she was considering it. “I’m going to have to work on that.”
“I’m secretly the genius of our bunch, but you’d have realized that sooner or later,” Lisa assured me. “Now, on to dresses!”
“Apparently, Champagne Lisa pops up quicker than Wine Lisa does. I’ll have to remember that, too,” Carlie laughed and then followed her friend over to one of the couches that was placed strategically around the showroom near the dressing area.
“You haven’t been around them much, have you?” Sarah asked me.
“This is the second time, but they’re part of Rowdy’s club so we’ll be seeing much more of each other now.”
“Lisa is one of us,” Sarah nodded toward Kari and me. “She’s normally very soft spoken and meek. She’s been so much better since she met Zeke, but even still, you give her a drink or two and ‘Wine Lisa’ makes an appearance. She lets out her inner smart ass and says what she’s really thinking. It’s fucking awesome.”
I had known Sarah since the first day that Lexi and I arrived at the apartments and she had become one of my closest friends. In that time, I’d never seen her without flawless makeup and a beautiful wig. Sometimes the hair she wore was a classic style, occasionally it was a daring cut, but most of her wigs were brightly colored. Today her hair was black with purple on the ends and she had bangs that fell into her perfectly lined eyes and caught on her dramatic fake lashes.
Kari was an understated beauty who wore little makeup, usually just some mascara and lip gloss. Her shiny brown hair was thick and beautiful and when she was in public or a crowd of people she didn’t know well, her hair fell over one side of her face to hide the scar that went from the hairline beside her eye and followed her cheekbone almost all the way to her mouth.
I knew that the two women had a history of violence or abuse in their past, but had never heard their stories. One of the things that I liked most about the apartments that Kari ran as a shelter for abused women and families was that they required you to talk to a therapist and even encouraged you to talk to the other residents. But Kari and Sarah didn’t pry into what had happened to you before. They focused on encouraging each woman to move forward.
Like I was moving forward with Rowdy. Which would be even easier now that Jackson was dead.
“I’m free now, you know?” I said softly to Sarah and Kari.
“I know,” Kari smiled. “It’s a beautiful feeling, isn’t it?”
“That it is,” I smiled back. “Now, let’s get me suited up and ready for a wedding!”
◆◆◆
ROWDY
“I thought I might find you here,” I told Jace when I walked up beside him. “You just never quit working, do you?”
“This isn’t work,” Jace told me as he flipped his welder mask down over his face. “Back up and let me get this one spot before I stop for the day.”
I stepped over and grabbed another mask from the shelf and put it on my head so I could watch Jace work without burning my eyes. He was creating a large sculpture this time and I gauged it to be over 12 feet tall. It was at least that wide, if not wider. I realized it was a squared archway and when I looked closer, I could see the initials of a nearby ranch over the middle.
After just a few more minutes, Jace was finished. He flipped open his mask and reached for a big mug he had sitting nearby. I watched him drink it down before he let out a big belch and finally turned my way.
“What’s up?” Jace asked as he walked toward the small refrigerator over in his makeshift office area here in the shop. “Want a beer?”
“Still on shift, asshole,” I laughed. He knew I was working, he was my boss after all. “Need to ask you a favor.”
“I already gave you this week off and as a wedding gift, I’m going to give you the next week off, too. So, yeah, you can be off tomorrow for your wedding.” Jace laughed.
“Well, no shit,” I told him and caught the water bottle he threw my way. “I kind of figured you’d know already without me having to get all sappy and shit, but will you stand up with me at my wedding.”
“Me?” Jace asked dramatically. “You want me?”
He pretended