Drawn Deep (Afternoon Delight 2)

Brad tipped back his head and laughed. “What do you say, Sara Smile? You know pit bulls aren’t half as relentless as she is.” He ran his hand down the length of Sara’s hair and whispered something in her ear that made her cheeks redden. Then he flashed an innocent grin. “I think she’s cool with a bigger wedding now. What did you have in mind, sis?”

Kim sat back on her haunches. “It’s your wedding. I just wanted to make sure you didn’t intend to run off to some justice of the peace or something and deny me my God-given right as best friend and sister of the groom to wear a hideous gown and cry copious tears.”

Sara sighed. “You could still wear an ugly dress and cry in the courthouse.”

“Forget it. You’ve never been a bride before and had all eyes on you. This is your time to shine.”

“Fine, fine. You have more expertise in this area than I do anyway—” Sara broke off, looking horrified. “Oh shit, I did not say that. I mean…” Helplessly, she looked at Brad. “What did I mean? Hurry up and take the awkward away.”

“She meant she saw that picture of you in your wedding dress and you looked absolutely gorgeous.” Michael’s smooth reply drew three sets of gazes his way. He jerked a shoulder. “It was in the cabinet in the dining room.”

“Shoved in the back. Were you snooping?” Kim hoped the sharp questions disguised the wobbliness of her voice.

“If you like. I call it observing.”

“She was gorgeous in her dress, wasn’t she?” Sara asked wistfully. “I didn’t know her then but wow. Model-worthy. If I find a dress half as lovely, I’ll be ecstatic. As for the rest, there’s no comparing.”

“Oh stop it.” Kim flicked Sara’s knee. “You’re beautiful. And I practically had a mullet.” And a baby bump, though she didn’t add that part. She’d gotten married for love—and babies. In the end, she’d had neither.

Determined to change tracks, she grabbed Sara’s hand and raised her brows. “Where is the ring? No ring, clod?” She thumped Brad’s leg. “Did I teach you nothing?”

Her brother smirked. “Actually yes, you did teach me nothing in this case. I can honestly say we have never discussed rings, wedding or otherwise.”

“We’re going to pick it out later. He wanted me to choose something I liked and it’s really not a huge thing in the grand scheme.”

“How are you my best friend? Not a big thing? How are you supposed to flash your ring in every picture if you don’t have one?” Shaking her head, Kim let Sara go. “Fine, fine. To each her own.”

Brad nudged Sara’s shoulder. “Whoa, sounds like my sister is giving us a bit of credit. Today is truly a special day.”

“Will you go shopping with me?” Sara asked, ignoring Brad. “We need to plan this wedding quickly so I need a dress fast.”

“How fast?”

Sara winced. “I’m due in Laramie the week of Thanksgiving.”

Visions of an empty table on Thanksgiving danced in Kim’s head but she ruthlessly shoved them away. Her woes weren’t pertinent at the moment. “Thanksgiving’s less than three weeks away.”

“Yeah. Sorry. Sucky timing with the holidays and all, but the previous director quit on short notice and—”

“I’m on it. We’ll make it happen,” Kim said firmly, hoping like hell she wasn’t telling a lie.

She kept up the brave face throughout all of the excited wedding talk, even turning on some music and shaking her ass a bit with Sara when Brad and Michael escaped to the garage to do who knows what. After their jubilant booty dance, somehow they managed to come up with a rough plan for the festivities—including a guest list and possibilities for caterers—in under three hours. It helped that she’d spent the bulk of her life in Fairdale and knew approximately everyone. This wasn’t high wedding season and she had faith she’d be able to pull in some favors. Plus, Sara wasn’t a diva so she was fine with making concessions for her accelerated timeline.

Twice she tried to ask Kim if she was really okay. It was a lot to take in all at once. But Kim just smiled and diverted her right back into the plans, determined not to pee on their cloud.

Brad and Sara were her closest family. No matter what, she would share in their joy and not think of herself. For once, she would be selfless.

Hopelessly alone at the most difficult time of the year, but selfless just the same.

The honeymoon would consist of a weekend away in New York City before they had to leave the following Tuesday. Sara’s first day at work would be the day after Thanksgiving.

Kim planned to be heavily drunk that entire weekend. It was good to have goals.

By the time Sara retreated to bed with Brad hot on her heels, Kim was on the verge of a headache. Not to mention the jaw ache she’d earned from excessive smiling. She wasn’t fit to be a decent human. Masquerading as one for a few hours had positively worn her out.

So when Michael strolled in the room, an orange cup in one hand and a silver tumbler in the other, she had to force herself to not snarl. “What’s that?”

He sat beside her and held out the cup. “Find out for yourself.”