Page 16 of Pity Present
I’m not sure I can get there that quickly but I’m going to try. After thanking the clerk, I hang up the phone before running out of my room and practically sprinting down the hallway toward the elevator. The doors miraculously open on my approach, which is why I don’t slow down right away. As a result, I practically run over Blake.
“Hey.” He grabs my arms to stop the momentum that might have otherwise thrown us both to the ground.
Disengaging myself from his grasp, I tell him, “No time. Gotta go.” Then I hustle into the elevator and hit the button for the lobby.
“What’s the emergen …” The doors shut right in his face, which I find particularly gratifying.
When they open again, I dash through the lobby and out the front door in time to see the same SUV I took from the train station pull away from the curb. Throwing my hand up in the air like I’m hailing a taxi in the middle of Times Square, I shout out, “STOP!”
The car turns toward the curb and stops. Opening the door, I discover Paul, the same driver I had last night. “Going into town?” he asks.
“I am,” I tell him while getting inside. There’s no one else here. “Why are you going alone?”
“I’m picking up some people who went earlier,” he says with a smile. “Come on then.”
Once I’m nestled inside the warmth, I tell him, “I’m going to a shop called Bride’s Paradise.”
Paul nods his head but doesn’t offer any comment. As we drive through Elk Lake, I once again find myself totally enchanted. One thing this town has in common with all those Hallmark-style Vermont towns is the unparalleled charm. Elk Lake’s downtown is decorated for Christmas like it’s the North Pole. Almost every store has a Christmas tree in the window along with wrapped presents and other assorted festive decor. There are even a couple with blue and silvermenorahs. I still find those festive, even though I’m not Jewish.
As Paul pulls off the road, he announces, “Will an hour be enough time for you?”
“It’ll have to be,” I tell him. “I need to be in the great room by five tonight.”
With a twinkle in his eye, he says, “I expect you’ll have a wonderful time.”
“Maybe.” Getting out of the car, I tell him, “Thanks for the ride, Paul.”
From the outside, the store appears to be nothing more than a bridal shop. I would have never suspected they would carry other kinds of dresses. Walking in, I’m greeted by a beautiful woman with red hair and a noticeably pregnant stomach. “Hello, welcome to Bride’s Paradise,” she says. “I’m Melissa.”
“I’m Molly,” I tell her. I’m immediately put at ease by her welcoming demeanor. “I’m looking for a cocktail dress to wear tonight.”
Melissa points toward the back of the store. “We keep those in the far corner. Are you going to a wedding?”
I decide to come clean. “I’m going to a mixer up at the Elk Lake Lodge.”
She claps her hands enthusiastically. “Trina’s big do?”
I nod my head but remain mute.
“Trina’s a good friend of mine. She set up my best friend Paige with her husband, Tim.”
“Really?” I suddenly feel less awkward about confessing to being part of a dating mixer.
“Paige and Tim were on the last season ofMidwestern Matchmaker. They caused quite a stir.”
“I must have missed that season,” I tell her.
“Paige will be delighted to hear that,” she laughs. “Trina really saved her bacon by making sure a particularly embarrassing scene didn’t get aired.”
“I could never go on a dating show,” I tell her.
“I was going to go on with her,” Melissa says. “But I met my husband right before we applied.”
I point to her stomach. “It looks like things are going well.”
“So well!” she exclaims proudly.
A girl who looks a lot like Melissa walks out of the back room. She must have overheard what we were talking about, because she says, “I’m going to be a big sister.”
