The Forever Girl (Wildstone, #6)(67)

Caitlin gave him another smile, the one that, near as Maze could tell, was irresistible. There’d been many times she herself had fallen for it and given Caitlin whatever she wanted. Men typically fell even harder.

“See, I just left a florist shop,” Caitlin said. “The one on Main. You know it?”

The cop nodded. “Bought a coworker a bouquet there just last week when her mom died. The owner is real nice.”

“She is,” Caitlin said. “I was there checking on my floral arrangements for my wedding on Saturday, making the last payment, et cetera. But my mother-in-law was also there.”

The cop winced, either from imagining the horrors of his own mother-in-law or from the fact that once Caitlin started to tell a story, there was no rushing her along. Probably he was sorry he’d asked and even more sorry he’d ever pulled them over to begin with.

“She got there ahead of me,” Caitlin went on. “And do you know what she did?”

Officer Ramirez sighed. “I really don’t need the details, ma’am.”

“She changed everything to roses. I’m allergic to roses, and do you know what my fiancé’s aunt said to me? She said I could take an antihistamine.” She paused. “Are you married, Officer Ramirez?”

The guy opened his mouth, but Maze gave him a subtle shake of her head. Indulging Caitlin would only make the story go on longer. Luckily Officer Ramirez could take a hint and kept his trap shut.

“Well,” Caitlin said, undeterred, “if you are, I hope your mother-in-law is nothing like my future mother-in-law.”

Officer Ramirez sighed, took his cap off, and scratched his head. “Truth is, I’m more afraid of my mother-in-law than I am of standing here and facing the rest of your story. I’m going to let your friend here off with a warning—”

“My sister,” Caitlin clarified. “Maze is my sister.”

There’d been a time when Maze would’ve done anything to be blood related to Caitlin. There’d also been a long stretch when she’d not allowed herself to go there. But in the past few days, she’d realized something. She didn’t need to be actually related to Caitlin to claim her as her own. They were sisters. To the end.

“Your sister then,” Officer Ramirez said. “But no more throwing things from the car.”

“Don’t worry,” Maze said. “I’m taking the bride here straight to a bar.”

Officer Ramirez put his cap back on his head. “Just don’t go to the Cock and Bull in SLO, because that’s where I’m going after my shift, and nothing personal, but I don’t want to ever see you ladies again.”

When he walked away, Heather let out a long, shuddering breath. “No jail today,” she whispered to herself.

Maze slid Cat a look. “Well, that was fun.”

“Better than the florist meeting, though.”

Five minutes later, Maze pulled up to a dollar store. She gave Heather her credit card and Heather nodded sagely and got out of the car.

“What’s happening?” Cat asked.

“Wait for it,” Maze said.

Soon Heather was back in the car with two mystery bags. “Let the bachelorette party begin!”

“I’m not dressed for a bachelorette party,” Cat said, looking down at her casual sundress.

“We’ve got you covered,” Maze said. “Heather?”

“Yep.” Heather gave a bobblehead nod and opened one of the bags, pulling out a bright, bedazzled tiara. “Sorry, the pickings were pretty slim.”

Cat just blinked.

“It’s from Frozen,” Heather said. “I figured this way we can reuse it, because Sammie’s going to want it.” She handed it up to Caitlin. “Oh, and here. It’s from a Bride of Frankenstein costume that was on sale for fifty cents, but a veil is a veil, right?”

Caitlin stared down at the tattered veil made of torn lace. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

“It’s a rite of passage,” Maze said. “Put them on.”

Cat did and then pulled down the sun visor to look at herself in the mirror. “Dear God, I look like a zombie princess.”

“I think it’s kinda awesome,” Heather said.

Cat pointed at Maze. “I’ll get you for this. Someday when you’re getting married—”

“Bite your tongue, woman.” Been there, done that, and now she had a set of divorce papers to sign to prove it. But even as she thought it, her heart constricted. Because she knew something no one else knew. Something was happening to her back here in Wildstone. She was . . . softening. More than that—and this was the biggie—she didn’t want to sign the papers. And she wanted to keep Walker.

How terrifying was that?

“Seriously,” Caitlin was saying as Maze pulled into the bar’s parking lot. “You’re going to fall in love hard, I just know it. Maybe even with Walker—”

She paused when Maze choked on her own tongue.

“Hey, it’s possible,” Caitlin said stubbornly, having no idea how accurate she was.

Heather pulled a pack of plain white T-shirts and a rainbow of Sharpies from the bags, and they sat in the car decorating the shirts. Cat’s said BRIDE-TO-BE, along with some design that was meant to be dandelions but actually looked like vaginas. Maze’s and Cat’s shirts said MAID OF HONOR.