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Maggie jumped up off the bed. “Strippers?” She looked at Claire. “We’re going, right?”

“Oh, absolutely,” Claire said. “If nothing else, we’ll pretend to serve as chaperones. All the bridesmaids are so young.”

“Not all of them,” Alice added dryly.

“Poor darlings,” Claire said. “Personally, I am loving my thirties. And I think my forties will be even better.”

“Same,” said Maggie. “I feel like I’ve finally gotten my shit together.”

“Speaking of getting one’s shit together,” Claire said. “Alice, have you heard from that library in Austin? Are you going to be moving on to bigger and better things?”

“As a matter of fact, I heard just a few minutes ago.”

Both Claire and Maggie raised their eyebrows expectantly.

“I got it,” Alice said.

Maggie pouted. “Oh. Well—”

Claire cleared her throat. “We’re so happy for you! It sounds like a wonderful opportunity, doesn’t it, Maggie?”

Maggie smiled, but her dark eyebrows were still drawn into a scowl. The result was somewhat hilarious, especially when Claire poked Maggie with an elbow, making her yelp. Alice’s heart warmed. That was the only way to describe it. It was like having a chest full of honey. “Listen, you two—”

“Hold up,” Claire said. “Before you say anything more, we have a few things to say.”

“We really are excited for you,” Maggie said, rubbing her arm where Claire had poked her. “And proud of you. And we’ll help you in whatever way you need. Like, do you need to borrow a pickup truck? We’ll help you move.”

“No. I don’t think—”

“What we’re trying to say,” Claire said, “is that we support you. But, Alice, I’ve thought back to our teenage years, and well, I’m sorry if you ever felt left out. And if you were ever hurt by anything I said or did—”

“Oh, never!” Alice said. “You were never anything but kind, Claire.”

Maggie touched Alice’s shoulder. “If you remember, I was a tomboy and mostly hung out with the FFA boys. The worst day of my life was the day Grandma Honey made me buy a bra. But if I ever did anything to hurt you—”

“Never,” Alice said. “It was nothing anyone personally did. And thanks, guys, for your support and friendship. But I really should let you know—”

Someone pounded on the door, and Maggie rushed to open it. Bubba stood there, holding a beer. He poked his head around Maggie and looked at Alice. “Anna is barking orders at everyone, and she says you’re two minutes late to the rehearsal.”

Anna ran all the wedding rehearsals of Big Verdians. Nobody knew why. But she was good at it, and it gave her all sorts of opportunities to snap at folks, so she seemed to thoroughly enjoy it.

“Oh, yikes! What’s gotten into me? I’m never late.”

She grabbed her purse and headed for the door, thinking, Happiness apparently equals tardiness.

If this was going to become a habit, she’d need to set her watch ahead by two minutes.

Chapter

Twenty-Nine

Claire caught Alice on her way out of the rehearsal, which had been long, hot, and boring. They’d practiced walking down the aisle over and over and over . . .

“This way to the hayride,” Claire said, pointing to a large, noisy tractor pulling a flatbed trailer loaded with hay.

“Hayride?”

“How else would we get to the chuckwagon dinner?”

Alice immediately thought of multiple ways, but it didn’t matter. She was already being herded onto the trailer, where she sat on a hay bale next to Claire. “Miss Martin, are y’all comfortable enough?” one of the bridesmaids asked.

“Yes, thank you,” Alice said.

Claire leaned in and whispered, “You should have asked for a hemorrhoid pillow and a lap blanket. We’re clearly the senior citizens on this hayride.”

Alice snorted. “This is a little over the top, don’t you think?”

“All weddings are over the top nowadays. I can’t wait to turn this place into the Rockin’ Rio Verde. We are going to throw the best events. And guess what?”

“What?”

“Carmen is buying the restaurant! She’s going to call it the Rockin’ Bleu. It’ll be her first foray into fusing French and Western chuck and barbecue. Doesn’t that sound fun?”

Alice nodded. It really did sound fun. And it also meant Carmen would be around more!

The trailer lurched forward. “Where’s Maggie?” Alice asked.

“In the chuckwagon.”

“What is she doing in the chuckwagon?”

“Trying to blend in, I imagine.”

Alice raised an eyebrow. Maggie was good at a lot of things, but blending in with catering staff probably wasn’t one of them. “Where’s your hot date?”

“Out with another girl,” Claire said. “The last time I saw Ford, he and Rosa were sleeping in a hammock next to the shuffleboard court.”

“Aw, that’s sweet—” Her phone chimed. It was a message from Beau!

How was rehearsal?

Just the sight of the simple question set her heart to hammering in her chest. Her cheeks warmed as she read it again, lingering over each and every word, simply because Beau had typed them. Goodness, she was an idiot. This was hardly a love note, so why did it feel like she had a giggle trapped in her throat?

Claire leaned over for a peek, and Alice jerked the phone away.

“Is it from Beau?”

“He’s just asking about the rehearsal,” she said. And setting my heart on fire.

She typed out her answer. It was okay. Are you going to make the dinner?

Three little dots appeared, and Alice bit her lip while waiting for his response.

Yes. Be there as soon as I can. Might be late.

Yes! She officially had a date for this shindig. And it wasn’t just any date. It was Beau.

Her phone chimed again, and when she looked at it, she gasped. It was a picture of Beau’s fly, and it was open. He had two fingers slipped inside, and there was a gigantic bulge in his jeans.

Thinking of you.

She quickly shielded her phone from Claire’s prying eyes.

“What are you grinning about?” Claire asked.

“Nothing.”

“Oh my God!” Claire shouted. “Did you just get a dick pic?”

Everyone on the hayride became deathly quiet. And they were all looking