amount of time I’ve spent with him, I’ve found him to be more introspective. He doesn’t seem prone to the same impulsive behavior that Carson deals with.”
“So Cal isn’t a brawler?”
“Only if he’s backing his fight-lovin’ twin,” Carolyn said dryly.
“Well, I appreciate the concern, sis, but Cal is outta my league.” She sighed. “That’s not to say I can’t admire him and practice my flirting skills because he’s so good lookin’. Lord, his smile just lights up that whole handsome face of his. And those blue eyes…”
“They’re something, aren’t they? The whole McKay family has that eye color.”
“Maybe all your babies will too,” Kimi teased.
Carolyn blushed. But she didn’t say anything else.
After taking one last drag of her cigarette, Kimi flicked the butt out the window. The scenery flew by. Nothing changed here. The desolate landscape depressed her. It always had.
Aside from Carolyn’s giddiness about her husband-to-be, it shocked Kimi that her sister had signed on to live in the vast void of Wyoming for the rest of her life. They’d both talked of getting out. Moving on. Kimi had selfishly hoped Carolyn would move to Chicago with her friend Cathy. Then she’d have a place to go when she finished her sentence at St. Mary’s, because there was no way in hell she was ever coming back here. No way.
One more year. She could survive that. She’d taken extra classes the past two years so she could graduate a year early—not that anyone in her family besides Aunt Hulda was aware of her plans. Catholic school had been tolerable with Carolyn around as a buffer. Everyone adored her big sister and that admiration had provided Kimi with a layer of protection from the holier-than-thou girls populating the school. Now that Carolyn had graduated, the torture had already begun for Kimi during her summer classes.
She hated her classmates’ judgment and supposition. They called her a fast girl just because she paid attention to the opposite sex when she had the chance. Kimi wasn’t fast or loose—as evidenced by her virginal status. But just to entertain herself, she’d adopted the attitude of a wild child. Let her classmates whisper and talk about her. It amused her that her only transgression had been detention for getting caught smoking.
“Kimi? You all right?”
She tamped down her melancholy. “I’m just tired.” She dreaded being left alone with her mom and dad while Carolyn and Aunt Hulda worked on the wedding dress. But she’d sworn not to cause any family problems. Her sister had enough to deal with. “This will be a quick trip for us.”
“Does that mean you won’t see any of your friends while you’re here?”
“What friends? I’ve been livin’ in Montana for six years. That’s longer than I went to school around here.”
“I recognize that disjointed feeling,” Carolyn said softly. “Like you don’t belong here and you don’t belong there.”
That startled Kimi. Carolyn never said things like that. She always looked on the bright side of everything.
“But Carson changed that,” Carolyn said.
“How so?”
“Now I know exactly where I belong. With him.”
Kimi reached over and squeezed Carolyn’s knee. “You are such a sap. Are you gonna cry during the wedding ceremony?”
“Probably.”
“Then I’ll make sure to tuck some extra tissues into my bra.”
Carolyn lifted one brow. “Extra? How is that different from how you dress every day?”
“Hey! I’ve never stuffed my bra!” Kimi cupped her breasts and lifted them up. “No need to. More than a handful is a waste.” She paused thoughtfully. “Or do guys say more than a mouthful is a waste?”
“Good lord, Kimi.”
She laughed. “You started it.” She cranked up the radio. By the time the chorus to “California Dreamin’” started they were both singing along. She let her worries float away and embraced these last few days with her sister before both their lives changed.
Kimi decided sitting in silence in the sun porch while Carolyn and Aunt Hulda sewed the wedding dress was a far sight better than being berated by her father as he sat in front of the TV.
No surprise he hadn’t given her a hug when he’d seen her, even when it’d been eight months since she’d been back here. Sometimes she wondered how her mom had gotten pregnant so many times when her father never showed her—or anyone else—the slightest bit of affection.
Her brothers didn’t say much to her—they mostly steered clear of the uncomfortable situation.
Carolyn got up early Sunday morning to make the entire family breakfast, even though it was her wedding day. Aunt Hulda huffed