The Perfect Dress
Page 1
PRAISE FOR CAROLYN BROWN
Small Town Rumors
“Carolyn Brown is a master at writing warm, complex characters who find their way into your heart.”
—Harlequin Junkie
“Carolyn Brown’s Small Town Rumors takes that hotbed and with it, spins a delightful tale of starting over, coming into your own, and living your life, out loud and unafraid.”
—Words We Love By
“Small Town Rumors by Carolyn Brown is a contemporary romance perfect for a summer read in the shade of a big old tree with a glass of lemonade or sweet tea. It is a sweet romance with wonderful characters and a small town setting.”
—Avonna Loves Genres
The Sometimes Sisters
“Carolyn Brown continues her streak of winning, heartfelt novels with The Sometimes Sisters, a story of estranged sisters and frustrated romance.”
—All About Romance
“This is an amazing feel-good story that will make you wish you were a part of this amazing family.”
—Harlequin Junkie (top pick)
“The Sometimes Sisters is [a] delightful and touching story that explores the bonds of family. I loved the characters, the story lines, and the focus on the importance of familial bonds, whether they be blood relations or those you choose with your heart.”
—Rainy Day Ramblings
The Strawberry Hearts Diner
“[A] sweet and satisfying romance from the queen of Texas romance.”
—Fresh Fiction
“A heartwarming cast of characters brings laughter and tears to the mix, and readers will find themselves rooting for more than one romance on the menu. From the first page to the last, Brown perfectly captures the mood as well as the atmosphere and creates a charming story that appeals to a wide range of readers.”
—RT Book Reviews
“A sweet romance surrounded by wonderful, caring characters.”
—TBQ’s Book Palace
“[A] deeply satisfying contemporary small-town western story . . .”
—Delighted Reader
The Barefoot Summer
“Prolific romance author Brown shows she can also write women’s fiction in this charming story, which uses humor and vivid characters to show the value of building an unconventional chosen family.”
—Publishers Weekly
“This story takes you and carries you along for a wonderful ride full of laughter, tears, and three amazing HEAs. I feel like these characters are not just people in a book, but they are truly family, and I feel so invested in their journey. Another amazing HIT for Carolyn Brown.”
—Harlequin Junkie (top pick)
The Lullaby Sky
“I really loved and enjoyed this story. Definitely a good comfort read when you’re in a reading funk or just don’t know what to read. The secondary characters bring much love and laughter into this book—your cheeks will definitely hurt from smiling so hard while reading. Carolyn is one of my most favorite authors. I know without a doubt that no matter what book of hers I read, I can just get lost in it and know it will be a good story. Better than the last. Can’t wait to read more from her.”
—The Bookworm’s Obsession
The Lilac Bouquet
“Brown pulls readers along for an enjoyable ride. It’s impossible not to be touched by Brown’s protagonists, particularly Seth, and a cast of strong supporting characters underpins the charming tale.”
—Publishers Weekly
“If a reader is looking for a book more geared toward family and long-held secrets, this would be a good fit.”
—RT Book Reviews
“Carolyn Brown absolutely blew me away with this epically beautiful story. I cried, I giggled, I sobbed, and I guffawed; this book had it all. I’ve come to expect great things from this author, and she more than lived up to anything I could have hoped for. Emmy Jo Massey and her great-granny Tandy are absolute masterpieces, not because they are perfect but because they are perfectly painted. They are so alive, so full of flaws and spunk and determination. I cannot recommend this book highly enough.”
—Night Owl Reviews (five stars and top pick)
The Wedding Pearls
“The Wedding Pearls by Carolyn Brown is an amazing story about family, life, love, and finding out who you are and where you came from. This book is a lot like The Golden Girls meet Thelma and Louise.”
—Harlequin Junkie
“The Wedding Pearls is an absolute must-read. I cannot recommend this one enough. Grab a copy for yourself, and one for a best friend or even your mother or both. This is a book that you need to read. It will make you laugh and cry. It is so sweet and wonderful and packed full of humor. I hope that when I grow up, I can be just like Ivy and Frankie.”
—Rainy Day Ramblings
The Yellow Rose Beauty Shop
“The Yellow Rose Beauty Shop was hilarious, and so much fun to read. But sweet romances, strong female friendships, and family bonds make this more than just a humorous read.”
—The Readers Den
“If you like books about small towns and how the people’s lives intertwine, you will love this book. I think it’s probably my favorite book this year. The relationships of the three main characters, girls who have grown up together, will make you feel like you just pulled up a chair in their beauty shop with a bunch of old friends. As you meet the other people in the town, you’ll wish you could move there. There are some genuine laugh-out-loud moments and then more that will just make you smile. These are real people, not the oh-so-thin-and-so-very-rich that are often the main characters in novels. This book will warm your heart, and you’ll remember it after you finish the last page. That’s the highest praise I can give a book.”
—Reader quote for The Yellow Rose Beauty Shop
Long, Hot Texas Summer
“This is one of those light-hearted, feel-good, make-me-happy kinds of stories. But, at the same time, the essence of this story is family and love with a big ole dose of laughter and country living thrown in the mix. This is the first installment in what promises to be another fascinating series from Brown. Find a comfortable chair, sit back, and relax because once you start reading Long, Hot Texas Summer, you won’t be able to put it down. This is a super fun and sassy romance.”
—Thoughts in Progress
Daisies in the Canyon
“I just loved the symbolism in Daisies in the Canyon. As I mentioned before, Carolyn Brown has a way with character development with few, if any, contemporaries. I am sure there are more stories to tell in this series. Brown just touched the surface first with Long, Hot Texas Summer and now continuing on with Daisies in the Canyon.”
—Fresh Fiction
ALSO BY CAROLYN BROWN
CONTEMPORARY ROMANCES
The Magnolia Inn
Small Town Rumors
The Sometimes Sisters
The Strawberry Hearts Diner
The Lilac Bouquet
The Barefoot Summer
The Lullaby Sky
The Wedding Pearls
The Yellow Rose Beauty Shop
The Ladies’ Room
Hidden Secrets
Long, Hot Texas Summer
Daisies in the Canyon
Trouble in Paradise
CONTEMPORARY SERIES
THE BROKEN ROAD SERIES
To Trust
To Commit
To Believe
To Dream
To Hope
THREE MAGIC WORDS TRILOGY
A Forever Thing
In Shining Whatever
Life After Wife
HISTORICAL ROMANCE
THE BLACK SWAN TRILOGY
Pushin’ Up Daisies
From Thin Air
Come High Water
THE DRIFTERS & DREAMERS TRILOGY
Morning Glory
Sweet Tilly
Evening Star
THE LOVE’S VALLEY SERIES
Choices
Absolution
Chances
Redemption
Promises
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, organizations, places, events, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
Text copyright © 2019 by Carolyn Brown
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the publisher.
Published by Montlake Romance, Seattle
www.apub.com
Amazon, the Amazon logo, and Montlake Romance are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc., or its affiliates.
ISBN-13: 9781503905276
ISBN-10: 1503905276
Cover design by Laura Klynstra
This book is for my granddaughters, Graycyn Rose Rucker and Madacyn Rayne Rucker, who helped me write this story without even realizing that their beauty and love are an inspiration to me every day.
Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Epilogue
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Chapter One
Men! Can’t live with ’em, and if we shot ’em all, we’d be out of business,” Mitzi grumbled as she entered through the back door of the custom wedding-dress shop that she owned with her friends Jody and Paula.
“Ain’t it the truth.” Jody adjusted her beaded headband and filled three cups with herbal tea. She threw her long blonde braids over her shoulder. “Some days I could poison Lyle.”
“And yet if anyone else even mentioned that, you’d burn them at the stake.” Paula picked up a cup of tea and carried it to the table. She’d gotten her dark hair and dark eyes from her Texan mother, but all the superstition came straight from her Louisianan father. She waved a hand over the cup three times before she tasted it. At thirty-five, she’d never been married—but then technically, neither had any one of them. Jody had lived with Lyle since they’d graduated from high school, but they rejected the tradition of a marriage license.
Jody’s brown eyes flashed. “Oh, honey, I wouldn’t waste gasoline or wood to burn anyone. I grow my own food, remember? I’d poison the tomatoes, and it would look like whoever bad-mouthed my boyfriend had had a heart attack. And you don’t have to do that with your tea. I wouldn’t dream of poisoning you.”
At almost six feet tall and fitting into size-eighteen jeans, Mitzi had learned to be comfortable in her skin but not until she was an adult. Before that she’d endured lots of bullying about her size. Of course today it came rushing back, all over a wisecrack a man had made in the tiny little pastry shop on Main Street in Celeste, Texas.
“Dammit!” she swore. “I forgot to bring in the doughnuts. I’ll be right back.”
Someone must’ve forgotten to inform the people who made calendars that in East Texas, hot weather didn’t wait until the last days of June. The official first day of summer was still three weeks away, but this day—in May—the weatherman said it would reach three digits. Mitzi’s dad had joked that he’d already seen a few lizards carrying canteens.
Sweat beads had formed on Mitzi’s upper lip by the time she returned. She set the box on the table and grabbed a paper towel to dab at her face. But before she could get the job done, her maternal grandmother, Fanny Lou, slipped in through the back door. Mitzi’s dad had bought the house for them to put their business in, but Fanny Lou had given them the seed money for fabrics, new sewing machines, and the separate air-conditioning unit for the dressing room. She refused to be called a partner, but she loved to drop in at any old time. Not that Mitzi minded. After being away for so many years, she loved to have her grandmother around, no matter what time of day it was.
Fanny Lou wasn’t quite as tall as Mitzi, unless she was wearing her cowboy boots. Her bright-red hair sat on top of her head in a messy bun that looked somewhat like she’d stuck her finger in a light socket. Set in a bed of wrinkles, her bright-blue eyes always twinkled behind wire-rimmed glasses. On this day she was dressed in bib overalls, a faded red T-shirt, and her signature boots. She set a paper bag filled with tomatoes and cucumbers on the table.
“Hotter’n the devil’s pitchfork out there. I brought y’all some stuff from my neighbor’s garden. Lord knows I can’t eat all that and if I could, I wouldn’t. Old women like me don’t have to eat their vegetables. They can eat doughnuts when they want.” She sniffed the air. “I smell something wonderful.”
“Orange spice tea or coffee. We’ve got both made. Which one?” Mitzi asked.
“Thanks, darlin’. I’m not much for tea, but coffee sounds wonderful.” Fanny Lou picked up a doughnut and bit into it. “God, this is good. Now what’s put a frown on your face, Mitzi?”
“Yeah, somebody’s got her panties in a twist this morning.” Jody had always been a bit chubby and short, barely coming up to Mitzi’s shoulder, but after high school she’d lost weight. Now her faded jeans hung on her frame.
“It was some stupid guy who was in line at the pastry shop. He was talking to his buddy over in the next aisle about some woman he’d taken out over the weekend. He said there were advantages to dating a fat girl. They provided shade in the summer and warmth in the winter.” Mitzi carried two cups of tea to the table and went back to pour her grandmother’s coffee.
“What did you do?” Paula asked.
“I hope you snatched him baldheaded and then slapped the thunder out of him for not having any hair,” Fanny Lou said.
“I glared at them until they looked up at me. As cocky as they were, I’m pretty sure they were infected with short-man’s disease, because it didn’t take them long to get their order and get out of there. They didn’t look familiar,” Mitzi said, “but they’ll be telling tales tomorrow about the big red-haired Amazon who threatened to whip them with one arm tied around her back.”
“And with egos like they’ve got, they’ll say that they left you bleeding on the floor right beside the cinnamon bun display,” Paula laughed. “You should’ve at least put a curse on them. I’ve given you enough through all the years that you could’ve picked out one that was appropriate.”
Mitzi pushed her tea to one side and poured herself a cup of coffee. She dipped a doughnut into the mug, not caring that crumbs fell back into it. “Oh, come on, Paula. Last time I got mad at someone, you said to never put a bad gris-gris on anyone, because what goes around comes around.”
“You got one of them curses I can have?” Fanny Lou asked. “I’m mad at Jody’s mama. She whispered in my ear after church last week that I should be dressing to live up to my image. I might be the richest old gal in Celeste, but that don’t mean I have to get all gussied up. My knit pantsuits were good enough fifty years ago, and they do just fine today. Besides, I knocked the mud off my boots on the way in the doors, and God ain’t told me that I have to do anything more. Until He does, Wanda can keep her mouth shut.”
Jody’
s chuckle oozed sarcasm. “You’re lucky that’s all she had to say. She’s always bitchin’ to me about something. I’m livin’ in sin or else God is punishing me by making me barren until I marry Lyle properly.”
“Well, if Paula wasn’t so stingy with her curses, we could take care of two birds with one stone,” Fanny Lou said.
“You could throw salt over your shoulder next time you see Wanda. In the Cajun world that means you don’t want her to step foot in your house again,” Paula said.
“I wouldn’t let her in my front door if she knocked, which she won’t because I took up for Jody when she and Lyle moved in together.” Fanny Lou reached for another doughnut. “‘What goes around comes around’ will apply to those men and to Wanda for saying such ugly things. But enough about that. It’s nine o’clock and time to open the front door for business.”
“You’re right, Granny. We’ve got a wedding dress to get ready for a final fitting this afternoon,” Mitzi said.
“And you’ve got an appointment with Ellie Mae to help her design one this morning. So get rid of all that anger.” Fanny Lou sipped her coffee.
“I’ll need an apple fritter to get that done.” Mitzi grabbed the last one in the box.
“Poor Preacher Frank will probably breathe a sigh of relief when he gets her married off.” Fanny Lou lowered her voice. “You know what they say about preachers’ daughters? Well, she flat out passed the test on that one.”
“For real?” Jody asked. “You mean she don’t have a halo up under all that blonde hair?”
Fanny Lou snorted. “Honey, that girl might be an angel, but if she is, it’s because she’s done had the hell screwed out of her.”
Mitzi almost choked on the pastry. “Granny!”
“Truth is truth. You can sugarcoat it or roll it in cow crap, and it don’t change a thing.” Fanny Lou shrugged. “I got to go to the beauty shop and get this mop of hair washed. I ought to get it cut off, but my darlin’ Oscar liked it long. God rest his soul and love his heart.” She rolled her eyes toward the ceiling. “And if you’re up there flirting with Henrietta Cooper, I’ll wring your neck when I get there.” She focused on Mitzi. “Y’all got any other news I can take to the beauty shop?”
“Nothing I can think of,” Mitzi said.