Free Buried in Bargains (Good Buy Girls) by Josie Belle

speculate and wonder?
    “Mean-girl alert,” Laura said as she and Aaron rejoined the group.
    “What?” Maggie asked. “Where?”
    “Britney and company have Diane surrounded,” Laura said.
    “Not for long,” Aaron said. He emitted a sharp whistle and in moments his brothers, Byron, Caleb and Dante, made their way through the crowd toward him.
    Maggie glanced back at Diane, who was no longer with Michael, and sure enough, Britney Bergstrom, who had wanted the gown that Maggie rented to Diane, had a posse of friends circling Diane. One of them was pointing at Diane and laughing. From the malicious look on her face, it was obvious that she was being nasty.
    Despite what Maggie had overheard between Michael and Diane, she felt her blood boil. She loathed bullies.
    Maggie went to step forward, but Ginger stayed her with a hand on her arm. She pointed, and Maggie saw Ginger’s four boys and Laura moving toward Diane, effectively surrounding her.
    Caleb, Ginger’s third-born son, held out his arm to Diane, and she clutched it with obvious relief as he led her out onto the dance floor. Meanwhile, Laura and Aaron stood like sentries with their arms crossed over their chests, glaring at Britney until she and her friends scurried away.
    “It’s moments like this that I am most proud of our children,” Maggie said.
    “Agreed,” Ginger said with a smile. “They are good people.”
    When Britney and her crowd left, Aaron and Laura joined Diane and Caleb on the dance floor while Byron went in search of his girlfriend and Dante, the youngest of the Lancaster boys, looked to be heading back to a cluster of his friends by the buffet table.
    “Oh, would you look at that?” Ginger said.
    Maggie whipped her head around to follow Ginger’s stunned gaze to the door. She felt her own jaw drop.
    Summer Phillips was standing in the doorway with her hand on the arm of Tyler Fawkes. To say that they were a striking couple was an understatement. Tyler had squeezed his considerable girth into a white tuxedo with a black shirt, open at the throat, very John Travolta in
Saturday Night Fever.
    But Summer. Summer was the topper. Pink sparkles caught the eye, but then it was hard to decide where to look. In what appeared to be formal wear à la Frederick’s of Hollywood, Summer wore a dress, if it could be called such, that consisted of two strips of narrow sparkly fabric that crisscrossed over her bosom, leaving her entire upper torso bare. Her skirt was more of the same glittery pink fabric but sported a thigh-high slit in the front. She towered over Tyler in silver platform sandals, and her faux blonde hair was teased up to add another few inches as it had been styled into huge roll on top of her head and was held in place by a sparkling tiara.
    Everyone in the room turned to take in the couple, and even the band stumbled for a note or two. To put it mildly, Summer was a showstopper. She preened under the attention and scanned the room. When her eyes lit upon Maggie, she gave her a cat-that-ate-the-canary smile and made her way over to their group.
    “Summer.” Ginger greeted her as she approached. “Funny. I didn’t think you were on the guest list.”
    “Don’t need to be,” she said. “I’m Tyler’s date.”
    Tyler hadn’t taken his eyes off of Summer’s chest, and Maggie was pretty sure he hadn’t heard a word she’d said.
    “Isn’t that right, Tyler?” Summer asked. “Tyler, eyes up here!”
    Summer pinched his arm, and Tyler said, “Ouch!” and snapped his eyes up to hers.
    “Yes, dearest,” he said.
    Summer cast them a self-satisfied smirk. Then she turned her gaze on Maggie, and it glowed with triumph.
    “What, did the Amish have a fire sale?” she asked as she took in Maggie’s gown with obvious distaste.
    Maggie glanced down at her gown. She was covered from neck to ankle, and she hadn’t taken off her wrap yet, which made her look as bundled up as a demure grandmother.
    “Why you—” Ginger