by Becky McGraw
"You got it, sugar. No Texas bride, or bridesmaid would be without it...you'll look great," she assured her friend and looped her arm through Sabrina's and led her toward the house.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Four hours later, Cassie and Sabrina sat in Cassie's bedroom letting Betty Lou put the final coat of shellac, also know as hairspray to non-southerners, on Cassie and Sabrina's hair, and then one more coat of mascara to make sure their lashes were long and lush.
"One more coat of that stuff and I think my smile will be frozen on my face for life like the Joker in Batman."
"My eyelashes are about stuck to my eyebrows," Cassie hooted then said, "But damn, we sure do look good." She turned her head left and right admiring the beautiful style Betty Lou had teased and worked her hair into. She'd drawn up the curls in a loose ponytail at her nape and pulled loose tendrils to frame her face. Although her eyes were smoky and dramatic, the rest of her makeup was muted, except for her deep rose colored lips. They were the perfect shade, and Betty had glossed them up so they looked plump and full.
"Where's your veil, baby girl? I want to put it on you so you don't mess up your hair trying to do it yourself."
Cassie got up and went to the closet and pulled down the box with her hat and veil, then walked over and handed it to Betty Lou. When she pulled it out, Betty Lou's hand flew to her considerable bosom and she gasped. "Why that is the most beautiful headpiece I've ever seen."
"Thanks," Cassie grinned at the woman's dramatics. It was pretty, but it was just a white Stetson with a veil attached.
"We probably should put your dress on before we put this hat on you," she said gnawing her red lips.
"It's a little early yet..." Cassie told her. They still had an hour before the ceremony.
"I'd wait, but I have another bride to do after I leave here..." Betty Lou told her fingering the large beads at her throat.
"Okay, let me get it..." Cassie wasn't looking forward to being in the dress longer than she had to, but she didn't want to walk down the aisle with messed up hair either. She grabbed the garment bag off the rod and walked back into the bedroom then laid it on the bed and unzipped it. Pulling it out she smoothed layers of tulle then took it off the hanger and handed it to Betty Lou.
"Okay, sugar, I'm gonna get this thing draped on my arms and you just dive right in," she told her. Cassie knew this drill from the times she'd had to do this for the lady at the dress shop. She put her palms together above her head and bent forward and aimed for the open hole in the center of the dress.
The hairdresser helped her shimmy it down over her hips then tugged it down a few times so it sat where it should. Sabrina came over and helped her fluffing the layers of tulle into place and then smiled up at her.
"Don't worry about zipping it yet, I'll do that right before I walk." At least she could halfway breathe until then. She tugged up the top of the gown then dug inside the bodice and tugged up the long line bra again.
"That dress is gorgeous, Cassie. You're gonna be the prettiest bride in Texas, darlin'," Betty Lou told her with tears welling up in her eyes. Cassie hoped she held onto those tears, because with all that blue eye shadow and liner, they'd have a mess if she let them go.
Cassie smiled at her then bent over to give her a hug. "Thanks for helping me today, Betty Lou."
"I wouldn't have missed it, sugar. Your mama would be so proud." She knew Betty Lou had known her mama and had been friends with her, so her words meant a lot.
Cassie felt her lower lip tremble and she sniffed a few times waving at her eyes to try and dry up the moisture she felt there. "Stop or your gonna make me mess up your beautiful makeup job." Cassie glanced over at Sabrina and saw her eyes had teared up too.
Betty patted Cassie's hand and said fussily, "Sit, sit--I need to get your hat on." After a few minutes and a lot of bobby pins, Betty stood back to admire her work. "There you go, darlin'. I don't think a tornado could take that hat off."
Cassie laughed then stared at herself in the tri-fold mirror on the vanity and sighed. All her life she'd had a picture in her mind of what she'd look like on her wedding day, and this was it. And she was marrying the man of her dreams in less than an hour. Betty Lou patted her shoulder and told her to get her lots of 'pictures', then gathered up all her tools and put them back in the big flowered bag she'd brought them in, then kissed her cheek and left.
Cassie had just sat back on the vanity stool when she heard thunder rumble outside. She got up and quickly walked to the window to look out at the darkening clouds. Sabrina was right behind her looking out too.
"Hey is that smoke over behind the barn?" Sabrina asked reaching around Cassie to point at what she saw.
Cassie whirled around and screamed, "FIRE!" at the top of her lungs, then picked up her skirt and ran out the door and down the stairs. She stopped at the phone and dialed 911 and hollered into the phone, "Fire at the Double B..." then dropped the phone and ran out the door heading toward the barn at a full out sprint.
She was halfway across the yard yelling "FIRE!" every few steps when she heard Luke behind her yelling at her to stop. She didn't break stride as she ran toward the orange glow behind the barn, then straight into the thickening smoke at the front.
Luke's heart stopped when he saw Cassie go barreling into the burning barn in her wedding dress. He ran faster than he even knew he could after her, then stopped at the door for a second to search inside for her. He saw her at the far end of the row of stalls to the left, opening stall doors and swatting horse's rears to get them moving toward the front. The horses blocked his view of her, and he heard galloping hooves coming toward him and dove out of the way at the last minute to keep from getting trampled. Honey was first out, followed by the roan mare that Bud usually rode, then his big black gelding and a couple of others.
He went to go inside, but stopped when he heard more frantic hoof beats then saw two more horses run out then head around the side of the barn. He stepped inside yelling Cassie's name and with his arm bent over his nose to try and keep the smoke from overwhelming him.
Through the thickening smoke he saw her running to the right side of the barn where she'd put Titan and the new mares. He ran that way to intercept her, but saw someone else instead. James Barton stood by Titan's stall with a gas can in one hand and a gun in the other. He had the gun pointed directly at Cassie.
"Barton!" Luke yelled and pulled the gun he wasn't supposed to be wearing out of the holster under his tux. The man spun around with the gun aimed at him and pulled off a shot. Luke dodged to the right and flattened himself against a stall, then raised his gun and fired a shot at James' head. Somehow the man managed to avoid being hit, so Luke fired off two more shots. One hit him square in the forehead and the second hit him in the chest. A shocked look came over Barton's face, then he fell face forward into the dirt. Good riddance, Luke thought and yelled for Cassie.
He could barely see her through the smoke now, and he yelled her name again. She didn't respond, but one at a time, the new mares ran past him toward the front of the barn. Luke saw hot flames were licking at the rafters now and would reach the hayloft momentarily. When that happened, he knew the place would go up like matchsticks. Luke covered his mouth and eyes with his forearm again, then ran down the aisle toward Titan's stall. He stepped over James Barton's body, then flicked open Titan's stall door and slid it open. The horse ran past him, and he slapped his rump to keep him moving.
Coughing violently, Luke stumbled further down the aisle looking for Cassie. He saw a pile of white material sticking out from under the last mare's stall and a pair of white cowboy boots. Panic surged through him and he ran to her and picked her up in his arms and took off for the front of the barn.
Behind him, Luke heard timbers snapping further back in the barn, before they crashed to the floor with a loud boom. Cinders and ashes floated in the air around him as he ran. Luke was lightheaded from inhaling the smoke, and his lungs burned like they were on fire too, but he kep
t focused on reaching the door of the barn. It was the only way he was going to save Cassie and his baby.
Orange flames were licking at the left wall now, climbing along the ceiling, so Luke knew their time for surviving was running out. He ran faster, but his legs were getting weak and didn't seem to want to cooperate. Finally he saw light through the smoke and ran outside then collapsed to his knees with Cassie in his arms. He set her down then fell down himself.
Cassie moaned as she started to come awake, fighting at whatever was covering her nose and mouth. Her throat burned, and her lungs felt like they were roasted, and every muscle in her body ached. Finally able to open her eyes she looked around at all the faces surrounding her, staring at her with worry, and then looked at the blue-uniformed man kneeling beside her. "Are you hurt anywhere ma'am?" he asked her then pressed his fingers to her throat. She shook her head from side to side, but then thought about the baby, and panicked trying to sit up. The man pressed her back down and she yelled with tears in her eyes, "I'm pregnant!"
"You'll have to have the baby's health checked out at the hospital. An ambulance is on the way..."
"I'm not going to the hospital, I'll go to my doctor..." she told him raspily, then Luke's absence by her side hit her, "Oh, my god, where's Luke?" Cassie wailed and managed to get up even though the medic was trying to keep her lying down.
Cassie pushed through the crowd surrounding her, yelling his name, then saw another crowd gathered a short distance away and ran toward them. She elbowed through to find Luke laying unconscious on the ground as two men worked on him.
His face was gray and soot covered and it didn't look like he was breathing. Cassie sobbed loudly then ran over to slid on her knees beside him. She ran her hands over his thick black hair and asked them in a frantic whisper, "Is he breathing?"
"Yeah, he's breathing, but not evenly...he's still unconscious. Hopefully the oxygen will bring him around in a second. Doesn't look like he was burned anywhere, but he definitely has some smoke inhalation going on. An ambulance is on the way to take ya'll to the hospital to make sure you're okay."
Cassie glanced over at the barn about a hundred yards from where they were and saw only smoldering ashes. She sobbed, for Luke, for her horses who were alive, but homeless. This was all James Barton's fault. She'd seen the weasel with a gas can and gun in his hands before the smoke got the best of her and she passed out.
"Did anyone see James run out of the barn?"
Cole pushed through the crowd and knelt down beside her, his eyes flicking over Luke then back to her. "Was James in the barn?"
"Yeah, I saw him standing by Titan's stall when I made it over there to let him and the mare's out. He had a gun and a gas can...I don't know anything else because I passed out from the smoke right after I saw him."
"Luke ran in after you and carried you out," his eyes traveled to Luke then back to her. "You shouldn't have gone in there Cassie..." he told her fervently.
"I know...but I had to. My horses were going to burn up. At least they had a chance if I could let them out of their stalls. There was no way I could stand there and do nothing to help them..." she told him and felt her lower lip tremble as tears started down her cheeks at the same time the rain that had been threatening all day started to fall from the sky in big warm drops. The crowd around them scattered moving swiftly toward the tent that had been put up for their reception. Her horses were safe, but Luke wasn't. Again this whole mess was her fault.
Cole's eyes glittered with understanding then he hugged her to him and kissed the top of her head. "I know why you did it, and don't blame you, sugar. I'm just worried about Luke, just like you are...but you need to stay calm for the baby."
Cole might not blame her, but she sure as hell blamed herself. If she hadn't been so stupid as to get hooked up with James back in Phoenix, and even invite him here to her home, Luke wouldn't be hurt...her daddy's barn wouldn't be burned to the ground.
Cassie didn't know what James had hoped to accomplish by burning down the barn, but he'd accomplished something, hurting her and Luke, even if he'd died in the process.
He'd also accomplished making her doubt her decision to marry Luke. She'd caused Luke nothing but trouble since she'd been back in Bowie. It was the indisputable truth, he'd even admitted it. Luke probably wouldn't even want to marry her after she'd been the cause of him almost getting killed trying to save her. That thought made her cry even harder.
Cassie swiped at her tears and the raindrops with the back of her hand and came away with black smudges, which made her cry even harder. Her beautiful dress was ruined...as surely as her future with Luke. She got on her hands and knees and leaned to Luke's face to kiss his cheek. "I'm so sorry, darlin'," she told him in a shaky whisper near his ear then told him repeated she loved him, and begged him to wake up and kiss her.
Just as she heard sirens wailing in the distance, he opened his red rimmed whiskey-brown eyes and looked into hers, then smiled under the mask over his mouth and croaked, "You're alive, cupcake..." There was relief and disbelief in his raspy voice then he lifted a hand to cup her cheek as tears filled his eyes. "James Barton won't ever hurt you again, sugar. He's dead."
Cassie sobbed as relief washed through her that James was no longer a threat, and Luke was alive, "That's good news, darlin', but don't talk..." She put her finger to his lips then leaned down and placed an emotional kiss there.
Luke sat up and pulled the mask off of his face and handed it to the medic, telling him to cancel the ambulance because he wasn't going anywhere. Then he stood up and pulled Cassie into his arms and hugged her tightly against his chest, softly weeping into her hair. She was crying just as hard now, and both of their bodies were quaking with the emotion raging through them.
Carl Bellamy, Bud, Cole, Sabrina, and Imelda all came over and circled around Cassie and Luke joining in on the hugging and crying. They stayed like that a long while, until the clouds parted overhead and the sun came peeping through.
The all looked skyward and then Carl said, "Looks like a good day for a wedding," then gave a watery chuckle pulling out a white handkerchief to wipe his eyes and blow his nose loudly. Cassie was the first to start chuckling at the ridiculous statement by her daddy, then Luke joined in, and before long they were all laughing loudly.
Her daddy was the only one not laughing, she noticed and raised an eyebrow at him when they finally settled down. "I'm serious, darlin'. You're not going to let James Barton win are you?"
Cassie considered his challenge for a minute, then stiffened her backbone and looked up at Luke who was staring down at her intently. He shrugged then smiled at her his teeth glowing whitely in his handsome soot-stained face. "Crowd's still here," he rasped.
She laughed at that. Yeah, they were still here because of the fire and excitement, not because they thought there'd still be a wedding today. "Is the preacher still here?"
"Yep, he's making sure the food is well protected," Cole said with a twist of his lips.
The portly preacher who was the pastor of the church where Cassie was baptized, and where her mama and daddy had been married was well know for his love of free food. He was in heaven at the Sunday Socials after church.
Cassie leaned her head back against Luke's chest and looked up into his eyes, "You really still want to do this, Luke?" She looked down at her singed, dirty dress and wanted to weep wildly, "I'm a mess...and all the trouble..."
Luke turned her around in his arms to face her and lean down close to her face and whispered. "I would marry you if you were wearing a burlap sack, cupcake," he growled and then pulled her to him for a kiss that told her how much he loved her, soft, gentle, sweet and so hot her toes curled inside her boots. He pulled back just millimeters from her mouth and said, "I love you, Cassie...always and forever...no matter what. You're my kind of trouble, sweetheart, and I want a lifetime of it."
All of her fears and doubts fled and she was filled up by the love shining in his eyes. She put her hand on his
cheek and whispered, "I love you too, Luke...always and forever...let's go get married."
He held her away from him a moment and told her with serious eyes. "Only if you promise to go to the emergency room with me after we're done here. I want to make sure you and the baby are okay."
