Lucky Baby (Crescent Cove 11)

I released a baffled laugh as I glanced down at my chest. A weird sense of pride filled me, probably a holdover from when I’d been too tall and skinny with it. Knobby knees, elbows, and braces for the junior high spring formal had set me on my path to social awkwardness early.

And now my big accomplishment was that I’d somehow grown breasts—or at least the appearance of them in this too tight dress.

Yay me.

“Yours are climbing high too. Is that a wedding dress or are you trying on your honeymoon lingerie?”

“Neither. This is my slip.” She hiked it up higher and her jugs threatened to overflow like Mount Vesuvius. “You don’t remember my wedding dress?”

“Uh, it was light-colored…”

Shaking her head, she laughed. “It’s gray. Not white because I’m super preggo.” She reached down to cup her noticeable baby bump, and something rippled through my midsection. The feeling wasn’t uncomfortable exactly. Just…weird.

What was it like to have one of those in there? Just cooking away and getting bigger by the hour.

Not that I wanted one. My life was work, work, and more work. Family would be part of the mix soon too. And yeah, Thor tried to get me to see there were other things in life, but babies? Not so much.

“You’re beautiful.” I swallowed over the unexpected dryness in my throat. “Except for those tears, Blondie. It’s your damn wedding day. Chin up. Unless Teach did something he deserves a steel-toed boot in the junk for, and if so, I can shed these fancy threads in a nanosecond.” I grimaced and shoved up my breasts. “Well, maybe a full minute. Good thing I have an assortment of wrenches available to get this zipper back down.”

She let out a watery giggle and ducked down long enough for me to see her entirely too crammed dressing room. There was a handsome blond dude in a tux and a pair of society types who probably were her parents—and the parents of Mr. Slick if the resemblance held true.

A few other random women milled about whom I assumed were in the wedding party. Luna had assured me it was small, but I was pretty sure m

y idea of small and hers were very different.

“I’m sorry to call this late. I know you’ll be leaving soon.”

I checked the time on my phone. “I am? Hippie Acres isn’t far from here.”

The wetness in her eyes dried in a blink. “Happy. And um, have you looked outside today? It’s a mess out there.”

I went to the window and groaned at the blanket of white outside. Dripping from the trees, thickly coating the grass, stacking high on the banks of the shore.

Great. One more complication for my day. Now I’d have to find my way to some apple farm on the back roads of Turnbull in a damn blizzard.

I shut my eyes and debated pretending I’d lost cell service from the storm. But that was low even for me. It was Luna and Caleb’s wedding day. That meant joy and happiness and fa-la-la-the-fuck-la.

“You know, maybe you shouldn’t have skipped doing a wedding rehearsal? That way, at least some of us would have a clue how to get there.”

“There’s a map on the back of your invitation,” she said primly. “And I didn’t want to have a rehearsal because—”

“You wanted it to be all natural and for events to unfold without scripting. I can guarantee they will since you’re having your freaking BFF marry you. Is she even legal?”

“Of course. Our handfasting ceremony will be as official as any other.”

“Says the witness in your belly,” I muttered. “Anyway, I’ll figure it out. If everyone else can find the place, I can too.”

“That’s just the thing.” Her chin wobbled. “Some of the family and friends can’t make it because of the storm. The wedding started out small and now it’s even smaller. And...” She took a deep breath, clearly trying to keep it together. “My bestie can’t be my maid-of-honor because she’s on the way to urgent care with her grams.”

“What the hell kind of excuse is that? Wrap up grandma and get on the road.”

Truth be told, I was a little jealous of this so-called bestie for having called in the spilled blood excuse before I’d thought of it.

Slow on the uptake, Burns. You snooze, you lose.

But no, I wouldn’t bail on a friend, even a new one like Lu. Besides, she was important to Lucky because of the whole Caleb deal, and that mattered because no one wanted a rift with the man who held the fate of their home’s foundation in his hands. Any more of a rift in this case, since I’d already created a deep enough one with my mouthing off.

That explanation was as good as any other, so I was running with it.