Chapter 73
I can’t wait for the Hunt County Fair. The target contest is a great distraction from the Make Your Match contest, which is on my last nerve. But I promised Ginny I’d ask Mama for help.
So, after theater rehearsal this week, I ask Mama if she can do some research.
My mother’s thrilled to be asked. I take her to the bar with me, and she voraciously dives into Vivian’s diary while I pour Dye a drink and check on this week’s shipments.
“Here!” Mama shoves the diary into my hands.
I look down at the open page. “What?”
Mama takes Vivian’s diary back from me and flips forward a few pages. “Cemented in the West. See? Not in New York City.”
“What?!” I grab it back from her. “Where did you see that?”
She leans over The Cowherd bar and shows me the clue. “The love will be cemented in the West.”
I sigh. “Mama, keep looking. Logan and Gigi met in West Texas, and Ginny is the one who needs hope right now. I know you and Daddy are Team Wild, but…”
“We are not!” Mama’s so indignant she actually takes off her prescription shades to glare at me. “We’re on our daughter’s side, and if our daughter wants Ginny and Dave, then that’s who we’re rooting for, too!”
I look over at Dye, who gives me the thumbs-up. “I’m Team Ginny, too, darlin’. I’m even going to the County Fair for the first time since Donna left me. You know why? I want to see you beat the crap out of that Manhattan girl in the target contest.”
Mama pumps her fist in the air and then returns to the diary and starts flipping through it. “Listen to this: ‘Tis a blooming flower of cacti origin once the spirit exits.”
Mama looks up at me and beams.
I look back at her blankly. “What? What is it?”
“When Jane’s ghost goes free and exits the cell, a cactus flower will immediately bloom on the jail cell floor, right out of the concrete!”
“How does that help Ginny?” I say. “Logan met Gigi in the desert, for Christ’s sake. Cacti only grow in deserts.”
“Not true.” Mama shakes her head emphatically. “We have them right here at the Nature Center in town. I visit the cacti all the time.”
“You visit the cacti? Why would you do that?”
“I have a special connection to plants that survive, even thrive, in harsh environments,” Mama waxes on.
“Living with your father has been so taxing on me. Just like poor Jane suffering alone in her cell all these years. Speaking of which, I thought you did a very nice job with your lines at rehearsal today. Maybe try to beef up the last half a bit, though. Queen Austen could be our best play yet.”
“Oh, my God, Mama.” I bang the heel of my hand against my forehead. “Jane Austen didn’t ask to be Queen of Austen, or Queen of a Jail, or Queen of anything. She just wanted to tell a good story.”
Dye calls out, “That’s a good one, Macey. Jane Austen was a great storyteller. We should get a plaque and put it on her cell.”
“Like an epitaph!” Mama says. “Why didn’t I think of that before? Dye, what a fabulous idea.”
Dye tips his cowboy hat Mama’s way.
“Seriously, what am I going to tell Ginny tomorrow?” I ask. “She needs some positive news.”
Mama looks down again at the diary. “Right here it says there will be shared blood between them. Ginny and Dave are fifth cousins once removed.”
“They are?”
“Helena Rattles told me so herself. So there you have it—the perfect clue.”
“Dave and I are cousins?” Ginny asks me in a horrified voice the next day.
“Not really,” I assure her, glaring at Ben when he cracks up next to me behind the bar. “Just fifth once removed. It’s supposed to be a good thing. You know, because of the clue. It could mean you’re the soul mates Vivian’s referring to in her diary.”
“But what does fifth cousins once removed even mean?” Ginny spins on her stool and reaches for her phone.
“I’m not sure. But I know it doesn’t mean you’re super close genetically. Your baby’s definitely fine. You even had those tests done already, and the doctor gave you the all-clear.”
“I just can’t believe Dave is my cousin.” Ginny shakes her head. “It’s like a bad dream. I have to text Mama now and find out why she never told me.”
Speak of the mother.
Mrs. Rattles strides into The Cowherd and right up to Ginny’s stool.
Mr. Bingley picks that moment to jump onto Ginny’s lap, and she clutches him tightly, almost like a security blanket.
“Mama! Dave and I are cousins?”
Mrs. Rattles gives a dismissive wave. “So not the time, dear. Girls, I have terrible news. We have to move Ginny’s wedding up again. I want it this month. A June wedding.”
“But that’s impossible,” I say. “Everything’s set.”
“Logan Wild and his socialite girlfriend are tying the knot before Independence Day now.” Mrs. Rattles sniffs. “I heard something about July second. That’s far too close to my daughter’s wedding on the first.”
“What?”
I swear to God.
I grab the saloon’s calendar and check the dates. Sure enough—Logan and Gigi are now penciled in on July second.
I turn to Ben. “Did you know about this?”
“Nope. No clue.” He turns away to start setting up the bar for tonight.
“They’re just trying to get closer to my Ginny’s day. It’s all Gigi’s doing. I’m sure she thinks she can intimidate us with her daddy’s oil money.” Mrs. Rattles leans her elbows on the counter and gets closer to me.
I try to back up, but Ben is behind me, cleaning the glasses.
“Mrs. Rattles,” I say. “Once Gigi decided to have two weddings, I’m sure there was some conflict or another, and so she simply changed the Darcy date without giving a thought to anyone else. It’s like nothing’s an obstacle for that girl.”
“Well, everything’s an obstacle on our end.” Mrs. Rattles sniffs. “I want this wedding date changed ASAP! At least a couple of days before Logan’s.”
“But whoever goes first doesn’t necessarily win, Mama,” Ginny says. “It’s about who’s right for each other.”
“I don’t care about the stupid ghost story and its silly claims about being right or wrong!” Mrs. Rattles says. “Virginia, you will open that door and get all the good press that comes with it. You will!”
Her shouts scare Mr. Bingley, and he wisely jumps off Ginny’s lap and disappears down the hall.
“Try to relax, Mrs. Rattles.” I look down at the calendar. “How’s June thirtieth? That could work on our end.”
“Fine. I’ll call everyone but the florist. Mace, can you do that for me?”
“Of course.”
Mrs. Rattles grabs Ginny by the arm and drags her out of the bar.
While I’m on my cell with Lexi, begging her to come through with the bridal bouquet earlier than planned, Logan walks through the door.
He’s wearing his cowboy hat, and sweat’s coming off his brow, so I know he’s been working in the fields. His t-shirt’s damp, and his arms are slightly sunburned. He looks hot in more ways than one.
I haven’t seen him since we all went tubing the other day.
He walks up to the bar and folds his arms over the counter. I let Ben make him a Loganiskey, and I wait until he’s halfway through drinking it before I hang up with Lexi.
“That went okay, thank goodness,” I say to Ben before turning to Logan. “I have to change everything because you and your fiancée changed your wedding date again. Did you go to my father for the approval? Because I certainly didn’t know about the change on our schedule.”
Ben looks around for something to do, but he can’t move from behind the bar because Logan and I are right over the swing door. He gives up and listens to our conversation with interest.
Logan exhales. “I’m not trying to screw up anyone’s schedule. Gigi said we had to change the date or we couldn’t go to Orlando. I don’t know why; that’s what her wedding planner told her. They got a cancellation for July seventh for the castle, so she figured—why wait?”
“Why wait,” I repeat.
“So in order to get to Florida in time, she had to move the Darcy wedding back.”
“Look, I’m maiden of honor for the most difficult redneck-Victorian wedding ever,” I say as Ben breaks into a laugh. “Complete with a dominating mother, an untrustworthy groom, and a very reluctant bride. And when Gigi gets involved and keeps calling the shots…”
“Sounds like you don’t want to come to my wedding,” Logan says slowly. “And I understand, Mace. I’m sor…”
But I cut him off. “Of course I don’t! The last thing on God’s green earth I’ve ever wanted to do is witness Logan Wild’s wedding to somebody who’s…”
“Not me” nearly slips out, but I rein in those last two words just in time.
I glance over at Ben, and I know he knows what I was about to say. He swallows and looks at Logan, who reaches out like he’s going to touch my hand but then pulls back at the last second.
“You’re a great friend to Ginny,” Logan says gently. “But you and I have always had our doubts about Ginny and Dave. They’re the cliché. You know, marrying your high school sweetheart for all the wrong reasons.”
“Doesn’t have to be a high school sweetheart to be wrong,” Ben says casually. “There are bad relationships all over the place.”
Logan gives Ben a hard look as he downs the rest of his drink and stands up. “I’ll see y’all on Saturday at the County Fair.”
“Have you entered the bronc riding competition?” I ask him curiously.
“I did. And Luke’s coming down to watch with Brayden.”
“That sounds fun.”
“Will you come watch?” he asks me, his gaze steady on mine.
I swallow. “Um…if you want me to be there…”
“I do,” he says immediately.
“Okay,” I say. “I’ll be there then.”
Logan nods. “And I’ll be in the stands for the target contest.”
“You’ll be rooting for the enemy, though,” I say in an effort to make light of it. “So Ben won’t be able to stand with you.”
Logan gives a wave and walks out.
After he leaves, Ben shakes his head. “He’s edgy about something.”
“How do you know that?” I ask him.
“I’m a guy. Trust me, he’s panicking. And this mess with Gigi is his own damn fault.”