Eight
Late Sunday afternoon, Kayla walked through her apartment door and dropped everything on the floor. Be it ever so humble and all that crap, she thought to herself. But truly, it was good to be home.
Stepping over her bags, she walked into the kitchen and pulled out a bottle of water. It had been a good trip. Not great, but good. The weather had been perfect; she met some really cool people and knew she got some amazing shots. And as soon as she took a little time to unwind, she was going to upload them to her computer and start looking them over. But first, she wanted a hot shower and to call in an order for Chinese food and maybe call Julianne and see if she missed anything exciting while she was gone.
Maybe she should do that first…
Walking toward her bedroom, she opted for her shower first and it felt glorious. The hotel she’d stayed in all week was your average chain hotel and it had weak shower pressure. When she stepped under her own heavy duty showerhead, it was almost orgasmic.
As she lathered up her hair, she thought about the shots she had taken and mentally made a list of the ones she knew she wanted to play around with and submit to Adam. There had been a lot of daylight hours when she had nothing to do so she played tourist and took pictures for her own pleasure. While she took taking them, she thought about how she’d want to print and mat them. There were a couple of shots she wanted to hang right here in her apartment, but there were quite a few she was considering taking to a local gallery to see about displaying them there.
By the time she was done, Kayla felt good about the work she’d done over the last week. It would fulfill her commitment to Adam and the magazine, and potentially lead her to some freelance sales as well.
“Time well spent,” she murmured as she dried off.
Slipping on her robe, she walked out to her bedroom and contemplated her next move – call Julianne or call for Chinese takeout? The Chinese restaurant down the block delivered, but she had a feeling she’d need at least an hour to talk to Jules and see how the week was.
“Friends then food,” she said, going out to the living room to grab her phone. She pulled up Julianne’s number as she got comfortable on the couch and decided that blow-drying one’s hair for a night alone at home was pointless.
“One less thing to do!” she said happily as she listened to the phone ring on the other end.
“You’re back!” Julianne said as she answered the phone.
“Yup, I’m home!”
“How was it? Was it good? Did you take lots of pictures?” They both started to laugh because this had become a routine for them – Kayla would go away on an assignment and her first call to Julianne always consisted of those first three questions as a way of kicking off the conversation.
“It was good,” Kayla began. “Better than I thought it would be. The weather was great, I took way more pictures than I needed and even have some banked for the future.”
“That’s awesome! Yay, you! Do we need to go out and celebrate?”
Kayla told her what she had planned for the night. “My flight home wasn’t direct so I’ve been up and traveling since about five this morning. Maybe we can grab an early dinner before class on Tuesday? What do you think?”
“Hmm…normally I’d say yes but I want to be able to hang out with no time limits. It’s been a…well…it’s been a weird and somewhat rough week.”
“Uh-oh…what happened? Was it wedding stuff?”
Julianne told her about the multiple TMI moments from Natalie first.
“Oh my God! I can’t believe I missed that! Do you think she’ll share them with me on Tuesday? I really hope she does! Damn!” She laughed at the thought of it. “Little Miss Uptight got down and dirty with her husband and shared the details! I love it!”
Julianne laughed with her. “It was interesting. She completely threw us for a loop with how bold she was about talking about it.”
“I’ll bet!”
“Then I was getting a weird vibe from Brady.”
“Kickboxing Brady?”
“Yup.”
“Weird how?”
“I thought he was hitting on me and I freaked out and made sure the girls were going to come with me after Zumba on Tuesday to go kickbox.”
“O-kay…”
“And it turns out he wasn’t hitting on me,” Julianne said with a hint of disappointment.
“That’s a good thing, Jules, isn’t it?”
“It is. I know it is. But I have to admit, it kind of made me feel…good. Not that I would have acted on it, but it’s nice to know that someone other than Gavin finds me attractive.”
“Oh, sweetie, everyone finds you attractive,” Kayla said reassuringly. “You’re the hot one in our little squad.”
“Stop,” Julianne argued with a small laugh. “That’s not true.”
“It’s totally true,” Kayla responded. “You’re the hot one, Natalie’s the uptight one, Harper’s the practical one and I’m the bitch.”
Julianne burst out laughing. When she finally stopped, she yelled at Kayla. “Where do you get this stuff? That is the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard!”
“No, it’s accurate. Think about it. You, my friend, are tall, blonde and thin. We all hate you because of it. Mainly because we can’t borrow any of your fabulous clothes.”
She was still laughing. “Stop…”
“Harper is older than us and she’s just practical. She’s got a good head on her shoulders and has a way of keeping us all in line.”
“Okay, I’ll agree with you on that one,” Julianne said. “My big sister rocks.”
“And come on, Natalie is so totally uptight,” she said with a laugh of her own. “But maybe Jayce banged that out of her on the kitchen counter!”
“Kayla!” Julianne cried out, but laughed at the same time.
“What? It’s completely possible that she has chilled out now! Only time will tell…”
“Fine. I can see your point there.” She paused. “Oh! You’re not going to believe this…so my mom came to Zumba Tuesday night.”
“No!”
“Uh-huh! And as usual, she upset Harper – twice – and after the second incident, I started to yell at her about the whole thing. Of course, she pretended like she didn’t know what I was talking about and I got frustrated. But then Natalie jumped in and let my mom have it!”
“Shut the front door!” Kayla cried, sitting up straight. “Why does all the good shit happen while I’m out of town?”
“Girl, it was amazing! She laid into my mom and told her she was mean and how she should be ashamed of herself!”
“I cannot imagine your mother taking that lightly.”
“Oh, she didn’t. She left with a reminder that when we’re ready to apologize, we know where to find her.”
“Man, I can’t believe I missed that. It must have made dress shopping on Saturday pretty awkward, huh?”
“She canceled the appointment,” Julianne said.
“No way! So now what?”
“Well, she texted me on Thursday to cancel and all I responded with was ‘okay.’ Then I waited until Saturday to call her.”
“And did you apologize?”
“No I did not, and it was painful. You know I usually cave in situations like that. But I held my ground and told her that she needed to call Enchanted Bridal and reschedule and that Harper and I would go with her. She resisted and played it cool for a little while, but she eventually caved. Now we’re going this Saturday.”
“I am so proud of you.”
“I know, right? I feel like a big girl now.”
“And you should. That’s awesome. Do you think she’ll behave at the bridal shop? Is it just the three of you going?”
“It is just the three of us, unfortunately. Although, I have to admit, Hailey has been really great. The day we were there for my gowns, she talked to me a lot while helping me try them on. She told me how it’s not unusual for the mother of the bride to be a handful and that she and the girls were kind of pros with dealing with them.”
“Well that’s good. Would she consider moving in with your mom until the wedding?” Kayla joked.
“I already asked and she said no,” Julianne deadpanned. “I was highly disappointed.”
“Can you imagine the things they must see? I mean, you’re seeing now how stressful planning a wedding can be. They see dozens, if not hundreds, of brides. I’m sure they’ve seen fights and people freaking out and bridal parties that don’t get along…”
“I’m sure. But they seem to handle it all okay. Apparently Hailey’s mom started the business and recently retired, but Hailey’s been helping out all her life. Hailey and her partners, Angie, Becca and Ella, all used to model in their weekly fashion shows!”
“Wait, they do weekly fashion shows? Why didn’t we go to one of them? That could have been fun and then we could have skipped trying on fifty different dresses!”
“But that was so much fun!” Julianne said happily. “I loved seeing all of you in the different dresses! I think it worked better than watching models walk around in them. Now you guys know how they all feel and you were able to make an informed decision.”
“Yes, but we could have gone in there with a narrowed-down list,” Kayla countered.
“Too late. You did it and you survived.”
“True. But now you get to go back and do it all again with your mom.” The evil laugh she let out conveyed her feelings on it. “Good luck with that!”
“Okay, now see…this is how you labeling yourself as the bitch of the group makes total sense!” Julianne teased.
“I told you!”
“Stop, you know I love you and…” She paused. “Shit. Kay, I gotta go. Gavin’s beeping in and he’s supposed to be on his way home. I’ll see you for Zumba on Tuesday, right?”
“Definitely!”
She hung up and immediately called Oriental Jade to place her dinner order. With the promise of her food being delivered in thirty minutes, Kayla got up and decided to start organizing her work. Grabbing her camera’s memory card from its holder, she booted up her computer and waited anxiously for it to start up so she could get her first look at her pictures.
Five minutes later, she sat back in her chair with a satisfied grin. “Damn, I’m good,” she murmured. With the first twenty pictures or so being of the desert at sunset, she began tweaking things – cropping and playing around with different finishes for a more dramatic look. Of course, the raw, untouched picture was almost always her favorite, but sometimes Mother Nature needed a little Photoshop to make her look more spectacular.
Kayla decided to stop playing around and simply look at the shots, so she leaned toward her thirty-four-inch monitor and studied the pictures. One after another played as a slide show and with each one, she felt a sense of satisfaction – even the less-than-stellar ones still made her smile.
The knock on the door startled her because she had lost track of time – something that often happened while she was working. Jumping up, she cursed because her hair was damp and she was still in her robe.
“Just a minute!” she called out. Running around, she grabbed her wallet and figured she could just hide behind the door a bit to conceal her appearance. The thought of throwing on any clothes made her angry when she was so comfortable.
Another knock.
“I’ll be right there!” she yelled out as she went to the door and pulled it open. “Sorry, I…”
“Hey, Kayla.”
It was Adam.
Holding her bag of Chinese food.
“Adam!” she said with a slight gasp. “What…what are you doing here?” And stupidly, she pulled her robe closed a little tighter.
“Can I come in?”
“Um…”
“I have your food,” he teased, waving the bag at her. “And I’m not opposed to holding it hostage.”
That broke some of the tension. Opening the door a little more, she motioned for him to come in. “If I weren’t so tired and hungry, I would have put up more of a fight.”
“I know you would have,” he said as he stepped inside. And like he was entitled, he walked right to the kitchen and pulled down plates, grabbed silverware and then put it all on the coffee table because he knew she usually ate all her meals there. Then he went back and grabbed two cans of soda for them before sitting down on the couch.
All Kayla could do was stare.
“Food’s getting cold,” he said with a lopsided grin.
Damn him.
A million thoughts played in her mind – mainly, why was he torturing her like this? But then her stomach growled loudly and she forced herself to sit down. She went to protest when he made himself a plate, but she had ordered extra so…
“I heard the meteor shower was spectacular,” he said after taking his first bite of the crispy duck. “From what I saw on the news, it seemed like there were a ton of people out viewing it.”
They ate and talked about how her week went, just like they used to do. This was part of their routine, who they were. The only difference was that Adam used to come and pick her up from the airport and they’d grab food on their way home.
Only…they never ate right away. There was always a frantic race to the bedroom and then they would eat, sometimes while they were still naked and in bed.
“Have you looked at any of the pictures yet?” he asked.
“I was just starting to go through them,” she said. “The slide show’s up on the computer if you want to look.”
Putting his plate down, Adam got up and went to the computer and Kayla’s stomach knotted up. She knew they were good photos, but it was always a little nerve-racking when someone else looked at them. He went through all of them, all two hundred of them–, silently. When he was done, he turned and leaned on the desk as he looked at her.
“They’re amazing, Kayla. Truly amazing.”
Relief washed over her and she felt like she could finally breathe. “Thanks. I haven’t studied them all, but I’m very pleased with the shots I got.”
“And you should be,” he said with a small smile. Then he stepped away from the desk and rejoined her on the couch. When he picked up his plate, he hesitated. “It felt weird to know you were back from a trip and…and I wasn’t there to pick you up.”
“Yeah,” she said quietly. “For me too.”
Leaning forward, Adam put his plate back down on the coffee table and faced her. “I don’t know what to do with this, Kayla,” he said slowly. “I mean, I know what I want, but…I also know it’s impossible to have.”
“You took me by surprise the other day,” she said honestly, putting her own plate down. “We never talked about the future and then you throw that at me and…and I didn’t have any time to think about it.”
“I didn’t want you to have time to think about it. I wanted to know how you honestly felt. And I think…that’s exactly what you did,” he said sadly. He took one of her hands in his and gently caressed it. “You can’t change who you are any more than I can. I thought that this – what we have or had – was enough. But it’s not anymore.”
She refused to cry. Refused to. But the lump in her throat needed a minute to dissipate before she could speak.
“Then what are you doing here?” she asked quietly.
His gaze held hers and she could feel the change in the air, in them.
“I couldn’t stay away,” he admitted.
In that moment, Kayla knew if she asked him to leave, he would. And if they were over – really over – that’s what she needed to do.
But it wasn’t what she wanted. At all. She knew what she wanted and she was willing to take the risk and ask for it.
Standing up, her hand still in his, she said, “I didn’t want you to stay away.”
Then she slowly pulled him to his feet and led him to the bedroom.
****
Hailey looked up at the sound of someone knocking on her office door. “Hey, Penny! Come on in!”
“I’m sorry to bother you, but I was wondering if you had a minute.”
“Absolutely. Have a seat,” she said with a smile. “What’s up?” Penny sat with a bakery box in her lap and folded her hands delicately on top of it. Hailey could tell she was nervous. “Everything okay?”
Nodding, Penny gave her a small smile. “I’ve been going to the gym,” she stated.
“O-kay…” Once again, she looked at the bakery box and then up at Penny.
“Fitness Frenzy – the one where Julianne Burke teaches Zumba,” Penny added for clarification.
“Oh…good for you! Are you having fun with it?”
She nodded. “I am but…okay, here’s the thing – it’s kind of addictive and so I’ve been going almost every day. Julianne’s a great instructor and the classes are so much fun and they make me feel great and energized!”
Hailey studied her for a moment. “And…were you thinking of adding this to what we offer here at Enchanted? I don’t know that we have the space…”
“Oh! No,” Penny quickly interrupted. “That’s not what I meant at all. Sorry. Um…because I’ve been going so much, I’ve gotten to know Julianne a bit and Harper and Kayla were at two of the classes I went to so I got to talk to them too.”
“Well…that’s a good thing. It’s always nice when we build relationships with our clients…”
“I saw on the schedule that Julianne and Harper are coming in with their mother today,” Penny said cautiously.
And then it all became clear – Penny had some information but didn’t want to gossip. Hailey relaxed a bit. “And you know something that you think will help us out to make it all go smoothly.”
“Yes!” Penny said with a happy sigh. “Exactly.”
“Okay, let’s hear it,” Hailey prompted. “How can we be better prepared for today’s appointment?”
“Julianne shared with me about how her mother and sister aren’t really getting along and the reason they canceled last week was because of a big fight. I’m guessing their outing today is going to be the first time they’re all getting together since then.”
“So what do you suggest?” Hailey asked, genuinely curious to see how her new protégé would handle the situation.
Penny considered the question for a moment. “Mrs. Burke loves the mimosas, but she prefers scones over muffins,” she began. “Julianne mentioned cranberry scones in particular so maybe we can start by having those out as part of their refreshment tray.” Then she held up the bakery box. “I know they’re not from Becca but I know she usually doesn’t have scones and I have a great bakery by my house that makes them so…I hope it’s okay that I picked some up.”
Hailey began to smile. “I think it’s a great idea, Penny. Really. Go on…”
“I believe Mrs. Burke was also going to email you about a dress she was interested in – something about diamond spaghetti straps?”
Hailey nodded. “I got her email and I’ve found something similar for her. The one she was asking about was part of a line that was out three years ago.”
“Okay, good. She seems to be really excited about that one. However…,” Penny began and then paused and bit her lip. “Um…maybe we shouldn’t encourage that one.”
Color her surprised! “Tell me why…”
“Well, it was kind of mentioned how this particular dress was one that Mrs. Burke fell in love with and planned on wearing for one of Harper’s weddings. And considering how that topic is a source of contention, maybe her wearing it wouldn’t be the best thing. It’s going to remind Harper of an unfortunate time in her past and it’s going to take away from the originality of Julianne’s big day. Does that make sense? Am I thinking too much about this?”
Leaning back in her chair, Hailey smiled proudly. “It makes perfect sense and I have to say that I am thoroughly impressed with the thought and consideration you put into it.”
Penny blushed. “Thanks. Let’s just say that I’ve witnessed situations like this before and there are always hard feelings. If we can help Julianne avoid any of that and make her day perfect for her, then it’s all worth it.”
“You’ve dealt with difficult mother-daughter relationships?” Hailey queried, realizing how little she knew about Penny’s personal life.
“I am the youngest of seven daughters,” Penny said with a small smile. “Believe me when I say I’ve witnessed a lot. All of my sisters are married and none of their weddings were easy.”
“Seven daughters! Oh, my! Your poor father!” Hailey said with a light laugh. “He was completely outnumbered!”
“I have two brothers, but yeah. He was definitely outnumbered. And if you listen to him now, he’s broke from paying for all those weddings,” Penny said and Hailey noticed there wasn’t a lot of amusement in her tone.
“Were all the weddings close together?”
Nodding, Penny explained, “They were all about a year-and-a-half to two-years apart. My parents didn’t pay for everything, but still…weddings aren’t cheap.”
“Don’t I know it! And what about you? Are you planning on getting married any time soon?”
Penny looked down at her hands as she shook her head. “No…I’m not even dating anyone. Dad keeps saying how I’ll be his favorite if I decide to elope when the time comes.” She looked up at Hailey. “And I don’t think he’s kidding.”
That made Hailey’s heart hurt a little. “I’m sure when the time comes he’ll change his mind.”
But Penny just shrugged. “Maybe,” she said quietly. “But it’s nothing to worry about right now. I’m single and I’m perfectly happy helping other people plan their weddings.”
“And you’re doing a great job,” Hailey said reassuringly. Then she looked at her phone and noted the time. “Come on, let’s go and see if Becca needs any help with the refreshments. The Burkes are due to arrive in a little while.”
And as they walked out of the office, Hailey let Penny lead the way to Becca’s little café and felt like she just may have found the next generation for Enchanted Bridal.
****
An hour later, Melinda Burke was modeling her first gown.
“It’s fabulous, isn’t it?” she asked excitedly as she studied her reflection. “I mean it’s just perfect! I probably shouldn’t have had that scone, but they’re my favorite and one can’t hurt too much, right? Oh, I’m so happy!”
Julianne and Harper exchanged looks and weak smiles. Julianne had to admit that the gown looked great on her mother, but…
“Now don’t stop there, Mrs. Burke,” Penny said as she stepped forward. “While this dress does look stunning on you, we have quite a few others for you to try on. It’s important that you make an informed decision and have a few options to choose from.”
“Oh…well,” Melinda said, but Julianne could tell that her mother wasn’t completely convinced.
“I think it’s a great idea, Mom. This dress is very nice but for all you know, there could be something else out there that looks even better!”
It took a few more minutes and a lot of dialogue from Hailey, Penny and Angie, but eventually Melinda went back to the dressing room to try on another gown. When she was finally out of earshot, Julianne picked up her drink and turned to Harper. “God bless those girls. I know I wouldn’t want to be back there with her right now.”
“Me either,” Harper agreed. “I don’t know why she’s so fixated on that damn dress. It’s nice and all, but…”
“Well, she fell in love with it years ago and never wore it. Hell, I don’t think she even tried it on back then. All she had was a picture in a magazine.”
“Yup. And yet it meant so much to her that she’s been holding on to it all this time. Great.”
“That does seem to be a thing with her,” Julianne murmured. They sat in silence for a minute and then she wanted to kick herself for what she was about to ask. “So how did your date with Brady go?”
Harper took a sip of her own drink and smiled the smile of a very happy woman. “It was amazing – they all were.”
“All? I thought you just went to dinner on Tuesday? You didn’t mention going out with him again.” Damn, could she sound any more defensive?
Harper gave her a funny look. “Well…we did. And you said you were busy this week with helping Gavin’s folks with the remodel.” She paused and got more comfortable. “We went and grabbed a couple of burgers Tuesday night and we had a great time. He’s really sweet and funny and I was pleasantly surprised by the whole thing.”
“Why? I mean, Brady always seemed like a great guy. Why would you think otherwise?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. It was my own personal mental block, but I’m happy to say that he’s proved me wrong.”
“Oh…well…good. Good for you,” Julianne said stiffly.
A loud sigh came out of Harper as she put her champagne glass down. “Okay, out with it. What’s wrong?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“You are such a lousy liar,” she said wearily. “Something is clearly bothering you about this whole situation, so can you spare us both the drama and just tell me what it is?”
How could she explain something that she barely understood herself?
Things with Gavin were great – they’d always been great. He was attentive and complimented her all the time, but they were in love and that’s what he was supposed to do! And right now at this point in her life, was it so wrong to want someone else to think she was beautiful without her having to go out and actually ask them if she was?
The whole thing gave her a headache.
Self-confidence was never as much of an issue as it seemed to be lately. This wedding really was making her crazy.
“Jules? Come on. Out with it,” Harper prompted.
She glared at her sister. “I really don’t want to talk about this.” And just as she saw her sister start to talk, Penny came running from the dressing room and past them. “Uh-oh…”
“That can’t be a good sign,” Harper agreed. “You think Mom’s giving them a fight over the other dresses?”
“Why else would Penny be running away?”
“Can I ask you something?”
It was clear from the look on her face that Harper knew she was changing the subject.
“Sure, go ahead.”
“Do you think it’s crazy that this wedding planning is annoying me this much?”
Harper’s first response was to laugh. “Um…no. I don’t think it’s crazy at all. You’re a bit of a control freak and I know it has to be killing you that you have to listen to so many other opinions.”
While it would have been easy to get annoyed or offended by that statement, it was right on point. “Okay, but…most brides can handle it. They may get upset every once in a while, but this is really becoming an issue for me.”
“What are you trying to say, Jules? That it’s all getting to be too much? That you don’t want to get married? Because take it from me, you don’t want to do that. Mom will never let you live it down. She loves Gavin. She hated all the guys I broke up with and yet she still brings them up. I can’t even imagine what she’d do with a broken engagement to the perfect man.”
Julianne let the perfect man comment go for the moment.
“I’m not saying I want to break up with Gavin,” she said quietly, fearful their mother might hear some of this conversation. “I just…it’s making me feel…weird.”
“Yeah, I don’t know what that means,” Harper stated. “I already know you have rage and that’s why you started the boxing thing. What else is there?”
Where did she even begin?
“You know what? It’s nothing. I couldn’t put it into words even if I tried and…”
Penny came running by again – this time with a gown flying behind her – and ran into the dressing room.
“That poor girl,” Harper said. “I bet she drew the short straw on that one.”
“No doubt.” They grew silent again. “Harps?”
“Yeah?”
“Did you ever just wish people saw what was best about you?”
“Um…”
“Like that they’d see more than a pretty face or a good body and maybe…like you for it?”
“What are you talking about? Did someone say something to upset you or something?”
Julianne sighed. “Ugh…I’m not saying this right.”
“Honestly, I don’t know what you’re saying,” Harper murmured and reached for her mimosa again. “Use your words, Jules. Don’t try to make it pretty and flowery. Just say what’s on your mind.”
“Is it wrong to want people – men – to find you attractive?” she blurted out.
Harper’s eyes went wide. “Oh…um…I…I don’t think it’s wrong, per se…I mean it would be wrong if you were walking around in your underwear to get attention. Or standing on a street corner trying to lure men to you. But in general, I don’t think it’s wrong. It’s the reasoning behind why it’s important to you that can determine whether it’s right or wrong.”
“Now I’m not following you,” Juliane said and picked up a strawberry.
“Okay, no matter what anyone says, we all want to look good,” Harper reasoned. “We get dressed and we look at ourselves in the mirror and we want to look nice – whether it’s for work or to go out with friends or just to run errands. No one is really okay with going out looking like a slob.”
“I think that is kind of debatable, but go on…”
“It’s part ego, part peer pressure,” Harper went on. “But the bottom line is that it feels good when we put an effort into our appearance and others notice it.”
“O-kay…”
“But, if you’re doing it to catch someone’s attention – someone of the opposite sex who is not your…say…fiancé…then you need to ask yourself why? Why are you doing it? Is the relationship in trouble? Is there a deeper hidden issue here?”
“Okay, let me clarify something here – I’m not going out of my way to get anyone’s attention,” Julianne started and was proud of herself for not sounding defensive this time. “However, is it wrong that I was disappointed when I found out someone who I thought was interested in me, wasn’t?”
“Oh, God,” Harper said with a quiet laugh. “Jules, that’s totally normal. Again, it’s ego or vanity or whatever, but we all have it. But you, my dear sister, have to know that you are smoking hot and most men’s tongues fall out of their mouths when they look at you. So if one guy in like…a million…doesn’t find you attractive, then so what? What’s the big deal?”
That was the million-dollar question.
“I think…I think because so much of my life is out of control right now – out of my control – that it just hit me harder than it should have,” Julianne said honestly. “Everyone’s second-guessing my every decision and I’m not used to that. So maybe…maybe I was just a little more sensitive about the situation than I should have been.”
Harper leaned over and hugged her. “You know you’re a beautiful woman. And all this wedding stuff is temporary. In the end, you’re getting married to a great guy who loves you and practically worships the ground you walk on. It’s perfect! And you’re going to be this amazing bride and everyone’s going to look at you and be envious so really…you need to relax. It’s all going to be okay. I promise.”
They shifted positions until Julianne rested her head on Harper’s shoulder. “You really think so?”
“I do. I really do. You’re going to have the best wedding and a wonderful marriage and no one can take that away from you.”
“But I’m telling you this isn’t the dress I want!” Melinda cried out from the dressing room.
Both sisters started to laugh. “Well…maybe one person can,” Harper said and all Julianne could do was sigh.