Page 51 of Wedding Cake Carnage

“Everett?” I take off without saying another word to my mother. My heart vibrates right up into my throat, and just as it’s about to eject itself, I spot Noah, Ivy, and Everett in the parking lot. I head their way and stop short before I get there.

Everett’s rear window was taken out this time—with bits of broken glass spider-webbing just like before.

She’s struck again.

She’s getting bolder—far more dangerous by the hour.

Someone has to stop her.

But how?

* * *

The afternoonof my sister’s final fitting for her wedding dress has Meg and me both slinking into blush pink floor-length chiffon dresses with sweetheart necklines and capped sleeves. The conservatory at my mother’s B&B is empty, save for the four of us.

“It’s something you can wear again,” Lainey assures as she enters the conservatory where my mother, Meg, and I admire ourselves in a three-way mirror my mother hauled into the corner.

The three of us turn toward Lainey and gasp at the very same time.

“Lainey!” my mother cries out as she falls to her knees.

Okay, so that’s a bit dramatic, but, my God, somebody hold me because I swear on all that is holy I’m about to go down myself.

“Lainey!” My voice breaks as Meg and I stagger over. “You are so beautiful!”

Lainey beams like sunshine in a lightning white dress, plunging neckline, cinched waist, belted with a blush pink ribbon, and a full skirt dripping with tulle.

The three of us scuttle over and wrap our arms around the gorgeous bride-to-be while losing ourselves in a vat of tears.

“Oh, Lainey”—my mother sobs—“you don’t know how badly I wish your father were here to see this.”

Lainey shrugs as she holds her hand out before us. “He sort of is.”

A tiny blue heart sewn from the fabric of my father’s dress shirt sits in her palm. It’s the heart that my mother, Meg, and I gifted Lainey for her bridal shower last month.

“I’m going to tuck it into my bouquet like I said I would, but I wanted him here with me today, too.”

We collapse over her once again with a firm embrace.

“Everything is about to change,” Lainey mewls like a kitten.

Meg taps her on the shoulder. “For the better, Lainey. You and Forest are meant to be.”

Lainey nods. “And so are you and Hook.”

The three of them look my way.

“And…Mom and Mayor Nash are quite the swanky couple.” Swanky? Is that somehow a derivative of the fact I think he’s a wanker?

Mom waves it off. “Mayor Nash and I are currently exploring other options.” She looks as if she’s about to be sick. “I’m sort of seeing Pastor Gaines.”

“Mother!” Lainey smacks her on the arm three times fast, and Meg plucks poor Mom safely out of battering range. “How could you do this to me?”

I take a breath and close my eyes. “This might be a good time to mention that the wedding will no longer be held at its original venue.” It’s true. As soon as I recovered from the trauma of seeing Everett’s back window beaten in, I found Naomi and asked her if she could do me a very big favor. Suffice it to say, I owe her one. Big time.

It takes everything I’ve got to pry a lid open as I force myself to look in my sister’s direction.

Lainey’s face bleaches as white as her dress. “Please tell me you’re kidding.” Her voice trembles with rage, and quite frankly it scares the daylights out of me.