Chapter Twenty-Two

Jen

 

Two quickies, lunch, a nap, and then I needed to meet with Mom, Shelley, and my friends to pick dresses. I left Dylan out on the balcony with his guitar and a notepad.

The bridal shop Beth picked wasn’t the cheapest option, but he’d given me his credit card. Paying for the wedding—or most of it—was the one place he’d put his foot down, saying what was the point of being a millionaire if it just sat in the bank.

When I stepped inside, I was glad I hadn’t argued. The store I used for my first wedding was packed to the gills with smooshed-together dresses, mostly all one or two sizes, with the only wide path going from the dressing rooms to the dais in front of the mirrors. This place was set up with mannequins in gorgeous wedding dresses posed like models that picked a spot of good light and froze there. Instead of cheap tile, there were hardwood floors. It was roomy, smelled like fresh roses, and classical music floated out from hidden speakers. Gowns were here and there on tall, free-standing racks instead of pressed against walls, letting you browse and see how they naturally fell.

“There she is!” Beth had beaten me here. No surprise, and I was early. “Gisele is the manager and I’ve already shown her the champagne color we’re looking for. Her team is pulling dresses in the back.”

“Wow.”

“Speaking of champagne, may I offer you a glass?” Gisele asked. Her voice fit the place, cultured, smooth, and rich.

“No, thank you.”

“The maid of honor is sixteen,” Beth said. Nice save.

“Oh, then we also have sparkling cider or white grape.”

“Thanks, that’s perfect.”

“This way.” Gisele led us to the expected dais and mirrors, only it was set up in what I could only call a private lounge.

Tea sandwiches and delicate cookies were set on a table in front of a blush velvet sofa. The area was totally curtained off from the rest of the shop. “This is amazing,” I said.

We sat to wait.

“I’m kinda good at this,” Beth said, pretending to preen. I laughed.

“You really are. Does she know who else is coming?”

“Here we go.” Gisele reentered carrying a tray of flutes and followed by my mom, sister, and Hannah.

“Oh my God,” Shelley exclaimed, and went straight for the cookies.

“Shell,” Mom scolded.

“What, we came straight from school. I’m hungry.”

I chuckled. “That’s what it’s here for. Sit.”

The sound of more footsteps, and then Gisele pulled the curtain aside to let her employees in, but instead of carrying the dresses, they were wearing them.

“Is everyone who works here a model?” Hannah muttered.

They lined up in front of us. “All of these dresses are in stock,” Gisele said. She’d brought multiple styles in the same color and fabric.

“Too revealing,” Mom said, pointing to a young woman wearing a spaghetti-strap column gown with a deep, narrow V down the center. The model left the room.

“There was barely a hint of boob,” Shelley replied.

“On her. You’re more endowed.”

True. Us Wright girls weren’t curvy, but we had T and A, with C-cups at fourteen. The ladies in front us were the typical fashion model—tall and fine boned. A dress that’d be perfectly modest on Beth would be less so on the rest of this wedding party.

“We don’t have to match styles if we match color,” Hannah said, thinking the same.

“What do you have for a mother of the bride?” I asked Gisele. If Mom started out happy, Shelley would get less nitpicking.

Gisele snapped her fingers. The girl that left returned wheeling a rack of dresses.

I went to the rack, knowing Mom’s taste, and plucked out something pretty. Hannah turned on a playlist and this shopping trip became less serious.

“Go try this on, Mom.” We had our own section of fitting rooms, after all.

Once she was in the booth, Shelley came up next to me. “Thank you.”

“We could all wear that one,” Hannah said, pointing to a wide-neck dress with a flowing A-line skirt. “Still on the shoulders and not too tight.”

“Fabulous,” Giselle said. “Sizes?”

The models left, gowns were brought, and I sat to nibble.

My mother came out. “Where’d everybody go?”

I stood. “Oh, Mom…” The tea-length dress with the satin belt was perfect. “You look beautiful.”

She swished the A-line skirt. “This…well…” She moved to the row of mirrors. “Oh.”

In thirty-one years, I’d never seen my mother blush, until now. She turned this way and that, checking the angles.

I rested my hands on her shoulders. “All you need is shoes.”

She clasped my right hand where it lay and her eyes misted up.

“Don’t cry! You start, I’ll start, and this gets messy.”

She nodded and turned to me. “I’ll get changed.”

“Okay.”

Shelley opened her booth. “It needs to be hemmed, but—”

“Wow,” I said the same time Mom said, “Oh, my.”

“What, is it awful?” She moved to the mirrors. “Oh damn. I’m hot.” That’s my baby sister, ladies and gentlemen. Always saying the perfect thing to change a sentimental mood.

“She’s so grown up,” Mom whispered.

Shelley stood on the dais. Gisele came over with a pair of pumps. “You’re a seven, yes?”

“Yeah.” Shelley slipped her feet into the shoes and the hem was now the perfect length. “Can we get it? Please?”

Beth and Hannah walked out at the same time. “Shelley, it’s perfect,” Hannah said.

“Does one dress for all of us work for you, Jen?” Beth asked.

“Hey, I’m easy. If you guys are comfortable, let’s ring them up.” With a short-notice wedding, the least I could do was be agreeable.

“Picture!” Shelley called. Mom grabbed her camera from her purse and shoved it in my hands.

The four closest women in my life posed together and this time, I was the misty one.

“Let’s get the bride in there,” Gisele said, and took the camera. They parted to put me in the center and we smiled.

“The day itself will go so fast,” Mom said to me. “Enjoy the process.”

Good advice. In the immortal words of Yoda, All his life has he looked away…to the future, to the horizon. Never his mind on where he was. Hmm? What he was doing. I kept getting so consumed with the worries of tomorrow, I was robbing myself of the joys of today.

Gisele’s seamstress took notes for alterations. My friends changed back into their clothes. Gisele rang up the card for the dresses and matching shoes.

The alteration cost was due once the gowns were accepted as perfect. “They’ll be ready on Thursday.”

“Thanks for making this so easy,” I said.

“That’s what we aim for. Here’s a little gift for you.” She handed me a small box.

We left with Mom’s dress in a garment bag, which she would not let me pay for.

She laid the dress across her back seat. “You need a bridal shower and bachelorette party, Jennifer.”

“Mom, that stuff isn’t necessary. Besides, I can’t drink.”

Arms crossed under her bosom, her brow arched. “It’s tradition. Isn’t it, ladies?”

“Yes?” Hannah replied.

“Isn’t it my job to organize those?” Shelley said.

Mom looked to her. “Maid of honor duties, yes.”

“Cool.” She mirrored our mother’s posture. “We’re doing it, sis.”

My jaw dropped. “But—”

Beth wrapped her arm around my shoulders. “Give in. We’ll find the time.”

“Fine…”

“Late lunch?” she proposed.