Fate Interrupted 3 (6 page)

“He’s not a
cop,” Ben replied. “He’s a salesman.”

“
Dammit
, Ben,” Jon said with the same sneer in his voice as
Shaun. “This shit was
spendy
as hell, too.”

Shaun slapped a
hand on Dean’s shoulder. “Nothing’s too good for our boy here.”

A sheepish smile
crossed Dean’s lips. “Thanks guys.”

Jon leaned back
and exhaled a forlorn breath. “Man, I just
wanna
get
high and take a giant shit.”

“Good one, Ben!”
Shaun scowled, taking a long pull from his beer.

“I’m sorry, I
didn’t even think about it.”

“You’re damn
right you didn’t think about it,” Jon said, squeezing his knees together.

Dean leaned
forward in his fold-up chair. “Will you guys quit talking about this? We’ll
just have to take a pass tonight.”

They watched
Will, who was busy pointing out to sea and talking the captain’s ear off.

“Fuck it,” Shaun
said, pulling a joint from a silver cigarette case and lighting up.

“Shaun!” Dean
yelled in his quietest whisper. “Not cool, man.”

“Trust me,” Ben
said, quickly lighting a cigarette for cover. “You don’t want to get on Will’s
bad side. Dude has guns.
Lots of guns.”

Shaun exhaled a
cloud of smoke that smelled like someone had splattered a skunk with an
eighteen-wheeler. The plume quickly drifted out over the water behind them. He
passed the joint to Jon. “Relax, as long as the boat is moving, they’ll never
know.”

Will
bellowed
with laughter, drawing their jittery attention. He stretched
his arms out and casually took the wheel like a high school sophomore going for
second base on a first date. The captain smacked his hand away and got into the
throttle, making
Will
stumble.

Jon put the
joint to his lips and sucked hard, the cherry glowing red against the backdrop
of twilight. He held his breath while speaking. “They’ll never know. We’re
professional hit men.”

The motor
suddenly cut out, plunging them into a placid stillness as the boat gently
rocked to a floating rest.

“Oh shit,” Jon
said, exhaling a massive cloud and coughing like he had just swallowed water
down the wrong pipe.

Will and Captain
Taylor turned around, their faces difficult to read in the dim light.

“This is bad,”
Ben whispered as Will and the captain meandered closer.

“The hell you
boys think you’re doing on my boat?” Captain Taylor barked.

Shaun avoided
his interrogating eyes, smoothing his long sleeve Eddie Bauer shirt with
patches on the elbows.

Will lifted his
nose and sniffed at the air, like a wolf sensing prey on a snowy night. His
face stiffened. “Smells like the evil-weed to me, Captain.”

“No drugs on my
boat!”

Ben held up his
cigarette and smiled, smoke slipping between his white teeth.
“Just a cigarette.”

Will aimed a
cold glare at Dean that chilled him to the bone.
“Really Dean?
Drugs?”

“It’s just a
clove cigarette,” Dean calmly countered. “Personally, I can’t stand the things.”

Will
sniffed
at the air again, this time slower. “You must think
I’m an idiot.”

“I don’t think
that at all.”

Will
set his jaw, tightening a tendon in his neck.
“I think you
do, because I obviously know what that is.” He stared at Jon.

Jon looked down
and realized he was still holding the smoking gun. He passed the joint to
Shaun, who looked away and started whistling.

Ben spread his
palms. “Will, it’s not a big deal. The stuff’s legal in Colorado.”

“This isn’t
Colorado! It’s Wisconsin!”

Dean almost said
something – something about how he hadn’t even touched the stuff - but
swallowed it back down instead.

“And I’ll be
damned if my daughter is going to marry some…goddamn druggie.”

Dean shot from
his chair. “I didn’t even smoke any of it!”

“Horseshit!”
Will barked. “At least be a man and admit it!”

Water slapped
against the sides of the boat in the thunderstruck silence that followed. Jon
cleared his throat and it sounded like he was coming through a PA system.

Anger bubbled to
the surface in Will’s eyes, his chest rising and falling beneath his orange
Polo. He pulled his cell phone from his jeans and angrily tapped at the screen.

“Will, come on,
man.” Dean held his hands out in a helpless display, a light breeze running its
fingers over his shirt. “Who’re you calling?”

Will put the
phone to his ear and took a deep breath, branding Dean with the evil eye. “Evy,”
he grumbled as the phone began to ring in his ear. “This marriage is off.”

Chapter
Seven

It was already
hard to hear in Bad Genie’s. House music melted with animated conversation like
chocolate syrup and milk, swirling together for the perfect Saturday night
blend. Brooke snagged the last open table in the bar just before two tall
brunettes got there. They shot Brooke an icy look and kept moving.

“Snooze ya lose,”
Brooke murmured, pulling a tall chair back.

Evy sat down with
a lethargic sigh. “Nice grab, Brooke. I don’t think I could’ve stood in these
heels another minute.”

“Damn, there are
a lot of hot guys in here,” Tasha said, taking a seat.

A candle in the
middle of the table flickered off Brooke’s roving eyes. “If you can’t find a guy
in this town, you’re not doing it right.”

Tasha tugged on the
neckline of her lavender top, creating more cleavage.
“How
about those guys over there?”

They followed
her gaze to two guys with curly brown hair leaning against the bar and smiling
at them.

Brooke scrunched
her nose up. “What is wrong with you? Those guys look like the twins on
motorcycles from the
Guinness Book of
World Records
.”

Tasha curled a
strand of hair around a finger. “I don’t mind a little meat on my bones.”

“Then go to the
LongHorn
.”

“Be nice, Brooke,”
Evy admonished, perusing a slender drink menu.

“You can do
better than that, Tasha.”

Tasha avoided
Brooke’s eyes. “After you made me break up with Matthew, I kind of started
missing it.”

Brooke cocked
her head to one side.
“
It
?
As in flabby gut and beer farts? I don’t know how you’ll ever survive.”

“I like
something to hang onto.”

“Try a big hard
cock sometime, sweetie. It never fails.”

Evy looked up
from the menu. “Do you two ever talk about anything besides big hard cocks?”

Brooke turned an
ear to Evy. “What?”

Evy raised her
voice. “I said – do you two ever talk about anything besides
big hard cocks
?”

Tasha cleared
her throat and nodded behind Evy.

Evy turned to
the waitress standing behind her and cringed. The waitress flashed an easy smile
that turned Evy’s cheeks a blistering shade of red.

Brooke ordered
for them and watched the waitress head back to the bar. “Way to embarrass us,
Evy.”

Evy rolled her
eyes.

Brooke and Tasha
looked at each other and giggled.

“Hey, you won’t
let us use penis-shaped straws so we have to have
some
fun on your bachelorette party,” Brooke said.

Evy studied the
diamond engagement ring around her finger, the candle setting off a sparkle in
her eyes. “I still can’t believe I’ll be married two weeks from right now.”

“I love your
ring,” Tasha said, admiring the modest stone. “It’s so
presh
!”

Evy spread her
fingers and let the jewel shine. “He did such a great job. Not too big, not too
small.”

Brooke’s eyes
softened. “I’m so happy for you, sweetie.”

“But, legally,
you can still fuck somebody else tonight, right?”

Evy slowly rotated
her head to Tasha, eyes wrinkling around the corners.

Tasha shrugged.
“What?”

“Hello, ladies.”

They turned to
the motorcycle twins, who stood there smiling and bobbing their heads.

Tasha’s eyes lit
up. “Well, hello,” she said sweetly.

Brooke arched an
eyebrow. “We are right in the middle of a Wiccan meeting.”

The two heavyset
men traded curious glances, bottles of Miller
Lite
clutched in their hands. “We don’t mind,” the one with a loud Affliction
t-shirt replied.

Brooke flattened
her lips. “You will when I turn you into a tree and shove you up your friend’s
ass.”

The other man raised
his glass to them. “Enjoy your stay,” he said, going back to the bar with his
friend in reluctant tow.

“
Dammit
, Brooke!”
Tasha watched them go, twisting around
in her seat. “That’s one sandwich I wouldn’t mind being the meat in.”

“You’d need a
barrel of mayo.”

Evy leaned an
elbow on the table and planted her chin in her hand, letting out a thoughtful
sigh as she scoped the festive crowd. “What do you think they’re doing right
now?”

“Who?
The guys?
Probably wishing they were at a club.”

“Yeah,” Tasha
said. “Who goes fishing on their bachelor party?”

“There’s nothing
wrong with that,” Evy said, defending her man’s decision. And in the end, it
had been
his
decision. She hadn’t
pushed him one way or the other, knowing that even if Dean had picked the
standard strip bar bachelor party faire she would have nothing to worry about. Not
with him. The fact that he had been so considerate of her feelings by lining up
something with just the guys said a lot about his character. He would walk on
fire for her and she loved him for that. “And besides,” Evy continued, “it’s
not some
piddly
little lake with bluegills in it.
They’ll have a great time, especially Ben.”

The flickering
candle threw dancing shadows across Brooke’s face. “Oh my God, he was so
excited! He watched
Jaws
three times
just to get in the mood.”

Evy laughed.
“Sounds like something dad would do!”

Brooke took a
steadying breath and grew quiet, watching the flame. “I’m so glad they get
along so well.”

“Who?”
Tasha asked.

“Ben
and my dad.”
A comforting smile shaped her shiny lips. “That could’ve easily gone the other
way.”

Evy crossed her
legs and swung a black high heel with leather straps through the air. “Dad definitely
knows how to hold a grudge; that’s for sure.”

A light bulb
went off behind Tasha’s eyes.
“The closet!”

Brooke’s gaze
jerked to her. “Never talk about that.”

Tasha held her
hands up in surrender. “Talk about what?”

The waitress
dropped off their cosmos and started them a tab.

Tasha studied
the cherry colored contents inside the chilled glass in front of her. “Why do
we have to drink these if it’s
Evy’s
bachelorette party?”

Brooke took a careful
sip.
“Because I’m paying the bill.”

Tasha put the
glass to her lips and swallowed with a grimace.
“Too sweet.”

Evy took a cold
sip. “Next time let’s get wine.”

“Or how about
some beer,” Tasha added. “This is Milwaukee.”

Evy smiled at
them over the rim of her glass, taking a second to appreciate this moment in
her life. Last year at this time, everything was in doubt. Sugars, Dean, their
safety and peace of mind were all at risk. Fortunately, things were different
now and she felt stronger for it, like she could handle any curveball thrown
her way with the grace of a small town minister. Her lips pulled up at the
corners. “I’m so glad it’s just us tonight. I’m sorry if it’s boring, but
this is the best bachelorette party I could’ve hoped for
. It
really is.”

Tasha scanned the
room, twirling a lock of hair around her finger. “You’re not shooting high
enough, girl.”

Brooke took another
careful sip and swallowed. “Keep drinking; it’ll get better.”

“Personally, I like
the bachelorette parties where hot guys come out wearing nothing but giant bear
heads and boners.”

Evy stopped the
glass in front of her lips. “
Bear heads
?”

Tasha nodded
rapidly. “I had a friend do that last year at her house. These two ripped guys in
bear heads came over and sprayed whip cream on their dicks before going around
the room looking for takers.”

Brooke laughed
and started choking on her drink.

“Oh. My. God,”
Evy muttered, not taking her eyes from Tasha. “You were a
taker
, weren’t you?”

Tasha balled her
face up in disgust.
“
Ew
!
No!
I did not suck whip cream off of some stranger’s junk,” she said sternly,
lowering her voice. “Well, not that night anyway.”

Evy laughed out
loud, swinging her heel back and forth through the air. Her laughter died when
she saw the gravity pulling on Brooke’s face. “What’s wrong?”

“Don’t look now.”
Brooke hid behind her hand like the lights were suddenly too bright. “But Megan
and that redheaded bitch just walked in.”

Evy’s heart
lodged in her throat. She wanted to turn and look but couldn’t move. The
conversation level around them grew louder, the lights brighter. Her cheeks
flushed with heat. She knew Brooke had to be messing with her but the look on
her sister’s face said different. “Don’t even kid around about something like
that, Brooke! Jon has been doing that to Dean all year and he hates it.”

“Hi
Evy!”

Evy’s heart
thudded in her ears. She swallowed against the lump in her throat and mustered
the strength to twist around in her chair.

Her heart slipped
onto the floor.

Megan smiled
brightly.