The Fairy Tale Bride

Her fingers kept straying to the massive amount of chocolates from Sage’s. If she kept going like this it wouldn’t be Polly that wouldn’t fit into her bridesmaid dress – Lisa would have to replace her entire closet.

Or it could be that this was Thursday and Adam would be picking her up for dinner in the next few hours.

Any one of these things could be responsible for the ten thousand butterflies that were flapping around her stomach right now.

She glanced at the clock again. Ruby and Polly had an appointment yesterday, but after Lisa had waited around for three hours, Nancy’s PA had finally phoned to say they couldn’t make it and could they come today.

Two hours past their appointment time today and they still hadn’t shown. Lisa was getting mad.

Her black lace dress hung in the storeroom at the back of the shop – ready for her to slip it on before Adam came to collect her. What had possessed her?

There was something about him. First, he wasn’t a cowboy. She’d sworn off them since the Joe Talbot fiasco. And that was the trouble with Marietta – it was full of cowboys. Once they’d been taken out of the picture the dating pool kind of narrowed.

Adam was new. She was kind of surprised that he hadn’t been snapped up already. Single men could be a premium around here.

And there was something about being around Adam that made her feel…sexy again. Probably the way he looked at her with those dark brown eyes, as if he were already undressing her. It had been a long time since her body had reacted to anyone. A long time since she’d even contemplated going there again.

Someone new to the town was appealing. They hadn’t grown up together and gone to school together. He didn’t know about her two sisters. He wouldn’t ask questions about an ex-fiancé.

Adam seemed like an interesting kind of guy. Just as long as he didn’t have skeletons in his closet.

The door swung open and Polly and Ruby burst into the shop mid-argument. “I’m sick of you,” Polly shouted. “And I’m sick of this backwater town in the middle of nowhere. How on earth could Nancy stand living in a place like this?”

Ruby folded her arms across her chest. “Well, if you ask me, you fit right in here.” She sneered at Polly. “Doesn’t it just seem like your old trailer park?”

Polly hissed and jumped towards Ruby, who’d cleverly just put Lisa between them both. Lisa held out her hands. “Stop it. Stop it now. If you two want to fight you’ll need to take it out on the street.” She gritted her teeth. “People in Marietta don’t behave like that.”

Polly tossed her head and thumped down into one of Lisa’s vintage chairs with such a ferocity that Lisa was surprised she didn’t end up on the floor.

Ruby flicked her hair and walked over to look at the bridesmaid dresses again, the sneer still present on her face.

Lisa decided it was time to take the bull by the horns. She picked up two mink halter-neck dresses with diamantes sparkled across the bodice. She handed one to Polly and one to Ruby. “Try these, ladies. A dressing room each.”

Her voice was more commanding than usual. Lisa wasn’t usually bossy, in fact, in her shop she was anything but. She looked back to the door. “Isn’t Nancy joining us today?”

“Hrmph,” came the noise from the first dressing room. “Jared rolled into town last night. You won’t see Nancy for the next two days.”

Polly stuck her head out from behind the other curtain. “Don’t mind her. She’s in a snitch. Nancy’s wardrobe for the new series of Sultry Suburbs arrived last night, and we’re not allowed to see a single thing.”

“Really? Why on earth not?”

Ruby pulled back the curtain. “It’s ridiculous. I mean, why on earth hide the clothes from us? We’re her friends.”

Lisa was fascinated. She’d never heard anything like this before. “What’s the big deal? The clothes on Sultry Suburbs are gorgeous. Wouldn’t they want everyone to see them?”

The second curtain swept back. Polly stood with her arms folded across her chest and smirked at Ruby. “People outside Hollywood know nothing.” She gave a shake of her head and a little laugh as she strode out of the dressing room and into the middle of the floor. “It’s part of her contract. The clothes. Every designer wants their clothes on Sultry Suburbs. Every single item sells out within minutes of being on the show. That’s why it’s all such a secret. Nancy sometimes has to shoot a scene in more than one outfit before they decide which one they’re actually going to use.”

Ruby nodded and walked over, standing next to her and lifting a few chocolates from the bowl. “Every crew member on Sultry Suburbs has to sign a nondisclosure contract.” She flicked her blonde hair over her shoulder. “But I don’t see why we can’t see the clothes. It’s not as if we’d tell anyone.”

Lisa tried to hide her smile. It was written all over their faces. The second either of them saw a glimpse of that wardrobe they would pull out their phones, snap pictures and buy the clothes themselves the next day. Subtlety wasn’t their strong point.

Lisa walked over to one of the freestanding mirrors and turned it towards both of them. “Look. What do you think of this style? It looks good on you both.” She walked out from behind the mirror and stood behind them, making a little tweak here and there. “There still needs to be adjustments.”

It was the first time they’d ever worn the same dress. And it looked surprisingly good. The halter neck style both enhanced and detracted from their large bosoms. Showing cleavage but keeping everything in place. The diamantes and figure-skimming satin showed a little class. The pale color enhanced their tanned skin.

Ruby lifted her hands to untie the neck. “This is ugly. Ugly! There’s no way I’m wearing this!”

Polly wrinkled her nose. It was the only part of her face that wasn’t botoxed. “Finally something we agree on.” She walked over the rail and picked off a purple dress. “I’m going to try this one.”

Ruby walked over and picked up an emerald green dress, flouncing in the other direction. “Well, I’m certainly not wearing that color!”

Eyes flashed. Hands poised on hips. It was like a Mexican standoff.

Lisa sucked in a deep breath and glanced at the clock.

By the looks of it – this could take all night.

*

Adam was pacing. He didn’t like pacing. It wasn’t making things better – it was making them worse.

Why hadn’t he arranged to meet her at the restaurant? At least that way if she wanted to stand him up, he wasn’t in view of the whole town, pacing up and down outside her store.

He glanced at his watch again. 7:20 pm. She’d said to pick her up at seven, but it was obvious she was still working. The lights were on in the shop and there was a flurry of multi-colored dresses streaking past the window. Something didn’t seem quite right.

He’d always thought a wedding salon would be quite a nice place – not that he had any experience. But every now and then a high-pitched angry voice came filtering through the air. Things sounded fraught in there – which is why he had no wish or desire to go inside.

A few seconds later the door was flung wide and two angry blondes stomped out, both ignoring the waiting car at the sidewalk and disappearing in different directions – one directly into the pizza parlor next door, the other heading off in the direction of Grey’s.

Adam hesitated. Should he go inside? Was it safe?

He poked his head warily inside. It was like a scene of epic destruction. The floor was littered with a rainbow explosion of colors and a variety of satin-padded hangers. On top of the color was a wide variety of white and cream scraps of material – probably masquerading as wedding underwear. One dress was even dangling from the crystal chandelier, and in the midst of it all stood Lisa, looking like she might burst into tears any second now.

“Lisa?” he said quietly.

She blinked. “Adam.” She looked around as if she could barely believe it. “I’m sorry.” She held out her arms. “Things got a bit

out of hand here.” Her voice was starting to waver.

His reaction was automatic. He reached up and gently removed the navy blue dress snagged on the chandelier. “Can we rename that pair the Terrible Twins?”

“Oh, I can think of a whole lot of other names. None of them that polite,” shot back Lisa. She picked up a hangar, slipping the dress onto it and putting it on the nearest rail. Her hand ran down the crumpled fabric and she gave a sigh.

She shook her head. “It’s the disrespect,” she said slowly. “Some people spend their whole lives saving to buy their wedding trousseau. A lot of my stock is expensive. Some of these dresses cost more than a thousand dollars and they’re throwing them around as if they’re from the dollar market.”

She picked up a pale yellow strand and fingered a thin strap that had come away from the seam. “They seem to think it’s okay to behave like a pair of toddlers having a tantrum. That might be okay in Hollywood – but it’s not normal in Marietta.” She was starting to get mad. The more she picked her dresses off the floor and inspected them for damage – the angrier she became.

“They had the nerve to suggest that people in Marietta weren’t as good as people in Hollywood. At least the people in Marietta know how to conduct themselves in an appropriate manner. I don’t what standards they live by but–”

“Hey.” Adam’s hand closed over hers. She looked down. Her fist had closed around one of the dresses, clenching the delicate grey fabric.

Her eyes met his as he gently released the dress from her grasp and hung it on the rail.

“Who is the bride again?” Maybe he should have paid more attention to all this.