Amber: Read My Lips (F&L Story #5)

Read My Lips: Chapter 4

Chapter Four

“Do you know that girl?” Linc asked Wil as he approached his brother and plopped his butt in a chair next to him and Sally.  Wil sat on a bench with his wife’s feet propped up in his lap, rubbing them while she dug into a plate of wedding cake and coconut chicken kabobs.  

Sally had only been about seven weeks along in her pregnancy when she started planning the menu for her wedding and not quite in the weird cravings stage yet, but it was honestly the oddest arrangement of foods Linc had ever laid eyes on.  There were fried cheese sticks clustered around a heap of candied walnuts.  There was the cucumber sandwiches paired with the cocktail wieners, the Hawaiian fruit salad and the glazed pork loin, and of course -- Linc’s favorite by far -- the actual wedding cake with a base layer of chocolate cake, a tier of sponge cake, a tier of half butter pecan, half lemon, and the top in fruit cake.  And it seemed Sally had all of them on her plate.

Everyone glanced at the side door where Linc jerked his head towards.  Amber pranced over to one of the other bridesmaids, a blonder version of herself, the one with the screaming baby...must be the sister.  

Sally hastily swallowed a clump of frosting.  “That’s Amber, Chloe’s sister,” she informed them.  “Chloe was helping her move up here for a new job this weekend, so I invited her at the last minute.”

A different blonde woman -- one of Sally’s bridesmaids, the one with the legs; Linc honestly couldn’t keep all these females straight -- joined them.  “Ya’ll talking about Chloe?”

Sally shook her head.  “Nope.  Amber.  Linc was asking.”

Linc groaned.  He didn’t really want to look interested in Amber on a personal level, but now everyone will think he did.  He’d already seen what her pretty, pink mouth looked like up close and personal.  He didn’t need to know much more than that.

“Oh, yeeaahh,” the new blonde drew out in teasing tone.  “Aren’t you too old for Amber?”

Linc turned to her.  “Which one are you?”

“I’m Eve,” she announced with a smile.  “Sally’s niece, and Chloe’s best friend.  We met earlier...you know?”

No, he didn’t know.  This whole week had been a vacant blur.  People coming in and out...names and faces of Sally’s family and friends that he didn’t know.  He attached himself to his parents when they arrived and kind of stayed out of the way from everything else.  He was the Best Man.  He honestly didn’t think that meant he had to remember much more than the ring and his speech.

“Hey!” a third woman -- Emma? if he remembered correctly -- trilled as she curled an arm around Eve’s shoulders.  “I’m your best friend.”

Wil grinned at all the extra female company.  Linc just hoped they didn’t start talking about shoes and menstrual cycles next.  He looked around.  Where was the other one?  The redhead Sage, the Maid of Honor?  He only remembered her name because he had to walk her down the aisle that morning.

Ah...here she comes, Linc grunted to himself.  

“Okay, it’s official,” Sage said, “We’ve been abandoned.  All the guys are out in the driveway, getting drunk and talking baseball.”  She swiped a bite of cake from Sally before Sally could protect her plate, and then she turned to him and winked.  “Hey, Linc.  You’ve got some dirt on your shirt.  It’s funny, because Amber’s got dirt on her, too.”

All eyes swiveled to him...five very curious pairs.  Then they all looked at Amber.  The female in speculation turned at that moment and stared at them.  Blue ice chips spiked out of her eyes as her gaze landed on Linc.