Page 29 of From Scotland with Love

“That was a long time ago Tam. This is a wedding dress!” Lori could not imagine the work involved in salvaging such a garment within the limited time given. It was true that she had spent her younger years making clothes for her teddy bears and dolls, which then transitioned into summer dresses for herself. But she had not touched a sewing machine since leaving for Australia. Instead, she packed those creative notions away in order to focus on her career.

“A wedding dress that no one will wear unless you lend us your skills!” Her gran smiled and linked arms with Tammy in excited camaraderie.

“I love this idea, please please please!” She looked at Lori, big eyes shining like a puppy dog, to which Lori found herself caving in almost immediately; Tammy was the bride after all, and she had promised to help out.

“OK...!” she muttered, and Tammy bounced on the spot.

Luckily for Lori, Tammy accepted the help of Gran, Jean and Alan to organise the remainder of the wedding, leaving her second sister to the task of making her mother’s dress wearable, and somehow coming up with an idea for the bridesmaid’s dresses that would fit in with the new theme. She only had days to accomplish the job, and every second mattered. Gran pulled down Lori’s old sewing machine, once also her mother’s, and made the large kitchen table available for use. Lori went through some old dress patterns in the box, and adapted them to Tammy’s size, using as much of the dress’s original fabric as possible. Around her as she worked, wedding preparations continued and as far as Lori’s attentions could measure, it was turning into a very cheap, though undeniably decent, country affair. Women from Gran’s circle all promised to donate cooking and baking to feed the guests, and Tammy and Jean handmade the invitations, with help from Maggie and Anne, who insisted on dressing up as princesses to deliver the envelopes by hand. Alan organised his musician friends to form a band for the night, promising them all sorts of freshly caught shellfish in payment for their efforts. All wedding plans continued on as Lori spent each waking hour working on the dress. A sense of mild dread consumed her, making her feel a little sick with nerves about how the dress would actually turn out for the Cinderella-type transformation, but after a couple of days she had made enough solid progress to relax and let the stress melt away. She even found herself enjoying the process. Each stitch gave her motivation, and inspired her to keep going. She was so immersed in her work that she didn’t think of Michael much, and the fact that he hadn’t been in touch. Perhaps he was incredibly busy at work? she thought, but then launched back into more sewing. The days before the wedding were a blur and as Lori worked into the small hours every night, she became aware of the tedious long hours she would often spend working in New York. It was clear however that the two jobs were beyond comparison. She stitched another seam and inspected her work carefully - somehow sewing seemed to give her energy, rather than take it away.

The last day before the wedding was a frantic haze of fitting and refitting the dress to Tammy, triple checking it didn’t fall apart, and then sighing with utter relief and pleasure at the result. Tammy beamed at her reflection as she stood by her sisters in front of the mirror, both of whom had donned their new dresses too. Lori had re-fashioned two older, slightly more expensive items of Gran’s own wardrobe, happily donated to the cause. One was in a pale heather-purple, the other a rich mossy green. Lori marvelled at the successful outcome – and congratulated herself, responding to urgency was a main aspect of her role at Costner's, which she needed to get her through the last few days! But rather than watch others design and manufacture the garments, she now felt elated at producing something so elegant with her own hands.

The day of the wedding was a bright and sunny one. The wedding party walked to the church with the guests trailing behind them. Father Angus remarked with a smile that showed every tooth in his head at how full the church was, and that he hoped more people would come to next Sunday’s service as a consequence. The whole affair was informal, relaxed and very happy. Lori couldn’t help but think of the wedding she had originally planned for her sister. It would have been beautiful too, but not like this; this wedding was completely and utterly Alan and Tam’s, from the home-baking in the local hall, and the fact that Tam and Alan had everyone taking part and contributing some kind of job for the day, which resulted in a buzz of community spirit that Lori hadn’t felt before. She gave an internal sigh of relief and bit into her third slightly knobbly but delicious raspberry-and-rose macaron. Now, as the newly married couple slow-danced to their wedding song, and the evening fell around them, Lori felt full of emotion at the resilient and intimate love they clearly had for one another. Luckily Hector had left the area several days previously, possibly now somewhere in New York, prowling the cafes and bars for another Tammy, Lori suspected. She hoped he wouldn’t come back anytime soon, especially after Callum’s actions the week before. She knew that there might be bumps down the line for the newly-weds, as it would be hard to avoid Hector completely, but overcoming these hurdles, as she knew they would, would serve as Alan and Tam’s testament to their love. Lori watched them swaying slowly, wrapped gently around one another and knew they could achieve anything. In some ways they were stronger now more than ever.

Many drinks and embraces later, Tammy hugged her two sisters and pulled them onto the dance floor for a Dolly Parton number. The three sisters held hands, singing to one another as little Maggie and Anne skipped in and around them, exhausted and full of cake, but still giggling uproariously. Lori suddenly felt eyes on her, and looked round to find Callum standing at the edge of the floor, drinking a whisky and watching the sisters intently. He had removed his dress jacket and now looked stronger than ever in his fitted white shirt and kilt. Lori had always loved men in kilts, and how Callum looked just now, admiring her from afar, made her feel like she was dancing there just for him. Aware of her heart pounding inside her, she knew with a sinking feeling that she couldn’t stop the attraction, but she could stop anything from happening between them that she might regret. The song finished, and Lori edged away outside to call Michael, conscious again of how ridiculous it was that he had not been in touch almost the whole time she had been away. Miraculously, for once the signal was strong and the line rang out.

“Hi Michael.”

“Hi Lori.” Michael yawned down the phone.

“So... I don’t hear... from you much!” Lori stuttered, not really the best way to start a conversation, but she was annoyed, and this time she wanted answers.

“I don’t hear from you either,” Michael sighed. “How was the wedding?”

“It’s still going, I’ve just come out to call you.”

“You should get back in then, go and enjoy yourself.” Michael’s tone was unreadable.

“What? You don’t want to talk? I feel like you’ve been punishing me all this time!” Lori couldn’t understand anything about him any more.

“Of course I haven’t. But as I said before you left, we need time apart to think, not to talk. Things have changed, for me.” He paused, his voice muffled like he was speaking to someone else in the background.

“No... you said time apart would be good for me to spend with my family?” Lori felt her heart beat faster.

He sighed again. “Lori, no. After discovering that you had hidden so much from me about your childhood, and where you were from, we needed time to reflect on everything. Running off halfway across the world was also rather uncharacteristic of you, but in this instance I think it was a fortunate move.”

“A move...? It wasn’t a move, Michael, it was to be there for my family – because they needed me – because I owed them some time. God knows I've spent enough of the last few years working on my career and having dinner with you, I would have thought anyone could understand taking time out for a sibling’s wedding! This is all about you, you need time to think! That’s what you really mean. Or did you just want to dump me anyway and you’ve decided to use all this as an excuse?” Lori’s temper flared.

“There’s no need for that tone. You were the one lying to me. You even sound different now, your accent for Christ’s sake! I don’t know you any more. And no, I wasn’t going to dump you, as you so maturely put it, I was going to – You know what, never mind, I doubt you’d be ready for that anyway now. I’m certainly not. I need some time - ”

“Yeah, yeah I heard about how you needed some time! Dammit, Michael...! I’ve never lied to you, I just left out the most painful part of my story because I decided I didn't want it to dictate my life; of who I wanted to be in America. But maybe I should have been more honest with myself. Hey, you know what? How about I make this super easy for you!” Lori hung up, glared at her phone and threw it with gusto far into the darkness, hearing a distant splash seconds later. She swore loudly at the sound, and held her hands to her head; why had she thrown her phone into the sea...?

At that moment, Callum came out of the hall with two drinks, and handed one to Lori, which she necked back without taking a breath, and coughed in surprise.

“Jeez girl, that’s whisky!” He laughed.

“I needed it!” Lori winced at the strong fiery taste filling her throat.

“Everything OK?”

“Yes fine, just a bit of bother at work.” She looked out to the blackness to wherever her phone now lay; most likely at the bottom of the sea, and knowing her luck, being eaten by the local legend, Sheila the sea-monster.

“You look great Lori, you all do. I can’t believe you made three dresses within the week!” He raised his glass, saluting her achievement.

Lori looked down at her dress. It had held up well during the course of the evening, considering she had stitched in the back zip by hand last minute. Her bodice had an embroidery feature that she had filched from another of Gran’s dresses and stitched on. It all pieced together beautifully and she had to admit that she did have an eye for details. She let her hands fall by her side over the gentle folds of emerald green satin that skimmed around her thighs and fell to the floor.

“Thanks. But really all I did was alterations; although I have to say, I’m amazed the wedding dress is still in one piece! My nieces have already put in orders for fairy dresses before I leave!” She screwed her face and laughed, forcing herself to forget her phone conversation, and put it to the back of her mind. The whisky had relaxed her into a delicious confidence. “You look really good too, Callum.” She sighed, then covered her mouth with her hand. Damn that whisky.

Callum leaned forward and gently touched a lock of hair that had come loose from her hairpin, tucking it behind her ear. His finger ever so lightly brushed the side of her neck, making her quiver softly, and her spine straighten. “Thanks.” His focus locked onto her one curl, then his eyes moved to hers slowly, and Lori swallowed hard. “You are one bonny lass. I don’t think you realise just how bonny you really are.” He smiled at her, and Lori couldn’t help but smile too. She felt like she was slowly melting in his hands. He edged closer to her and Lori felt her mouth open, wanting, needing a taste of him before she melted away altogether. But before anything could happen, the door banged open and Alan bounded out along with some other shinty boys, all of whom cheered and hooted at Callum and Lori’s cosy position, which immediately broke any spell between them. Alan pulled Callum by the arm.