Kristine came out of Nicky’s office. The red dress fitted perfectly across the top, but the skirt needed to be shortened and taken in at the hips.
Emily moved a circular platform on wheels across the room. “Stand on here, Kristine, and we’ll get started.”
The bell above the front door tinkled as someone walked into the boutique. “Would you like me to go downstairs?” Tess asked.
“That’d be great,” Emily said. “It’s probably Caitlin. I asked her to come in and look after the boutique while I’m helping you.”
Tess walked down the stairs. Molly was heading toward her with a camera hanging over her shoulder. “Am I too late for the fittings?”
“Just in time. Emily’s doing Kristina’s dress now.”
Molly stood at the top of the stairs. “I don’t need to ask whether Kristina’s one of Connie’s sisters. They all look alike.”
“Strong gene pool.” Tess smiled as Kristina turned on the platform. “Emily is amazing. She didn’t hesitate to help us.”
Molly snapped a photo. “That’s what friends do for each other.”
“I’m beginning to understand that,” Tess said softly.
Molly moved further into the room. Tess followed her, trying to see what Molly saw when she took a photo.
Molly looked over her shoulder and smiled. “It’s a fine mood Emily creates in this room. See how the light falls on the different workspaces. It dances through the panes of glass, softening the edges, highlighting what needs to be seen.” Molly knelt down, changed the angle of her camera and took another photo.
“How do you know that the image you see through your lens will look good in the finished photo?”
“That’s a tricky question.” Molly moved silently across the room and took a photo of Denise. “Sometimes I don’t know if it will work. Sometimes I do. And sometimes the best images come from the feeling you get just before the shutter clicks into place. I use what I know, then let the rest take care of itself. How do you know how to move in front of a camera?”
“I don’t know. It just happens.” Molly was the only person in Bozeman that knew about Tess’ past. They’d worked together in Europe and talked at a few social events.
When she’d first seen Molly in Bozeman, Tess had felt betrayed. She’d thought Molly had come to find her after the drug scandal had rocked the modeling world. But Molly wasn’t interested in Tess’ past. She’d come to Bozeman to stay with her sister after a grueling European schedule.
Tess was sure there was more to her arrival, but so far, Molly hadn’t told anyone why she was here or when she’d be going back to Europe.
Molly lowered her camera. “A little bit of magic happens in everyone’s life when they’re doing something they love.”
Tess didn’t say anything.
“You don’t agree?”
“I enjoyed modeling, but I never felt the magic.”
“Maybe you didn’t enjoy it enough. How do you feel when you stand in your café at the beginning of each day?”
Tess laughed. “Tired.”
Molly shook her head. “The magic hasn’t gone. It’s hiding until you’re ready to see it.”
Tess watched Emily move around Kristine. “Do you ever wonder if there’s more to life than what we’re living?”
Molly sighed. “I know there is, but for now, this is what we have. We’re feeling restless and that’s a dangerous thing to be.”
Tess remembered the last time they’d both felt restless and smiled. “At least we’re not in Rome.” They’d been at a sponsored gala evening. At the end of the night, they’d gone for a walk. It had been hot and sticky, and the Trevi Fountain had looked so inviting. What had started as a way to cool off had almost ended with a night in a police cell.
Molly moved closer to Emily. “What an evening. I’ve still got the photo of the man who helped us run away from the police.”
“He didn’t help us run. He shoved us into his car and drove off into the sunset with us. It could have ended in disaster.”
“We were young and foolish,” Molly said with a smile on her face. “And he was too handsome for his own good.”
Tess couldn’t remember anything about the man, except for his eyes. They were the most amazing shade of blue she’d ever seen. He’d dropped them back at their hotel and they’d never seen him again.
The doorbell jingled and Tess looked over her shoulder. “I’ll get it.” She ran downstairs and a young girl with jet black hair and a dimple in her chin smiled shyly at her. Connie’s last sister had arrived. “You must be Joanne?”
“That’s me.” Joanne’s smile became less guarded. “I came as soon as I could.”
“Come upstairs. Kristine and Denise are already here.”
As soon as she walked onto the mezzanine floor, Denise ran across and wrapped her sister in a big hug. “Did you see mom?”
Joanne nodded. “She’s comfortable. Connie arrived as I was leaving.”
Kristina stepped off the platform and gave her sister another hug. “Watch the pins. How are you?”
Tears filled Joanne’s eyes. “I’m okay. What can I do to help?”
Denise introduced Emily, Molly, and Tess then showed Joanne where to change into her dress.
Tess felt marginally better now that Connie’s sisters were well on the way to having bridesmaids’ dresses. She had two things left to do; check on Logan and see how Annie was going.
She just hoped the surprise wedding cake Annie was decorating would be appreciated as much as the dresses.
***
Logan stepped out of the florist’s store with the bridal bouquet clutched in his hands. He felt like an idiot, probably looked like one too. When he saw Dylan walking toward him, he knew he was in trouble.
“Something you forgot to tell me?” Dylan had the same serious expression on his face that he normally wore. But this time his mouth almost tilted into a smile.
“It’s not mine.”
“I was hoping you’d say that. So what’s a single male doing holding a bunch of flowers that belong on a bride?”
“It’s an emergency. Tess’ bride’s mom isn’t well. They’ve brought the wedding forward to this evening. I’m doing a few things for them.”
“Looks like it.”
“What are you doing in town? I thought you were playing nanny?”
Dylan didn’t look the least bit offended. “Justin’s signed, sealed and delivered to his dad. What else do you need to do in the name of love?”
“I don’t love Tess. I’m doing this for the bride.”
Dylan looked at him as if he’d lost his marbles. “I didn’t mean, Tess. What’s going on?”
Logan looked down at the flowers. “There’s three more bouquets in the florist’s store.”
“And you expect me to bring them out here?”
“You scared of real work?”
Dylan shook his head. “Man, you need to get out more. Carrying flowers to your truck is not real work.”
“It beats babysitting.”
“Tell me that next time you have to sit next to a hyperactive eight-year-old for over four hours.”
Logan walked toward his truck. “My heart bleeds for you. If you want to make yourself useful, you can get my keys out of my jacket pocket and unlock the cab.”
Dylan grumbled some more about real work before unlocking the cab. “I’ll help you with the flowers, but only because I feel sorry for you.”
Logan put the bouquet on the back seat. “We’d better hurry. I’m not sure how fast these things wilt.”
“And we can’t have droopy flowers,” Dylan muttered. “So what’s up with your girlfriend?”
Logan locked the truck and headed across the sidewalk. “I’m not falling for your sick jokes again.”
“I’d say Tess deserves a purple heart for putting up with your sorry ass.”
“She’s not my girlfriend.” Logan opened the florist’s door. The sales assistant handed him a box with two
bouquets sitting inside. He nodded toward Dylan. “He’s helping with the other bouquet. Don’t worry about a box.”
The sales assistant smiled at Dylan. Her grin grew even wider when she saw the blush creeping up his neck.
“I’d appreciate a box.” Dylan waited while the assistant hunted for something to put the bouquet of roses in.
Logan left his flowers in the truck, then came into the store to see what the hold-up was. “A box won’t protect the macho image you’ve cultivated.”
Dylan snorted. “You say that now because you got caught with a bridal bouquet in your hands. Forward planning will keep my reputation intact for another day.” The sales assistant passed him the box and he smiled. “See. Not one flower in sight.”
Logan followed him out to the truck and supervised where he put the box. “I’ve got to get these across to Emily’s boutique. You want to come?”
“I suppose I’d better. No one will think you’re single and available if you wander into a women’s fashion boutique carrying flowers. But if there’s two of us, they might overlook what we’re holding and focus on us.”
Logan shook his head. “Your new job’s warping your brain.”
“It’s not the job, believe me. I’m parked around the corner. Just give me a few minutes to catch up.” Dylan jogged across the road and disappeared down another street.
Logan checked his cell phone before he started his truck. Tess had sent him a text about another job that needed doing. It was just as well he could put his time down to the follow-up story. He had flexible hours, but his boss might have other ideas if he knew he’d been collecting wedding bouquets.
A big, black beast of a truck pulled up behind Logan and flashed its lights. Dylan might have a few issues to sort out, but he had good taste in vehicles.
As he pulled out into the traffic, Logan thought about Tess’ text. Picking up a cake from Angel Wings Café wasn’t a hardship. Especially if he could convince Dylan to stop for coffee.
They needed to talk and it needed to be today.
***
Logan walked into Emily’s boutique and nearly plowed into Dylan’s back. The bouquet in his arms came dangerously close to being squashed. “Did you need to stop in the middle of the room?”
Dylan was staring at the enormous crystal chandelier hanging over the staircase. “This is a fashion boutique? It looks like something you’d see in Paris.”
“Thanks.”
Logan looked up and saw Emily leaning over the edge of the railing on the mezzanine floor. “We’ve got your bouquets.”
“Bring them up,” she yelled. “We’ve finished fitting the dresses.
Dylan’s eyes widened in surprise. “You mean there were semi-naked women in here and you didn’t ask me to help sooner?”
“There’s usually semi-naked women in here. Emily designs her own clothes. Women come here for their fittings.”
“How do you know so much about what happens in here?”
Emily poked her head over the railing. “What are you two whispering about? Everyone wants to see what the bouquets look like.”
Dylan’s face broke into a grin. “What are you waiting for? Lead the way.”
As Logan walked up the stairs, he glanced back at Dylan. “Behave yourself. If Tess thinks you want to make out with one of the bridesmaids, she’ll blame me for bringing you here.”
“I can’t wait to meet the dragon lady.”
At times like this, Logan wondered how Dylan had reached the ripe old age of thirty-three without being beaten over the head with a club.
When they got to the top of the stairs, Logan stopped and stared. Tess was bent over a laptop with Molly. Emily was sitting in front of a sewing machine sewing a red dress and two other women were doing the same thing.
He’d only met one of Connie’s sisters the other day and she was here, helping to wrap little piles of candy in gauzy net. He’d swear the other two women sitting beside Denise had to be her sisters. They had the same jet black hair, the same blue eyes and one of them had the same dimple in her chin.
He felt Dylan’s babe radar kick into action and he gave him a hard stare. A lot of good it did him. Dylan was already making his way across to the candy wrapping station.
Emily jumped off her chair and took the box out of Dylan’s hands. “And who would you be?”
Dylan looked down at Emily and gave her one of his rare, but charming smiles. The kind that told Logan he was looking for a girlfriend. “Dylan Bailey, ma’am. I’m a friend of Logan’s.”
Emily’s gaze flicked between Dylan and Logan. “Thanks for getting the bouquets. Let’s have a look at them.”
She walked across to a long narrow table. Logan put the bridal bouquet down and within seconds he was surrounded by women oohing and aahing over the white roses and green foliage.
“It’s going to look beautiful with her dress,” Molly said.
Tess poked Logan in the ribs. “I can’t see.”
He stepped to the side and hauled her in front of him. “Do these meet with your approval?”
Dylan opened the flap on his box and pulled one of the red bouquets out. When he saw Logan’s hands sitting on Tess’ waist, he frowned.
Logan dropped his hands. “Dylan’s been helping me.”
Tess glanced across at Dylan and smiled. “Hi, I’m Tess. The short redhead who yelled at you over the railing is Emily. Denise, Joanne, and Kristine are the bride’s sisters, and Karen McKenzie and Doris Stanley are here to help with the dress alterations.”
Dylan nodded. “Nice to meet y’all.”
“I just love your Texan drawl,” Denise gushed. “Do you live in Bozeman?”
At least Dylan had the intelligence to leave the last bouquet on the table before he started flirting with the bridesmaid. “Just moved here. Are you a local?”
Before Logan could hear the rest of Dylan’s pickup lines, Tess nudged him across to her laptop.
“Did you get my text about the cake?” she asked.
“We’re going there next. When did you have the time to bake one?”
“I didn’t. Annie and I keep a few cookies and cakes in the freezer for emergencies. We made a fruit cake a couple of weeks ago. As soon as we heard about the wedding we took it out of the freezer. Annie’s decorated it and it’s ready to go to the chapel.” She looked across at Dylan. “Where did you meet your friend?”
“In Bozeman at a group I go to.”
Tess’ eyebrows rose. “I thought you were going to say in the Army or when you were in Seattle. He doesn’t look like a group type of person.”
Tess didn’t know how close to the truth she was.
“When you pick up the cake, can you take it straight across to the hospital? Father Ritchie has set up a table in the foyer of the chapel. He’s assured me that no one will eat the cake before the wedding.”
After tasting Tess’ baking, Logan knew that might be harder than was humanly possible. “You believe him?”
“Of course I do,” she whispered. “He’s a priest.”
“Priest or not, your cakes are on people’s most wanted list. I hope he’s got a guard on duty.”
“It’s a chapel. People don’t steal from a church.”
Tess looked so sure she was right, that Logan felt sorry for spoiling her delusions of human morality. “I hate to be the one to break the bad news to you, but cake is cake. If you’re hungry, it doesn’t matter to most people where it’s sitting. If someone eats one side of the cake and steals the decorations off the top, it’s not going to look good.”
“What do you suggest, then?”
“I’ll put it in Connie’s mom’s room when we get to the hospital. I’ll make sure I bring it with me before the ceremony starts.” Logan glanced at Dylan and sighed. Connie’s sisters had made room for him at their table. At six-foot-six he wasn’t one of the smallest men around. Combined with wide shoulders and a body built like a tank, he was a force to be reckoned with.
The big man
who hardly smiled at anyone was putting candy into little tulle circles. It seemed about as foreign as Dylan playing nanny to an eight-year-old boy.
“You about ready to head across to the café?” Logan asked him.
Dylan ate a candy and winked at Connie’s sisters. “I’m all yours.”
Logan didn’t wait for his friend to follow him down the stairs. Dylan was already getting into the wedding spirit. Logan was still waiting for cupid to appear.
Flirty talk wasn’t on the wedding list Tess had given him. It wasn’t on the spreadsheet she’d opened on her laptop. And even if cupid sharpened his arrow, Logan doubted Tess would ever want to hear flirty talk coming out of his mouth.
***
“You didn’t tell me Tess was such a babe.” Dylan put the wedding cake on the floor in the front of Logan’s truck. They’d debated where to put it before settling on the safest place they could think of.
“You didn’t ask.”
“A six-foot blonde goddess deserves a mention or two. Or were you worried a more worthy man might whisk her out from under your nose?” Dylan took one of the takeout coffees Logan was holding. He opened the door to the back of the truck and slid into the seat.
Logan stood on the sidewalk and stared at him through the open window. “Does this mean you’re coming with me to the hospital?”
Dylan slicked back his hair and grinned. “I’m coming to the wedding, too. Kristine invited me.”
“You do realize why the wedding’s tonight?”
“Yeah, I know.” The smile fell off Dylan’s face. “It mustn’t be easy for them.”
“At least we can help make it something special.” Logan walked to the driver’s side of the cab and started the truck. Dylan didn’t say anything more until they were heading toward the hospital.
“So tell me about Tess. I take it she’s single? It goes without saying that she’s drop dead gorgeous. Does she have a sister?”
“Do you have anything on your mind except women?”
“It keeps me from thinking about anything else.”
The truth in Dylan’s words made Logan’s foot slip off the accelerator. The truck lurched forward.
All of Me (The Bridesmaids Club Book 1) Page 11
