***
An hour later, Tess and Molly flopped down on the sofa in Tess’ apartment.
“We didn’t find her,” Tess said. “Did you find anyone in the phone book that knows them?”
Sally leaned her elbows on the table. “Not yet, but I’ve still got another couple of numbers to try. I can’t believe none of the Thompsons or Browns we called know Connie and Dave. It’s like they’ve vanished.”
Annie ended the call she was on. “What about the hospital. If Connie’s mom is still a patient, we might be able to find her daughter through her.”
Molly shook her head. “Hospitals are the worst places to find information about people. Unless you’re immediate family, they won’t let any details out.”
Tess looked at her friends. “Does anyone know someone who works at the hospital?”
Molly and Annie shook their heads.
“Amy, my sister-in-law, is a doctor at the hospital,” Sally said. “I’ll ask if she can help, but it probably breaks their rules about patient confidentiality.”
Tess opened her notebook and looked at the first page. “We’ll put a question mark beside the hospital option. I’ll stop by the other stationery stores tomorrow afternoon.”
“I’ve made a list of the auto repair businesses in Bozeman,” Sally said. “If you do the stationery stores, Molly, Annie and I could split the list of auto repair places between us.”
“Okay. It’s a deal.” Tess walked to the kitchen and poured herself a coffee. “Is it too early to start talking about the dresses and how we’re going to do this?” She opened a cookie jar and left it on the table in front of the sofa.
“It’s probably a good idea to get everything worked out now,” Sally said. “By the time we find the bride and groom we might not have much time before the wedding.”
Tess bit into a cookie and sighed. “These are good. Help yourself.” She brushed oatmeal crumbs off her shirt and thought about what they’d need to make this work. “I’ve got lots of space in my spare bedroom. We could use the closet in there for the dresses.”
“We could drop them off after dinner tomorrow,” Sally said. “I’ll call Emily and see if she wants to keep her bridesmaids’ dresses. If anyone finds our mystery couple, make sure you text everyone else. We can have another meeting tomorrow night when we bring the dresses in.”
“Do you think we’ll find them?” Annie asked.
“I don’t know,” Tess said. “But we’ll try our best to find them before their wedding.”
“Imagine someone stealing everything you own. It must have been heartbreaking.” Sally frowned at the list in front of Tess. “I don’t know why anyone would want four bridesmaids’ dresses. It’s such a nasty thing to do.”
“There are some horrible people out there.” Annie sat quietly in her chair, looking as glum as Tess felt.
“Come on everyone. Cheer up.” Molly pulled Tess’ list toward her. “We’re doing something special for Connie and Dave. There will always be idiots in the world, but we don’t have to let them drag us down. What we need is something to remind us that we’re on a mission for happiness.”
“Like a name for what we’re doing?” Annie said.
Sally frowned. “What do you mean?”
Annie sat on the edge of her seat. “We could call ourselves something. Like a club or a project name.”
Tess took another bite of her cookie. “But this is a one-off thing. Once we’ve helped Connie and Dave the name won’t matter.”
“It will matter to us,” Molly said. “It’s the feel good factor that will make this a wonderful thing to do.”
“How about the Wedding Angels?” Annie suggested. “Bridesmaids are part of a wedding and we were in Angel Wings Café when we read the newspaper article.”
Sally shook her head. “It’s good, but too much like a business. What about Bridesmaids to the Rescue?”
“Sounds like an emergency response team.” Annie grinned at Sally. “We’d have every single guy in town lining up to be rescued.”
“What about The Bridesmaids Club?” Molly looked at everyone’s faces. “It’s warm and friendly. No guy will ever think we’re a dating agency with that name.”
Sally wrote it down on a piece of paper. “I like it.”
“Sounds good to me,” Annie said. “What are we going to do if another bride needs our help?”
“There can’t be that many people needing bridesmaids’ dresses.” Tess watched everyone’s faces. “Most people have their dresses made well in advance of the wedding.”
Sally picked up Tess’ notebook. “At last count we had seventeen dresses and that’s before we ask anyone for donations. If Connie wants four of the dresses, that leaves us thirteen. We could easily help another two or three brides.”
“It would be fun,” Molly said. “None of us are anywhere near close to getting married. We could enjoy the excitement of a wedding without the drama.”
“We don’t even have boyfriends.” Sally sighed.
“Speak for yourself,” Annie said with a smug smile on her face. “Not that I’d call Carl a boyfriend, but he’s cute and he could be my boyfriend.”
“When did this happen?” Sally asked.
“I met him three weeks ago at ten pin bowling. He got five strikes in a row.” Annie’s face glowed with excitement. “We’re competing in a doubles tournament next weekend.”
“Good for you,” Tess said. “Hopefully by then we’ve found Connie and Dave.” She smiled at her friends. “Here’s to The Bridesmaids Club. To happiness, kind hearts and finding a mystery bride and groom.”
“I’ll drink to that.” Molly raised her cup and laughed. “And who knows, a little piece of magic from our happy couple might rub off on us.”
All of Me Page 11