Amelia put more green make-up on Waylynn’s face.
“You don’t have any desire to settle down with someone, Cord?” I asked.
He looked my way, tilted his head like he was really giving it thought. “None at all. I like the way my life is. If I met the right woman, would I settle down? Yes. But I’m young, in good shape, and I like to fuuu…ahh… Hey, Chloe! I see you’ve got Patches.”
All of us snapped our heads to find Chloe standing in the doorway, holding Patches the goat with a lead rope.
“Chloe Lynn Parker, you know you’re not allowed to have Patches in the house!” Waylynn said in a firm voice.
“But I’m the party planner. Daddy said I could invite whomever I wanted.”
“Not a goat, Chloe,” Amelia added.
Chloe’s eyes filled with tears. “I say Patches should be a part of the party.”
Everyone looked at me. “Chloe, I’m sure your Grammy won’t mind, as long as Patches stays outside, in case he has to go potty. We’ll be outside mostly anyway, so Patches won’t miss anything.”
The wide smile on Chloe’s face told me she was happy with this.
“You best get Patches out of the house before your mommy sees him, though,” I said with a wink.
“Okay!” Chloe said as she pulled on Patches’ lead.
Waylynn took a few steps back. “Do you see how the goat is looking at me? It’s like he knows I don’t like him.”
Cord laughed. “You did try to convince Wade to slaughter the poor thing.”
“Waylynn Parker!” Amelia gasped.
“I wasn’t serious,” Waylynn replied with a half shrug.
Cord lifted a brow and gave his sister a look that screamed he didn’t believe her.
“Fine. Maybe I was a little serious.”
“Hey, I came up to ask if you’ve talked to Jonathon the last couple of days?”
The three of us froze. Had Cord overheard our whole conversation? Was he fishing to get more information?
“Um, he stopped by the other day to check on the progress of the dance studio, but I didn’t have a chance to talk to him. I was with the interior designer. Why?”
Cord shook his head. “I don’t know. I’m just trying to figure out what’s going on with him. He’s been acting strange and hasn’t been by the bar in weeks. I invited him to the party.”
“The party?” Waylynn asked. “This party? As in the birthday party?”
“Ah, yeah. Why? Do you have a problem with that?”
Waylynn let out a fake laugh. “Why would I have a problem with that?”
With a shrug, Cord replied, “You seemed like you didn’t want him here.”
Waving Cord off, Waylynn smiled. “Nonsense. Amelia, we better get this make-up finished.”
That was Cord’s cue to leave. “I’ll see y’all downstairs.”
Sinking down into the chair, Waylynn stared at herself in the mirror. She looked adorable, even with the green make-up.
“Well, Jonathon will take one look at me and probably be glad we only screwed once.”
Amelia and I looked at each other. Then I got an idea.
“Pigtails.”
“Little girls,” Amelia said with a laugh. “Your turn, Waylynn!”
“Um, what?”
I lightly pushed Amelia to the side. “No, we need to put Waylynn’s hair in pigtails.”
Waylynn stared at me. “Why in the hell would I put my hair in pigtails?”
Smiling, I pulled her hair down from her pony and started dividing it evenly on each side. “I had my hair in pigtails the other day, and when Mitchell got home from work something happened. He went all caveman and we…well…we had a bit of fun.”
With a huge smile on her face, Waylynn playfully said, “Oh, my, my. To think I thought you were the innocent one.”
“If you put your hair in pigtails, it will drive Jonathon insane. Y’all might even sneak away for a quickie!”
Amelia and Waylynn both looked at me with their mouths gaping.
“Who are you and what did you do with Corina Miller?” Amelia asked.
I giggled and pressed my lips together before saying, “What can I say? The Parker boys really are naughty cowboys.”
All three of us started laughing. I curled Waylynn’s pigtails a few times and then we were ready to go.
“I don’t want to sleep with him again, y’all,” Waylynn said as we headed downstairs. “It will never work between us.”
“Sure, keep telling yourself that,” Amelia replied.
When we walked outside, Amelia rushed over to Wade. “Excuse me, y’all. I need to dance with my hotter-than-hell husband.”
I couldn’t help but smile when I saw Wade two-stepping with Chloe across the makeshift dance floor.
My eyes scanned the area until I saw Mitchell. He was dressed as a scarecrow, Chloe’s pick.
“Well, maybe I can at least find someone to dance with me,” Waylynn said, adjusting her black dress. The moment I saw Jonathon walk up the driveway, my heart dropped for Waylynn. He had a girl on his arm.
“Why don’t we head on over Paxton,” I said, trying to guide Waylynn away.