All Jacked Up (Rough Riders #8)(99)

Without hesitation, Eliza rattled off, “He’s hiding in the empty closet at the end of the hallway with Thane, Braxton, Kyler, Hayden and Anton.”


“Better that than knocking back shots of Wild Turkey in the gazebo with the other groomsmen,”


Ramona added with a snort.


“What!”


“Ramona!” Jessie McKay gasped.


“I’m not supposed to tell her that her brothers and male cousins are giving Jack very detailed advice on how to handle her?”


India, Jessie and Domini vehemently shook their heads no.


“I’ll kick Trevor and Edgard’s asses if they’re in on it,” Chassie assured her.


“Same goes for Carter,” Macie promised.


Why had Jack needed a stiff drink? He wasn’t stuck wearing a feather duster on his head.


“I’ll find my oldest wayward son,” Channing said, shifting Austin on her hip away from her pregnant belly. “Don’t worry. Pickle juice is nothing. Gib has an iron gut.” She offered Keely no such promise about Jack’s condition. “I hope you and Jack have all girls.” She sighed and kissed Austin’s dark head. “They’ve gotta be easier than McKay boys.”


“You forgetting Keely took hellraising to a whole ’nother level?” her Aunt Kimi prompted. “What goes around comes around. She’s gonna get stuck with a quartet of girls exactly like her, you mark my words.”


“Listen to her, Keely,” Skylar said. “She predicted Kade and I would have twin girls.”


Her family was already discussing when they were going to have kids? She and Jack weren’t even married yet.


Keely froze.


Married. Oh. My. God. She and Jack were really getting married. Today. In front of all these people.


In—she gaped at the clock—eighteen minutes.


Keely’s stomach pitched like a horse trailer caught in a prairie windstorm. The room was too hot.


With too many people. Why did she have so damn many brothers? And cousins? And why had her relatives populated the place with all these noisy kids?


Sweat broke out on her brow. Her skin dried and drew tight over her bones. Muted laughter, the rustle of silky fabrics, the click of high heels on the tile; it was all too loud. The heavy scent of hairspray, perfume and flowers burned her nostrils, stuck in her throat and made it impossible for her to breathe.


Why couldn’t anyone see she was suffocating?


Heedless of wrinkling the satin and lace, Keely yanked up the dress, dropped her head between her knees and sucked air deep into her lungs.


The room became momentarily still, then the crowd circled her. Gentle female hands patted her back.


The feminine buzzing began again, siphoning every available ounce of oxygen and sanity.


A voice boomed, “Oh for heaven’s sake, give her some air.” A round of annoyed female whispers and grumbles gave away to eerie quiet as her well-meaning relatives were shooed out.


In a soothing tone, AJ said, “Keely?”


Keely lifted her head. Her BFF-sister-in-law’s pregnant belly protruded in her lavender bridesmaid’s gown. “You look like an anemic grape.”


“Good thing Cord likes grapes. But this isn’t about me and my latest McKay baby bump, so cut the crap. Is your dress too tight?”


Maybe the bodice was cutting into her oxygen supply and making her lightheaded. And paranoid.


Nope. The minute Keely sat upright, panic set in again. “I can’t breathe. I can’t think. I can’t do this.”


She grabbed AJ’s hand, pleading, “You’ve got to get me out of here.”


“Where would you go?” AJ asked calmly.


“I don’t know!” Keely leapt to her feet and began to pace in the large, sunny bedroom. “None of this is real. These aren’t my real clothes. This isn’t my real face.” Her voice caught on a sob. “What is Jack gonna think when he sees me?”


AJ clasped Keely’s hands. “It is you. Maybe a fancier you, but it’s still Keely McKay under the layers of chiffon and silk. Jack will think the same thing he always has—you are the woman he loves and wants to spend the rest of his life with.”


“Somewhere deep inside I think I know that, I just…” Keely trailed off, her heart threatening to beat right out of the lace-trimmed sweetheart neckline.


She loved Jack. Jack loved her. Simple. When had their simple declaration of that love turned into a three-ring circus, complete with clown makeup and funny shoes?


“We should’ve made a break for Vegas like you and Cord did.”


“It would’ve hurt your dad not to walk his baby girl down the aisle, K.”


“Part of me understands. But I still need…”


“I know exactly what you need, sweetie, and I’ll be right back with it.” AJ disappeared.


Keely hoped AJ planned to dose her with Wild Turkey. After several minutes passed by, Keely realized she’d been left alone for the first time in hours. She didn’t waste time contemplating her options.