Rebecca and Wes had gone with the Lucy and Ricky Ricardo combo. Rebecca’s red hair was curled and pinned, and she had on a black-and-white polka-dot dress. The outfit was not one to run in, but Rebecca had an old leg injury from the shooting and wouldn’t be running. Wes had greased his blond hair into a pompadour and sprayed it black. But the thing that made it so cute was how the two of them looked together. Rebecca was so relaxed, leaning into Wes and laughing about something. He was smiling at her like no other woman existed on earth.
The sight made Taryn’s chest warm. It hadn’t been that long ago that Rebecca had been crying in Taryn’s office, confessing heartbreaking things about the night of the shooting and sharing the struggles she’d had since. Rebecca had looked so tired and downtrodden. Now it was as if Taryn’s very serious lawyer friend had shed a few layers of skin, and this new, shiny version had emerged from beneath.
The couple reached them and everyone exchanged greetings and hugs. Rebecca gave Taryn a squeeze. “Where’s your costume, missy?”
“Dr. Landry has issues with ball gowns,” Kincaid offered as she reached out and knocked on Wes’s stiff hair as if she were knocking on a door. “Good Lord, what’d you put in here? Cement?”
No one flinched at Kincaid feeling up Rebecca’s husband’s hair. She was a toucher.
Wes smiled proudly. “Temporary hair dye and Brylcreem. That stuff is amazing. I’m thinking of making this my new look.”
Rebecca gave him the side eye. “Don’t get any ideas, Ricky. I like you blond, and I think that hair gel will be a fire hazard in the food truck.”
Wes chuckled and leaned over to kiss Bec on the cheek. “Yes, ma’am.”
“You guys make me completely nauseous. I love it,” Kincaid said happily. “Where’s our other duo?”
“Finn and Liv stopped at the restrooms.” Rebecca glanced over her shoulder. “Oh, here they come.”
A couple wearing tight-fitting costumes with capes trailing behind them came into view from behind a gaggle of Smurfs that were waiting in line for tags. “Batman and Wonder Woman,” Taryn said when her other friends walked up. “Nice!”
“Thanks.” Liv pushed her dark hair away from her face, a look of frustration pursing her lips and a gleam of sweat on her forehead. “But please remind me next time to pee before I get into my costume. Ever try to get out of this much spandex in a port-a-potty?”
“All the time,” Wes said seriously.
Rebecca gently shoved him in the arm. “Oh, Ricky.”
Liv smirked at the other couple. “Well, I’ll take some tips for next time. I’m afraid to look. Did I dip my cape?”
Finn laughed next to her, a deep sound filled with warmth, and tugged off his Batman mask to check her costume. “You’re all dry, Livvy. I thought I was going to have to do my first rescue, though. The curse words coming out of that bathroom were not safe for a family-friendly event.”
Liv snorted and put her hands on her hips. “Wonder Woman needs no rescuer, Bat Boy.”
Taryn rolled her lips inward and pointed. “Maybe not, but Wonder Woman does have toilet paper attached to her shoe.”
“Oh hell,” Liv said, shaking it off. “So anyway, all that is to say sorry I’m running a little behind. We’re ready to be sent out on our missions now.”
Rebecca pulled a paper square from the inner pocket of Wes’s jacket and unfolded the neatly typed to-do list. “I think we have most everything covered. Kincaid’s been helping with check-in and costume approval, but that should be close to done. Wes, if you could make sure we have water bottles set out at each checkpoint, that’d be great. Liv and Finn, could y’all help hand out flags to the runners and show them how to hook them around their waists?”
“Yep, sounds good,” Finn said.
“Taryn, if you could help Kincaid finish up and then, if you two don’t mind, do a walk by the vendors’ tables to make sure they don’t need anything. They paid a fee to advertise here, and a lot of them made an extra donation on top of that, so I want them to feel like they’re well taken care of.”
“Got it,” Taryn said.
“Then when the race starts, everyone just have fun and grab some flags,” Rebecca said.
Kincaid rubbed her hands together. “I’m so ready for that part. Everyone is going down!”
Taryn lifted her palms. “The unicorn is on the hunt! Let all be warned.”
Kincaid nodded seriously. “Yep. You should be worried, doc. You’re going to have flags. This unicorn eats flags for breakfast.”
“I ran track, sister,” Taryn said, jogging in place and trying to get her energy up despite her lack of sleep. “You’ve got no shot.”
“Hey, I was on the dance team,” Kincaid said, affronted. “I have moves.”
Taryn made a bring-it-on motion with her hands. “We’ll see, twinkle toes.”