex-girlfriend, but you never really broke up with him. ”
“I never really dated him, either,” I told her.
“I know that,” she said, nudging me with her arm. “It’s just hard to live up to you, Jane. ”
“No, it’s not. You’ve already got me beat hands down on looks. ”
“I know,” she said, grinning.
“Agree with me a little slower, please,” I said, smacking her arm. “And you can go out during the day, have kids, eat, tan, grow old with him. And Zeb loves you. He’s just going through a weird phase. Just watch him at the wedding. He’ll be the happiest groom ever. ”
Jolene didn’t look quite convinced but mumbled, “OK. ”
The conversations became even more awkward as my night wore on.
“This is just beyond the pale,” Gabriel grumbled as I opened my door for him.
I’d been halfheartedly Googling Wilbur’s name, hoping I could find some relatives I could warn about Grandma Ruthie’s marital record before it was too late. Unused to Google failure, I was thrilled to have a distraction, even if that distraction was my agitated sire waving what looked like a ransom note at me.
“I found this in my mailbox tonight,” he said, holding a slip of bright yellow paper with letters cut out of magazines and newspapers—the standard font for crazies.
“ ‘Your bustin’ up a happy home. Brake it off with Jane or else,’ “ I read aloud as he stormed inside. “Mama Ginger’s spelling is atrocious. ”
“If you’re to write harassing letters in upsetting type, you should at least have the courtesy to proofread,” he muttered, stretching across my couch.
“Some people,” I said, rolling my eyes.
“She did, however, ruin her anonymity by enclosing this,” he said, handing me a check for $352. 67 from the account of Ginger and Floyd Lavelle. “I think she’s trying to pay me to stay away from you. ”
“What gave it away?” I asked, holding up the check with a finger on the memo section, where Mama Ginger had scribbled, “To stay away from Jane. ”
“Well, that is a lot of money,” I said. “It was good while it lasted. ”
Gabriel barked out a laugh. “I’m glad to see you,” he said before leaning across the cushions and kissing me.
I gave him a bemused smile and blithely ignored the fact that it had been almost a week since he’d called or visited. Or that I’d been going crazy wondering where he was and what he was doing, but I didn’t want to be “that girlfriend” and call his cell phone constantly. Instead, I said, “I’m always right here. ”