“Have we got everything?” Diana asked, coming in. She was holding a dress bag needed for the fashion show.
“I thought everything was in the van.” Teddy indicated the bag.
“This is a surprise,” Diana said. Then noticing Teddy fumbling through things, she asked, “What are you looking for?”
“The clover veil.” Teddy pulled a drawer opened and shuffled the contents aside. Then she closed it and looked in another drawer. It wasn’t there, either. Leaving her office, she went to search Renee’s. She found the veil in the third drawer, already in a box with a label on it. She returned to her office.
“The keys,” she said to herself. “Where did I put the keys?”
“I’ll drive,” Diana said, lifting them from beneath a pile of fabric samples. “You appear to be in no condition.”
Teddy wasn’t. She didn’t argue with her partner. “I’m sorry. I just have a lot of details on my mind.” She knew Diana had seen her stressed before, but not this stressed. It wasn’t the work. It was Adam and their engagement. How could she go and fall in love with him? How could she fake the engagement?
The two headed outside and climbed into the SUV bearing the logo for Weddings by Diana. Diana put the vehicle in gear and drove out of the driveway. The fashion show was taking place in New Brunswick, less than an hour away if traffic didn’t slow them down. Neither woman said a word until Diana pulled onto Route 27 and headed north. At this hour the interstates would take a long time to reach and be packed when they got to them.
“Teddy, you’re obviously tense. What happened? You said Thanksgiving went well, but I’m thinking that wasn’t how it actually turned out.”
Teddy leaned her head back and closed her eyes for a moment. “Adam asked me to marry him.”
“What!” Diana took a long glance at her.
“In front of everyone. My sisters and brother. His brothers. Both sets of parents. I couldn’t say no. My mother and his mother stood in front of us practically panting for me to accept the proposal. I thought they were going to hug and jump up and down like happy children when I said yes.” She glanced at Diana. “Then they did just that.”
“You said yes?” Diana nearly screamed.
Teddy nodded. “There was nothing else I could do.”
“Teddy, I thought this was a temporary arrangement.”
“It is,” Teddy said, but she wasn’t sure anymore.
Diana lowered her voice. It was compassionate. She understood part of what Teddy was feeling. “What happens now?”
“I don’t know. We haven’t figured that out yet.”
“When was the last time you talked to Adam?”
“Friday morning.” It was when she left his bed, but she kept that tidbit of information to herself.
* * *
The phone rang and Teddy automatically punched the media button on the Bluetooth phone then spoke into the air. She listened for a few seconds. “You’re kidding?” she said.
More time passed. Teddy listened again. Diana watched anxiously.
“What about Grace?” Teddy asked whoever was on the other end of the line.
“Never mind. I’ll handle it when I get there.”
Irritated, she hung the phone up.
“What’s wrong,” Diana asked.
“Brianna caught a cold. She won’t be able to model. And Renee has no substitutes for her.”
Diana looked at the dress bag. “She has a lot of outfits.”
“And they’re already at the hall. Renee said they tried to find a replacement, but no one is available.” Teddy put a hand to her temples and squeezed. She’d had a headache since Thanksgiving. It didn’t help that this show was adding to her stress, and now she had no one to model a huge collection of gowns.
“You and Brianna are the same size. And you were one of the first models—”
“No,” Teddy said.
“We have to have someone model the gowns. She’s got some of the best of your creations and the backstage dressing and getting ready will be totally off if someone doesn’t fill in.”
“Can anything else go wrong today?” Teddy asked rhetorically.