Between Sisters - Kristin Hannah [75]
“Go. And no fair using hands.”
The group went at it. Within seconds, everyone was laughing.
Meghann tried, she really did, but at her first pass, the doughnut hit her in the nose and white sugar fluttered down the front of her black Armani.
“Done!” Bobby yelled, throwing his hands in the air as if he'd just scored the game-winning run.
Claire put her arms around him. “And there you have it, the real reason I'm marrying him.”
Meghann stepped back from the undulating doughnut. Once again, she was the only one not laughing, and her silence settled on her chest like Hester Prynne's scarlet A.
Gina handed Bobby a CD. “You win. And I must say, none of us will ever look at you quite the same again.” She rushed back into the house, then came out with a big white porcelain bowl. “The next game is called Truth in M&M's. Everybody take as many as you want, then find a seat.” She went around the group, handing out candy.
Meghann could tell that she wasn't the only suspicious person. No one took a handful. Meg chose two, then sat down on the top porch step. Everyone else pulled up a patch of grass and sat down.
“For each M&M, you have to tell one thing about the bride or groom and make a prediction for the future.”
A groan moved through the men.
Harold rolled his eyes; Karen elbowed him.
“I'll start,” Charlotte said. “I have three. Claire has a beautiful smile, and I predict Bobby will keep it on her face. Also, she is a great cook, so I predict he'll be fat by forty. And finally, she hates to do laundry, so I predict Bobby will learn to like the stained, rumpled look.”
Claire laughed the loudest of all of them.
“My turn,” Karen said. “I'm on a diet—as usual—so I only picked one. Claire has developed a . . . fondness for electrical devices. I predict she won't need one anymore.”
“Karen!” Claire cried out, her face turning red even as she laughed.
They continued around the circle, and with each comment, Meghann felt herself edging toward uneasiness. Even the husbands here seemed to know more about Claire's everyday life than Meghann did, and she was terrified that when her turn came to make a prediction, she'd blurt out, I predict he breaks her heart. She finished her second margarita in gulps.
“Meg? Meg?” It was Gina. “Your turn.”
Meghann looked down in her palm. Sweat had turned the candies into red smudges. “I have two.” She tried to smile. “Claire is . . . the best mother I know, so I predict she'll have another child.”
Claire smiled at her, then leaned lovingly against Bobby, who whispered something in her ear.
“Another one, Meg.”
She nodded. “Claire loves well, but not necessarily easily, so I predict,” she barely paused, “that this is the real thing.” When she looked up, Claire was frowning.
Meghann didn't know what she'd said wrong. It had seemed cheery and optimistic to her, romantic even. But Claire looked ready to cry.
“I'm last,” Gina said in the sudden silence. “I have only one. Claire is completely tone-deaf. So I predict that Bobby will never let her be his backup singer.”
That got them all laughing and talking again. They got to their feet and closed ranks around Claire and Bobby.
Absurdly, Meghann felt the start of tears. She got clumsily to her feet, realizing when she stood up that those margaritas had been stronger than she'd thought. She turned away from the party. Getting drunk would be the last straw. When no one was looking, she ducked into the house and ran for her car.
She meant to go home, wait up for Claire, and apologize for whatever wrongs she'd uttered.
Then she saw the tavern.
CHAPTER
FIFTEEN
MEGHANN EASED HER FOOT OFF THE ACCELERATOR. THE Porsche slowed to a crawl.
Through the smoke-grayed glass of the tavern's window, she could make out the shadowy bodies inside, pressed in close together along the bar.
It was easy to get lost in a crowd like that, where no one asked your name or why you were there. She knew that if she went inside and had a drink—or two or three—she would feel better.
Maybe she would meet someone . . . and he would take