That Moment (16 page)

Joanie grabbed the tissue box from the bed stand and gave Jessica's cheeks a wipe with it. "I'm good, hun. Just worried about you. You need to cheer up, girlfriend. That fire is not your fault so you need to stop thinking it is. I want you to get up from this bed, get a shower, and get dressed. I'm taking you shopping for your wedding gown, and I refuse to take 'no' for an answer." Joanie said.

Jessica knew she wouldn't be able to get out of this shopping trip with Joanie, so she said, "Alright Joanie. Go on downstairs and tell Kurt while I get ready." Joanie hugged her again, then went downstairs. Jessica got out of bed, took some clean clothes from the dresser and closet, pulled on her robe, then went downstairs to the bathroom to take a shower. Joanie and the men were outside sitting on the porch talking. Jessica showered, dressed and brushed her hair, leaving it loose to dry. She grabbed her sneakers and Kurtet from the closet by the front door and put them on before going outside. Kurt stood up and hugged her as she came outside. He kissed her deeply and asked, "Baby, are you ok now?"

She smiled at him and said, "Yeah, babe. I'm ok. I'm going shopping with Joanie, if that's ok with you."

"That's fine baby. Here's some cash and the MasterCard. Take your time and have fun, baby." Kurt said as he handed the money and card to her and hugged her tightly.

"I love you, Kurt. I'm sorry I've acted like a child since finding out about the fire. I'll buy something for you too, Kurt. We'll see you boys later!" she said as she and Joanie went to Jessica's car. The girls waved to the men as they pulled out of the driveway and went to the mall.

Kurt and Andy watched them leave, then Kurt said, "She's taken it real hard about the center burning down, Andy. I'm surprised that Joanie even managed to get her to leave the bedroom. She wouldn't even come downstairs for breakfast."

"I know, Kurt. It came as a shock to everyone in town. I'm glad that the Community Center will be letting them have the kids there until the new day care center is built. I heard that the lumber mill is donating the lumber to build a playground in the park by the Community Center too, and the school PTO is donating books and other supplies. The town is really pulling together to get the kids back in school. Even the grocery stores are donating food supplies and other items like cleaning stuff and toilet paper." Andy said with a smile.

"That's great, dude." Kurt said.

"Hey, how's the work on the cabin? Did Jessica like it?" Andy asked.

"Yeah, she loves it. She wants to put some shelves in the bedroom and bathroom though, and we need to fix the drain system for the bathtub too. Leaves and stones have been getting in the end of the drain pipe and clogging it, so I think we need to find some way to prevent that. You want to ride out there with me so we can work on it, Andy?" he asked.

"Sure Kurt, let's go. It'll be a few hours til the girls get back, so we boys need to keep ourselves busy somehow." Andy said. Kurt went inside and wrote a note to let Jessica know where he and Andy were, then the guys went out to the barn and saddled the horses. Kurt put Precious into the stall in the barn after the horses were saddled, then he and Andy rode out.

Meanwhile, Jessica and Joanie were just pulling into the mall parking lot. Jessica found a spot close to the door they were going to use, then they went inside. They went to the Bridal Shoppe and looked at wedding gowns and bridesmaids dresses. Jessica tried on several gowns before she found the one she liked the most. It was a snowy white silk with a pale silver underskirt covered with spider-web fine lace of gold. The front of the skirt of the dress was knee-height and flowed back to a full length skirt in back. The train of the dress was white silk studded with small satin rosettes and trailed a good ten feet behind Jessica when she walked. The matching veil was a diamond- and amethyst-studded golden tiara with a cascading veil of white lace dotted with sparkling diamond-like sequins.

The bodice was low-cut to expose the tops of her lush breasts, with just a small border of lace around the edges. The sleeves were full puffed lace-covered white silk that tapered to tight cuffs at the wrists. There was a beautiful selection of matching white satin high-heeled shoes to go with the dress, so Jessica chose a pair of shoes with a 1-1/2 inch heel. The entire ensemble was priced at $599.99 plus tax. Jessica looked at the price tag again and turned to Joanie and said, "Oh Joanie, this is just too expensive. I don't know if I should get it. I don't think we can afford it."

Joanie smiled at her and said, "Of course you can afford it, girlfriend! You will be back to work in a couple weeks, and Kurt is working some extra time at the mill. He's going to love this gown, Jessica. You need to get this dress! It's perfect for you!" So Jessica bought the gown and everything that went with it, spending a total of almost $800.00 and hoping that Kurt wouldn't get mad at her for spending so much at one time.

Jessica turned to Joanie when they got in the car and asked, "Would you mind keeping this dress at your house until the day before the wedding, Joanie? I don't want Kurt to see it yet."

Joanie smiled and said, "Sure girl. No problem. I'll hang it on the back of my bedroom door until you're ready for it. Now, what will we do for the bachelorette party, hmmm?" Joanie asked with a twinkle in her eye.

Jessica looked at her, smiled and said, "Surprise me, girlfriend! Nothing too crazy though, ok?" Then both women started laughing as they pulled the car out of the parking lot and drove to the nearest restaurant for lunch. Jessica parked the car in the parking lot of the Applebee's restaurant and they went in, sat at the table and ordered their meal, both girls ordering a salad, roasted chicken breast with potatoes and a glass of ice cold lemonade. They ordered apple pie ala mode for dessert.

All through lunch, they worked on the plans for the wedding and the bachelorette party. Joanie suggested hiring a male stripper friend of hers to dance at the party, and Jessica laughed, then said that would be ok if the friend would do it cheap. Joanie took out her cell phone and dialed a number, "Benny? Hey hun, it's Joanie. I got a question for ya. Are you available for a bachelorette party on October 15th at 6 pm?" Silence for a moment or two, then Joanie said, "Great! It's for my best friend, Jessica Collins. Yeah, she's marrying Kurt Coltrane from the lumber mill on October 22nd." Laughing, Joanie said, "Ok hun, see ya on the fifteenth! Luv ya too! Bye!" Then Joanie turned to Jessica and said, "You've got yourself a stripper, girlfriend!!" and both girls started laughing as they ate their pie.

The bill came and they split the cost, leaving a $5.00 tip for the waitress, then left the restaurant to go back to Jessica's house. When they got there, Jessica noticed that the pasture gate was open. She parked the car, got out and ran to the barn. The saddles were gone and Precious was in the stall asleep in the pile of straw. She went in the house and found Kurt's note on the refrigerator; "Jessica & Joanie, Andy and I went to the cabin to do some more work on it. Come out when you get home, ok? Drive your car to Andy's house and ask Mr Johnson if you can borrow a couple horses to ride out here. Andy and Joanie will ride them back and he will bring your car back home when he comes to pick up his truck. See you soon, baby-girl! Love Always, Kurt"

Jessica showed the note to Joanie, then she locked the door and they left the house to go to Andy's house. Mr Johnson was in the yard with the dogs when Jessica pulled into the driveway. He walked over to the car and said, "Jessica! Joanie! How nice to see you two girls again! How are you?"

"We're fine, Mr. Johnson. Andy sent us over here to borrow 2 saddled horses to ride out to Jessica's cabin. He and Kurt have Jessica's horses there already and they want us to come out there too, but the trail isn't wide enough to drive the car out there." Joanie said to him.

Mr. Johnson smiled and said, "Sure girls, I'll go saddle up Andy's Pride and Big Red for you. I'll be back in a few minutes, so go ahead and park your car over there by the tractor, Jessica." Then he walked into the barn.

Jessica parked the car and the girls got out. The dogs came over to be petted. Mr. Johnson had a pair of black labs who loved attention. The girls were petting them when Mr. Johnson came out of the barn leading a big chestnut mare and a charcoal gray gelding, both saddled and ready to go. Jessica thanked him and the girls mounted up on the horses, riding out down the road to the trail to go to the cabin. Forty-five minutes later, they turned into the clearing. Kurt was on the roof of the cabin, pounding in some nails to hold the shingles on, and Andy was climbing down the ladder to get more shingles. He spotted the girls as they rode toward the corral and yelled to Kurt, "Dude, the gals are here!" Kurt looked up and waved to Jessica as she dismounted from Big Red, the chestnut mare. Joanie was riding Andy's Pride, the charcoal gelding.

Andy ran to the girls, grabbed Joanie in a big bear hug and spun her around in circles as he kissed her. Kurt came down the ladder and ran to Jessica too, pulling her close and kissing her so deeply and passionately her legs almost went weak. The men unsaddled the horses and led them into the corral as the girls went into the cabin. There was a pot of coffee on the stove so Jessica poured 4 mugs, and set out the sugar and creamer dishes. The girls each took a mug and went to sit on the couch. They were laughing as the men came in through the door, and they stopped when they saw Kurt and Andy standing there smiling. Kurt handed Andy a mug of coffee, then took the other one. They went and sat on the floor by the girls.

"So, how did the shopping go today, honey?" Kurt asked Jessica.

"Just fine, Kurt. Joanie helped me find the perfect wedding gown, plus all the accessories to go with it. I think you will really like it, dear." she replied with a wink. "I even picked up something special for the honeymoon night." Jessica said with a wicked grin.

"You did, huh? Hmmm...I wonder what that might be." he said.

Jessica laughed and said, "Yeah, I did, Kurt. But you have to wait until the wedding night to find out what it is!" Kurt gave Jessica a little pouty-lipped, sad puppy-dog look and they all laughed.

Joanie said, "I picked that item out for her, Kurt, so you better like it when you see it."

"I'm sure I will, Joanie. Don't worry about that at all. I love anything and everything that my sexy girl wears and doesn't wear." he said with a wink.

They all laughed at the sexual innuendo that Kurt was letting on with and then Jessica asked teasingly, "So, did you boys bring any food out here with you, or do we have to go hunt down a deer for dinner?"

Kurt and Andy both grunted like cavemen and Andy said grunting, "Ugh! Me caveman, go hunt big ugly deer, cook on big fire!" They all laughed so hard that they were crying and gasping for breath.

Kurt said, "Baby, there's a cooler over there in the corner by the fireplace with enough food in it for all of us to have a big steak and potato dinner, bread and butter, beer and soda too. Andy and I went to the store and got the stuff for dinner before we came out here today. Andy, let's go start the cooking and let these two beautiful ladies chat awhile."

"Good idea, Kurt. The girls can take a couple of the lawn chairs outside and sit by the pond to chat." Andy said as he gave the girls two of the folding chairs and shooed them out the door.

The guys started cooking and the girls took the chairs to the edge of the pond and sat down with their coffee mugs and talked about the plans for the wedding and the bachelorette party. "Oh shoot! I forgot the notebook of the wedding plans inside. I'll run in and get it and a pencil, so we can plan this thing." Jessica said. She ran inside, grabbed the notebook and a pencil from the dresser in the bedroom, and ran back outside without even looking at the men, who were busy cooking dinner.

Jessica sat down and opened the notebook. "So far, I've gotten the gown, shoes, veil, garter, and my jewelry for the ceremony. I still have to order the flowers, book a caterer for the reception, decide on the maid of honor's dress and the bridesmaid's dresses, order the cake and finish the guest list, and decide who the brides maids are going to be. You will be my Maid Of Honor, right Joanie?" Jessica asked her best friend.

"I sure will, Jessica. You are like a sister to me, and I wouldn't miss your wedding to Kurt for anything in the whole wide world, but you have to promise to be my Maid Of Honor in my wedding to Andy next summer." Joanie said.

"I will definitely do it, girlfriend! You wouldn't keep me away from that ever! And besides, Kurt has already asked Andy to be his Best Man for our wedding, so I'm pretty sure that Kurt will be Andy's Best Man at your wedding, Joanie."

The girls hugged and Jessica said, "This is going to be so much fun, Joanie! It's like we are planning a double wedding! Oh My Gosh!! That's it!!! Joanie, let's have a double wedding! You and Andy, me and Kurt, we can all get married together and share all the expenses for the big ceremony!"

Joanie smiled and said, "That's a great idea! Let's talk to the guys about it over dinner and see what they say. After all, your wedding is still two months away, and I'm sure that Andy wouldn't mind getting married sooner."

Just then, Kurt yelled out the door, "Dinner's ready, girls. Come and get it!" The girls laughed at the wicked grin on Kurt's face and went inside, leaving the chairs by the pond for now. They went inside and saw that the table was moved to the center of the floor so all four chairs could be placed around it. There was a blue checked tablecloth on the table with four places set with plates, silverware, napkins and glasses. Andy pulled out the chair for Joanie and Kurt pulled out Jessica's chair so the ladies could sit.