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“Go, go. It’s bad luck to see the bride,” Astrid said.
“Fine. Call me if you need me,” Rick said. “I love you.”
I wasn’t ready to tell him the same yet. He’d have to wait. I nodded. “We will notify you if we need something.”
Two dressers forced him out, closing and locking the doors.
“You owe him,” Marta said quietly. “Your Majesty, he just did battle for you.”
“I know,” I murmured. “But why?”
“Why do you think?” Ingrid rolled her eyes. “Helovesyou, Alex.”
“Does he?” I deflected.
“That man loves you. He may be misguided, a bit of a dickhead, and very self-obsessed, but he loves you,” Astrid said. “Give him credit, Alex.”
“Men get credit for everything—for doing so little. I refuse to praise him for the bare minimum!”
“Normally, I would agree with you, but you have done nothing but light into him for weeks now. He’s been admonished but never goes away, never doubts you,” Astrid insisted. “You love him! Deep down you adore him. Everyone makes mistakes.”
“Yes,” Odette said. “And isn’t it better that people do better than to be punished for trying to make it right?”
I groaned. “When did you all become such romantics?”
“When we watched you fall in love. And it gave us some hope,” Ingrid said.
“Ingy, you are too young to speak of such things,” I said.
Deep down, I thought her admission was sweet.
The women zipped me into my second dress, strapless with a corset-style bodice. The boning snatched in my waist. The base layer was a stretchy buff colour withan overlay of beading that looked like a meteor shower. I glittered in every possible way.
Despite having temporarily stopped crying, I teared up looking in the mirror.Thiswas the moment I wanted.Thiswas what I needed.
“We can make a cape. We have more fabric to make the overlay. It will be tight, but we can make it slip over your shoulders,” the designer said. “And if you want more volume?—”
“I do. The dress is magnificent, but it must fill a cathedral.”
“We can make a train out of more of the overlay and tulle and it will be full as a ballgown without the weight of satin,” the designer assured. “You are beautiful. It suits you so well.”
I smiled. “Thank you. So much better. It’s mine.”
“It is,” Odette said. “But we’re forgetting the biggest thing.”
She brought my mother’s wedding tiara to Marta. “The final touch.”
Marta and the others fastened the tiara temporarily atop my head. Settling it in would take twenty minutes, but here it was for effect. It hit me like a sack of bricks. I sobbed big tears out of nowhere.
“Oh, darling, it is going to be a happy day. We will fix it all,” Odette assured. “Please don’t cry.”
“No. Sweetheart, I wish Mamma was here. I wish she was with us today. She would be so happy, I think.”
“She would,” Astrid agreed. “Because you are beautiful. And you two will be happy.”
“I am so lost,” I admitted.
“Everyone feels like that the week before their wedding,” Marta said. “It is expected. Even your mother did. But it will get better. He loves you. It hasn’t always been easy, dear, but you have a lot of life ahead of you.”
