Page 20 of Until Joy

“July will figure it out. You take my word for this. By the time you get there, July will have brought you three different swimsuits for you to try on. Maybe even a bikini!”

“You’re just my sister Amy’s size,” July cooed. “I knew it! She has a shit-ton of clothes, and these are the swimsuits that got banished to the back of her closet three years ago. Apparently, they’re out of style.”

I stared at the silver bikini with buckles on each hip and one strategically placed between the breasts. My brain had officially short-circuited.

“I don’t know, July.” Kayan shook her head. “With Joy’s coloring, I think she needs the one-piece. You know, the red.”

“Yes! Yes! A one-piece. Definitely a one-piece.” I practically lunged at Kayan like she'd thrown me a life preserver.

She reached into the shopping bag and pulled out what could generously be called a red swimsuit with white polka dots. It had more crisscross straps than a medieval corset.

“How the hell is this a one-piece?” I squawked. “It has less material than the bikini did!”

“Oh, quit your bellyaching, my little lambchop. You need to try it on, then you'll see you're perfectly covered.” Kayan's grin turned wicked. “The next swimsuit is also a one-piece. But it's a thong. Want me to show you that beauty?”

“Good God, no! I am not wearing a thong-anything to July's family pool party!” I snatched the polka-dotted torture device from her hands and marched toward the ladies room, their laughter floating behind me.

Fifteen minutes later, I was still wrestling with what appeared to be a very attractive string theory experiment. You'd think the problem would be that I was too big for the scrap of fabric, but no… I literally couldn't figure out what crissed and what crossed.

After approximately four hundred attempts, I finally cracked the code. I looked in the mirror and grudgingly admitted Kayan was right. Somehow, the strategic lacing had hoisted the girls up and locked them down. I could probably do backflips without a wardrobe malfunction.

Not that I planned to test that theory.

My absolute first priority was to find the biggest t-shirt in Tennessee to throw over this polka-dotted conspiracy. There was no way in hell I was going to wear this in front of July’s parents and Miss Laverne. Now if I were home with my family and friends, it would be a whole other story…

My head shot up when I heard the banging on the door. I knew it was Kayan.

“We want to see.”

“In a minute,” I yelled back.

“You can’t magic more material by taking longer. Get your cute tushie out here so we can see.”

I rolled my eyes and sighed as I opened the door.

“My God, Joy, you look gorgeous in this swimsuit. I would totally do you!” Kayan shouted.

“Please tell me we’re the only ones here in the clinic,” I begged July, who was standing behind Kayan with a big grin on her face.

“Nope, I’m here,” I heard July’s husband Wes, call out from near the reception desk. “I’m going to be telling Z that you’re cheating on him, Kayan.”

“Are you kidding me? Z would want to watch,” Kayan yelled back.

I took two steps backwards, trying to sneak back into the bathroom.

“Oh no you don’t,” July said as she pulled me back out into the hallway. “Turn around, I want to get the full effect.”

“How about me? Can I come back?” Wes hollered.

I shook my head and begged July with my eyes not to let him come back. She giggled. “You do realize he’s going to be at the pool party, right?”

“I’m going to wear a cover-up,” I mumbled.

“No, you’re not,” July practically commanded.

“July, I need something more modest. Miss Laverne is going to be there,” I wailed.

“And so are Kayan, me, and all of my sisters. God knows what April is going to wear. You have to wear this, otherwise you won’t fit in. Honey, my bikini is gold, with the cutest little tassels,” July grinned.