Give Me Some Sugar

by Gen Griffin

  “Have any evidence of that?” Sully didn't care for drinking out of cans so he went to the cabinet and pulled out a glass instead. He pushed it underneath the automatic ice maker, but nothing happened.

  “The ice maker jams,” Kerry said. “You'll have to open the freezer and get ice out of the bin.”

  Sully abandoned the ice maker and opened the freezer door.

  “I know Addison is crooked. I've tried to prove it half a dozen crimes but no one will listen to me. Everyone loves him. The sheriff loves him. The judges love him. The citizens even love him. I've had people he arrested tell me that he's a better cop than I am. How can you like someone who arrests you?” Kerry asked.

  Sully didn't answer because he was too busy staring at the freezer burned right arm that was sitting on the shelf just above the ice maker and below a tub of ice cream. There was an emerald bracelet around the disembodied limb's wrist. A note had been wedged in between the fingers.

  GIVE ME BACK MY JEWELRY

  AND NO ONE ELSE HAS TO DIE.

  Kerry was still talking behind him, muttering something about how Addison and Katie were apparently sleeping together now that Ian was temporarily off the force and how it was a shame that adultery wasn't illegal because Kerry wasn't friends with Katie either.

  “Kerry.” Sully couldn't take his eyes off the half-rotted, now frozen arm.

  “What do all the women in this town see in Addison? I don't get it. Tall and blonde isn't that rare or special. What use is a pretty game warden? Do the deer care? Do the fish care?”

  “Kerry.”

  “And why couldn't I just be half as good looking as Addison? My job seems like it would go so much easier if I could just charm everyone the way Addison does.”

  “Kerry!” Sully snapped the name and Kerry stopped rambling.

  “What?” Kerry asked. “Is the ice machine broken?”

  “I have no idea. Tell me about the jewelry.”

  Kerry let out a huff. “I already told you, I don't know anything about-.”

  “Cut the bullshit, Kerry.” Sully took a step back away from the freezer so that his shoulders were no longer blocking the view of the inside of the freezer.

  “The jewelry? Kerry?”

  Sully turned just in time to see Kerry's complexion go from flushed red to pasty white as the other man took one look at the arm in the fridge and then hit the floor, passing out cold.

  “Mother fucker,” Sully said as he pulled out his phone to call in the Baker County Mobile Crime Unit for the second day in a row.

  Chapter 39

  “What do you think of this one?” Katie held up a sleek, shimmery gold floor-length strapless formal.

  “Hmmm. It's kind of sexy for a wedding, but it does match our original color scheme. I'd try it on if I were you.” Trish was on the opposite side of the rack from Katie, perusing through the extra-large and 2XL dresses.

  Katie held the dress up to her chest. “It'll have to be shortened.”

  “Miss Loretta can probably hem it for you. She's good at stuff like that. That woman has some serious skills.”

  “I know. If she weren't so nice, she'd scare the stuffing out of me,” Katie said with a small smile. “I've never had an unlimited budget to spend on a dress before. I'm kind of hoping I can find something I might wear again. Not that I can think of a single reason a grown woman would need a prom dress. Maybe we should talk Cal's Pappy into hosting a prom for adults as the next town fundraiser. Charge like, $10, for tickets. People would have fun, I think.”

  Trish shrugged. “Might be kind of fun. I'd actually have a date this time around.”

  “You didn't have a date for your prom?” Katie didn't even try to hide her surprise.

  “I was painfully shy. No one asked me.” Trish pulled a modest silver halter-top dress off the rack. The top was covered in tiny, sparkly rhinestones. She held it up to show Katie. “Yay or nay?”

  “Its cute. Try it on.” Katie plucked a light yellow dress off the rack. It was tea-length with a delicate strapless sweetheart neckline and a tiny waist. Hand-sewn beads made a careful swirling pattern across the skirt, shimmering brightly as the beads caught the light. “Wow, look at this one.”

  “Pretty. Very pretty. Is it the right size?”

  “It's a two,” Katie said with a nod. “Should fit me. Please God, let it look as good on the rack as it does off the rack.” She made a praying gesture with her hands.

  Trish laughed. “Here's an orange dress kind of like the one you found but with a different neckline. I think I might try it.”

  “You look good in long dresses. I just look even shorter than I am.”

  “Wear taller heels,” Trish suggested.

  “I'm five foot nothing. In heels, I'm five foot four.” Katie spun around in a slow twirl. “Not that it matters. It's impossible to be sexy when you have the figure of a 12 year old boy.”

  “Awwww, you're cute.”

  “Cute. Not sexy. You're sexy. Gracie is sexy. I'm sort of cute.” Katie made a face. She wished Addison hadn't told her that he was in love with Trish. His impromptu confession had made Katie annoyingly jealous of the other girl, even though she knew she had no right to be jealous. Katie had no claim on Addy. She was supposed to be madly in love with Ian. “Being sexy isn't going to do Gracie a bit of good if she pulls the same crap tonight that she pulled last time we went dress shopping.”

  “Last time she hated everything and then picked a dress using the eenie-meanie-minie-moe method. Now, thanks to some cruel trick of fate, we have a couple of hours to find her a new dress,” Trish said.

  “I know. She's not going to like any of the dresses. It won't matter how many she tries on.” Katie said.

  “Do you think the problem is with the dresses or with Gracie?” Trish asked.

  “Oh, it's definitely Gracie's issue,” Katie said. “She looks good in everything she puts on and she knows it. Her attitude has nothing to do with how she looks in the dresses.”

  “True. What are we going do about it? I mean, is there anything that we can do?”

  “I think it's time to go try on a couple more bridesmaids dresses and then have a come to Jesus with our bride-to-be,” Katie said firmly. “I don't want to be here until the sun comes up. Gracie is going to have to deal with whatever issues she's having and pick a danged dress.”

  Trish didn't disagree with her as they headed back to the dressing rooms.

  Chapter 40

  “I found my dress,” Trish announced as she walked into the main area of the dressing room wearing a floor length pale orange gown with an understated sparkle and a halter neckline. She looked over at Gracie. “What do you think?”

  Gracie had just finished wiggling her way into a wedding dress that appeared to be mostly made of sheer flowing layers and ruffles. She managed a half-hearted smile for Trish.“I like it. You look hot. David's not going to be able to keep his hands off you.”

  “I'm actually kind of looking forward to seeing his reaction. He's never seen me all dolled up before.” She carefully fluffed her long black hair so that it feathered loosely around her face. Her gray eyes looked wide and a little too bright in the dimly lit dressing room.

  Gracie pursed her lips at her own reflection. “You'll probably get a better reaction out of David then I'll get out of Cal.”

  “Oh, come on now.” Trish clucked her tongue at Gracie. “You're gorgeous.”

  Gracie crossed her arms over her breasts and glared at her reflection in the three-way mirror. “Not in this rag, I'm not. For the record, I've figured out that I don't like ruffles. There isn't any point in me trying on any more dresses that have them. Ruffles are hideous and they make me look fat.”

  Trish rolled her eyes at Gracie as Katie stepped out of her own dressing room. She was wearing a burgundy dress that was similar to Trish's. It was eight inches too long and did nothing at all to accentuate her tiny curves.

  “That is getting to be a very long list,” Katie said as she jo
ined Gracie in front of the mirror. “In the last two months we have learned that you don't like tea length dresses, simple dresses, any dress that is too bright a shade of white, A-line dresses, ball gowns, sleeves, feathers, rouching, ruffles, strapless dresses, corsets, spaghetti straps or, and I quote 'itchy lace'.” She was ticking each item on the list off on her fingertips.

  Gracie nearly smiled. “You make it sound like I'm being difficult.”

  “Are you?” Katie pursed her lips at Gracie.

  “Maybe just a little,” Gracie admitted. “I really wish we could give up and come back another day. I'm really not in the mood for wedding dress shopping.”

  “No, we can't give up. You're out of time to pick a dress.” Trish had ducked back into her own dressing room to change back into her regular clothes.

  Katie began stripping out of the burgundy gown. “Wedding dress shopping for you shouldn't be this hard. You've got a body to die for. You have yet to look bad in a dress.”

  “I don't like any of them.” Gracie kicked at the pile of skirts that had fallen down around her ankles. She stepped out of the dress wearing nothing but her mismatched bra and panties. She crossed her arms over her chest and flopped down into the fancy embroidered chair in the corner of the dressing room. “I don't like dresses, period.”

  “I'm starting to think that your brother was right and your problems picking out a dress aren't even about the actual dresses.” Katie pulled the yellow dress off its hanger and stepped carefully into the skirt. “Want to talk about it?”

  “The dresses?”

  “No. Whatever it is that's making you reject every dress you try on.” Katie wiggled her bare toes in the plushy carpet as Trish stepped back into the room wearing the same casual blue sundress she'd come into the store in. “Spill it, Gracie. Why won't you pick a dress?”

  Gracie sighed. “If I told you that I'm holding out for that magical moment where I find the perfect gown and feel a mystical connection to the dress, would you believe me?”

  “I'd be pretty skeptical. You're not usually sentimental.” Trish zipped Katie into the yellow dress. It looked good on her.

  “But maybe I want to be? Just this once?” Gracie pursed her lips at her reflection. “I don't know. Maybe I'm waiting to find the dress that's going to just blow Cal away. I've been watching all those wedding shows on television and the perfect dress always makes the groom tear up. Maybe I want to see Cal cry.”

  “The only thing about a wedding dress that's going to make Cal cry is the price tag,” Katie said. “Besides, Cal thinks you're gorgeous regardless of what you're wearing. I don't see what you're so worried about.”

  Gracie exhaled a long breath she didn't even realize she'd been holding. “Everything's just gone to hell.”

  “Mmm, yes. And that would be different from every other day around here how?” Katie asked. “Everything's always going to hell.”

  “Cal doesn't care about the wedding,” Gracie blurted out.

  Trish frowned. Katie looked more curious then concerned. “Why don't you think Cal cares?”

  “Because he doesn't. He's completely and totally preoccupied with work. He hasn't been remotely interested in anything that has to do with the wedding. He didn't even care when I told him that someone was trying to ruin our wedding. He says none of it matters.”

  “I don't think he was saying that you don't matter,” Trish said after a moment's pause.

  “Cal's never liked being the center of attention,” Katie reminded Gracie gently. “You know that he loves you. You know that he would do anything for you. If Cal thought he could put a stop to the sabotage, you know he would do it in a heartbeat. Don't stress yourself out over the dresses or the flowers. Addy will figure out who's trying to sabotage your wedding. I have faith in him.” Katie leaned her head against Gracie's shoulder and smiled.

  “What difference does it make if he does catch them?” Gracie wanted to be comforted by Katie's words, but nothing Katie could say was going to make her feel any better about her relationship or her wedding. “He can't go back in time and undo what has already been done.

  Neither Trish or Katie had anything to say to that. After a minute, Gracie continued talking. “I'm just... I don't know. I had all these preconceptions about how my wedding would be and nothing has lived up to my expectations. Do y'all remember the last time we went to the bridal boutique in Beauton? Remember the girl who was getting her dress fitted at the same time that we were?”

  Katie and Trish both nodded.

  “She looked like a stuffed sausage in that dress.”

  “Oh Gracie!” Katie snorted.

  Trish nearly choked on air. She covered her mouth with her hand to hide the laugh that bubbled up. “Don't be ugly! She obviously liked that dress. Maybe all the others looked even worse.”

  “It was two sizes too small and her gut was the first thing my eye went to. It looked bad, and yet-.” Gracie put her hands in the air, struggling to find the right way to explain how she felt.

  “And yet?”

  “Her mom was crying. Her friends were cheering. She had an entire entourage of people who came dress shopping with her and they were all totally and completely ready to lie to her and tell her she looked pretty in that disaster.”

  “Okay.” Trish's expression was carefully neutral.

  “I was jealous.”

  “You were jealous?” Katie did a double take. “You looked a thousand times prettier-. No wait, this isn't about being pretty, is it?”

  “Not at all,” Gracie admitted. “I wasn't jealous about how that girl looked in her dress. I was jealous because so many people obviously care about whether or not she has her perfect moment and finds her perfect dress. I was jealous because she had fifteen people with her and they all wanted to make sure that she knew they thought she looked pretty. I'm jealous because her fiance will probably cry when he sees her walking down the aisle.”

  “You want an entourage?” Trish looked more thoughtful than insulted. “We could have rounded up a crowd of adoring fans if you had really wanted one.”

  “Right, because David totally cares what dress I pick?” Gracie shot Trish a skeptical look.

  “Okay, no. David wouldn't know a sweetheart neckline from an empire waist if it bit him on the ass. He'd still show up if we told him to. So would your brother.” Trish licked her lips and then shrugged.

  “Miss Loretta would have come dress shopping with us if you had invited her,” Katie said. “She cares what your dress looks like and if you feel pretty.”

  “I know, but-.” Gracie rubbed her hands over her face. “I don't know why I didn't invite her. You're right. She would have loved to come with us. I should have invited her.”

  “But you didn't.”

  “I didn't,” Gracie admitted. “I didn't invite Miss Loretta because I wanted my own mother to come dress shopping with me.”

  “They're still refusing to come to the wedding, aren't they?” Katie's sympathy was clear in her eyes.

  Gracie nodded. “My mother says that I'm making a horrible mistake and she won't support me in it. Dad can't be bothered standing up to her. Addison is going to give me away. I know that he loves me, but he's not my Daddy. It seems like a stupid thing to be hurt over, but I'm hurt. My wedding has really driven it home to me that I'm never going to have a good relationship with either one of my parents. Mom and I are not on the same page in life and we never will be. Truth be told, the older I get, the more I realize that she probably never has liked me.”

  “Gracie-.”

  “No. Don't try to make me feel better about it.” Gracie held up her hand and shook her head hard enough to make several strands of hair come loose from her bun. “My shitty relationship with my parents is something I'm going to have to accept. Mom's reaction to my wedding has brought back all the crappy memories I have of her from childhood. She was never there when I needed her. She didn't show up to any of my softball games or choir concerts. Addison had to take me to buy my
first box of pads when I got my period because Mom was working, Granny Pearl was out of town and Dad threw a $20 at me when I told him what had happened. Addy and David taught me how to drive. Addison signed Dad's name on the form that let me get my driver's license. To this day, Mom has never ridden in a car when I was behind the wheel. She didn't take me dress shopping for any of my middle or high school dances. Miss Loretta always bought my dresses and did my makeup. Miss Loretta is the one who taught me how to apply and wear makeup. She's been more of a mom to me than my own mother has.”

  “But you didn't invite her to go dress shopping with us?”

  “No. I didn't. My mother really can't stand Miss Loretta. She says that Miss Loretta is one of the main reasons she and I have never had a good relationship. She says that Miss Loretta has taken over her role and set my expectations unrealistically high. We always get into a huge fight when the topic of Cal's Momma comes up. I was trying to be more accepting of my own mother. I invited her to come with us every time we went dress shopping instead of inviting Miss Loretta. I gave my own mom an opportunity to be with me and help me choose what is supposed to be the most important dress I'll ever wear.”

  “Oh.”

  “She didn't bother showing up. She couldn't even call to tell me she wasn't coming. Typical Jane May.” Gracie sighed and picked up one of the wedding dresses that was hanging in plastic from a hook on the wall of the dressing room.

  “I don't know what to say except for that I'm sorry,” Trish said.

  Gracie shrugged as she stood up to inspect the last few wedding dresses that were hanging on the dressing room wall. “Don't be. It is what it is. I'm just...I don't know. I'm hurt. I'm angry. I'm frustrated. I feel like I don't matter.”

  “You matter.” Katie smiled gently at Gracie. “Maybe your parents aren't supportive but you do have Miss Loretta and your Granny Pearl, both of whom love you like there's no tomorrow. I love you. Trish loves you. Cal adores you. He'd die for you if it came to that. Addison loves you. David loves you like a sister.”