The Mane Attraction Read Free

just keeps sighing at me and shaking her head.”
    “I don’t know. After the last three weeks of constant Janie Mae chatter, disappointed sighs sound pretty good. And when’s dinner? I’m gettin’ hungry.”
    “Another half hour at least. Maybe you could go back up and gently coax the bride to dress faster.”
    “I am not going back up there. You’re asking too much. Besides, Mitch is up there. He’ll get her to move along.”
     
     
    Mitch held one end of the rope, and the wild dogs held the other. With one leg crossed over the other, he rested his left elbow on his knee and studied his nails.
    “Pull!” They did, and Mitch didn’t budge.
    “Ladies, aren’t you getting a little embarrassed by this?”
    “No!” they all yelled. He wasn’t exactly surprised. African wild dogs had high embarrassment thresholds.
    Jess, who hadn’t participated—this time—in the game of tug, sat down next to Mitch. She wore a satin robe and not much else.
    “How you doing, beautiful?”
    “Fine. Glad that part is over.”
    He glanced at her flat belly and asked his daily question since finding out she was pregnant with Smitty’s love child, “And how’s Mitch Junior?”
    Jess shook her head. “You have got to stop calling her that. Smitty will have your head.”
    “But I love watching how red his face gets.” He looked at the clock on the wall. “You better get dressed. There’s still more to your day.”
    She rolled her eyes. From what Mitch could tell, Jess hadn’t had much to do with arranging this wedding other than to insist on the Karaoke Room and no real flowers at the ceremony or the reception since she was violently allergic. From the flowers on the tables to the bride’s bouquet, all were fake flowers but so artfully done, he wouldn’t have known if someone hadn’t said something about it.
    “I haven’t seen the other dress. Put it on, and I’ll see if I can give it the Mitch seal of approval.”
    “Okay.” She glanced longingly at the rope and the She-dogs still attached to it.
    “No, Jess. You can’t play tug.”
    She gave a cute little growl before storming off. “My day my ass!”
     
     
    “I knew you’d be back here. Hidin’.”
    Sissy smiled up at her daddy. She wasn’t surprised he’d found her in the back of the kitchen, hiding in the room the staff used to take breaks. He knew his daughter better than most people realized. But they’d always been close. “You’re one of the few who don’t piss me off, Shug,” he used to tell her when she was only five. Bubba Ray Smith was a unique good ol’ boy, but Sissy loved her father and would destroy anyone who messed with him.
    “I’m not hiding. I’m taking a much needed break.” She stood and hugged her father. “Hey, Daddy.”
    “Hey, Shug.” He always called her that when they were alone. It was his pet name for her. He started off calling her Sugar, but when she’d turned four or so, he’d gotten lazy and shortened it to Shug. “How are you holding up?”
    “I’m trying, Daddy. I really am. But she’s pushing me.” Like always .
    “You gotta stop letting her get to you.” Her father pulled out the chair for her, and Sissy sat down, her father taking the chair next to hers. “She pushes you because she wants you to be the best.”
    “The best at what? Matricide?”
    “That ain’t funny, and you know it.”
    It was kind of funny.
    “You’re grown now, Shug. You can’t let her get to you anymore. You’ve got your own Pack, and you don’t even live at home anymore. Although I’d never stop you from moving back if ya want.” And she heard the hope in his voice. It broke her heart and made her feel very loved.
    “You know I can’t come back, Daddy. Not to live.” She smiled. “But at least I’m in the States now.”
    “Yeah. That’s true. And here I know my little girl’s safe.”
    Yeah, her father still saw her that way. His baby girl. Sweet, delicate, his princess. Of course, everyone else knew