“Um, they’re kind of high, Barb.”
“That’s where they’re supposed to be, dear.” There she goes again, possibly insulting me, but I’m not really sure. “Now suck in, and don’t breathe until I say so.”
“Wait–” Barb yanked on the laces, and my breath whooshed out. “Can’t breathe,” I wheezed.
“Just a little bit more, dear, and we’ll have you in that dress lickety split.” She tugged one more time, and I was pretty sure she broke a couple of ribs. “There, I’ll grab the dress.” She flitted out of the dressing room, and I fought for breath.
“Holy fuck, Meg. You have like a serious hourglass figure.”
I didn’t care if I looked like a goddamn supermodel, I couldn’t breathe. I waved my hand behind me, trying to get Cyn’s attention, letting her know I was about to pass out. “I… my ribs… tell Lo… I love… him.” I collapsed to my knees, clutching at my stomach. Barb had managed to shove and squish me into this bodice that was three sizes too small, but it was going to kill me.
“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” Cyn chanted. “Don’t die on me!” I could feel her clawing at my back, frantically trying to untie the ties. “Jesus Christ, it’s like Fort Knox back here. It’s like she triple knot tied the fucker.”
I closed my eyes and saw spots as my lungs fought to suck air back into them. This was it, this was how I was going to die. Death by wedding dress.
“I’ve got it, I’ve got– Ah, fuck. Hold on. My fingers are too fat to get this last knot untied.” I reached behind me, frantically clawing at my back, grasping for anything to tug on. I needed to get this fucking thing off.
“Stop, you keep knocking the damn laces out of my hand, bitch.” Cyn knocked my hands away and more panic set in.
“Well, here it is,” Barb swept into the room with a huge dress draped over her arm and stopped dead in her tracks when she saw Cyn and me on the floor. “What on earth are you two doing?”
“You’re killing her, Barb.”
“Oh, posh. She just needs to get used to it.”
“Barb, I swear to God, if you don’t help me get my best friend out of this torture device, I will shove that fucking wedding dress down your throat. Get your ass over here, now!”
Barb scurried over, kneeling behind me. “I didn’t even make it as tight as it should be,” she mumbled under her breath. I was going to kill Barb if she didn’t get me out of this fucking contraption.
“I got it, I got it!” Cyn yelled. I felt the ties loosen, and I was able to suck a little bit of air into my lungs. “Just fucking pull, Barb, who cares if the fucking laces are even or not.” I felt the laces tug all the way off, and I fell forward, my chest heaving with the deep breaths I was dragging into my lungs. The corset fell off, and I was laying on the floor, topless. I had reached an all new level of classy.
“What in the hell is going on here?” I looked up and saw Gwen, Marley and Jackie standing in the door of the dressing room, all looking horrified. I glanced behind me, seeing Cyn flat on her ass, holding her stomach while Barb was on all fours, her skirt hitched up her legs.
“Why the hell are your boobs out?” I glared at Jackie and wrapped my arms around my boobs, trying to contain them.
“Barb tried to kill me. Cyn saved my life. I think we’re done for the day, ladies. I didn’t try on anything I liked.” I laid my head down on the floor, light-headed from the loss of air, and a bit disappointed I didn’t find my dress.
“Not so fast. While you were in here dying, I was out there scouring the racks for the perfect dress.” Gwen ducked out of the room while Jackie and Marley plopped down on the mini couch.
“Can I have some chips?” Jackie asked, picking up the bag that Cyn had dropped on the floor. “I didn’t know we were bringing snacks. I totally would have brought my amazing spinach dip that I make.”
“Hmm, I love spinach dip. You should totally make some for the wedding.” Marley reached into the bag and popped a chip in her mouth. “Although that might be a lot seeing as I know all the guys from the club are coming and they can eat a ton.”
“Around sixty people are coming. Lo and I don’t want anything huge. Although he gave an open invitation to his old chapter, so who knows how many guys will show up from there.” My breathing had finally returned to normal, and I didn’t feel like I was going to pass out anymore.
“Here it is!” Gwen swept into the room, holding up the most beautiful dress I had ever seen. It was an A-line, strapless, white dress, and get this, it had gorgeous, small dark purple flowers. All. Over. It.
Everyone gasped when they saw it, and I knew that was going to be the dress I walked down the aisle to Lo in. “You didn’t tell me you wanted color,” Barb snapped, standing up. “I would have brought that dress in right away if I knew you were looking for purple.”
But that was the thing, I didn’t know I was looking for purple. I knew that I wanted the bridesmaids to be in purple, but never really thought about what I wanted my dress to look like. “Oh put a sock in it, Barb,” Cyn snarled. “You and your backhanded comments can take a hike. I’ll get her in the dress.” I looked over my shoulder and watched Cyn stumble up off the floor. Barb stormed out of the room and slammed the door shut.
“You do realize I need to buy this dress from her. Pissing her off might not be the best idea.” Cyn shrugged her shoulders and picked up the bra I had been wearing before. It was also a corset, but it was nowhere near the torture device that Barb had managed to squeeze me into. “Stand up. Let’s get this show on the road.”
I awkwardly stood up, keeping my hand over my chest and grabbed the bra out of Cyn’s hand and wrapped it around my front while Cyn fastened it in the back. “Open the dress, Gwen.” Gwen eagerly ripped off the plastic bag, taking the dress off the hanger and unzipped the back. She held it open, and I gingerly stepped into it.
“Holy shit,” Jackie gasped, her hand covering her mouth, “You look fucking amazing.” Cyn and Gwen shimmied it up my body and zipped up the back.
I clamped my eyes shut, afraid to look in the mirror. The dress looked amazing on the hanger, and it felt perfect on my body, but I was so scared that I would look in the mirror, and it would look like a potato sack on me.
“King is going to shit when he sees you in that.”
“Shit, Cyn? Really, that was the best word you could come up with?” Gwen asked, propping her hands on her hips.
“More like pop a wood and have her right then and there.” Jackie stood up and walked around me, studying the dress. “I’m happy I finally get to see you get married this time, plus I’m even more happy it’s not to a jackass like Hunter again.”
Hunter and I had married at the courthouse with only our parents as witnesses. Shall we say the family wasn’t exactly ecstatic with the fact I was nineteen and pregnant? By the time Remy was born, everything was fine in my family, but it was a tense few months when I had told them I was pregnant. “I’m afraid to turn around and look,” I whined, running my hands up and down the dress.
“Turn your ass around and look at it. I swear to God you look gorgeous.” Gwen put her hands on my shoulders and looked me in the eyes. “Do it.” She slowly spun me around, and I gasped as my reflection came into view.
“Christ on a cracker, I look amazing.” Cyn jumped up and down, clapping like a seal while Marley and Jackie cackled on the couch. “I can’t believe that’s me.” I really did look beautiful. The dress hugged my curves perfectly, and the strapless bodice kept the girls under wraps and helped slim my typically boxy shoulders.
“Now to figure out the shoes. Are you doing heels or flats?” Jackie asked.
I only wore heels when I was going out, and that was few and far between. I think that last time I had worn them was when Lo and the guys from the club had crashed Cyn’s ‘Thank God I didn’t marry that asshat’ party. “Flats, but not the kind you are thinking of.” I bent over and grabbed my purse off of the floor by the small couch. I fished out the picture I had found in a magazi
ne a week ago and held it to my chest. “No matter what any of you say, I am wearing these shoes, and I will not be swayed.”
“Come on, come on. Show us the picture,” Marley goaded, holding her hand out. I stuck it in Marley’s hand and closed my eyes when she screeched.
“Holy shit she’s wearing purple Chucks,” she wailed. I was pretty sure the whole bridal shop knew what shoes I was wearing.
“No, you’re not. Not with that dress!” Gwen cried, outraged. Here I thought she would be the one who was down with my shoe choice.
“Yup. I totally am. Besides, no one is going to see them unless I lift my dress up, and that isn’t happening until after the party,” I winked.
“I, for one, love it.” Cyn plucked the picture out of Marley’s hand and studied it. “They even say ‘Bride’ on the back.”
“Mom is going to flip when she sees those.”
“Mom is going to love them because she loves Lo. And, she doesn’t have to pay for anything for the wedding so I can wear whatever I want.” I stuck my tongue out at Jackie, and she threw her head back, giggling. I had forgotten how much fun I had when I was with my sister. We still lived in the same town, but we never managed to see each other enough. She had a huge family. She was always running around, doing things, and I was, well, I was Meg, living my screwed up but always fun life.
“When did King meet your parents? How come I wasn’t invited?” Cyn asked.
“Probably because they wanted to meet King, not Meg’s friend,” Marley laughed.
“I’ve met Meg’s parents before,” Cyn pouted. “I was just wondering why I didn’t know he had met Karla and Mike.”
“He met them when you and Rigid were just starting to get it on. I figured you would rather be with Rigid then go hang out with my parents.” I stared at myself in the mirror, not believing what I was seeing. I was finally going to be that girl who got to walk down the aisle to the man of her dreams.
“Okay!” Marley said, standing up. “Now it’s time for the bridesmaids! Now, you go sit out there, and we are going to give you a bit of a fashion show.” Marley opened the door, reaching for the hangers full of colorful dresses that were hanging on a hook outside the door and pulled them in.
“Yes! This was just what I was waiting for.” Jackie stood up and took her jacket off, tossing it on the couch. “Shoo, bridey, we’ll be out in a jiff.” She pushed me out the door and slammed it shut.
“Hey!” I protested, “You could at least hand me the chips!” The door opened and a hand, I’m assuming it was Jackie’s, held the bag out and I snatched it up. “Thank you, I think,” I grumbled to myself.
I plopped down on the big couch that was in front of the dressing room and fanned my dress out around me. The beautiful and intricate stitching of each and every flower was amazing, and the dark rich shade of purple was perfection.
I opened the bag of chips, mindful of my dress, and popped a chip into my mouth. Here I was sitting on a couch in a bridal shop, wearing a fabulous wedding dress, waiting for my best girls to come out and show me their picks for dresses. I don’t think this day could get any better.
________
Chapter 9
Lo
I pulled up to my mom’s house and didn’t see her car in the driveway and sighed. I should have called before I came out here, but I figured she would be home. Hopefully, she was home. Otherwise, I had just driven out here for nothing. I pulled my leather jackets tight around me and headed up the sidewalk.
Gravel had packed up everything off the porch, getting ready for winter and mom had already put a fake tree up where her favorite chair generally sat. I tried the handle, opening the door, “Ma! You home?” All the lights were on, but there wasn’t an answer.
I walked in and shut the door behind, wondering why the door was unlocked and all the lights were on. “Ma, you here?”
“Logan,” I heard whimpered.
“Mom? Where the hell are you?” I called. I listened again, trying to figure out where she was but didn’t hear anything.
I sprinted into the kitchen and saw my mom propped up against the cupboards, shards of glass surrounding her. “Mom,” I kneeled down beside her, and she lifted her head to look at me. She looked tired and worn out, and her eyes were glassy. I grabbed her hand, needing to touch her, making sure she was still with me. Her hands were ice cold but her fingers wrapped around mine, holding on tight. “What happened?”
“I’m… just weak,” she gasped.
Weak? What the hell did she mean weak? She was one of the strongest women I knew, inside and out. “We need to call an ambulance, Ma. You shouldn’t be weak. Something isn’t right.” I pulled my phone out of my pocket, and she knocked it out of my hand. It skidded across the floor and hit the fridge. “Ma, you need to go to the hospital.”
“No, I don’t, Lo. I'm all right.”
“You’re not fine if I come over and find you laying on the kitchen floor.”
“I wasn’t laying down,” she mouthed off. Even possibly dying and my mother was still being a pain in my ass.
“What the hell happened?” I looked over my shoulder and saw Gravel standing at the entrance of the kitchen, two plastic grocery bags dangling from his fingertips. “I thought I told you to sit your ass on that couch and not move, woman.”
Mom waved her hand at Gravel and rested her head on the cabinet behind her. “I needed a drink. You left me with nothing to drink.”
“I was only gone for twenty minutes; I didn’t think I needed to leave you with a survival kit.”
“Well, now you know,” she laughed. She fucking laughed.
“What the hell is going on?” I roared. “I come over and find my mother on the floor, and all you two are going on about is the fact he didn’t leave you with a drink.”
“Calm down, Lo. Everything will be fine. I’m just weak after my treatments, and apparently getting a drink is too taxing on me.”
They were talking like I knew what was going on when in fact I didn’t have a fucking clue. Gravel walked into the kitchen, setting the bags down on the table and grabbed the broom from beside the fridge. “Get off the floor, Lo, and grab the dustpan. We need to get this cleaned up before Ethel gets hurt.”
“She’s already hurt,” I bellowed.
“She’s not hurt, Lo.”
“Don’t you dare call me Lo. Only two people call me that, and you are not one of them.”
“Alright, son.” My blood boiled. Usually, I didn’t mind if he called me Lo or son, but right now I was pissed the fuck off by the fact he knew what the hell was wrong with my mom, and I didn’t have a fucking clue.
“Tell me what the fuck is going on!”
“Logan Birch, knock it off and help Gravel clean up. I’ll explain everything when I’m not sitting in a pile of broken glass.” She scowled at me, somehow pissed off. I grabbed the dustpan and kneeled down, collecting the shards as Gravel swept them up.
“Help your mother to the couch. I’ll get some drinks.”
I pressed the dustpan into his chest, and he wrapped his hand around it. “Here,” I growled. Gravel just shook his head and backed away.
After kneeling down, I wrapped an arm around her shoulders and hoisted her up. She leaned heavily against me, seeming as though her legs couldn’t even hold her up. “Put me in my chair.” I gingerly set her down, making sure not to move faster than she could and stood back, looking down at her. She looked so fragile and tired, nothing like the mother I had known the past thirty some years.
“Sit down, Logan. There is no point in you standing over me, scowling.” She shooed me away with her hand, and I sat down on the couch directly across from her.
“Tell me what is going on, mom.”
Gravel walked in with three glasses in his hand, offering one to me and setting one next to mom. “I made the tea. Hopefully, it’s not shit,” he gruffed, sitting in the chair next to mom. After Gravel had bought mom the first chair during Meg’s whole breaking the expensive ass
bed, he went back and bought another chair so they could both have one.
I set my glass down on the table, not giving a shit about it. “Tell. Me. What. Is. Going. On.”
“I’d change your tune real quick, boy. I know that is not how you talk to your mother.”
“Gravel, stop. It’s fine. You were the same way when I told you.” She reached over and patted him on the leg.
“That’s because the God damn doctor took fucking forever to tell us. I was ready to stab the fucker with a needle.” Mom chuckled under her breath, and I just stared at her.
Her color was coming back, and she didn’t look so beaten down. “Mom, please.”
“Alright, just remember, I am not going to die.” Gravel grunted next to her and rolled his eyes. “I meant I won’t die from this, Gravel.” He nodded his head, smirking at her but let her continue. “Five weeks ago, I went to the doctor’s office. I have my yearly mammogram, and they found a lump.” My world tipped on its side at her words, but she just kept on. “After they performed a biopsy of it, they discovered it was cancerous. I have stage II breast cancer.”
Holy Fuck.
________
Chapter 10
Meg
“Okay, so we’re all decided on the floor length, ¾ sleeve, plum dress, yes?” Gwen asked, twirling around in front of the mirror.
“Hell yes!” We all shouted. After three grueling hours of watching these four try on dresses, I was beyond ready to go home, slip in the shower and then slip into bed with Lo. I loved hanging out with my girls, but I missed Lo.
“All right, ladies. Let’s pack it up and get the hell out of here. I will die happy if I never have to step foot in a bridal salon again.”
Gwen slipped back into the dressing room while the rest of the girls gathered up their purses and coats, all talking at once about the amazing bridesmaid dress. We had managed to find a dress the same shade of purple that was on my wedding dress. We were going to look amazing the day of the wedding.
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