by Iris Abbott
Emma didn’t want to engage in a verbal battle of wills, but she couldn’t let the slight go. “I realize I’m not the bride, but your shop delivered the dress I tried on and not the altered dress that belongs to the bride. Other than an A-line shape, chapel train, and being made of satin the dresses have nothing in common.” Emma paused to catch her breath. “Since the manager took care of getting the dresses ready for delivery, maybe I should just speak to her about this problem.”
The lady on the other end of the phone emitted a nervous cough that put Emma on alert. She had a bad feeling about this, and it was growing by leaps and bounds. Mistaking the woman’s hesitation, Emma tried to compromise. “If the manager isn’t in right now just tell me her hours and I’ll be sure to call back when she is available.”
“That’s the problem,” the saleslady groaned into the phone. “The manager is on vacation until next Monday. That’s why she saw to all the upcoming deliveries yesterday before she left. To make matters worse, I am positive she went out of town. I could call her at home to make sure, but I don’t think anyone is going to be there.”
“What about the owner?” There had to be someone in charge to take care of this mess Emma assured herself.
“The owner is filling in for the manager this week, and I’ll be more than happy to take down your phone number and have her call you just as soon as she arrives, which should be any minute now.”
Emma agreed with the woman’s suggestion. What else could she do? She put the phone down and sat on the edge of Lynn’s bed for what seemed like forever just staring at the gown. It was gorgeous, and while it might not be every woman’s dream gown, it was most definitely hers. If she had the extra money in the bank, she might take this as an omen and buy the dress. If she ever found the right man and overcame her fear of marriage enough to tie the knot, she’d need a dress. The chances of that happening were slim to none. She knew that for now and the foreseeable future her heart belonged to Landon, and he was about as allergic to commitment as she’d once been. Nothing about their situation seemed to indicate a wedding in Emma’s immediate future.
Emma had to get out of the house. A small amount of distance between her and Landon would be good for perspective. She would drive to the boutique and meet with the owner in person. If she weren't in the bridal boutique when Emma arrived, she would walk over to the coffee shop and grab a cup of hot tea and a pastry and wait for the woman to arrive. She would feel better once she had the right dress safely tucked away in Lynn’s room.
Emma carefully hung and folded the wedding gown into the oversized garment bag. She gave the dress one last lingering look before zipping up the bag and heading downstairs. She thought about leaving Landon a note, but the way he had been avoiding her, meant he probably wouldn’t come up to the house until it was time for dinner. She would just leave word of her whereabouts with the housekeeper and leave it at that. If Landon wanted to know where she was, he could ask Ms. Gaines.
****
Two hours later, Emma threw her hands up in defeat. She and the owner of Satin and Silk Bridal Boutique had looked through every single gown in the building. Lynn’s was nowhere to be found. The sales associate on duty had called all the brides that had received a delivery that week and every one of them promised they’d received the right dress.
The owner was full of apologies. “My managers are very well trained, and we have never had anything like this happen before. I can’t imagine how this mix up could have occurred. Once again I’m sorry. It appears that the seamstress must have mixed up the two dresses during the last set of alterations. Since we didn’t find the dress here, I can only conclude that it was sold after it was returned to the sales floor. I can call all my sales associates and see if anyone remembers selling a dress that fits the description of Ms. James’s gown.”
Emma’s head was throbbing with the likes of a headache she hadn’t had the misfortune to experience in years. When she had agreed to help Lynn with last-minute preparations she’d thought it would be fun, especially since she’d never planned to have a wedding of her own. After this experience that might be a good thing. This wedding was changing from a dream to a nightmare real quick. It was undeniable proof that even the best-laid plans could go astray. How on earth was she going to tell her best friend that the gown of her dreams was missing in action and nowhere to be found?
She looked at the owner. “The wedding is in five days, and Lynn still isn’t back from the earthquake zone. I don’t have a clue as to how to fix this mess. Any suggestions,” she asked. The desperation in her voice was clear to anyone listening.
The owner thoughtfully tapped her chin. She knew she had to make this right. The James family was one of the most important families in Rancher’s Bend and the surrounding area economically as well as socially. A mistake like this could be a business killer! “When is Ms. James due back home?”
“We don’t exactly know for sure, but sometime in the next couple of days. I know rescue work is important to Lynn, but I can’t imagine her cutting it much closer than that.”
“Help me pick out three dresses similar to the one Ms. James originally chose or other dress styles that you think she might like and I’ll set those aside with strict instructions not to be shown or sold to anyone until Ms. James has had a chance to look at them. As soon as she is back in town bring her to the shop and I’ll have the seamstress devote the whole day to just her and the new gown of her choosing. Also because it was our mistake, I’ll be sure to refund the purchase price of the original gown.”
Emma nervously chewed her bottom lip. “I hate having to make a decision as important as this, but under the circumstances, I don’t have much choice.” Emma thought for a second. “What about the gown that was delivered to the house?”
“I think my manager mentioned that you and Ms. James were about the same size. She also said you stood in for Ms. James during the last fitting?” She sent Emma a questioning look.
Emma nodded her head up and down, “that’s true.”
“Then that gown probably already fits Ms. James. Why don’t you keep it with you at the ranch and show it to her first? Maybe we’ll get lucky, and she won’t have to come back to the boutique to try any of the other dresses.” The woman gave Emma a hopeful look.
Emma really hated to burst the store owner’s bubble, but she probably needed to be prepared. “Lynn and I are best friends and have been for several years. The one thing I know for sure is that our tastes in fashion and clothing are nothing alike. Just the fact that I love the gown is almost enough to guarantee that Lynn won’t.”
Anxious to smooth over the blunder and not lose future customers the woman had a brainstorm. “Why don’t you keep the dress anyway? You can always bring it back if Ms. James doesn’t like it. Who knows, maybe you’ll decide to keep it for your own wedding. It obviously caught your eye right away. Engaged or not it must be the wedding gown for you. I’ll tell you what,” the woman said, still trying to save her hard-won reputation as the best wedding boutique in a seventy-five-mile radius. “If Ms. James doesn’t like the dress, but you decide to keep it I will sell it to at a sixty percent discount for all your trouble.”
Emma loved the dress, but even at a substantial discount, she couldn’t afford to pay for a gown that she in all likelihood would never wear. She’d keep it in the off chance Lynn decided to use it for her wedding, and if she didn’t, Emma would have someone return it after the wedding.
****
Landon stayed away from the house for as long as he could. He had been wrestling with his growing feelings for Emma almost since he had walked into the guest bathroom and laid eyes on her again. Holding her in his arms had just felt so right. The one thing he knew for sure was that he didn’t want to lose her after Lynn’s wedding when her time in Texas was over. That meant he had about five days to convince her to continue their relationship after she returned to Georgia or better yet to just stay in Texas with him.
He didn’t se
e anyone downstairs. He needed to take a shower anyway, so he made his way upstairs. He heard voices coming from the guest bedroom Emma was using. He slowly made his way toward that room and the voices. Surely if Lynn were back from Mexico someone would have reached him on the radio or mobile phone. He recognized the second voice as Ms. Gaines, the housekeeper about the same time he stopped in front of the bedroom door.
His breath was all but forcibly sucked from his body. Emma was modeling a wedding gown. The picture she made was the most gorgeous thing he had ever seen in all of his thirty years. She smiled at something Ms. Gaines said and her smile practically blinded him. His gut tightened. There was no way he could let this woman disappear from his life again. Now all he had to do was convince her of that.
Emma heard a sound by the door and turned to see Landon standing there. “Oh,” she barely got out through the sudden lump in her throat. “I somehow thought you would be working on the ranch much later today.”
Landon didn’t miss the accusatory tone, or the hurt look in her eyes when she made the statement. He decided to ignore it. He wanted to focus on the positive. “I guess everything turned out all right with Lynn’s gown then,” he commented while nodding toward the gown Emma was modeling. He thought it was much more suited to Emma than Lynn, but what did he really know about fashion.
Emma pulled a face, and both she and the housekeeper passed each other worried looks. “Actually this isn’t Lynn’s gown. We need to talk about that. Just give me ten minutes to change clothes, and I’ll meet you downstairs.”
Now she’d really piqued his curiosity. If it wasn’t his sister’s wedding gown then whose was it, and why was Emma trying it on? Just a short time ago the thought of the woman in his life trying on a wedding dress would have made him run ninety miles an hour the wrong way down a one-way highway. Now he could all but see the goofy grin on his face instead. “I’ll meet you downstairs then,” he promised before nodding and turning to calmly walk away.
He hadn’t liked the look that passed between the two women. There was another problem with the wedding he’d be willing to bet ten good head of cattle on that assessment. The formal living room would probably be the best place to wait for Emma and the latest wedding news.
Emma quickly changed and went downstairs to find Landon. She hated being the bearer of bad news, but once again there was another glitch in the plans for Lynn’s big day. And she was the only one who could pass the details on to Landon. She could only imagine his reaction once he heard the latest progress report on Lynn’s wedding.
“There you are,” he patted the couch next to him as a sign for Emma to join him when she looked like she would head for the loveseat across the room instead.
Emma awkwardly took the seat next to him. She wasn’t sure how much of her nervousness was due to the fact they had just made love a couple of nights before, and it was the most exquisite moment of her life or the fact that she had bad news to deliver. The bad news she could handle. She might as well get that out of the way.
“So,” she started with a nervous twist of her hands. “The boutique delivered Lynn’s gown or what they thought was Lynn’s gown this afternoon. It turns out the wedding dress they actually delivered was the one I tried on when I visited the boutique last week.”
“Okay,” Landon didn’t get what the big deal was or why Emma seemed so nervous around him all of a sudden. Of course, they had made love for the first time recently, but it had been wonderful. Hadn’t it? He tried to focus and put his attention back on the problem at hand. “Call the boutique and switch out the dresses.”
Emma threw up her hands in exasperation. “Don’t you think I would have already tried that? It’s not that simple. The manager that handled the gown is out of town on vacation, and the owner fears that Lynn’s dress may have been resold. The two of us looked at every dress in that shop this afternoon. Lynn’s dress was not there.”
“You have got to be kidding me,” Landon finally managed to utter. “What is Lynn supposed to do for a dress?”
“She can wear the gown upstairs if she likes it, which I doubt. Our taste in clothes has never been similar. The store also set aside four other dresses in her general size that can be quickly altered if any are to her liking. This late in the game there isn’t really anything else that can be done.”
“I just hate the fact that Lynn worked so hard on planning her wedding and now at the last minute, everything seems to be falling apart. At this point, I’m not even sure she’ll recognize her own wedding.”
Emma was an emotional wreck, and she couldn’t stop the tears that started to fall. “Everything was fine until I got here. Rationally I know nothing that’s happened is my fault, but I can’t help but feel that I screwed up all of Lynn’s wedding plans.”
Landon used the pretext of comforting her to hold her in his arms. He tightened his arms around her to move her closer. He was concentrating on how she felt in his arms and almost forgot to console her. Finally, he found the words to say. “I would have had no clue how to deal with any of this, Emma. If it weren't for your help, there wouldn’t be a wedding of any kind for Lynn to come back to. She might not have the menu, flowers, cake, or gown of her choice, but at least she does have all of those things, and that’s all thanks to you and your loving friendship.”
Emma took his praise and held it close to her heart. She realized that she had a mental as well as physical investment in their relationship and she wanted Landon to think highly of her. She didn’t want to be just another body warming his bed. Speaking of which, the hard muscular planes of Landon’s body were pressed into intimate contact with the soft contours of her body.
Landon must have noticed too because his hands stopped the comfort rubbing on her back and moved to hold her in a more intimate position around the nape of her neck and hip. He dipped his head and covered her lips with his. After the most soul-stirring kiss of her life, Emma had to fight to catch her breath. That’s how strong of an effect Landon had on her. She kissed him back with all the pent-up passion of her heart. Before she knew what was happening she was in Landon’s arms and halfway up the stairs.
Her common sense tried to rear its ugly head, but Emma shut it down real quick. Even if it was all she ever had, she needed this second night in Landon’s arms. Her whole life would be changing one way or another in a few days. She would follow his earlier advice and indeed make the most of the time they had left together. She returned his kiss with a passion born of love but spurred on by desperation.
They made love in a flurry of tangled arms, legs, tongues and intimate parts. Landon seemed just as frantic to join their two bodies together as she was. When they’d both reached the plateau of pleasure and fallen back to flat ground with a shudder, they held each other. Emma fell asleep with a smile on her face. This was the intimate contact she craved but had been denied the first time they made love.
ELEVEN
Emma woke up in Landon’s big bed all alone. She wished she could say she was surprised, but she wasn’t. After another sweet night of lovemaking, he was probably having second, no make that third thoughts about their involvement with each other and was once again going to ignore her. She wished it didn’t hurt, but there was nothing she could do to stop the pain working its way into her heart.
After finishing her morning toiletries, Emma went downstairs in search of breakfast. Ms. Gaines always made the fresh fruit salad Emma loved. She was kind enough to set some aside for Emma each morning. Emma was surprised to see Landon sitting at the kitchen table, drinking a cup of coffee, and reading the local newspaper. Her heart skipped a beat at the sight of him. She paused in the doorway just to savor his presence. When he looked up, she went in and sat down noting that a serving of fruit salad was already waiting for her.
“I figured you’d be hard at work on the ranch by now.” Emma was trying to sound calm. She wasn’t doing a good job, and the statement came out as a squeak.
Landon gave her one of his wicked smiles.
He just loved it when she was nervous around him because it had to mean she cared. “I have to pick up the gifts for the wedding party and Bruce’s sized wedding band. I got a voicemail from the owner of the jewelry store last night. Lynn was supposed to pick everything up yesterday.” He shrugged. “When she didn’t show, he gave me a call since my name was on the bill.”
Emma held her breath for just a second. “Did he mention any problems?” she dared ask.
“Not as far as I am aware, the way things have been going, however, Lynn better make sure Bruce tries the ring before the wedding just to double check that it fits.”
“Sad, but true,” Emma agreed. “Surely after all the problems we’ve encountered something has to go right.”
“Oh, I think plenty has gone right, we just have to open our eyes and see it.”
Emma was pondering Landon’s cryptic message when the phone rang. Ms. Gaines came bustling into the kitchen with the cordless phone from the hallway. “It’s Lynn,” the housekeeper excitedly informed the couple at the table. She handed the phone to Landon and gave Emma one last smile before leaving the kitchen.
Emma ate the fruit salad in front of her and waited for Landon to finish the conversation with his sister. She figured the way he was smiling it had to be good news. When he turned off the phone and sat it down on the table, Emma looked at him expectantly. “Well, don’t keep me in suspense. How is she and tell me every word she had to say?”
“She was calling from the airport. She and Bruce are on their way back home. They couldn’t get a direct flight and there is a layover in Las Vegas, but they should be here sometime this evening.”
Emma was so relieved that her friend was finally coming home. She jumped up from the chair and practically threw herself into Landon’s arms. Luckily he was strong enough to catch her, and keep the chair from tipping over and landing on the floor. “Now that kind of enthusiasm I can live with,” Landon chuckled.
