The Curvy Sister (A BBW Erotic Romance) (14 page)

“Ok then.”

“Ok.”

She turned and headed back
down the hill. I watched her go, so very different from me, but, maybe not
entirely.

14

____________

The day of the wedding
brought a sky the color of spilled ink that ran and soaked through grey cloud
stuff, rolling and angry in every direction. It hadn’t rained yet, but we all
kept our eyes to the skies.

The thunder, even without
rain, kept Bailey on edge. Everything it cracked she was on her feet lunging
for the open window to see if there were drops. Umbrellas were collected and
fathers and uncles swore they’d get us all to the church in one, dry piece.

The King’s farmhouse was
turned into a pink tulle utopia. Every mirror in the house was transported to
Garton’s wife’s sitting room where bridesmaids curled their hair and fastened
their bodices. No one mentioned the night of the bar or Jason or the
unfortunate reality of Jonathan and Bailey and my past. The girls were oddly
upbeat and complimented me on my dress, on my hair. I tried to blow it off like
it didn’t matter, but inside I was kind of relieved.

While all the bridesmaids
wore long yellow and antique white dresses, I was fitted for a pink gown with a
corset bodice and soft waves of blush pink satin. The laces on the corset were
black and secretly I thought I looked amazing. The dress accented my wide hips,
made they curvy and lovely instead of awkward and bulky. And forget how great the
corset made my breasts. Thank god for the straps and a panel of modesty lace or
the wedding was one jiggle away from an R rating.

I managed to avoid all
mention of Jason except for one moment when my mother commented on hoping she’d
get to see me dance that night. She winked, Bailey blushed and shrugged my way,
and I didn’t answer. All I wanted to do was get through the ceremony and
reception in one piece without any drunken comments from aunt Kathy or anyone
else about my failed trip down the aisle.

I did not, however, manage to
avoid Jason. I went searching for a safety pin when one of the bridesmaids
thought her cleavage might be a little too cleavagy, and when I turned into a
guest bedroom, there he was.

In tight jeans and a sweaty
t-shirt he was gorgeous, but standing there in his tux, buttoning his cuffs, I
felt my whole body react to him. My heart, no longer hollow, jackhammered
noisily against my rib cage. He didn’t notice me at first, and so for a moment
I had the luxury of just watching him move, his strong body, his eyes reflected
in the mirror.

And then those baby blues met
mine and he spun around surprised. His mouth opened, his eyes sank down my
body, and I felt myself blush all over.

“Cassidy. Wow, you look…”

“Safety pins,” I interrupted.
“I’m looking for some.”

“Here.” He stepped aside and
motioned for the vanity. It meant I had to cross the room and stand near him,
which was nearly impossible, but when he stepped closer I didn’t think I’d be
able to keep breathing.

“You look beautiful,” he admitted
quietly.

I slid open one little drawer
after another until I found a handful of stray safety pins. I squeezed them in
my hand and turned to go, but he caught my fingers and held me back.

“Please don’t,” I begged.

“I only wanted to tell you
that I took your advice. I told my grandfather what I thought he should do. And
he listened. He’s selling the farm and moving in with my mom. Not only that but
he’s going to teach some specialized agriculture classes up at the high school
on the side.”

“Oh, that’s wonderful news.
He’s going to be great at it.” I smiled, or tried to, but him not letting me go
didn’t help.

“I also wanted to tell you
that I’m leaving tomorrow.”

Death. Slow agonizing death.
I looked away so he couldn’t see it happening. I willed myself not to cry. I
knew he’d leave after the wedding, but hearing it wasn’t better.

“Good,” I murmured. “I’m glad
to hear it.”

“Are you?”

“Does it matter?”

“Look at this.” He reached
into his jacket and retrieved something long and narrow from his inner pocket.
He handed it to me. It was a plane ticket back to New York.

“So?” I shrugged, but my
fingers shook ever so slightly.

“Look at the date.” I did. It
was dated for two weeks ago.

“I don’t understand.” I
looked up at him, met his eyes.

“I was supposed to go home
two weeks ago, but I didn’t. Couldn’t. I wasn’t ready to leave you yet. I
thought maybe this was…something.”

“It’s not.” I handed the
ticket back to him. “Have a safe flight back home, Jason.”

I turned and fled the room
before he could stop me, calling out to the girls who needed safety pins so
they could mob me and protect me from him coming after me. I didn’t want to
think about the possibilities of what could have been when they weren’t.

###

Outside, the world looked
dream-like, muted in some places, Technicolor in others. A bad sign. I gazed
into the sky and watched the clouds growing more turbulent by the passing
minute. The church was only across the street from the reception hall. If we
could hole up inside before it started coming down, the wedding might be saved.
I didn’t think we’d get that lucky.

“Cassidy, I need you.” Bailey
broke through my thoughts to grab me before she got into someone’s car. I
frowned and held onto her hands as tightly as she was holding onto mine.

“What’s wrong?”

“Something blue. I was going
to get a necklace from grandma’s jewelry box and wear it for my something
Blue.” She smiled, though frantic. “Can you take me by the house on our way to
the church?”

I glanced at the car my mom
and dad were getting into. Jason stood near them and for a moment caught my
eye.

“Sure, of course. We’ll take
the jeep. Get in.” I motioned her over to my car, made sure it was clean enough
not to damage her dress, and helped her in. Fortunately she’d opted for a
simple dress with no train or we’d be in real trouble.

“You want me to come with?”
my mom asked but I shook my head. I thought I detected a worrying glance
between the two of us.

“No, we’ll be fine. Don’t let
the wedding start without us!” I waved, threw the jeep in gear, and revved it
down the road toward my house. If we were quick we could be in and out before
it started raining. I prayed.

She ran inside and quickly
sorted the necklaces for the one she wanted. I helped her put it on and as I
was clasping the necklace behind her neck, a clap of thunder so strong and so
close rattled the house and all the lights died with it.

“Holy shit.” Bailey jumped up
and grabbed my hand. “What was that?”

“Our cue to go. Come on
before the rain starts. We’re going to be cutting it close, I think.”

Too late. We got to the porch
and the sky opened up and dropped a torrent of rain almost instantly blinding.
We jerked back under cover before we were both ruined, panic destroying
Bailey’s calm.

“No, oh no. Not today. Please
not today.”

“It’s fine, Bailey,
everything is fine. I’ll get the jeep and pull it up close. I’ll get you some
rain boots. You take the umbrella and make a run for it.”

“But you’ll get all wet.”

“No one will care if my hair
gets messed up.” I leaned in and kissed her cheek, surprising us both. “We’ll
call ahead and tell the girls to have curling irons and blow dryers at the
ready, just in case.”

I went back inside for my
boots, helped her into them, and dove out into the rain. My hair fell on impact
but it didn’t seem as important as getting Bailey in without ruining her dress
and hair. I could get close enough to the stairs that she wouldn’t even have to
step on the ground if she was careful.

Bailey, for all her fragile
beauty, wasn’t afraid of rain or mud or a thunderstorm. She hiked up her dress
around her hips, hooked the umbrella under one arm, and climbed down the steps
to the open jeep door. As she maneuvered successfully inside, I glanced in the
rearview mirror. Adrenaline and fear flooded my veins at what I saw. I grabbed
Bailey’s thin wrist.

“A wall cloud.”

She twisted in her seat,
paling at the word and we both stared through the back window at the massive
cloud formation lowering its rotating mouth towards the ground. The long flat
of it seemed still, rainless, angry, and such a deep, ocean blue.

“Get us out of here,
Cassidy.”

I couldn’t tear my eyes away
from the cloud formation, the sheer size of it could swallow half of Castle
Creek. Gone in an instant, sucked into the Oz. I fumbled for the keys,
struggled to turn the ignition.

“Cassidy, GO!”

The roar hit me from behind,
knocked the breath right out of me. My ears popped, a violent noise inside my
head as the wall cloud dropped the tornado in the middle of the King’s alfalfa
field. Bailey screamed and I hit the gas as hard as I could. The jeep lurched
into the yard and I knew we’d never outrun the tornado. The cellar doors were
on the other side of the house, the side closest to the churning mass of cloud
and lightening, so I gunned it for the barn where we had another cellar beneath
it. Bailey held on, praying, swearing. We got about halfway across the yard
when the tires got stuck in the mud.

“Get out of the car! Get out
and make a run for the barn. Bailey go go!”

I shoved my sister into her
door and whipped open mine. I could feel the monster behind us sucking at my
hair, at my dress. The sensation was nauseating, but I hit the ground running.
I stumbled in my heels but Bailey grabbed onto me, mud splattered and rain
swept and together we ran for the barn clinging to each other as the tornado
ate our screams.

I fell to my knees where the
cellar door was hidden and scratched at the latch to free it. I’d no sooner
gotten the door open and shoved Bailey awkwardly down the ladder that I heard
the barn doors ripped off their frames and tiles scored from the roof like
tinder sticks. Bailey grabbed my wrist and yanked me head long into the cellar
as the tornado devoured the barn and sunk us unto darkness.

15

____________

Quiet.

The only sounds I could hear
was Bailey’s heartbeat and our breathing, ragged and wet but alive. Everything
hurt, every inch of my body.

“You awake?” I whispered. My
whisper sounded terribly loud, but she nodded weakly.

“My head…” She ran her
fingers across her right eyebrow and flinched. Her fingers came away red.

“You got hit when part of the
ceiling collapsed. I dragged you over here.” I nodded across the room where the
thin light filtered in between the broken floor boards. I could see where the
barn had collapsed and stabbed through the floor, cutting off half the room
from the little alcove where we huddled. I tightened my arms around her
shoulders and she clung tightly to me.

“My wedding,” she whispered.

“It’ll still be there. They
can’t have it without the bride, after all.” I tried to tease, but my voice
sounded raw and it hurt to talk.

“I hope they are ok.”

“It went quiet shortly after
the barn fell. I bet we were the only ones hit. You’ll see.”

She nodded against my chest.
“I bet Jonathan and Jason will come for us.”

I tucked her hair from her
face and smiled. “Everyone will come. You’ll see. We just have to wait a little
while.”

We waited. And while we
waited we talked a little now and then about grandma, about our parents, about
Jonathan. It didn’t hurt talking about him like I thought it should. My
engagement to him seemed like someone else’s life.

“I really love him,” she
said. “I hope he’s safe.”

“I know you do. I’m glad you
do. Seeing the way he looks at you, Bails, he never looked at me like that. It
isn’t great how it happened, but I think we are all going to be better off for
it in the end.”

She tilted her head back to
gaze up at me. “Do you mean that?”

I nodded. “I do.”

“There’s something I have to
tell you.”

“Because those seven words
don’t lead to anything bad ever.”

She laughed, a weak sound I
hated to hear. She needed a doctor. I hoped the wedding party would be here
soon.

“The farmhouse. Jonathan sold
it.”

“What?” I tried to pull away
from my sister, shocked at the ease in which she said those terrible words. I
was tired, hurt, but not so tired and hurt that I didn’t want to smother her
all over again. “How could you? It’s not Jonathan’s to sell!”

“Cassidy, no, he sold it to
Jason.”

I stopped my imminent
homicidal rage to stare dumbly at her.