“You will never believe this,” she said to Quinn as soon as she walked up to the counter. “I shared my donut the other day.”
Quinn raised her eyebrows. “What’s his name?”
“I never said it was a guy.”
“Oh, you didn’t have to say it. That was a double chocolate donut, and you shared it. That indicates deep affection, and unless your dear, sweet grandma was in town, you shared it with a guy.”
Quinn was a little too insightful for comfort. “Okay, it was a guy,” Laurie admitted. “But I don’t feel about him the way I do about my grandma.”
Quinn laughed. “I should hope not! Okay, are we doing your regular assortment today, or do you want to shake things up a little?”
Laurie regarded the display case. She did not envy the employees at D’Angelo’s, having to come in so early to get ready for their morning customers, but they sure did a great job. “What’s that?”
“Miniature cannoli. You’ve got to try one.”
Laurie took the dessert Quinn handed her and sank her teeth into the cream-filled pastry. “Oh, that’s good,” she said. It was a good thing she didn’t work here—how did Quinn stay so fit?
“I’ll give them to you for the same price as the cream puffs, if you want to give them a whirl in the shop.”
“It’s a deal.”
As Laurie crossed the street on her way back to check on Willa, a large pink bakery box in her hands, she glanced around for Logan’s car. She tried to tell herself that she was just checking for traffic, just like any other good little pedestrian should while crossing the street, but she knew she was lying to herself. Her eyes were peeled for traffic of one.
All morning long while she showed Willa around the stock room and simultaneously kept tabs on how Emma was doing on the other side of the shop, Laurie kept expecting Logan to appear. After all, he’d done it often enough over the last week that it seemed to be a new regular thing, but nope.
At noon straight up, Millie sent Emma, Holly, and Willa off to lunch, and then she tucked her arm through Laurie’s. “Are you ready?”
Laurie took a deep breath. “Yes, I do believe I am.”
Millie flipped the open sign over and turned her key in the front door, then they crossed the street and headed east.
Melvin Brady was Millie’s lawyer. He was a distinguished-looking gentleman with snow-white hair and twinkling blue eyes. He kept threatening to retire, but he hadn’t done it yet, and Millie often expressed her gratitude for that. He was the only one who understood her, she’d say. Laurie had to agree that he was one in a million. He’d read over the sales agreement she wrote and gave it his thumbs-up, stating he couldn’t have done it better himself. She’d meant it as a rough draft, a list of suggestions for him to take and make official, but he refused to change a thing, insisting that he wouldn’t tamper with perfection. That definitely gave him high marks in her book. He’d also offered her a position with his firm if she’d finish law school, but she had to turn him down—it was flattering, though.
Melvin was waiting for them just inside the door at Frannie’s, and Frank showed them to a table. Thankfully, it was nowhere near the table she’d shared with Logan, and she decided on the beef stroganoff to be as completely different with her meal choice as possible too. Melvin wouldn’t even discuss business until they’d all eaten their fill, insisting it was on him—including dessert—and then he pulled out a leather binder.
“Did you see anything in the contract you’d like to change, Laurie?” he asked, turning his kind eyes on her. She tried to calm the butterflies in her gut—this was really happening.
“No, but I did wonder if Millie wasn’t being too generous with me.” Laurie glanced at her boss and saw a smile grow on Millie’s face. “She’s always been so kind, but I feel like I’m fleecing her.”
Melvin laughed. “Millie is anything but a sheep. In fact, I’d say she’s one of the most shrewd businesswomen I’ve ever encountered. This agreement does seem to favor you, but in reality, it’s quite fair on both sides. You don’t need to worry about that—Millie’s making enough on this deal.”
“But I appreciate your concern, Laurie,” Millie said. “You’re a sweetie.”
Laurie read over the contract one more time just to make sure everything was in order and she hadn’t missed something before. But it was mostly just to give her hands time to stop trembling—she had the contract practically memorized. The odds of finding something new were pretty remote.
“If you’d like to bring in a lawyer to consult, we can certainly hold off on this a few days,” Melvin said. “I want you to be comfortable.”
“No, I’m good,” Laurie said. “Contract law was going to be my specialty, and you’re the best lawyer I know. Between the two of us, I’d say we’ve got it covered.” She picked up the pen that was tucked into the binder’s pocket and prepared to sign. She paused a moment, listening to her intuition, waiting for a rock to form in her stomach or a sudden heaviness to fill her chest, but neither of those things happened. She wasn’t even giddy. Instead, she was calm, filled with peace, as she signed the paperwork with an extra swirl at the end of her name for good measure.
“Thank you for doing this,” Millie said, dabbing her eyes with her napkin. Laurie hadn’t expected this moment to be so emotional, but she was feeling a little teary as well. “I couldn’t bear the thought of selling the shop to just anyone, or worse, seeing it turned into a tire store or something like that.”
“That would be awful,” Laurie said, not even faking her shudder. “And I hope I’m not being pushy, but the girls will be back from lunch any minute. We should be there to open shop again.”
“Spoken like a true owner,” Melvin said, and Millie laughed.
“Right you are. Let’s get back to work.”
“Laurie, wait up a minute,” Melvin said. Millie went on ahead, and Laurie stayed to hear what Melvin had to say.
“Remember when I offered you a job if you wanted to finish up your law degree?”
“Yes, I do. It was so sweet of you.”
“It was more than just me being sweet. I need someone else in my firm, someone I can trust. I’d like that to be you, Laurie.” He held up a hand. “I know you’ve just signed this agreement with Millie, but it’s possible to own the shop and have someone else run it for you while you do other things. I know you love the law—think about it.”
She rested a hand on his arm. “You are wonderful, Melvin, and I appreciate it. But my path is with the shop. I’m sorry.”
“Well, I had to give it one more try, didn’t I?” He winked.
“Thank you for thinking so highly of me, and thanks for lunch. It was delicious.”
Back at the shop, Laurie tucked her copy of the contract in her purse and put it in the break room, then asked Willa to shadow her while she helped brides throughout the afternoon. She’d always loved her job, but today, it had a sense of purpose. She wasn’t just selling a dress—she was building a foundation for something that could last the rest of her life, and she loved the feeling of permanence and destiny it gave her. It was almost enough to distract her from wondering if Logan really had dropped out of her life this time.
Chapter Nine
The afternoon’s first bride was Kinsey, a girl with definite ideas about what she wanted. The problem was that she’d chosen a dress style that would not be flattering on her shape. Laurie nodded while the bride explained what she wanted, and then said she’d be right back with some dresses to try.
“What are you going to do?” Willa asked as soon as they were in the stock room. “She wouldn’t look good in a snug-fit sheath dress—she’s too overweight for that style.”
“Most of the time, brides decide their preferences based on a style they’ve seen someone else wear,” Laurie explained. “They really don’t know what it will do for their figure until they put it on. So I always start by bringing them the dress they asked for, and then I also bring in a dress I think will
be more flattering. They usually realize once the dress is on that it’s not going to work for them.”
“And what if they don’t?” Willa asked. “What if they’re totally determined to buy something that looks dreadful?”
“Then we give them their own way, but we do everything we can to put them in a different dress first.” Laurie reached out and grabbed a plus-size sheath dress sample from the rack. It was a lovely gown, exactly what the bride wanted, but it wouldn’t show her to her best advantage. Then Laurie grabbed a dress with a more flattering cut. “Let’s get started.”
Kinsey had brought her mother with her, and the two ladies were waiting in the changing room when Laurie and Willa came back. “Mrs. Parker, I wonder if you could wait outside while we put on the first dress,” Laurie said. “I need to teach Willa how to fasten and clip it up, and sadly, these rooms are a little small for four people.”
“Not a problem,” Mrs. Parker said. “I’ll just wait out by the big mirror.”
“Perfect.” Laurie turned her attention back to the bride as the door closed behind her. “I think we found just the dress you were asking for, but I also saw another one that just screamed your name. Let’s try them both on, okay?”
“All right,” Kinsey said, her eyes already glued to the two dress bags hanging in front of her.
Laurie showed Willa the right way to help a bride step into a dress and then how to zip up the back without putting too much strain on the zipper—after all, these dresses were tried on over and over and over again, and they had to be sure not to tear out the zippers before the season was over. Then she showed Willa how to use dress clips to make the dress snug where it needed to be snug so Kinsey would be able to see what the dress would look like on her after it was created to her measurements.
“Let’s go show your mom,” Laurie said, opening the door and then allowing the bride to lead the way.
Once Kinsey was up on the pedestal in front of the large mirror, Laurie and Willa just stepped back and waited to see what would happen.
Mrs. Parker looked concerned, but she didn’t show it when she said, “What do you think, Kinsey?”
Kinsey studied herself for a long moment. “This isn’t at all what I thought I’d look like,” she said at last, using her index fingers to dab under her eyes. “I feel awful in this dress.”
“Let’s go try on the other gown I brought out,” Laurie suggested. “I think you’ll look amazing in it.”
“Okay—but let’s do it fast because I want this one off me,” Kinsey said.
Once Kinsey was in the other dress and Willa had it fastened with only a little help from Laurie, Kinsey looked in the dressing room mirror and sighed with relief. “That’s more like it,” she said.
This time, standing on the pedestal wasn’t such a traumatic experience. Kinsey liked what she saw, and Laurie was able to show her without making an outright statement that the sheath style was not for her.
Once the right style was found, it was only a matter of choosing which dress in that style was the right one. Four dresses in, Kinsey’s eyes began to sparkle. “This one,” she said, fingering the ivory satin. “Absolutely this one.” Mrs. Parker agreed, and the sale was made.
“That was exhausting,” Willa said after the Parkers left. “I didn’t realize wedding dress shopping could be so emotional.”
“It’s the most emotional shopping you’ll ever do or see done,” Laurie explained. “You’re not only dealing with the bride’s concept of her own beauty, but with her nerves about the wedding and becoming someone’s wife. About a month ago, I had a bride break down in hysterics because she was so nervous about her cooking skills—apparently, the groom’s mother was an amazing cook, and the bride just knew he’d be terribly disappointed in her. It’s not just about the dress. In fact, it’s hardly ever just about the dress.”
“Good to know. So you’ve got to be a therapist as well as a salesperson?”
“I’d say that’s pretty accurate.” Laurie smiled. “And you’re doing well—you’ll get the hang of this in no time.”
Just then, Laurie heard Emma’s voice from across the shop. “Help!”
The consultants weren’t supposed to yell when they needed help. They were supposed to walk over, find who they needed, and ask them face-to-face in a calm, professional voice. Because Emma knew this and was yelling anyway, Laurie knew this was a real emergency. She ran across the shop as fast as she could, Willa on her heels, and Millie wasn’t too far behind. They found Emma leaning over a bride in full finery—veil and all—convulsing on the floor.
“Oh, my.” Millie knelt down and felt the girl’s forehead and cheeks. “What’s going on?” she asked the bride’s mother, who was standing nearby, looking like she might faint.
“She has epilepsy,” the woman said. “But we thought it was under control.”
Millie grasped the bride’s shoulder and rolled her onto her side. “Laurie, move that chair so she won’t bump into it. Holly, call 9-1-1.”
Laurie moved the chair and then knelt as well and loosened the laces on the back of the dress. Then she removed the veil, trying to get as much air circulation to the girl as possible.
After another moment, the bride’s convulsions stopped and she slowly came back to herself. “Oh, I’m so sorry,” she said, looking around. “I can’t believe I did that—it’s been a long time since I had a seizure. And I feel even sillier down here on the floor in your lovely dress.”
“I throw our dresses on the floor all the time. Literally,” Laurie said, thinking about two of her adventures when Logan dropped by the shop unexpectedly. “It’s all good. Now, what’s your name?”
“Anna.”
“Anna, it’s nice to meet you.”
They helped her off the floor and into her own clothes just as the paramedics showed up. After several minutes, Anna was looking much better and insisted she was fine, but the paramedics suggested she come down to the hospital to get checked out, and she agreed. Emma had gone to help the next bride, Holly was back at the reception desk, and Willa was hanging dresses up in the stock room. Things were mostly back to normal as the paramedics helped Anna into a wheelchair.
“Thank you, everyone,” Anna said, a little bit of pink coming back into her cheeks. “Can I come back next week to finish the appointment? I only tried on two dresses before I sort of fell on your floor.”
“You absolutely may come back, and I’ll throw in your veil for free,” Millie promised.
“Oh, you don’t have to do that,” the bride’s mother interjected, but Millie held up a hand.
“It’s my pleasure. I insist.”
Willa came and found Laurie a few minutes later to get her next assignment. “That was pretty wild,” she said. “Do bridal consultants have to be trained in first aid, too?”
“It’s not necessary for the job, but it never hurts,” Laurie replied. “Especially when brides’ mothers freeze up like that. But this wasn’t something that happens every day—usually we have brides pass out from starving themselves to fit into a smaller dress. Millie takes them over her knee when that happens. This is the first seizure we’ve had as long as I’ve been here.”
“Wow.” Willa shook her head. “I just never expected that.”
“Neither did I.” Laurie was sure glad Millie had kept her head—would she be able to hold things together so well when she ran the shop?
Laurie drove home thinking about Anna and hoping she was all right. That whole experience had been seriously frightening. What if Millie hadn’t been there when the mother froze? Laurie would have called the ambulance, but she wouldn’t have thought to roll Anna onto her side. She’d never had any experience with seizures before. She’d maintained a professional façade in front of Willa because she didn’t want her new trainee to freak out, but now that she was alone, Laurie was about ready to do some freaking out of her own. That had been far too scary.
Then her thoughts drifted to Kinsey and how weird people can be s
ometimes, how they never seem to give themselves enough credit or be grateful for what they have and always seem to want what they can’t have. And then she wondered why Logan suddenly popped into her head. Surely she wasn’t lumping him into that category, was she? She barely knew him—it seemed too early for those kinds of judgment calls. She’d just have to say that based on what she’d seen of him so far, she had reason to speculate.
Chapter Ten
Three more days went by—a day off, another day spent training Willa, and a third day spent reorganizing the stock room to get ready for the new samples that would come in the next week. Laurie welcomed Lisa back from vacation—now that all the consultants were on the clock again, they could handle more appointments. She sold four dresses and finished reading one book. She got her e-mails cleaned out, her laundry done, and best of all, she had convinced herself that the Reeses were a thing of the past. She was fine with that.
Brennan stopped by the shop just before close. Laurie straightened her smock—she’d been carrying dresses back and forth all day between the different racks in the storeroom, and she was sure she looked like a total mess.
“Hey, Laurie,” he greeted her. He held a single long-stemmed pink rose in his hand. “How are you?”
“I’m good. Tired, and I think my arms are going to fall off, but I’m good.”
Brennan stood there awkwardly and then seemed to remember that he was holding a rose. “Here,” he said, holding it out toward her. “Um, I need to ask you something.”
Laurie sniffed the rose and smiled. It had a sweet aroma that reminded her of her grandma’s garden. Her grandma’s roses were legendary—she’d even won ribbons at the fair. “Yeah?”
“Well, you remember Kelly?”
The girl-child of the family Laurie had been trying unsuccessfully to forget? That Kelly? “Yes.”
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