"In my purse," she laughed then said, "Never
leave home without it."
Cole kissed Sabrina's cheek then walked back
to the SUV and left. Cassie and Sabrina finally got away from Luke
and his instructions and went to the truck. Sabrina had a hard time
getting up, because it was so high from the ground, so Luke came
over and gave her a boost. Both of them were laughing when they got
inside. "I need a step stool to get up in here."
"Yeah, Luke has this thing jacked up. He's
so tall, it doesn't bother him, but even I have a little trouble
getting up here. Cowboys and their trucks...the taller the better,
she winked at Bri then cranked up the monster machine and wrestled
the shifter on the steering wheel into reverse.
"I see you got your cast off, you must be
relieved."
"You have no idea," Cassie chuckled then
told her, "My daddy's in a cast too and he's getting it off today.
It was either that or he told his nurse he was gonna saw it off
himself."
Sabrina laughed then said, "I can't wait to
meet him. He sounds like a character."
"Oh, yeah...definitely," Cassie told her
then proceeded to relate the story about him catching Luke climbing
in her window when she was a teenager and threatening to fill him
full of buck shot. Sabrina was doubled over in gales of mirth by
the time Cassie pulled up in front of the bridal shop and turned
off the truck.
Her laughter finally reduced to chuckles
then just a snicker now and again, and Cassie sat there smiling at
her, enjoying seeing her new friend happy. "I'm glad you could
come, Bri. Thank you for agreeing to be my maid of honor."
"I can already tell I'm going to have a
blast...it's been a long time since I've laughed like this," she
admitted then looked down at her hand, her thumb rubbing against a
fine white line on her wedding ring finger that Cassie hadn't
noticed before.
"What happened?" Cassie didn't want to come
out and ask but the sudden switch in Bri's mood told her it must be
bad, and she wanted to know.
Silence filled the cab for a few moments
then Bri cleared her throat and said, "My husband was a cop
too...he got killed in the line of duty almost two years ago."
Cassie gasped in horror then scooted over on
the seat to hug Sabrina to her. "I'm so sorry, I brought it
up."
"No, it's okay. I need to talk about
it...maybe sometime we can get a bottle of wine and I'll tell you
all about it."
"Sounds like a plan," Cassie told her and
gave her another squeeze before she scooted back over and jumped
down from the truck, then leaned back in to get her boxes. Sabrina
managed to get down too without breaking a leg, and Cassie clicked
the lock button on the key fob then they walked into the
boutique.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
The kind older woman she'd bought her dress
from was happy to see them and led them straight to the dressing
rooms, so they could put on their dresses. Cassie tugged at
long-line strapless bra she had to wear under her dress to make it
look right. Putting the darned thing on was like shimmying into a
corset, and it was a little tighter than it had been last time. If
she wasn't mistaken that could be because she had a helluva lot
more cleavage bubbling over the top of the cups. It must be the
baby making his or her presence known in her body, she thought and
smiled.
Once she had the undergarments in place, the
woman helped her 'dive in' to her dress. It couldn't be called
anything else, because she made Cassie put her hands up like she
was going to make a swan dive in the lake and point them for a hole
she made with the dress, then she eased all the fluffy, frou-frou
fabric over her head smoothed it down.
Cassie had to suck in so the woman could zip
the zipper. The dress was very snug around the waist now, but she'd
only have it on for a few hours, so she could tolerate it that
long.
"You look like a dream, Cassie. Your groom
is gonna melt when he sees you."
"I feel like a stuffed sausage," Cassie said
and chuckled. "Hope I don't pass out before I get to him," she told
the woman adjusting her breathing to avoid that right now.
"Oh, is it too tight, sugar?"
"Nah, it'll be fine. We don't have time for
more alterations." Cassie looked in the mirror and saw someone she
didn't even recognize. Her skin glowed and her eyes sparkled in the
white confection of a dress. Her body looked like an hourglass,
especially with the extra boobage caused by the baby.
The dress had a sweetheart neckline edged in
rhinestones that led down to a V waist, also edged in rhinestones,
and a fluffy tulle princess skirt that stopped at her knees in the
front, but cascaded to the floor in the back.
She smiled at the woman then said in a
dreamy voice, "It does look good doesn't it?"
"That dress was made for you."
Cassie held her breath then leaned over
carefully to pick up her hat and the veil then handed them to the
woman. "Can you help me attach this? And do you have a rhinestone
hat band I could buy, or even a tiara to put at the crown of my
hat?
"Sure, stay here and I'll be right back."
Cassie studied herself again in the mirror, her boots went
perfectly with the dress just like she thought they would. Spinning
around, she looked at the back of the dress in the mirror.
It
was
perfect...just like the man
she was going to marry tomorrow. Emotion clogged Cassie's throat
and she fought back the tears burning her eyes.
When the woman came back in Cassie gasped at
the beautiful the double strand rhinestone hatband she'd attached.
She'd also attached Cassie's veil and bunched up a portion of it in
a knot at the back. The filmy lacy veil then flowed from the knot
and would cascade down her back.
"That's amazing...just right," Cassie said
taking the hat from her to put it on and survey the final effect.
Yep, Luke was going to swallow his tongue when he saw this for
sure, she thought and chuckled. "How's Sabrina doing with her
dress?"
"Luckily her dress fit just right, she must
be a true size 6. I'm working on something for her hair, and shoes
to match that won't have to be dyed. Let's go see," the woman
invited with a wave of her hand then held the door open for Cassie
to go first, then fussed behind her lifting the back of the dress
so it didn't drag on the floor, fluffing it as they walked.
When they reached the three-sided mirror at
the pedestal up front, Cassie carefully stepped up, and tugged at
the neckline of her dress. The woman fluffed her skirt again and
Cassie tugged up the neckline of her dress once more. "Do you have
straps I can put on this after ceremony, so I don't wind up giving
our guests a show? I plan on gettin' down at he reception."
The woman chuckled, "You're a true cowgirl
aren't you, sweetie?"
"With all this bling I have on, you have to
ask that?" Cassie hooted and then turned her hips left and right to
admire the dress again. A gasp behind her had her turning to see
Sabrina coming out of the dressing room with her hand over her
mouth.
"Oh. My. God. Cassie you look like a country
princess."
Just what she'd been going for. Cassie
smiled from ear to ear then twirled with her arms out to the side.
"Think Luke's gonna like it?"
"If he doesn't he's a blind man," Sabrina
hooted.
Cassie ran her eyes over the elegant red
dress with the a sweetheart neckline like her own, but unlike
Cassie's her dress had straps. The dress hugged the petite
brunette's curves to right past her hips then belled out with a
kick train in the back. It was perfect.
"That red dress is amazing on you, Bri," she
told her maid of honor, "I think we might have to throw Cole in the
horse trough to cool him off."
Sabrina chuckled then her eyes turned
serious, "You know Cole and I are just friends, right?"
"I think that's what you think, but not what
he thinks, that's what I think," Cassie said then shook her head.
"Or maybe not what he wants."
"I'm not sure I'm ready for anything else
right now. Cole is a nice man and damned good looking, but he's a
lawman, and I swore when Kenny got killed I would never date
another cop."
"Maybe you should talk to him," Cassie
suggested gently.
"Maybe I will. I'm just enjoying his company
so much...it's been a long time, since I've let a man close enough
to do that."
"Well, then just be his friend, Bri...and
see where things go."
"That's what I'll do, thanks Cassie."
Worry filled Cassie that Cole was already
half in love with Sabrina and she was going to break his heart, but
she pushed it to the back of her mind to think about later. Today,
was her day, and tomorrow would be the big day. That's what she
needed to focus on.
"Okay help me get out of this dress so I can
take a deep breath," she laughed and stepped down off the pedestal
to follow the short round woman back to the dressing room.
Cassie and Sabrina were smiling and laughing
when they exited the shop, and walked to the truck with their
dresses over their arms, and packages stacked so high in their arms
they couldn't even see the truck. Cassie stopped and pushed the
unlock button on the key fob for the truck and then shifted her
packages to open the door.
Prickles of unease skittered along the back
of her neck and caused her hair to stand on end. It felt like
someone was watching her. Cassie swallowed thickly then threw her
packages in the truck, not caring if they got wrinkled or dirty.
She unzipped the purse on her shoulder and stuck her hand inside
feeling the comforting steel of the .38 slide into her hand.
She used her thumb to flick off the safety,
then moved around the door to look up and down the street. She saw
a man's back walking past a shop a couple of doors down and
followed him with her eyes until he rounded a corner into an alley.
That back looked familiar dressed in a distinctive polo shirt and
khaki pants.
Although the man's hair was black, not
blonde, she thought he looked an awful lot like James Barton. A
shiver passed through her and she thumbed the safety back on the
gun then hopped up in the cab and slammed the door, quickly hitting
the door lock.
Sabrina's door was still open as she
arranged her packages over the seat. "Sabrina get in quick," Cassie
said with panic settling in her chest. Her heart was beating
ninety-to-nothing inside her chest, and her breathing was fast and
shallow.
Her friend looked up at her face, then paled
and pulled the gun out of her holster. "What's wrong, Cassie? What
did you see?"
"I might be seeing ghosts, but I swear I
just saw James. His hair was black, but I'd know that no ass back
of his anywhere."
Sabrina took a stance she'd seen Luke using
when they were target practicing as she moved her eyes from store
to store, then started walking down the street, her gun ready, but
pointed downward. "Lock the doors, Cassie and call Cole," she said
forcefully.
Cassie leaned over the seat and pulled the
door closed then locked it. She cranked the truck in case she had
to make a quick getaway, before she pulled out her cell phone and
called Cole.
He picked up on the first ring, "Is
everything okay?" his asked with anxious concern.
"No--we're in front of the bridal shop in
Bowie, and I think I saw James. The hair on my neck stood up like
someone was watching me then I saw a man's back turn the corner,
and I swear it was him, even though his hair was black."
"Where's Bri?"
"She went after him," she told Cole with
dread in her voice. "I'm in the truck with it cranked and the doors
locked in case I have to take off."
"If you see him again haul your ass out of
there, I'll be there in a second." Cole hung up and a minute or so
later she heard sirens wailing in the air a few streets over, then
a police cruiser pulled up to the curb by her truck. A policeman
got out and came over to stand by her door, with his gun out, while
he was talked into a microphone at his shoulder.
Cassie swallowed down the fear that tried to
overwhelm her again, then grabbed her purse off the floorboard and
unzipped it in case she needed her gun fast. It didn't look like
the cop protecting her was going anywhere, but she wasn't taking
chances...not with herself, and not with her baby.
A few minutes later she saw Cole come out of
an alley down the street with Sabrina, both had their guns in their
hands, and Sabrina was gesturing wildly with her other hand.
Evidently she was giving him a piece of her mind. He was yelling
back at her, and his face was red and his shoulders stiff.
Even though she was scared witless, Cassie
wanted to laugh. It looked like they were having their first fight,
and Sabrina was giving Cole hell. When Sabrina got back to the
truck, Cassie unlocked her doors and she flung the heavy door back
like it weighed nothing, then vaulted up inside like an Olympic
gymnast.
Obviously in adrenaline overload, Sabrina
was breathing heavily, and her cheeks were flushed, as she shoved
her weapon back in her shoulder holster roughly, then reached over
and slammed the truck door. "That man is a male chauvinist
pig
," Sabrina grated out between her teeth.