Page 101 of Book Club Confidential

Together, she and Kate moved slowly forward, until the older women took notice and parted, making room for them to reach Hallie.

“How can we help?” Tessa asked.

Hallie’s gaze flickered to the group of women, chatting among themselves. “They hate my hair and want to make all these changes permanent,” she said quietly.

Kate tugged gently on the illusion tulle, and it rode up at Hallie’s waist.

Tessa breathed a sigh of relief. Whatever happened to Hallie’s gown, it could still be undone. “Do you want me to say something?”

“We can help you take this off right now,” Kate said, still gripping the overlay.

Mrs. Haymaker carried a flute of champagne to Hallie.

Tessa bristled. “Hallie doesn’t drink.”

The woman glanced at Hallie’s midsection. Her lips formed a small cat-that-ate-the-canary smile. “I see.”

“I’m not pregnant,” Hallie said. “I just don’t drink.”

Her soon-to-be mother-in-law blinked, stunned.

Was the word pregnant too direct?

One of the other women smiled at Hallie. “Will you stay home with the children, when the time comes?”

Mrs. Haymaker reanimated at that. “She’s already stopped working.”

“I’m going back to work,” Hallie said. “I’m looking for something better suited.”

“I recommend having children first,” Mrs. Haymaker said. “It’ll be harder to get your figure back if you wait much longer. None of us are getting any younger, and time is such a cruel thief. Am I right?”

Her friend and sisters nodded sagely.

Kate’s jaw dropped. “I beg your pardon.”

Hallie grabbed Kate’s elbow and towed her toward the fitting room door. “Help me get out of this?”

Tessa hurried along behind, unwilling to stay with the wolves in Chanel.

Soon enough, they’d returned the dress to Marcy without a signature on the changes. Hallie promised to call later to give a verbal approval, after she’d had time to think.

Back on the sidewalk, they waved their goodbyes to Mrs. Haymaker and her entourage.

“I don’t hate the illusion tulle,” Hallie said. They moved slowly toward a nearby café. “You guys want coffee?”

“Yes,” Tessa and Kate said. Tessa also wanted to scream that Hallie was making a huge mistake, but her place was to support, even if she didn’t understand, so she held her tongue.

“I really wanted the high-low front with the thigh highs. We compromised for what you saw in there. Maybe I can wear my boots instead of heels.”

Tessa looked over Hallie’s head at Kate, who glared at Mrs. Haymaker’s taillights in the distance. Hallie’s days as an independent woman were numbered, and as her closest friends, they were stuck on a razor’s edge.

“If you’re happy, we’re happy,” Tessa said finally.

Hallie leaned against a stone half wall outside the café. “No, you aren’t. You’re trying not to push me off the proverbial cliff I’m on.”

“We’re on,” Kate corrected.

Hallie smiled. “I can’t end an epic relationship a week before the wedding just because the butterflies are gone and his mother’s an overbearing boomer.”