Every Bride Needs a Groom Read Online Free PDF Page A

doing.”
    â€œYou’ll settle down someday, Jasper.” Mama wiped her lips with her napkin, which smeared her lipstick all around her mouth. “Hopefully sooner rather than later.” She glanced at me. “And don’t you be discouraging Katie here. She needs a good man in her life.”
    Weird, the way she’d phrased that. Casey was a good man.
    My grandmother nodded. “Yes, Katie should get married and settle down.”
    â€œSettle down?” Seriously? Could I get any more settled?
    Queenie pointed at Jasper. “And you, young man, need a swift kick in the backside for driving like a maniac in the parking lot. I heard all about it from Missy Frasier, who pulled inright behind you. You scared the poor girl to death. She got so worked up telling me about it that she had to take a pill.”
    â€œBut I . . .” Jasper hung his head and went back to eating.
    Queenie turned to Beau. “You stay as sweet as you are, honey bun. You hear me? Don’t ever break Queenie’s heart by falling off the straight and narrow.”
    â€œOh, no ma’am. I won’t fall, I promise.” Beau dropped some crumbs from his fork as he scooped another piece of cake into his mouth.
    â€œStick close to the family and you’ll do just fine.” My grandmother gave him a tender smile as she passed him a napkin. “There’s no place like home, after all.”
    â€œWhy would he want to move away?” Pop glanced up from his food long enough to pose the question. “His mama waits on him hand and foot. Does everything for him.”
    â€œBeau’s my baby.” Mama’s face lit into the loveliest smile. “Can’t help spoiling the baby.”
    This garnered a snort from Jasper.
    And me. “He’s twenty-two, Mama,” I argued. “Twenty- two .”
    â€œWouldn’t matter if he was fifty-two. He’d still be my baby boy.” She turned her attention to Beau. “Want Mama to slice up another piece of bread for you, honey?”
    He nodded. “Yes, thank you, Mama.”
    She went to work carving out a large chunk of bread, which led to a loud groan from the others at the table. Beau was too busy staring at the bread to notice.
    â€œWant me to butter this for you too, baby?” she asked him.
    â€œYep. Thanks. You’re the best, Mama.”
    â€œBless you for that, son. A mother needs to feel needed.” Mama slathered his bread with butter, then addressed the rest of us. “See? Beau will never leave me. He’s gonna stay put right here in Fairfield . . . forever.”
    â€œNot sure if that’s a blessing or a curse,” Pop whispered and then gave me a wink.
    â€œWhy would anyone want to leave? Small-town living is good for the soul.” Queenie took a sip of her tea and leaned back in her chair, knocking her cane off in the process.
    â€œDon’t I know it.” Pop rose and fetched my grandmother’s cane, then hung it back on its perch. “Give me a small town any day. No rushing through traffic. No running late to catch the subway to work. No fighting the crowds on downtown streets.”
    â€œNo stress.” Mama passed Beau’s slice of bread to him. “Well, other than the stoplight going out at Main and Elm, but we don’t get a lot of cars through that intersection anyway, and Mayor Luchenbacher promised to fix it soon.”
    â€œI want to get the heck out of Dodge,” Jasper said. “There’s only so much of this good clean air I can stand. I still want to go to Houston and look for work there. It’s the best place on the planet to find a job, and the cost of living is better than most anywhere else.”
    â€œHouston?” Mama paled as if she was hearing all of this for the first time. Which she wasn’t. “Oh, but it’s not safe in the city, honey.” Her brow wrinkled. “So much crime.”
    â€œWe have