Make Me Howl by Susan Shay Read Free Book Online Page B

table.”
    “Your mother’s nice.”
    He glanced to where his parents were chatting with another couple. “I think so, too. “
    Jazzy tossed her head, sending her hair swirling around her shoulders. “We had a nice chat over coffee the other night.”
    He took a deep breath, trying to catch the fragrance of her hair. Had it been fixed like that at the party? He didn’t remember it being that long. Ready for a little hands on—
    Her words registered. “You had coffee the other night? With my mother? When?”
    “A few nights after the Halloween party.” Jazzy’s smile broadened. “She came to a fashion show I narrated then invited me out for coffee. I really like her.”
    Chase slid a glance toward his mother as he held Jazzy’s chair for her. How in the world had she known? With a light chuckle, he shook his head. The woman had radar when it came to her children. That was the only answer.
    “What?” Jazzy asked as she lifted her gaze to his.
    Again he shook his head. “I didn’t say that much about you. Any time I go to that type of function, she always asks if I’ve met any interesting women. I do my best to describe one or two to her so she won’t worry about me.”
    Jazzy’s eyes sparkled as she laughed. “And I was the only one you met before you were called away?”
    “Yeah.” He shrugged, trying not to look like too much of a loser. “I must have gone a little overboard, describing your costume. Or something. I didn’t want her to think I was totally oblivious.”
    He glanced up with a scowl as Mack and Drew all but attacked the chairs directly across from them. “What are you two idiots doing?”
    Drew blew him off with a typical laugh while he sat, but Mack planted an elbow on the table, rolled his eyes and leaned toward Jazzy. “He’s such an old man—has been since we were kids. If you want, I can move your place card so you’re over here, between the two sexy brothers in this family.”
    Almost before he’d finished speaking, they heard a squawk. Carrie Everson, assistant to Judge Parker, the park administrator, rushed toward them. Wearing a dress that even Chase knew was years out of date, she propped her fists on her hips.
    Her brown hair was pulled back by a clamp that sparkled as if it were covered with of every ounce of glitter from a Sunday school craft box. The hard shine of the clamp made her coloring even muddier, and with her hair skinned back, the length of her thin face was more apparent than usual. Her laugh, especially when near the judge, sounded like a neighing horse.
    Wildly she flapped her hands in the air. “Have y’all lost your minds?”
    What was she talking about?
    When no one answered, she rammed her fists to her hips again. “You’re not supposed to sit there—the Honorable Dora Hanson is.” She bobbed the entire top half of her body toward Drew, whose mouth tightened and eyes widened in an effort not to laugh.
    She stretched her already too long neck to look over him at Mack. “And Mrs. Hanson’s escort is supposed to sit there.”
    Then she glanced at Chase’s side of the table and her mouth dropped. “You’re all messed up. Bella is the only one sitting where she’s supposed to. Chase, you should be next to her, and…and…”
    Clearly too exasperated for words, she opened and closed her mouth several times. Finally she got a grip then made the mistake of stomping closer to Mack. “Move.”
    ****
    I set down my glass of water when a woman started making a huge fuss about seating arrangements. Didn’t she know how stupid she looked doing that chicken imitation? And what an ass she was making of herself? After all, we’d paid a hundred dollars a plate to be there, with the possible exception of Dora Hanson and her escort, who were invited guests. What difference did it make where anyone sat?
    Mack looked up at the woman and simply answered, “No.”
    I almost burst my Spanx Power Panties right down the side.
    Everything on the woman’s face