Mom slung her arm around my shoulders as we walked toward the clubhouse.“I can deal with that.”
I rolled my eyes and stepped back as she pushed the door open into a wave of noise.
Chaos.Pure, familiar chaos.
That was pretty much normal whenever all the women were in the same room.At least there weren’t crying babies or sticky-fingered toddlers like there had been when I was younger.Back then, I was at least ten years older than all my cousins, and I’d learned really quick not to volunteer for babysitting duty.
Alice, Karmen, and Nikki were spread across the bar with stacks of papers and notebooks.Junior leaned against the back counter, arms crossed, looking way too amused.In the kitchen, Wren, Mayra, and Carnie were already banging pans around and filling the air with the smell of something buttery.Raven and Cora lounged on the couch with a bowl of popcorn between them, like they were watching a movie.Calla and Eden were perched on the pool table, swinging their legs, while Bell and Clove dug into plates of pie at the bar.
“About time you two got here,” Alice called the second she spotted us.
Mom lifted her hand in a wave.“I told you I was letting Adley sleep in.”
Alice glanced at the oversized clock on the wall, then back at me.“It is one o’clock in the afternoon, Wendy.I didn’t think Adley had reverted into sleeping like a sixteen-year-old boy.”
Heat flushed my cheeks.I held up my hands.“Working at the Social Club the past three days kicked my butt.I needed to be comatose for a good eleven hours.”
Everyone laughed, the sound bouncing off the clubhouse walls.
Islid onto a chair between Bell and Clove and lowered my voice.“Are they filming this?”
Nikki didn’t even look up from her legal pad.She pointed her pen at the ceiling, then to a back corner, then above the TV.“There.There.There.They’re always watching now.”
I followed her finger and, yep, little black domes in the corners, tiny red LEDs winking like smug eyes.I’d expected a guy with a shoulder rig to leap out of a plant, but this was worse.Sneaky.
“I am more than okay with this,” Alice announced, stabbing her pencil at a page so hard she almost splintered the tip.“I don’t need to be chased around by a camera crew.Leave me and my cows alone.”
Raven pumped her fist from the couch.“Yeah!Save that for Wrecker and the guys.”
Bell leaned into me.“I can confirm the camera is glued to Wrecker.Mac is convinced he’s going to be the standout star of the show.”
I laughed, and the tension in my shoulders loosened.“I’m okay with that, because that means the camera won’t be on me.”
We bumped fists in a solemn pact of mutual avoidance.
“Alright, Girl Gang,” Alice said, clapping like a coach bringing a team to order.She wore a headband with tiny felt graduation caps bobbing on springs.Of course she did.“Eden’s party.Themes, food, games, controlled chaos.Go.”
Eden slid off the pool table and held up both hands.“Rule o-o-one: nothing with glitter.Please.I’m still finding it from Fox’s birthday p-p-prank.”Eden had struggled with a stutter ever since her first word.She had worked hard to overcome it, and now it just came out every few words, or when she was nervous.
Calla snorted.“You meanmyiconic art installation?”
“It got in the toaster,” Eden deadpanned.“I had glit-t-t-ter on my pop tart the other day.”
Carnie popped out of the kitchen doorway with a wooden spoon like a microphone.“Menu ideas: brisket sliders, mac ‘n’ cheese bar with toppings, watermelon feta skewers, and a dessert table that makes God weep.”
Wren stuck her head out behind her.“I vote for a lemon cake with buttercream diplomas.”
“Can we do a nacho fountain?”Bell asked brightly.
Clove made a face.“Like a chocolate fountain but… queso?”
“Yes,” Bell said reverently.
Carnie laughed.“Technically doable.Will it end in carnage?Also yes.”
“I’ll put it on the board,” Karmen said, already scribbling on a giant flip chart that appeared from nowhere like she’d been waiting to unleash it.
Nikki ripped a Post-it pad in half with authority.“We need assignments and a timeline.Permits for the water slide?”
