The Dream Dress

by Janice Thompson

  “She’s coming with us!” the Splendora trio interrupted in perfect unison.

  Mama’s cheeks flamed red. “It’s true, honey. You see, the ladies are accustomed to traveling, but they’re all going to be overwhelmed with their singing engagements.”

  “Of course, but Mama, I’m not sure what this has to do with you.”

  “We need an assistant.” Twila leaned down to glance at the photos Hannah had placed in her area of the room. “And she’s perfect!”

  “I’ve worked the travel industry for years,” Mama said. “So I know how to advise them. I know the best B&Bs, the best hotels, and the best modes of transportation. And I’m able to go as their tour guide.”

  “I can’t believe it, Mama. You’re finally getting to travel. And to Italy of all places!” Wonder of wonders!

  “Not just Italy.” Her eyes shone with obvious excitement. “There’s more.”

  “What?”

  “Our good friend Gordy is a bandleader,” Jolene said. “A forties swing band, to be precise. The band is working on a cruise ship starting in January. Gordy has asked our trio to perform three gigs a week.”

  “Sounds like fun,” Bella said.

  “My travel agency has connections with the cruise line,” Mama explained. “When I booked the passage for so many people, I was told that I could have a room for free.”

  “For free?” My mind reeled. “Where are you cruising?”

  “In January and February we’ll be in the western Caribbean, sailing out of Galveston, so I’ll be in and out of port every week.” She pinched my cheeks. “I’ll be here to see you and then set sail again.”

  “January and February? Two months?” I wanted to ask how Mimi Carmen had taken this news but didn’t dare.

  “After that I believe we go to Saint Thomas.” She shook her head. “No, I think that’s Saint Croix. Anyway, we’ll be in the eastern Caribbean in March and April.”

  “Wait.” I put my hand up in the air to stop her. “You’re telling me that you’re leaving in a few weeks to go to Italy, then you’re going to be on a cruise ship for four months?”

  “Actually, longer than that. Because it turns out the band has been asked to do an Alaskan cruise, which starts in early July and runs through September. But don’t you see, honey? I’ll be home in May and June. We can spend that time together.” She paused and her expression of joy faded. “We will have to discuss this with Mimi, of course. Do you think she’ll try to talk me out of it?”

  “I don’t know, Mama. She’s bound to miss you. But I’m working from home now, so at least I’ll be there.”

  “That’s exactly what we told her.” Jolene clapped her hands together.

  “I won’t exactly be leaving her behind,” Mama said. “I can bring Mimi along on the first cruise as my roomie. Or the second. Whichever one she prefers—the western Caribbean or the eastern. It’ll be the trip of a lifetime for her.”

  “Wow.”

  “Then again, she’s fallen so in love with Rosa-Earline that I doubt she’ll want to be away for long.” Mama chuckled. “But I might be able to convince her.”

  This started a lengthy conversation from Bella about her daughter’s first steps, and before long the Splendora ladies were carrying on about how fast children grow up. We eventually got back to the business of talking about the Vendors Square and spent some time getting the room set up. Then we set plans in motion for another meeting next month.

  As we rose to leave, I gave Mama a hug before she headed back to the travel agency. “I still can’t believe it, Mama. This is an amazing opportunity, and you totally deserve it.”

  “I don’t know if I deserve it, but I’m certainly grateful for it.” Little creases appeared around her eyes. “But I have had some concerns.”

  “Oh?”

  “Yes. Are you upset with me, Gabi? I want you to be honest.”

  “No, I’m not upset. I’m so happy that you’re finally going to get to travel. Just surprised. And I hope Mimi takes the news well.”

  Mama chuckled. “Are you kidding? She can’t see straight since Daniel started hanging around so much. You’ll have to keep an eye on those two while I’m away, Gabi. Silly lovebirds.” Mama disappeared out the front door with the Splendora ladies still talking a mile a minute.

  As they headed down the front steps, I noticed a familiar car pulling up in the driveway and my breath caught in my throat. I turned to face Bella.

  “D-Demetri?”

  She nodded and put her hand on my arm, likely in an attempt to calm me down. “Yes, Demetri. Stick with me here, Gabi. What I’m about to do is for your own good.”

  The Band Wagon

  The hardest job kids face today is learning good manners without seeing any.

  Fred Astaire

  Demetri!” Bella called out my former boss’s name as he climbed out of his expensive car and headed our way.

  I noticed his usual stylish attire. The expensive suit. The perfectly styled hair. The confident stride as he walked across the pathway from the driveway to the veranda.

  “Bella, dah-ling.” He extended a hand in an overly gracious manner but paused about midway into the greeting when he noticed I was standing beside her. “Oh.” Just one word, but he pulled his hand back as he said it.

  “Demetri, glad you could come. I know what a busy man you are.” Bella gestured for him to enter, and we all walked into the foyer of Club Wed.

  “Yes, vell, I got your message zat you needed to see me. If I had known—” He never finished the sentence. Instead, he turned to look inside the Vendors Square, his gaze landing on the beautiful gown I’d just put on display. He must’ve also noticed the various sketches I’d framed and hung, because he took several steps toward the room.

  After giving it all a thorough look, he turned back to face us. “Vhat is zis?”

  “Ah.” Bella smiled. “Well, this is the Vendors Square area I told you about. You can see that my preferred vendors—like Gabi here—have already begun promoting their products.”

  “I see zat.”

  “What do you think of her designs?” Bella asked. “Lovely, aren’t they?”

  I felt my breath catch in my throat. Of all the questions to ask one of the leading designers in the state.

  “Zay are fine.” He seemed to dismiss them, turning to look at Hannah’s photographs instead. After a moment, he turned back to face us. “Bella, I am a busy man. Please don’t vaste my time. Is zis little get-together some sort of ploy to convince me to take Gabi back?”

  “No, I don’t want my job back.” I put my hand up to stop him before he humiliated either of us. “That’s not what this is about.”

  “Not at all,” Bella said with a wave of her hand. “Not at all.”

  “Zen vhat?”

  “I will not work for you, Demetri,” I said. “To be honest, I was so unhappy in that little room doing alterations. I’m much more suited to designing my own gowns.” I sighed. “And I don’t need a team to sew them for me. I love that part too. Basically, I just love the whole process.”

  “Zen what is zee purpose of zis interruption to my day?” He looked down his nose at me.

  Bella squared her shoulders. “She’s saying that she will not work for you, but she’s perfectly willing to work with you.”

  I am?

  Before he could say a word, Bella put a hand up to silence him. “She’s not asking to be a partner. Not yet, anyway. But the idea of you featuring her designs at Haute Couture Bridal would be fine for now.” She flashed a winning smile.

  “I vill die before zat happens. Already my attorneys are vorking on zee papers to . . .” His words fizzled off.

  “They’re working on nothing, because there’s nothing to work on.” Bella chuckled and patted him on the arm. “Be reasonable, Demetri. You are a designer, yes, but your boutique sells gowns designed by others as well as your own.”

  “Zis is true, but—”

  “And you only carry the finest. Y
ou’re known across the island for that.”

  “Across zee state.” He stood a bit straighter at this comment.

  “Across zee—the—state.” She smiled. “So it makes sense for you to carry Gabi’s designs in your store. They’re going to be famous, you know. I wish you could have heard all of the guests at the wedding this past weekend, going on and on.”

  “Nicolette’s vedding?” His jaw clenched.

  “Well, Nicolette’s two gowns got rave reviews too, but I’m referring to Scarlet Lindsey, now Scarlet Rossi. Do you know her?”

  “I do not.”

  “Oh, you should get to know her. She’s my new sister-in-law and a very influential woman in the wedding business. She runs Let Them Eat Cake.”

  “Ah yes. I’ve been zere. Great sticky buns.”

  “Yes. Well, Scarlet’s aunt is Wilhelmina Lindsey—er, Neeley. Do you know her?”

  “Of course. Everyone in zee industry knows zat name.”

  From out in the foyer the parrot let out a sound like a machine gun going off, and Demetri nearly came out of his skin. I bit back a laugh and refocused on Bella.

  “Well, you might be interested to know that Wilhelmina recently designed a special cake to coordinate with one of Gabi’s designs,” Bella said. “And that cake is going to be prominently featured in Texas Bride magazine, along with a link to Gabi’s website.”

  “You . . . you have a vebsite?” He stared at me as if he couldn’t quite believe all of this.

  To be honest, I couldn’t quite believe it myself. It all still felt like a dream, one that I might wake up from. “I do now,” I managed. Still, I couldn’t stop thinking about what Bella had said about the photo appearing in Texas Bride. When did that happen?

  “My web designer has done a fabulous job creating a site for her,” Bella said. In the next room, the bird began to warble “Amazing Grace.” In multiple keys. “Which reminds me, some of the links on your Haute Couture site need to be updated. In fact, the whole site could use an overhaul. It’s looking a little outdated, Demetri, and outdated is never a good thing in the wedding business.”

  He seemed perplexed by her words. In fact, he seemed perplexed by the whole thing.

  “So, what do you say?” Bella’s tone exuded confidence. “We’re not asking for a favor here. Far from it. You can see that Gabi doesn’t need you. She will do just fine on her own, whether you carry her designs or not.”

  “With Bella’s help,” I threw in.

  “And with the help of the other wedding vendors on the island. But there’s strength in numbers. Do you want to let this fresh, young designer have some floor space in your shop, or do we take this offer to Premiere Bridal on the mainland?”

  He blanched as she mentioned Haute Couture’s primary competitor. “Zis is a travesty. You have painted me into zee corner!”

  “I’ll admit, it’s a big decision.” Bella’s lips turned up in a smile. “But how fun to be billed as the designer who discovered Gabriella Delgado. I have no doubt those words will come in handy for you someday. After the media picks up on her successes, I mean. But of course that’s totally up to you. No pressure.” With a wave of her hand she appeared to play down the situation. I had the feeling, though, that she was playing him. Like a violin.

  And he appeared to be considering it. Go figure.

  Bella’s words flattered me. They also terrified me on some level. Did she really think I would one day be that well known? Frightening thought.

  For a moment, I remembered what it felt like to be holed up in that tiny little alterations room. Safe. Snug. Hidden away from the masses. No fears. Well, other than the fear that Demetri would take my head off at any moment.

  I contrasted that with the idea of being in the limelight in front of adoring fans. Ack. Could I really do this?

  Guido took to singing “Ninety-Nine Bottles of Beer on the Wall.” This got a strange look from Demetri but lifted the tension in the room briefly.

  “Even if I did agree to do zis, it vould be impossible,” he said, just as Guido got to ninety-seven bottles of beer on the wall. “I have no room in my store for a new line.”

  “You do.” Bella fussed with one of my framed sketches on the wall, straightening it a bit. Not that it needed to be straightened. “The answer is quite simple, really. Take the wall down between the store and the current alterations closet. Er, room.”

  “Take zee vall down?”

  “Yes. Just make that area part of the store, a little nook of sorts. The Gabriella collection will fit nicely, I think.” Bella spoke with firm conviction, as if she had decided the whole thing. “Of course, the collection is growing as we speak, but I feel sure you can accommodate a handful of the gowns. When they’re complete, I mean. Right now Gabi is in creative mode.”

  “I understand zat. But I need an alterations area,” Demetri said after a few moments. “I can’t possibly give up zat space.”

  “There’s plenty of room in the studio for alterations,” Bella said with another wave of her hand. “And to be honest, the Fab Five could—should—handle the alterations anyway. Don’t you think? I mean, they implement your designs. Why not alter them?”

  He paced the tiny space, pausing to look once again at the gown I’d put on the display. “Zis, I never thought of.”

  “It will save you money in the long run,” I said. “If you don’t have to pay someone to do alterations, I mean.”

  “Yes, but vill one of zee ladies lower herself to such a task?” He clucked his tongue. “Zis is zee question.”

  “The answer is yes. Because altering a gown is just part of the overall picture,” I said. “It goes with the territory.”

  Still, I could only imagine the look on Beatrix’s face when Demetri told her that she would be responsible to raise a hem or take in a waistline. No doubt she would flip. Say it was beneath her.

  “To your vay of thinking, maybe.” He raked his hands through his practically perfect hair, messing it up a bit. “Zay may not agree.”

  “We all make compromises, Demetri.”

  Trust me. I’ve compromised. And compromised. And compromised.

  “I vill think on zeese things and let you know.” He looked away from the gown and faced Bella. “Just out of curiosity, veech of Nicolette’s gowns did you like zee best?”

  “Well, I really couldn’t say.” Bella’s expression never changed as she spoke. “You see, I was so busy doing what I do best—caring for my bride and her family—that I didn’t pay much attention to what she was wearing.”

  My former boss blanched at this.

  “We all play our role, Demetri,” Bella said. “You do your thing, I do mine. But in the end, the opinion that really matters isn’t mine or yours. It’s the bride’s. She’s the one we have in mind from the beginning, and she’s the one we hope to please in the end. So I suppose, to answer your question, I’d have to say both, because Nicolette looked radiantly happy at both the ceremony and the reception.”

  “Ah.” Demetri gave a tight-lipped smile. “I suppose you are right.”

  “You know I’m right. But we can talk more about this when we meet to discuss the addition of Gabi’s line to your store. In the meantime, thank you for stopping by.”

  I’d never heard anyone dismiss Demetri as if he were just an ordinary, normal human being before. Usually folks bowed down at his feet. But as Bella returned to tidying up the room, leaving him to find his way to the door, it became evident to me that she saw him not as some sort of hero to be worshiped but as a fellow professional in the wedding biz.

  And now she saw me that way too. Well, maybe not exactly like she saw Demetri, but she saw me as a pro.

  Bella and I had a good, long laugh after Demetri headed off on his way, then she gushed about what a creative soul I was, how my designs flowed like water.

  For whatever reason, her words sent me reeling back in time to that day on the beach. I could feel the early morning breeze rippling through my hair. I could hear the
waves as they lapped the shore. I could sense the wonder as I reached for my sketchbook to quickly capture an idea so it wouldn’t flit away.

  In that moment, something hit me from out of the blue. “God created.” I spoke the words aloud, though I hadn’t meant to.

  “Yes, he did,” Bella responded. “Birds? Fish? Earth?”

  “No, I mean, God is in the business of creating . . . and so am I.”

  “True.” Bella grinned. “That’s why I said you’re a creative soul, Gabi. One of the best I’ve seen, by the way, but I might be a little biased.” She winked and reached over to pick up one of Hannah’s photos that had fallen.

  “Thank you. I just never put it together before. God spoke some words and the whole earth came to be. Ideas flit through my brain and I scratch them down on paper, and then they come to be. It’s just weird. I never really thought of it as creating before.”

  “Well, go back and read the creation story. Maybe he has something he wants to show you.”

  Later that night, while nuzzled under the covers, I opened the Bible app on my phone to the first chapter of Genesis. I read the story of creation, waiting for the Lord to zap me with some sort of supernatural message that I hadn’t picked up on before.

  Instead, a little nudge took place in my heart when I reached the verse about how the Spirit of God moved over the waters during creation.

  “That’s it.” I pinched my eyes shut and thought back to the day at the beach. Though I couldn’t put it into words at the time, that’s exactly what I’d felt—the Spirit of God moving across my creation. That’s why the sketch for Scarlet’s dress had come pouring out of me, not because of any talent on my part but because the Holy Spirit was moving across my creation—in this case, the sketch.

  I read the verse again and again, realizing the significance of this. If what the Lord was showing me was true, I could ask him to stir in me in this way every time I sat down to create something. Every time I needed to come up with a design, a sketch, a plan for a particular bride-to-be.

  When God created, he made something out of nothing. My creations were made of fabric, thread, and beads. But when his Spirit breathed on that fabric, that thread, those beads, they came together to bring pleasure to his creation.