Page 74 of The Wedding Favor

Abe groaned. “Please don’t.”

“Too late, Legend. Too late.”

“A legend?” Aidan frowned as he realized who Ryan was talking about. He walked over to our group.

Abe stood and held out a hand. “I don’t think we’ve met. I’m Abe Ramos. Congrats on the wedding.”

“I know who you are.” Aidan took his time inspecting Abe. Finally, he held out a hand and they shook. I thought I detected a wince on Aidan’s face like Abe had gone for the very firm handshake. I was practically giddy at the thought. “Thanks for coming.”

“Bro, you should see his work. It’s amazing.” Ryan vibrated with excitement as he slapped Abe on the back. “You’ve done stuff for celebrities even. I read an article about how you custom paint coffins for kids.”

Abe, looking vaguely uncomfortable, stuffed his hands in his pockets. “Yeah, I’ve done a few.”

“I don’t know. Seems kind of gross to profit off a kid’s death,” Aidan said.

“Dude,” Ryan said. “He does it for free.”

Yeah, Aidan, so suck on lemons.

Aidan frowned. “What was that, Iris?”

I turned to Abe and whisper-yelled, “Did I say the words out loud again?”

“Afraid so.”

“Whoops.”

“Are you coming out with the guys tonight?” Ryan asked. “You should come. It’s Aidan’s last night of freedom.”

“Yeah, you should come,” Aidan said with very little enthusiasm. “Besides, Iris is going out with the ladies, anyway.”

“I am?” I hiccupped. I was pretty sure in the messages upon messages I’d received that Missy hadn’t said anything about going out. “Okay.”

“You sure you want to go out?” Abe asked. “Might be better to rest up for tomorrow.”

That was so nice of him to ask. Aidan would have made the decision for me.

“No, bro, come out with us,” Ryan said, practically dancing with excitement.

“Let’s do it,” I said.

“Are you sure?”

I blew a raspberry. “I’m fine.”

Incidentally, those were the words I said to Abe four hours later when I called him. It went something like this:

“I’m fine, but I’ve been arrested.”

TWENTY-EIGHT

“Making friends and keeping friends are two very different skill sets.”

—excerpt from the unpublished memoir,

Darling, I Must Say by Gloria Hayes

Ten of us Ubered to a popular country bar and dancehall called Cowboy Depot. The place was packed. Peanut shells littered the floor. Loud, thumping rockabilly music blasted from the live band. And, look at that, I fit right in with my cowboy hat and boots.