Chapter 35
Tara was struck speechless for a long moment. When she finally found her voice, she asked, “Seriously? All she wants to do is get drunk. She has her own booze here.”
Amanda shrugged again. “It’s okay. Really. She’s letting us take the van, so it’s all good. You’re still driving, right?”
“I can’t drive a van.” Tara had never been behind the wheel of anything larger than her Honda Civic. “How many people are coming tonight?”
Holding up her hand, Amanda counted off on her fingers. “My bridesmaids—three of them work with me, you just met them, but the others should be here soon, so there’s eight altogether. Me and you and Mom. Rach’s sister, who I think is bringing a friend. Tommy’s cousins Megan and Margo—they’re twins. What’s that up to now?”
In a small voice, Tara said, “Fifteen. Will we all even fit in the van?”
“Oh sure, don’t worry,” Amanda assured her. “There are no seats in the back. It’s a wide, open space, so we’ll throw some pillows and blankets down and we’re good to go.”
What about seat belts?Tara wanted to ask, but she kept her mouth shut. Somehow, she didn’t think her cousin cared about such trivial details. The lack of seat belts wasn’t going to stop Amanda when she was in full party mode.
* * * *
By six-thirty, the others had arrived. Marlene had ordered pizzas for dinner, and when Tara wandered into the kitchen to eat, she found everyone out on the deck, paper plates in one hand, booze in the other. The kitchen table and counters looked like they belonged in a frat house—pizza boxes open, cheese pulled and dangling, and scattered everywhere, the empty alcohol bottles. Beer, wine coolers, frozen pouches of cocktail mixes squeezed and tossed aside. Harder stuff, too, like Jack Daniels, Captain Morgan, Absolut, and something an unearthly shade of teal marked MD 20/20 that looked like Kool-Aid and was probably not.
With a weary sigh, Tara found the pepperoni pizza and a bottle of water in the fridge, then retreated to the relative quiet of the front porch to wait until the realfestivities began. If the evening didn’t end with one of the girls in the emergency room with alcohol poisoning, she’d be surprised.
A half hour later, Amanda came out to find her, trailed by a giggling gaggle of her half-drunk friends. At some point she’d put on a bridal veil, which looked stupid with her halter top, denim mini-skirt, and slingback heels. She had on hoop earrings Tara could’ve worn as bracelets and such dark eyeshadow, it looked as if she had two black eyes.
But the veil was the only thing that made her stand out, because all of her friends looked similar. Too much makeup, shorts or skirts too short, tops too tight, heels too tall. Tara’s above-the-knee lime sundress with princess seams and bolero-style cover-up might have looked daring when she tried it on earlier, but in this crowd? Hell, she was overdressed.
Leaning down over the arm of Tara’s Adirondack chair, Amanda breathed, “Ready to go?”
Tara waved away the stench of alcohol coming off her cousin in waves. “Don’t get near any open flames, girl. You’ll go right up.”
For some reason, Amanda thought that was too funny, and she collapsed over the side of the chair, falling into Tara’s lap as she giggled. Tara pushed her up and away. “Foomp!” Amanda said, mimicking the sound of being set on fire, which only set her off again.
Tara shook her head in disgust. “Where are the keys?”
“Right here,” Marlene said, jiggling them as she locked the door to the house. Even as she stood still, she weaved slightly from the drinks she’d already consumed. Tara wasn’t the least surprised to see her dressed in a getup similar to her daughter’s, and completely inappropriate for her age. “You okay to drive?”
Snatching the keys from her aunt’s hand, Tara muttered, “Better than any of you. Where all are we going again?”
One of Amanda’s friends reached out to stroke Tara’s hair. “You sound so cute!Where are you from? Georgia?”
Tara gave her a withering look, then hurried off the porch, heading for Marlene’s van in the driveway.
“Somewhere in the south, right?” the girl called out. “Wait, is Georgia south of us?”
God,Tara thought with a shake of her head. It was going to be a longnight.