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'How could you forget? Your sister's getting married. It's not like this happens every day. How do you expect me to plan this wedding if you forget things?'
`I'll be right there.'
'We're at the Bride Shoppe next to Tasty Pastry.'
'What'd you forget?' Lula wanted to know.
`I was supposed to go for a fitting for my bridesmaid dress.
They're all waiting for me. This will only take a minute. I'll run in and run out, and we can go look for Rodriguez.'
'I love wedding dresses,' Lula said. 'I might buy one even if I never get married. I like the bridesmaid dresses, too. And you know what else I like... wedding cake.'
Fourteen
I put the Cayenne in gear and raced off, doubling back to
Hamilton. I took the turn to the parking lot on two wheels and diagonal-parked the SUV next to my mothers Buick LeSabre.
Lula and I jumped out of the car and sprinted for the Bride Shoppe. Rangers men in the SUV barreled in after us. The guy in the passenger seat had one foot on the ground when I turned and pointed at him.
'Stay!' I said. And then Lula and I hustled through the front door.
The Bride Shoppe is run and owned by Maria Raguzzi, a dumpling of a woman in her late fifties. Marias got short black hair and long black sideburns and fine black hair on her knuckles. She always wears a fat round pincushion on a Velcro wrist bracelet, and for as long as I've known her, she's had a yellow tape measure draped around her neck. She's been married and divorced three times, so she knows a lot about weddings.
Loretta Stonehouser, Rita Metzger, Margaret Durski, Valerie,
Grandma Mazur, my mother, and the 'wedding planner' were all crammed into the little showroom. Maria Raguzzi and Sally were bustling around, distributing dresses.
Margaret Durski was the first to see me. 'Stephanie!' she shrieked. 'Omigod, it's been so long. I haven't seen you since
Valerie's first wedding. Omigod, I see you in the paper all the time.
You're always burning something down to the ground.'
Rita Metzger was right behind her. 'Stephaneeeee!' she said. 'Is this so awesome? Here we are all together. Is this cool, or what?
And have you seen the dresses? The dresses are to die for.
Pumpkin. I love pumpkin.'
My mother star
ed at me. 'Are you still gaining weight? You look so big.'
I unzipped the sweatshirt. 'It's the vest. It's bulky. I was in a hurry and forgot to take it off.'
Everyone gaped.
'What is that thing you're wearing?' Rita wanted to know. 'It like squashes your boobs. It's very unflattering.'
'It's a bullet-proof vest,' Grandma said. 'She's gotta wear one of them on account of she's an important bounty hunter, and there's always people trying to kill her.'
'There's not always people trying to kill her,' Lula said. 'Just sometimes... and this is one of them times,' she added.
'Omigod!' Margaret said.
My mother squelched a groan and made the sign of the cross.
