Read Online D is for Drunk by Rebecca Cantrell - Free Book Online Page A

they were now rolling down the hill about as fast as a senior citizen jogging.
    “Hurry,” she said. “I need to drop you at the office before I head out for the show.”
    “We’re not stopping at the office.”
    She didn’t like the sound of this. “Why?”
    “I’m taking you to Burbank. I checked the traffic on my phone before we left, and there’s no time to go back to the office.”
    “Are you crashing my date?”
    “I thought you said it wasn’t a date, and Emily and the kids were coming along, too.”
    “I did not.”
    “It was in that text you showed me, the one with Action Jaxon with his shirt off.”
    She regretted showing him that stupid text. She called up her own traffic app. He was right.
    “See?” he said. “I’m right, as usual.”
    “I wouldn’t call that usual.” She sighed. “Pull over.”
    “Pull over?”
    “We’ll never get there on time with you behind the wheel. We won’t make it off this hill.”
    But Aidan hadn’t pulled over, and so they had arrived ten minutes late. Emily, Tex, and the kids waved from the front entrance. Violet scuffed red cowboy boots against the ground, and Van sported a black cowboy hat. Emily’s calico summer dress flowed when she moved. Where had she found calico? Tex had come in jeans and a cowboy shirt with pearl snaps down the front.
    “You guys look like you strolled off the set of Gunsmoke ,” Aidan said.
    “We dressed up, Maloney Junior.” Violet scuffed her boots against the ground. “It’s called a theme.”
    “Sorry I didn’t have time to stop off at home for my cowboy clothes,” Sofia said. “And thanks for dropping me off, Aidan. Tex can give me a ride home.”
    “Well, I was really hoping I could see the show,” Aidan said.
    “It’s probably sold out,” Sofia said. “I had trouble getting tickets last night.”
    “Mr. Ford left two tickets for you, Auntie Sofia,” said Van. “You could give one to Maloney Junior.”
    She looked at Emily, hoping for a rescue.
    “I used one of those tickets for us,” Emily said. “So there isn’t really an extra.”
    Emily was a good liar when she applied herself.
    “I have two,” said Tex. “You can be my date.”
    She threaded her arm through Aidan’s and marched for the entrance.
    “Sorry,” said Emily.
    “Why are you sorry?” Violet asked. “Because Sofia forgot her outfit?”
    “Because of that.” Emily started toward the entrance.
    With any luck, Tex’s seats weren’t next to theirs.
    They hurried inside the tent toward their seats. Ponies romped around the ring with children standing on their backs. The kids didn’t look much older than Violet.
    “I want to do that,” she said. “Mom?”
    Emily flinched, but pretended she hadn’t heard. “We’re A27 through A30. You go first and clear a way, Sofia. I’ll follow up and sweep.”
    Emily always went last so she could keep an eye on the kids. They had to keep the rugrats flanked.
    Sofia said ‘excuse me’ twenty-six times until she got to their seats. And there, right next to her seat, sat Aidan.
    “I got popcorn,” he said. “For the kids.”

                                                                                                                                                                     

    CHAPTER 13
    T   he show was similar to Cirque d’Soleil , but with horses. The lighting and music were entrancing, and she couldn’t take her eyes off the performers. Violet and Van sat still as statues, staring at the stage in wonder. They didn’t even finish Aidan’s popcorn.
    Riders and horses moved in complicated dances around the ring. The performers were constantly standing, jumping, and tumbling on and off the horses. It made her dizzy to watch.
    Then Jaxon entered. He rode two horses at once, with a foot on the back of each. No