The Wedding Pact Box Set - Denise Grover Swank Page 0,183

for the first time, they start off with introductions—they don’t extort them for money.”

Debra’s face flushed, but her mouth was pinched tight with determination.

Blair waved her hand toward Neil’s mother. “Debra Fredrick, these are my best friends, Megan McMillan and Libby St. Clair. This is Neil’s mother.”

Megan held out her hand. “Nice to meet you, Mrs. Fredrick.”

Debra took her hand, beaming. “What a sweet girl you are.” She looked down at the wedding ring on her hand. “You’re married? That must be why you’re so much more civilized than your friends. I keep hoping marriage will make Blair more domestic.”

Libby coughed and shot Blair a grin. Thank God she’d thought to warn them about her future monster-in-law.

“How long have you been married?” Debra asked.

Megan smiled, but even a blind man could see it was forced. “Two months.”

“Isn’t that precious,” Debra cooed, oblivious to the tension she was creating. “And when are you having babies? Soon, I hope? Maybe you’ll be a positive influence on Blair.”

“Debra,” Blair scolded. “Megan just got married. She’s not in any hurry.”

“We’re going to wait,” Megan said, looking uncomfortable. “We’d like to spend more time together first.”

Debra looked over all three women, her mouth pinched into a disapproving frown. “Aren’t you girls worried about your biological clocks? You’re not getting any younger, you know.”

Libby struggled to keep a straight face. “Maybe I should get Blair her drink before we start planning a joint baby shower.”

Debra shook the cat jar, the coins rattling against the sides. “Pay your dollar first. You too, Blair.”

Libby grinned, trying not to laugh. “I don’t have any money on me, so I’ll just run inside and get some from Noah. I’m sure he’ll appreciate this story.” She snickered. “And I’ll get you a drink you’re guaranteed to like, Blair.”

“Oh!” Debra’s eyes lit up. “Will you get one for me too? Do you have hard water? I’d love a hard lemonade.” She nodded her head with approval. “I had a few last night, and they were so relaxing.”

Libby burst out laughing. After hearing Blair rant about Debra being a teetotaler, she knew the older woman would never knowingly ask for an alcoholic drink. “One hard lemonade coming right up.”

Debra held out her cat. “Blair.”

Groaning, Blair pulled a dollar from the wad of cash in her skirt pocket and stuffed it into the slot. Everything in her screamed in protest, but she’d promised Neil to try her best to keep his mother happy. If she refused to go along with this damn kitty scheme, she was liable to create family drama. And with the partners watching, it was more important than ever to keep the peace. Thank God she’d asked Melissa to get her more dollar bills. She had a feeling the nine dollars she had left in her pockets wouldn’t be enough.

The back door opened again, and a woman who looked remarkably like Garrett walked onto the deck. Debra turned to face the woman, and her face instantly scrunched with irritation. “Hello, Barb. Nice to see you dressed up, but I specifically told you to wear something other than blue and white.” The sarcasm was heavy in her voice.

Barb glanced down at her white eyelet shirt and blue capris, then scanned her sister’s plain blue and white dress. “Some of us choose quality, Debbie Sue. I’m sure that dress came from the Dollar General, while mine came from Target.”

“It’s Debra now,” Neil’s mother snarled. “How many times do I have to tell you that?” Her jaw tightened as she lifted her chin and gave her sister a haughty look. “And besides, I got this dress at Sears.”

“You may call yourself Debra now because you think it’ll help you sell more plastic containers for your Tupperware business, but it doesn’t mean the rest of us have to follow suit. For heaven’s sake, your birth certificate says Debbie Sue.”

Debra’s face turned red, and she looked like she was about to have a heat stroke.

“I wonder where Libby is with that lemonade,” Megan murmured, looking around. “Or where my mother is. Maybe I should go check.”

Blair grabbed her arm as she started to walk away, her nails digging into Megan’s flesh. “Don’t you even think about it.”

Megan laughed, but there was a nervous hitch to it.

Barb shifted her attention toward Blair, and she resisted the urge to squirm under her scrutiny. “So you’re Blair.”

“You know who I am?” she choked out. In the year she and Garrett had dated, she’d never met his mother. They’d talked