Boundless.
Real.
I fought the glimmer of that fear I’d felt that night, and instead chose to be thankful that Richard had been there.
That he’d saved her.
Circumstances didn’t matter.
There were just some things that trumped all else.
“Thank you. It was definitely scary. Luckily, we only came home with an arm casted and nothing worse.”
She nodded, and Emily gestured to the store. “We’d better get inside. Our appointment is at one. They’ll be waiting for us.”
I tried not to cringe. That was the thing about living in a small town. Memories were going to haunt you wherever you went.
We filtered inside.
“Oh good, Emily and party. Welcome. I’m Letty, and I’ll be assisting you today.” The woman running the store turned her attention to Melanie and gestured to a large rack. “I’ve set aside the dresses you requested.”
By the time I could even orient myself, Melanie had gone all business and was placing a pile of dresses in my arms. “You try on these.” She handed some off to Maggie. “And you’ll model these.”
She took about seventeen of them for herself and hung them in a dressing room.
That was right before she whipped out an iPad from her bag, mumbling at Emily as she scrolled through the screen, “Emily, you still want to do same colors but different styles?”
Emily shifted on her feet. Unsure. “I…I think so. I wanted to see a few options on y’all before we decide. Mia won’t be here until two days before the wedding, so we’ll have to pick one for her and the final alterations will be done then.”
I looked at her in question.
Emily’s smile was almost sympathetic. My sister-in-law who I hardly knew any longer. The details of her life or the people who had become most important to her.
“Mia is Leif’s wife,” she explained.
“Ah.”
Leif was the new drummer. He had taken Shawn’s place after he’d left the band, which I didn’t know the details about that, either. Whatever falling out they’d gone through had happened after I’d been cut from the loop.
Emily reached out and squeezed my hand. “She’s amazin’. You’ll love her. Super sweet. Do you know the band, Sunder?”
I gave a nod. Of course, I knew Sunder. You’d have to live under a rock not to, and considering I kinda did, anyway, meant they were really famous. “Sure.”
“She’s Lyrik West’s younger sister. They met when Leif was playing with Sunder as a fill-in for one of their albums. You’ll love both of them. All of Sunder will actually be here for the wedding. I’ve become really good friends with their wives, and with Carolina George now being under the Stone Industries label, it’s brought us all close together.”
My head shook. Pride rising high. “Wow…y’all really did make it big.”
Mel waved an indulgent hand in the air. “Um…so big…you don’t even know. I mean, they played live at the ACB Awards. You can’t get any bigger than that.”
Emily blushed. “It’s not that big a deal.”
“Huge deal,” Melanie said with her back to us as she arranged the dresses.
“I think it’s a pretty big deal,” Maggie added in her shy way.
“I do, too,” I agreed, smiling at my friend.
Wistfully.
Nostalgia hitting me full-on.
The dreams they’d had. They were going to do whatever it took to chase them down. Reaching for the stars. The only difference was I’d somehow been fool enough to believe I was going to be there with them while they did it.
Not that I was a starfucker.
Wanting a claim to their fame.
I’d just loved them all so much I couldn’t wait to see them achieve every single dream.
“We’re truly blessed,” Emily said as she stared at me for a beat. “Grateful for how far we’ve come.”
“I can’t wait to see how far you go.”
Finally, I cleared my throat when the tension felt too thick. “Well, we’d better try these dresses on. We’ve got a weddin’ to plan.”
“Good idea. In you go, sexy pants.” Melanie waved an emphatic hand to my dressing room. “God…these pictures are gonna be amazing. Like, your bridesmaids are legit the most gorgeous women in the world,” Melanie said, her attention shifting to Emily.
Emily quirked a brow. “You are one of my bridesmaids.”
“And?” she drew out.
I laughed.
Only Mel.
We tried on the dresses, coming out each time we put on a new one to show it off.
Mel gathered up the ones we liked and put the rest in a discard pile for Letty who was running around trying to meet her demands.
After spending two hours with her steering this party, there was no question she was worth every cent of whatever they were paying her to manage the band.
She had it in her blood.
Quick wit and organization and no fear to tell it like it was.
On my second to last dress I’d been given to model, I stepped out of the dressing room. It was a light-rose, clingy dress. It had a ridiculously deep neckline, the material expanding from the cinched straps and widening to cover your breasts, a fitted band that went all the way from beneath the bustline to the waist. The A-line skirt draped to the ground and had a high slit riding up the left leg to expose the thigh.