Full Blast by Janet Evanovich & Charlotte Hughes Page A

the rage in Hollywood. Susan Sarandon and Sharon Stone are wearing this style. Mitzi, the cosmetologist, did my makeup. Of course, I ended up buying fifty dollars’ worth of foundation, powder, and eye shadow from her, but she showed me how to use it to enhance my best features.”
    “You look great,” Jamie said and meant it. “In fact, you look ten years younger.”
    “That’s what everyone said. It sort of made up for the fact they already knew about Luanne Ritter. News travels fast in this town.” She paused. “Um, Jamie, would you mind if I kept the Mustang for a few more days? It’s going to cost a fortune to fix my old car.”
    “What’s wrong with it?”
    “Don’t ask.”
    “It’s the engine, right?”
    “Yeah, but that doesn’t mean your psychic friend is on the up-and-up.”
    “You’re saying it’s just another coincidence?” Jamie asked.
    “I’m saying my car is old, and the engine was bound to give out sooner or later.”
    Jamie just looked at her.
    “Frankly, the car is not worth what it would cost to replace the engine so I need to look around, see if I can find something affordable.”
    “You’re welcome to keep the Mustang as long as you need it,” Jamie replied.
    “You’re a doll. By the way, I hear your friend Dee Dee is throwing a big birthday party for Frankie tomorrow night. You plan on going?”
    “I wouldn’t miss it.”
    “Who are you going with?” Vera asked.
    Big pause. “Mike.”
    “ Our Mike? What’s wrong, couldn’t you find a real date?” She didn’t wait for Jamie to respond. “Well, I don’t blame you for not wanting to go alone. Not with people still talking about your broken engagement and all.”
    Jamie felt her ego plunge to her toes. “That wasn’t my fault.” Which was true. She’d broken up with Phillip Standish because his mother had been the ringleader of the town’s corruption scandal. “Besides, I didn’t love him.” That was true, too. She’d simply wanted to belong to a real family for once. Security and predictability had been important to her at the time. Seemed those days were gone forever. Her life was about as predictable as a tornado. And that tornado had a name: Max Holt.
    “Oh, nobody is blaming you,” Vera said. “It’s just, well, I don’t want folks feeling sorry for you. I wish you could have found a better date than Mike. I mean, he’s so young. He can’t be more than twenty-four or five.”
    “I’m hoping he’ll look older in his tux,” Jamie said.
    “I’m hoping he’ll remember to wash behind his ears.”
    Leave it to Vera to make things worse, Jamie thought. “It’s not a real date, okay? He’s just acting as my escort. Besides, he wanted to go so he could snap some pictures for the society column.” Jamie regretted the words before they left her mouth. Snapping pictures was supposed to be Vera’s job.
    “I’ve already heard about the birthday cake your friend Dee Dee chose for Frankie,” Vera said, as if she were more interested in the latest gossip than she was in snapping pictures. “Lyle Betts baked it if that tells you anything.”
    Jamie leaned back in her seat. “Oh, yeah?”
    “The way I heard it, Lyle has an adults’ only book to order from. The cake is supposed to be of a naked woman.”
    Jamie chuckled. It sounded like something Dee Dee would do; she could be outlandish at times. Which was why some of the more genteel families had had trouble accepting the couple when they’d first moved to Beaumont. Dee Dee had arrived wearing rhinestone outfits, and Frankie had shocked the town when he’d invited his old wrestling buddies for a visit. Jamie had taken them under her wing and invited them to all the social events, and the two had become a hit. It was a known fact they could liven up even the dullest party with their presence. And when Frankie had run for mayor, promising to clean up town corruption, he’d won hands down.
    “And get this,” Vera said. “People are lining up at