The Cinderella Pact by Sarah Strohmeyer

Author:Sarah Strohmeyer
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Published: 0100-12-31T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-Two

I have to do something, but what? I can’t let my parents drain their retirement savings to pay for Eileen’s wedding. They’re already hard up, ironing used Christmas wrapping paper, rinsing out Glad bags and saving them for leftovers. The next thing I know, Mom’s going to be making baskets out of laundry lint.

The only choice is for Belinda to call and cancel.

On the other hand, Eileen will not put up with a “Manville Deluxe” wedding. If she is relegated to a standard Saturday afternoon deal at Sacred Heart followed by a cocktail reception at The K of C and a honeymoon in the Poconos, we’ll all pay in years of spiteful Thanksgivings and sniping Christmases. We’ll never have a family gathering in peace again.

I know what my sister craves: a candlelit winter evening service, an ermine stole, and a horse-drawn carriage whisking her through a sparkling snowfall to a grand and glorious hall decorated with wreaths and mistletoe, where fires burn in huge fireplaces and everyone is in satin gowns of green and red.

This is why Eileen is so mad for Belinda, because Belinda offers the magical touch of celebrity. This is also why I’m loath to tell her that Belinda can’t come and why I am parked outside Nancy’s house on a lovely September evening, unable to punch in Eileen’s phone number on Belinda’s cell.

Nancy has invited Deb and me to her spectacular house for an end-of-summer party to mark how far we’ve come since we formed the Cinderella Pact in June. Nearly three months into it, and I’ve lost a total of twenty pounds. I’ve also toned my arms and even my abs substantially thanks to an excruciating Carmen Diva Tae-Bo DVD, though if I am ever fortunate enough to meet Ms. Diva on the street, I feel it is only fair to hurt her as she has hurt me. The way I see it, she owes me a new set of deltoids.

“What’re you doing sitting in the car, Grandma?” A blond woman I’ve never met before in a black swimsuit and white cover-up is on Nancy’s stone doorstep, waving me in. It’s not until I squint harder that I realize this is no strange woman—this is Deb.

“Oh . . . my . . . God.” It is all I can say, getting out of the car and taking in her thinner legs, thinner waist and, especially, thinner face. I haven’t seen her in three weeks, and wow! It’s as if the fat’s been sucked out of her. Granted, she won’t be taking home the swimsuit medal from the Miss America Pageant this year, but compared to how she used to look, the new Deb is a completely different person.

“I can’t believe you,” I gush, noting her straightened hair and professionally tweezed brows. When was the last time Deb donned a swimsuit? Years. All those summers missed at the Shore, because she was disgusted with herself for having to swim in shorts and a T-shirt, claiming she didn’t want to go into the water because of sharks.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.