Page 28 of A Whim and a Prayer

Winnie’s jaw dropped. “Uh … and you would know how?”

Abby shrugged as she combed through her shoulder-length mahogany curls. “I asked Will to let me taste his champagne at the wedding.”

Winnie blinked. “And … why?”

Abby paused when two girls entered the restroom, waiting till they disappeared into the stalls before continuing, and even then she turned the water on to cover their conversation as she lowered her voice. She peeked at Winnie out of the corner of her eyes, teeth tugging at her lips while a hint of rose burnished her cheeks. “Because I’m always a little nervous dancing with Beck, okay? For pity’s sake, Win, you know how much I like him, so I thought it might help to calm me down.”

“I know, Abs, but if I’ve told you once, I’ve told you a million times, Beck just sees you and me as his best friends and nothing more.”

Abby’s chin jutted up. “That can change, Dennehy.”

Laughing, Winnie strolled over to pluck a piece of toilet paper from a stall and held it out to Abby with a devious grin. “Maybe … but not with lipstick on your teeth.”

Abby looked in the mirror and started laughing, snatching the toilet paper from Winnie to wipe her teeth as the two of them giggled till they cried. When they finally stopped—and the other girls had exited the restroom—Abby used the clean side to dab at her eyes. “Look, Win, I know Beck’s not interested in me other than as a friend, especially since you’re the one he sticks to like glue, so it’s just a silly daydream crush I have till my real crush finally shows up, I promise.”

Winnie gave her a quick hug, always worried for Abby’s heart where Beck was concerned. “Let’s both just consider ourselves lucky to have such a gorgeous guy as our best friend because we both know it can never be more than that.”

“For me, no. But for you?” Abby slipped her lipstick and comb back in her purse, head tipped as she studied Winnie through curious eyes. “I can’t help but wonder if Beck’s self-ordained guardianship might not turn into something more down the road.”

Blood gorged Winnie’s cheeks as she started hacking, waving Abby off before she cupped some water from the faucet. “Holy Cats, McGuire, that almost choked me to death!” Snatching Abby’s partially used toilet paper, she dabbed the excess water from around her mouth and turned to face her cousin with fire in her eyes. “Abs—never!” Her shoulders shuddered with a chill, the thought of losing Beck as her best friend scaring her half to death. So much so, she never allowed herself to even contemplate such a disaster. Because Beck was everything to her.

As a friend.

Not as a boyfriend.

Sucking in a deep breath, she grabbed Abby by the arms to give her a little shake. “So enough, McGuire—you hear me? No more talk about Beck and me romantically because I don’t have those kind of feelings for him, understood? I love Beck—I do, with everything in me—but not that way.”

Abby’s chest rose and fell. “Okay, Win, but I can’t help but wonder why you get so angry whenever I mention it.”

“Because it scares the devil out of me!” Winnie shouted, avoiding Abby’s gaze as she furiously buffed a sudden chill from her arms. Her jaw hardened as her eyes trailed into a distant stare, voice fading to a whisper. “I just can’t risk it, Abby—ever.”

“Okay, okay, Cuz—I’ll let it go.” She gently rubbed Winnie’s arms with her palms before cocooning her in a tight hug. “But just for the record, Winifred Dennehy—that’s not a rational fear.”

“I know.” Winnie squeezed her eyes shut, desperate to change the subject. “I guess that makes me crazy, huh? But then, what’s new?”

Abby chuckled as she pulled away, her hands still braced to Winnie’s arms. “You’re right. Besides, since when have you ever been rational?” She grabbed her purse off the counter.

“Exactly,” Winnie said with a playful thrust of her chin. Flinging her purse over her shoulder, she discarded the tissue and hooked an arm through Abby’s with a mischievous dance of brows. “Because I don’t have to be—I have you for a best friend, remember?” She gave Abby’s side a pinch. “And Father Beck. Speaking of which”—Winnie made a face—“he’s going to be late as usual.”

“At least he’s coming.” Abby shook her head as she reached for the door. “That boy is as reliable as the sun, especially where you’re concerned.”

Winnie bumped her hip against her cousin’s with a twinkle in her eyes. “And provides a whole lot of warmth, too, at least where you’re concerned.

Giggling, the girls exited the restroom into a hive of activity that left Winnie breathless, the sounds of one of her favorite bands and artist—Duke Ellington and His Orchestra with Billie Holiday—ramping up her excitement even more. In natural habit, she immediately scanned the crowd for any sign of Brayden McCarthy, hope ever-present that she would soon see him again.

But it was always difficult to spot anyone amidst the hundreds of couples swaying in hypnotic motion across the gleaming wood floor where lights were low and a mirror ball glittered overhead like diamonds in the sky.

Strains of Billie Holiday’s “Lover Man, Oh, Where Can You Be?” drifted throughout the ballroom like an opiate, making Winnie nibble on her nail while she wondered the very same thing about Brayden. From the moment he had first kissed her during the rehearsals of The Taming of the Shrew sophomore year, she’d been a goner, obsessed with the tall, dark senior who looked like a young Cary Grant.

Yes, she knew he was considered a “Lover Man”—hard not to with all the girls he flirted with, dated, and dropped—but those kisses in the play had sealed her doom, making her believe that somehow, someway, he could fall for her too. After all, he had asked her out after the play, hadn’t he? But of course her parents had said no—adamantly—so he never did again.

Abby jolted her with a hook of her arm, practically hauling her through the throng. “Shake a leg, will you, Birthday Girl? People are waiting for us, and you’re dragging your feet.” She pointed through the crowd at a table where her cousins and friends sat laughing and talking around a giant birthday cake with candles. An array of gifts were scattered all around along with boxes of popcorn, bags of Hershey’s Kisses, and pitchers of Coca-Cola .

“Happy Birthday, Winnie!” everyone shouted when she and Abby approached. Abby’s sisters Bella and Laney jumped up to give her a hug while Teddy lit the birthday candles and Will hoisted a toast with Coke along with three of her good friends from college.

“Gee, thanks, everyone—this is swell!” She made a beeline for a bag of Hershey’s kisses—her favorite candy—peeling and downing five in record time.

“Come on, blow the candles out before the cake melts, will ya, Dennehy?” her friend Kat Bochman said as soon as everyone finished singing, her full-figured form and humorous personality giving a clue to her love for sweets.