to happen.”
“We’ll see about that, cowgirl.” He grinned and tipped his hat, then turned back toward the kids. “We’ll see.”
Chapter 13
“Yum. More Jell-O.” Jess reached up for a tiny cup as Kyla came back to their tiny table at Salty’s. “Why do I only ever drink these out here in Carefree? I always forget how much I love them. I definitely need more jiggly drinks in my life.”
Kyla laughed. “Don’t we all?”
“Why does Salty’s Jell-O taste so much better than everybody else’s?”
“Bottom-shelf liquor? I don’t know.”
Hayley motioned at them to bottoms up, and at her signal, Jess let the cool Jell-O slide down her throat. The chill was followed by a lovely heat as the tequila warmed her from the inside out.
Tequila.
Shit.
“Kyla? Didn’t we say we were doing the non-alcoholic version of these things tonight?”
Kyla shrugged, feigning innocence. “Salty’s all out. Only had the high-test version left.”
Jess looked at the table, littered with tiny cups. “How many high-tests have we had?” She pointed to the table. “Not all of these, right?”
It was Hayley’s turn to shrug. “You’ll know when you try to stand up, I guess.”
“You guys! This isn’t funny! I need to be stone-cold sober tonight. You know this!”
Hayley raised her eyebrows. “Because if you’re not, you might finally succumb to Cole’s hotness?”
“Yes! No!” She buried her face in her hands, then pulled them away, squinting. “Oh no.”
“What?” Kyla leaned in.
“My hands are tingly. And I have four of them.”
Hayley laughed. “Our job here is done.”
“Not funny, people.” Jess sat back, urging her eyes to focus. Exactly how much alcohol had she downed, anyway? She looked around the old-fashioned saloon-slash-dance hall, taking in the cedar-planked walls and Western décor. The big dance floor was worn and dented, and the tables had definitely seen better days, but even with a busload of tourists vying for dancing space, it still felt homey.
She’d been to Carefree, Montana enough times now that, as she scanned the crowd, she recognized a few faces. The locals tended to hang closer to the bar, or come early and grab tables in the back corner like she and the girls had. That left the tourist crowd milling around or out on the dance floor. Easy pickings for the ranch hand crew that ambled into town on Thursday and Friday nights, and she could already see some of the guys choosing their targets.
Two years ago, she, Hayley, and Kyla had been those tourists. The three of them had come to Carefree on a mission to get Kyla’s mind and body on the path to healing after a hellish year, and wow, had they succeeded. She’d met Decker, the stars had aligned, and one year later, they’d all been back out here for a wedding.
And then Hayley, who’d sworn off men for-absolutely-ever, finally fell hard for Daniel at said wedding, and bam. Here they were again. Another wedding.
Jess sighed. She loved weddings. Loved weddings. She even loved being a bridesmaid, though it was the most loathed job in the world to most thirtyish single women. Always a bridesmaid and all that. But there was nothing she loved more than watching two people pledge everlasting love to each other.
Especially people who’d never thought of themselves as the marrying kind. Those weddings were the absolute best.
However, this wedding left her as the last gal standing in her particular singles corral, and it was starting to get a little lonely in there. Now that both Hayley and Kyla had moved out to Montana, her Boston circle had shrunk frighteningly. She talked more with her mail carrier than anyone else in the city.
Did she feel abandoned? Yes. More so tonight, but that might be the tequila speaking.
“So Hayley—” Jess held up another tiny cup. “Given the fact that you’re apparently going through with this wedding, I think we need to have a word.”
Hayley laughed. “Are you going to give me the birds-and-bees speech? Because I hate to tell you, but it might be a little late.”
“Nope. I’m not talking anatomy with a veterinarian who’s marrying another veterinarian. I assume you’ve got that covered.”
“I can say with complete confidence that we do.” She winked.
“I wanted to talk about some arrangements we made a long time ago. The kind of arrangements that friends are supposed to honor until death does them part and all that.”
Hayley laughed. “Uh-oh. She’s already forming her words very carefully. Slow down, honey, or Cole will be picking you up off the floor when he gets here.”
“No one will be picking