Every Bride Needs a Groom (9 page)

This room, however, outdid anything I'd ever seen. I stared in awe and muttered “Wow!” once again. It was octagon shaped, mirrors covering every side but one. A cushioned round bench sat in the center of the room. All in all, this room was the ideal place to don a wedding gown. And speaking of gowns, a beautiful ruffled one hung on the hook near the door. Brilliant. Shimmering. Luscious. I could almost see myself walking the aisle in something like that.

Only, I wouldn't be walking the aisle anytime soon, and I needed to let these fine people know right away. I had to speak my mind, no matter how difficult. This seemed like as good a place as any. I swallowed hard, ready to dive in.

Lori-Lou must've figured out my plan to spill the beans—probably my wrinkled brow and strained silence. At any rate, she headed off to the ladies' room. Coward.

Alone in the changing room with Madge, I finally worked up the courage to share my story. “Ms. . . . Madge, I need to let you know something. I didn't come today to start the fitting, or even to talk to Nadia about the dress.”

Madge fussed with the ruffled gown, straightening the hem. “Oh, but you must talk to her today. She's leaving town soon.”

“Well, I came to tell you that . . .”
Suck it up,
Katie. Say the words.
“I cannot, under any circumstances . . .”
Deep
breath! Forge ahead!
“Go through with this.”

The woman's broad smile faded in an instant as she turned her attention away from the dress and to me. “I-I'm sorry. What did you say? You can't go through with the initial consult
today
, you mean? Or not at all?”

“Not at all. But more than that—I can't go through with any of it. Not just the consult, but the whole thing. No dress. No . . . wedding.” I shook my head and glanced in the mirror, noticing the dress on the hook in the background had created an optical illusion. Almost looked like I was wearing it. Weird.

Okay, what was I supposed to be saying again? Oh yes. I faced Madge head-on and tried to calm my shaky voice. “I've just gone through a, well, a . . . a breakup.”

“A breakup?” Madge's eyes widened. “With your fiancé?”

“Well, sort of. I mean, I . . . we . . .”

At this point Lori-Lou pressed her way back inside the changing room. “What she's
trying
to say is, the wedding's off.”

“The wedding's off?” Madge repeated.

“Actually . . .” I released a painful sigh. “It was never really on.”

I was from a small town, and nobody really expects you to leave, especially before you graduate. That doesn't happen.

Taylor Swift

D
id you say the wedding's off?” Madge's eyes widened as she dropped down onto the cushioned round bench. “The wedding's
off
?”

Good grief. Did she have to keep saying it aloud? Wasn't I hurting enough already? “What I'm trying to say is, it wasn't really on to begin with.” I plopped down onto the bench next to her. “I mean, I
thought
Casey and I were getting married. I would never have entered the contest otherwise. But it wasn't official. And now it's . . . impossible.”

“Impossible?” Madge echoed. She leaned forward and put her head in her hands. “Impossible. The wedding's impossible.”

Do you have to keep repeating everything?

“At least impossible for now,” Lori-Lou interjected. “Casey is moving to Oklahoma.”

“Well, that's no reason to break up. I hear Oklahoma is nice.” Madge lifted her head. “Maybe you'll still marry him and move there? You think?”

“Oh, no ma'am.” I shook my head. “I'll never live anywhere but Fairfield. Can't picture it. And to be honest, I really think it's over with Casey.” As soon as I spoke the words, my heart twisted inside of me. In all the years I'd known and loved Casey, I'd never pictured myself saying that. Or thinking it. Yet something about voicing the words felt strangely freeing.

“Are there any other guys in Fairfield you could marry?” A hopeful look sparked in Madge's eyes. “Anyone special come to mind?”

“W-what? No.” I shook my head. Was she kidding?

“Guess I'm grasping at straws.” Madge groaned. “It's just that Nadia's only got a narrow window to take care of all this before leaving for Paris. This is so important to her. It's a chance for her gown to be featured on the cover of
Texas Bride
. That's such an honor. If I have to tell her that she's not making the dress for you . . .” Madge shook her head. “It will crush her. Your name has already been announced, after all, and the reporter has set the date for the interview and photo shoot. This is a huge deal to her. Really, to all of us.”

“Surely some other bride could take my place.”

“No.” Madge rose and paced the room. She hesitated at the dress and fingered the lace around the neckline. “The contest is over. You have no idea how complicated it was to put together. We can't possibly start again.”

We sighed. All three of us. I happened to catch a glimpse of our trio of expressions in one of the full-length mirrors. Somber. Pitiful.

Then Madge turned away from the gown and snapped her fingers. “Perfect solution. Here's what we're going to do, Katie. You're going to let Nadia make you the wedding dress of your dreams. You'll appear on the cover of
Texas Bride
, the October edition. And I'll work double time to run interference so that no one around here is any the wiser.”

“I just can't do it, Madge.” I rose and took a couple of steps in her direction. “I can't lie to Nadia. It's not right.”

“I'm not asking you to lie, and I won't either. We just won't mention that you're not getting married. Yet.” With a wave of her hand she appeared to dismiss the matter. “I'm sure you'll get married someday.”

I sighed again.

“Technically, it doesn't matter anyway, don't you see? There was nothing specific in the rules about a wedding date or even an engagement. So let's just let it go, okay? Skip the wedding part. Just take the dress.”

“I . . . I . . .”

She gave me one of those stern looks that I often got from my mother. “I'm simply asking you to let Nadia James make you a wedding dress. That's all. I'm not saying you have to wear it this year. Or next. Or ever. Maybe you'll get old like me and give up on the idea of a wedding altogether.”

Gee, thanks.

“But if you do find the right fella, you'll have the perfect dress hanging in your closet. Nadia will get her moment in the sun when the dress appears on the cover of
Texas
Bride
, and you'll have the dress of your dreams.”

“Or when Casey comes to his senses.” Lori-Lou reached
for her phone, which beeped four or five times in a row. “Still thinking that could happen.”

Ugh.

Her phone beeped again, and she groaned.

“What in the world is going on with that phone?” Madge asked. “Some sort of emergency?”

“I'm sorry. It's just that my husband doesn't know how much water to mix into the baby's formula. And I think my oldest daughter locked herself in the bathroom and can't get out.” Lori-Lou responded to the text, then shoved the phone in her purse. “Sorry for the interruption, but the man is hopeless. Completely and totally hopeless. But I love him anyway.”

I had just opened my mouth to continue the debate with Madge when I heard Brady's voice from outside the dressing room. “You ladies okay in there?”

Madge opened the door a crack and waved her hand. “Yep. Now go away, Brady. We're talking business in here. Besides, I thought you were going to your office.”

“Haven't made it that far yet.” He leaned against the door frame, his towering presence a little intimidating. “Just wanted to let you know that I talked to Mom. She's ready to see Katie now.”

“Perfect.” Madge nodded.

“If you ladies are talking business, don't you think it involves me? I am managing the store now, remember?” His words sounded a little strained, as if he'd had this conversation with Madge before.

“Sure, sure, kid.” She waved him away. “Whatever you say. Just give me a minute with the ladies and then we'll head back to your mom's office.” Madge closed the door in his face. “Poor guy. I know this isn't the life he would've chosen for himself.” She took a seat on the bench once more and sighed. “It took Nadia weeks to convince Brady that he should take over the
shop while she's in Paris. He agreed to do it, and he's settling in well. But I daresay he would rather be back out on the court. When his leg is ready, I mean. Until then, he's on our team.”

Lori-Lou glanced toward the closed door. “I'd say he's a great team player. That's what they do. They stick around and pick up the slack. They don't care about the glory. If there's a need, they meet it, injured or not.”

“That's Brady, all right. The boy's a real gem.” Madge lowered her voice. “And it's not like he can play right now anyway. He's only three months out from his knee surgery, and the doctor says he might need another one because it's not healing properly.”

I felt for him. Taking over his mother's wedding dress shop was probably the last thing he wanted to do. And here we were, excluding him from a conversation that involved the shop.

“He's the one in charge once his mom leaves for Paris.” She chuckled. “Well, in theory, anyway.” She leaned against the door, her voice growing louder. “If you ask anyone who works here, I run this shop.”

“I heard that, Madge.” Brady's voice sounded once more from outside the door.

“We have to tell him,” I whispered. “That I don't need the dress, I mean.”

“No way.” Madge shook her head and lowered her voice to a hoarse whisper. “We'll go out there and smile and meet with Nadia. And we will not—under any circumstances—say a word to Brady. Not yet. The boy's nervous enough already. Let's don't rock the boat.”

I agreed to keep my mouth shut, at least for now. When we exited the dressing room, I found Brady standing in the hallway. His blue eyes pierced the distance between us. “I was getting worried about you ladies.”

“Nothing to worry about.” Madge patted him on the back. “Now, you take it from here, Brady. Introduce Katie to your mom. I've got to get back up to the counter.” She headed to the front of the store, mumbling under her breath something about how her work was never done.

Brady seemed to have resigned himself to the fact that he was now my tour guide. He looked at me. “So, you saw everything?”

“Yeah. All but your mom's studio, of course.”

“She's going to meet us there in a couple minutes.” He looked around as if trying to figure out what we should do next. The poor guy really looked lost. I could picture him shooting hoops, but not trimming out wedding dresses or talking brides into petticoats for their gowns.

He led the way to the back of the shop and turned to face me. “Do you know anything about my mom?”

“Do I?” I couldn't help the smile that followed. “Are you kidding? I've been following her designs for years. She's famous, you know.”

“So they tell me.”

“You goober.” Lori-Lou jabbed me with her elbow. “Brady is famous too.”

“Oh, I've heard all about you from Casey,” I said. “I think he was watching the game when you . . .” I pointed to his knee. “Anyway, he was watching that night. Everyone in town talked about it.”

“Which town?”

“Fairfield.”

“So I'm famous in Fairfield, eh?” He led us through the workroom at the back of the store to a door that read S
TUDIO
. “Well, that's good to know. But my mom's reach is a little farther than that. She's headed to Paris, which is why I'm here managing the shop.”

“Working for Madge.” Lori-Lou gave him a funny smile.

I expected Brady to smirk, but he actually grinned. “Madge definitely calls the shots around here, but don't ever tell her I told you that. We couldn't manage without her. I don't mind admitting she's the boss of, well, everything.”

“She seems really . . . businesslike.”

“All business, but she's really a marshmallow on the inside,” Brady said. “Anyway, Mom's doing an internship in Paris for a year. That's why I'm at the shop. I'm—”

“You're filling in for your mom?” Lori-Lou asked. “Must be quite a gig after basketball, right?” She laughed. “From dribbling to walking the aisle. Quite a shift.”

“Yeah.” His gaze shifted to the carpet and then back to us. “Look, this isn't my idea of a dream job. In fact, it's not a job at all. It's a family business and one that someone has to run while she's away.”

“I'm sorry, Brady.” Lori-Lou's voice softened. “I was just kidding with you. I guess I don't really know you well enough to do that. Yet.”

“Nah, it's okay.” He shrugged. “It's just all new to me.” His face lit into a smile. “Everyone's excited about the contest, which makes the transition easier. It's been months in the making, and Mom couldn't wait to meet the winner. Brace yourself, okay? I'm sure she'll ask you a million questions about your wedding plans.”

“O-oh?”

“Yes. At some point she'll want to know your theme and color choices. Also your fiancé's tuxedo preferences.”

“My fiancé?” The words stuck on the roof of my mouth, kind of like peanut butter.
Madge, I
'm going to blow this! I have to tell him
.

“Sure. She wants to provide the tuxedo too,” Brady said. “Didn't you know that? I thought Madge would've told you.”

“She didn't. We, um, didn't really have a chance to talk about all of that.”

“It was all spelled out in the contest entry form,” Brady explained. “He'll have to come for a fitting in a few weeks. And the bridesmaids too.”

“Bridesmaids?”

“Ooh, yes, yes!” Lori-Lou raised her hand. “I get to be in the wedding party, right? Matron of honor? Isn't that what you said out there?”

I glared at her.

“I've always dreamed of being a matron of honor. This will be quite a privilege, let me tell you.” Her nose wrinkled. “But my figure's not what it used to be. You can thank three ornery kids for that.”

Brady turned his attention to her. “Do you think you'll be able to find something off the rack? We have more choices than most bridal stores, so I'm hoping the bridesmaids can find something that will work with the overall theme.” He turned back to me. “You did say you had a theme, right? Most brides do these days.”

“Well, I've always loved shabby chic,” I said. “But honestly, I think I should tell you that—”

“That we'll definitely be able to pick something off the rack.” Lori-Lou smiled. “You've got oodles of options.”

“Oodles of options. That's a new one.” He grinned, and for a moment that handsome face of his looked magazine-cover ready. Yummy. If I told him the truth about my wedding—or lack thereof—I'd wipe that gorgeous smile right off his face. Maybe I'd better wait awhile to do that. Besides, what would Madge say? I'd only known the woman a few minutes, but I had a feeling she could take me down in a hurry.

“This is your special day, Katie.” Brady gave me a warm
smile. “My mother wants to do everything she can to make it the best it can be.” He reached to take hold of the handle on the studio door. “It doesn't hurt that the press will be there, you know. Great advertisement for the shop and for her designs.”

“Wait, press? At my wedding?”

“Sure. Didn't you read the entry form at all?” His brow wrinkled in concern.

“Katie's just distracted,” Lori-Lou said as she glanced down at her phone once again. “You know how hectic things can be during times like this.”

Times like this?
I glared at her again.

“Well, the point is, my mom wants all of this to be perfect for everyone, and not just because of the press. She loves what she does and wants everyone to be happy.”

He opened the door and gestured for us to enter. I took a couple of steps inside Nadia's studio and fell in love with the place all over again. Seeing the dresses done up in the store was nothing in comparison to this. The fabrics, lace, and embellishments still took my breath away.