The Wedding Dress Yes (Crossroads Collection)

by Amanda Tru

  “Of course,” Rhonda assured. “I do wish the wedding were here in Crossroads, but I understand. It sounds like your fiancé’s family home is beautiful.”

  “Oh, it really is,” the mother beamed. “I wouldn’t feel right about Kelli getting married so quickly, but they want something small and near the beach. Jeff’s parents live in a beautiful location, and this dress will be perfect.”

  London moaned, Oh no! Not a beach wedding! That dress is enough to overpower a massive cathedral! It will look like a ridiculous joke on the beach!

  “I want the tea-length dress,” Kelli said adamantly.

  Yes! That dress is definitely perfect for either a beach or garden wedding!

  Her mother patted her daughter’s hand consolingly and spoke quietly to Rhonda. “We’ll take this one. Trust me, dear. You’ll thank me later. Thirty years from now, when you look back at the pictures, you’ll be glad you chose the classic.”

  “But I didn’t choose it.” Kelli jerked her hand away. “You did.”

  Her mother smiled tolerantly as if Kelli were a silly child. “Rhonda knows what she’s doing. Just wait until the dress arrives. You’ll see I’m right.”

  Though London could almost see steam rising from Kelli’s face, she went and changed while her mother finalized the details with Rhonda. Before she returned, it was done, and the decision had been finalized.

  The whole scene made London want to cry. Yet again, Rhonda had railroaded a bride. Just like Danielle, Kelli would likely spend her wedding day in tears. Thirty years from now, it wouldn’t matter the current fashion, all Kelli would remember was the sadness of not getting the dress she wanted. Instead of joy, those pictures would only remind her of pain.

  That thought was too much for London, and her emotions took a sudden shift from sadness to anger. She worked to give brides the best day of their lives, one they can look back on and feel joy in every aspect. A wedding was a bride’s day to live the fairy tale, and she should get to wear the dress she felt beautiful in!

  She couldn’t do it anymore. She couldn’t watch Rhonda steal the romance and joy from a bride and wrap it up with a pretense that she was doing what was best for them.

  Seeing that Rhonda was occupied taking measurements of a very upset Kelli, London put her work down and snuck over to the phone. She then grabbed the cordless receiver, hid it under the hem of her shirt, and casually walked to the back storage area. TeraLyn gazed at her curiously, but London focused on her mission.

  She entered the large storage closet at the rear of the shop, found a corner in between two shelving units, took out the phone. Before she could change her mind, she scrolled through the caller id to the last incoming call and pressed to redial.

  The line was answered on the second ring.

  “Hello, my name is London Hutchins. I work in the same building with Rhonda Snow at Snow White Bridal. I heard you had a request with a previously canceled order, and I was wondering if I could help.”

  “Ummm… yes,” the man on the other end stammered, surprised. “But, I talked to Mrs. Snow before, and she said she couldn’t help me.”

  “Well, I’m not Mrs. Snow,” London replied firmly. “Why don’t you tell me what you need?”

  “Well, I wanted to find out about an order with Snow White Bridal from a few weeks ago,” the man explained hesitantly. “The bride loved the dress, but she had to cancel the order after she found out she was expected to wear the family dress. But I want her to have the dress she wants, not the one others want her to wear.”

  Ah! A man after my own heart! London thought appreciatively.

  “What was the name on the order?” London asked, searching for something to write the name down with.

  “Lara Priest.”

  Lara Priest! London froze.

  Lara was London’s friend. She had come by to see London soon after London moved and set up shop in Crossroads. She’d originally wanted London to design her a dress, but she’d actually found a dress she loved on Rhonda’s side of the shop. London had felt relieved. With the move and her existing orders, creating a custom dress for Lara would have been difficult. Unfortunately, she hadn’t talked to Lara since her friend had chosen her dress, and London had no idea she’d canceled the order.

  Suddenly, Rhonda’s strange behavior earlier made more sense. Rhonda knew Lara was London’s friend, and she hadn’t wanted London overhearing what had happened with the order. It went without saying that London wouldn’t approve of the way Rhonda handled it.

  With her friend involved, London knew she needed to help however she could, regardless of Rhonda’s wishes. After all, their friendship is the reason Lara had come into the shop to begin with. Now London felt responsible and knew she needed to make things right. However, she didn’t understand why Lara hadn’t called London with the problem directly.

  “So, you’re the groom? You’re Lara’s fiancé?” London asked. She’d never met Lara’s fiancé. She didn’t remember his name, but if this current conversation was any indication, Lara’s guy definitely was a keeper.

  The man hesitated. “Hopefully.”

  “And your name is?

  “Ty Jamison.”

  That name did seem familiar. Truth be told, the man sounded so hesitant and adorable that London would want to bend over backward to help him, even if she didn’t know Lara.

  Even still, London hesitated. So far, it didn’t sound like Ty recognized her as Lara’s friend. Should she admit the connection? She was dying to know all the details of the canceled order and Ty’s plans. But what if she said something and Ty clammed up? Was this a covert operation that he would be hesitant to share with a friend of Lara’s? Maybe he wouldn’t want to risk her spilling the beans.

  Most importantly, London needed to look out for her friend, even if that meant engaging in a little undercover work on both ends of this transaction.

  “Does Lara know you’re calling to reorder her dress?” London asked directly. She thought she already knew the answer, but she needed Ty to spell out his intentions.

  “N-No,” Ty admitted hesitantly. “I want to surprise her with the gown she really wants.”

  London felt a thrill race through her. What a romantic gesture for a groom to make sure his bride got her dream dress!

  This is definitely a cause I can get behind!

  London stood, scanning the shelves around her. “Let’s see,” she murmured. “The order was placed under Lara’s name.” Rhonda usually put orders in this closet before working on them. If an order was canceled, it probably stayed in here.

  “Just give me a minute,” she said, setting the phone down to reach for a few boxes. It took several minutes of rummaging through the crammed closet until she finally found a box labeled with the name, “Lara Priest.”

  Opening it up, she pulled out the dress, giving it a thorough inspection. Seeing a folded piece of paper in the box, she snatched it up, recognizing it as the original order form with a few brief notes.

  “Are you still there, Ty?” London asked, picking the phone back up.

  “Yes,” he replied.

  “I found the dress. It looks like Lara made a deposit, so you’ll just need to pay the remainder. The order note indicates the dress was to be altered, but it isn’t marked as completed. The measurements aren’t here, though. I can do the alterations and ship it out right away, but I’ll need Lara’s measurements.”

  “Um… okay. What kind of measurements?”

  “Just the standard. Bust, waist, hips.”

  “B-b-b…” Ty cleared his throat. “Would I find those on her driver’s license?”

  London laughed. “I certainly hope not!”

  While London could make guesses on Lara’s measurements, there was no way she could get them exact without real numbers. She bit her lip, thinking about how to help while keeping her cover in place. “I remember Lara coming to the bridal shop with her friend, Brenna. Can she help you with getting the measurements?”

  “N
o, not really. No one knows what I’m doing, and I need to keep it that way.”

  Drat! Ty’s secret meant that London would not be able to get any info from either Lara or Brenna until after the wedding. She would need to keep quiet so as not risk spoiling Ty’s surprise.

  “Then you’ll need to get the measurements yourself,” London said firmly, feeling strongly that the alterations needed to be perfect. “I can’t make sure the dress fits without the measurements.”

  “Would it work to measure the other dress?” Ty asked. “That one already fits her.”

  “That should work, but you’ll need to measure in the right places.

  “Like up to down? I can spread the thing out. Do you want it in feet?”

  London stifled a laugh. The poor guy doesn’t have a clue what he’s doing! “Like I said, I’ll need the bust, waist, and hips measurements.”

  “The b-b-b… Where is that exactly?”

  “The breast area, Ty.”

  Silence.

  “Um… how? Like the circumference? From one to the other?”

  London smiled. He’s so out of his element! I think I’ll mention the word breast a few more times, just to mess with him!

  London was usually more serious than some of her other siblings. Geneva and Sydney were horrible teases. However, that gene didn’t entirely escape London’s DNA, and the temptation proved a little too much where Ty Jamison was concerned. Besides, this would be a hilarious story to tell Lara after the fact!

  “Ok, so you’ll want to measure the distance around from front to back, centering your measurement in the middle of the breast, in the center of where she’d wear her bra.”

  If someone could blush through the phone, London was sure the handset would be fire engine red.

  “B-b-b… Um… Maybe we should try the hips first. Is that one easier? Then I can work up to the b-b-other one.”

  I’m not sure if he’s trying to say breasts or bust, but if he stutters over it one more time, I won’t survive this conversation to do a single thing with whatever he measures!

  “Sure,” she managed, her voice tight with suppressed laughter. “Her hips would be the area right about her panty line, around the fullest part of her rear.”

  Silence.

  London imagined Ty’s reaction to the words “panty line” and speculated on whether he would now start stuttering in p’s.

  Rummaging sounds broke the silence on the other end of the line. Then, after a few minutes, he came back, “Should I be measuring on the inside? I bet this thing is a good inch bigger on the outside with all these bits and bunches.”

  Instead of waiting for a response, Ty was gone again, with more rummaging and knocking sounds. When he came back, he was quite breathless, “Hey, Miss Hutchins, do they make padded bridal underwear? Maybe we can just make the dress too big and pad it out… Maybe a blow-up thing that expands to fill it based on how much too big it is.”

  London clapped a hand over her mouth to keep from laughing. Her eyes watered with the effort. Poor Ty sounded so very serious!

  Sucking in a deep breath, she finally responded. “Actually, Ty, I really need precise measurements. Last I checked, all inflatable underwear was completely out of stock. Hey, I have an idea. I know it’s really difficult to get measurements on a dress with nobody inside it. How about you try the dress on yourself. If you know your measurements, then you can figure out how much smaller the dress is!”

  She was horrible. She knew it. But she couldn’t resist! Only true love will make this man actually try on that wedding dress!

  “Yeah, I’m not sure I can do that,” Ty’s reluctance was endearing, but London couldn’t let him off easily.

  “Oh, but that’s the best way to get the other measurements I need.”

  “Other measurements?”

  “Yes, it would be so helpful to know how heavy that dress is. Also, if I could get a measurement from the crotch area, up past the bust to the neckline, that would be very helpful.”

  “C-c-, b-b-b-?”

  “Yes. Crotch and bust. You know what those are, right? The crotch is the—”

  “I know!” Ty said quickly.

  “Why don’t you just get all of those measurements and email them to me directly.” She gave her email address, but, feeling a little guilty, she couldn’t help but amend. “If you just get me the bust, hips, and waist measurements, that should be enough, even if you don’t get the others.”

  “Ok,” Ty responded, his voice thready. “Are you sure? You think you might be able to find some inflatable underwear, after all?” Ty’s tone changed, and he mused thoughtfully, “You know, that might be a great new business for brides since they’re always working to try to stay small enough for new dresses. They could just order ones too big and inflate to whatever they needed.”

  “I’m sure I can figure something out,” London replied. She needed to get off the phone quickly or else she wouldn’t make it before the giggles finally burst the dam of her control.

  “Thanks for your help, Miss Hutchins.”

  “Good luck, Ty.”

  “Um… just one more question. The waist? Where would I find that?”

  “That’s the smallest part of the dress. In between the hips and the bust. That one should probably be the easiest one to measure.”

  “Okay,” he said, though clearly nothing was actually okay. “Do they make inflatable belts to go with the underwear? Maybe you should pick one of those up, too, just in case. And something for the b-b-b—“

  “Don’t hurt yourself, Ty. Just get me some numbers, and I’ll take care of the rest.”

  She disconnected the call and spent the next five minutes leaning on one of the shelving units for support as she finally gave in to the massive gush of pent-up laughter.

  Even if Ty didn’t get her the exact measurements, she would do whatever she could to get the dress for Lara. With as much experience as she had, she should be able to guess Lara’s measurements just based on her memory.

  Though the measurements may not be for certain, London was completely sure of one thing: Ty Jamison was madly in love with Lara Priest, and she would go behind Rhonda’s back to help make sure that man got his bride.

  “Psst… TeraLyn, can I talk to you?” London asked, peeking around the rack of wedding dresses and trying to get TeraLyn’s attention while nervously eying Rhonda’s position at the front desk.

  Immediately understanding the secrecy, TeraLyn stood and snuck over to where London stood hidden behind the dresses. “What is it?” she asked.

  “Can you meet me for lunch at the deli in five minutes? I don’t want to talk here, and I don’t really want anyone too curious about why we’re going to lunch together.”

  TeraLyn nodded, her eyes sparkling with the adventure of a secret meeting. “Sure. You can sneak out the back. I’ll wait a few minutes and then tell my mom I’m going to get a sandwich.”

  London headed out back and walked to the deli, her thoughts tumbling over each other as she wondered whether she was doing the right thing. It had been two days since she’d decided to help Ty and Lara. Two days since she’d determined to do what she could to help those who might be hurt by Rhonda’s methods. Yet this issue seemed bigger than just going behind Rhonda’s back to fulfill an order that had previously been placed. After all, Rhonda would still receive the money for the dress, and no harm would be done.

  But this other issue was personal, and London really had no business interfering. Unfortunately, she couldn’t get it out of her head. Finally, after desperation settled in following two sleepless nights, she decided that if she was going to do something, she would need an accomplice.

  London ordered a sandwich and found a seat. A few minutes later, TeraLyn arrived. After placing her order, she took a seat across from London.

  “The story you told me about Rhonda and the family wedding dress is really bothering me,” she admitted, deciding to get straight to the point. “I know it isn’t any of my busines
s, but I’d like to help.”

  Sadness immediately clouded TeraLyn’s face. “I’m not sure how you can help. You’ll never convince Mom to cut up that wedding dress.”

  “But it isn’t hers,” London pointed out. “Your aunt’s family sent the dress to your mom with the expectation that she follow their wishes. By keeping the dress and not following their instructions, she’s stealing it. That dress doesn’t belong to her any more than it belongs to you.”

  “To me?” TeraLyn asked, startled.

  “You are her daughter and a member of the family,” London pointed out. “I think you should have just as much say in it as your mom.”

  “What is it you think I should do?” TeraLyn asked, a little bewildered.

  London sighed. “I have a confession. I read the emails from Woong and your uncle about the dress. The email isn’t password protected on that computer, so the messages were there when I used it. After reading them, I have a hard time believing it right to let Rhonda do something this wrong. The dress isn’t hers. But it isn’t my family. I don’t feel like I can do anything without the permission of someone in the family. TeraLyn, I need your permission.”

  “What can you do?” she whispered, eyes wide.

  “I want to grant the family’s wishes and cut up the dress into a gown for that baby.”

  TeraLyn stared at her for a solid ten seconds. Then she blinked and answered firmly. “Do it.”

  “Are you sure? If and when your mom finds out, she’ll likely be very angry at both of us. She’s harbored unforgiveness about this dress for so many years. She’ll probably revoke my lease, which I am fine with. But the risk to you is greater, and I won’t hide the fact that I acted with your permission.”

  “I understand. And you won’t need to tell her. When she finds out what happened, I will tell her myself that I told you to do it. She’s wrong on this. I’m tired of this family feud, and I want someone somewhere to do the right thing. I’m willing to be that someone, even if it costs me.”

  London smiled, “Thata girl. I knew you had some spunk hidden in there. Good for you!”