All of Me (The Bridesmaids Club Book 1) (33 page)

“You’re stalling,” Annie said. “And just for the record I know awesome starts with ‘a’. I was making sure you hadn’t gone to sleep.”

Sally laughed and pulled an envelope from the box. “We have a winner.”

“Hallelujah,” Annie cried. “My turn.” She jumped off the sofa and searched through the envelopes.

“Look who’s taking their time now.” Sally laughed. “You’re as bad as I am.”

“Not quite,” Annie said with a smile. She pulled her hand out of the box and held up the red envelope Sally had discarded. “I’ve got a good feeling about this one. Your turn, Tess.”

Tess put her hand in the box and pulled out the first envelope she touched. “Done.”

“Open yours first,” Annie said to Tess.

She looked down at the envelope and smiled. “Definitely an adult’s handwriting. Practical, down to earth and a perfectionist.”

“You can tell all of that from the outside of the envelope?” Sally laughed.

Tess turned the envelope around. “Not one frilly letter in sight. The text is straight up and down. They took their time to write the address in neat straight lines. And then there’s the stamp.”

Annie leaned forward. “What’s wrong with the stamp?”

“It’s perfectly lined up with the top and side of the envelope. It’s been stuck down as straight as an arrow. Only someone who appreciates perfection could have mailed this envelope.”

“So if they’re looking for perfection, why do they want secondhand dresses?”

Tess picked up the knife they’d been using to open the boxes. “Let’s find out.” She slid the blade along the top of the envelope and pulled the letter out. “The dresses aren’t for Sophie, the letter writer, they’re for her sister. The wedding is in four weeks’ time and they don’t have a lot of money. There are two bridesmaids, perfectionist sister included.”

“What are their names?” Annie asked.

“The bride is Julie. Her sister Sophie and friend Margaret are the bridesmaids.”

Sally picked up the knife. “So we can make Julie’s wish come true?”

“I don’t see why not,” Tess said. “I’ll call them tomorrow.”

Sally took the letter out of her envelope and smiled. “This is from a seventeen-year-old bride-to-be. Her name is Holly. She’s getting married in two months’ time.” Sally kept reading. “She sounds like a nice kid. She’s put a photo of her and her sisters in the envelope.” She handed Tess the photo.

“Wow. No wonder she needs our help.” Tess counted the number of young women. “Which one is Holly?”

Sally re-read the letter. “First on the left.”

Annie leaned over Tess’ shoulder. “Holy mackerel. Six sisters. Who has six sisters nowadays?”

“They even look alike.” Tess focused on the smiling faces. Holly’s sisters looked as though they were between twenty and thirty years old. “She must be the youngest daughter. Imagine trying to use the bathroom in the morning. It would be a nightmare.”

“You can say that again.” Sally put the letter back in the envelope. “Are we happy to make Holly’s dreams come true?”

“Definitely,” Annie said. “Anyone with that many sisters deserves all the help they can get. I wonder if she needs a wedding dress?”

Sally took the photo that Tess held out to her. “I can ask her if you like?”

Tess nodded. “Good idea. We need to make some room in here otherwise I’m not going to be able to move. What about your envelope, Annie? Are you still sticking with the child theory?”

Annie waved the envelope in the air. “Of course. This one is going to be special.” Sally passed her the knife and Annie carefully split the envelope open and pulled out a card. “What did I tell you?”

She held the card up so that Tess and Sally could see the picture on the outside. “Who could resist a crayon drawing of a bride?”

“Not you.” Tess moved closer to Annie. “What does it say?”

Annie opened the card and frowned.
“Dear Bridesmaids Club. Can you please help my daddy find a bride?”

Tess looked down at the card. “It’s from someone called Bella.”

Annie turned the envelope over. “There’s no return address or last name.”

“What about the postmark?” Sally asked. “Do they still mention the name of the city the letter was mailed from?”

Annie peered at the front of the envelope. “It looks as though it came from Bozeman. That narrows our search down to forty thousand people.”

“Less if we limit the search to girls under the age of ten,” Tess added.

“That’s if Bella is less than ten-years-old. She might have handwriting that looks younger than she is.” Sally looked at the card again. “Although I don’t think she would be older than ten. The picture could have been drawn by any of the girls in my class.”

Annie left the card on the coffee table. “Bella can be our mystery person. I’ll see if I can limit the search for her somehow.”

“I wonder who her daddy is?” Tess walked across to the kitchen. “Does anyone want something hot to drink?”

“Not for me,” Annie said as she grabbed her bag off the floor. “I’m late for bowling. I’ll see you tomorrow at the café. Bye, Sally.”

“Don’t forget to bring your bowling ball to school tomorrow. My class is looking forward to your show and tell time.”

“I couldn’t forget it if I tried. You’ve reminded me every day for the last week.” Annie glanced quickly at Tess, then pulled Sally across to the back door with her. “I’ll let you know how Tess is tomorrow,” she whispered. “Maybe we could go to the movies if she still hasn’t heard from Logan?”

“Okay, but I get to choose the movie. I’m not going to one of your foreign arty ones again.”

Annie laughed. “It’s a deal. I’ll see you at school tomorrow. Two o’clock sharp. Bye.”

Tess turned and smiled at Sally. “I’ve got coffee, hot chocolate, or herbal tea. What would you like?”

“A glass of cold water suits me fine. Now tell me what’s really going on between you and Logan?”

Tess got a glass out of the pantry and turned the faucet on. “Not a lot. I can’t get hold of him and I don’t know when he’s coming home.”

“How long did he say he’d be gone for?”

Tess put the glass of water in front of Sally. “A couple of weeks. He’s going to visit some friends in London before he comes homes.”

“Sounds like you’ll have a lot to talk about when he gets back?”

“I hope so.” Tess looked around the room. “Molly will be here soon. What if we finish unpacking the boxes, then see which ones we can photograph tonight?”

Sally walked across to the first dress she’d unpacked. “This one will be okay after we use your steamer on it. There’s hardly a wrinkle in the silk.”

“Are you sure you don’t want to put it aside for yourself?” Tess asked.

Sally looked at her with a cheeky grin on her face. “Only if you’re planning on getting married?”

Tess shook her head. “I can’t see that happening. I’ll be lucky if Logan wants to keep living in Bozeman when he gets back. He might decide it’s too quiet here.”

“Or he might decide it’s perfect,” Sally added. “Now go and get your steamer. I’m really looking forward to being photographed in this dress.”

Tess didn’t share Sally’s optimism about Logan. He’d come to Montana to get away from what had happened in Afghanistan. Now that he knew the truth about Abiba, he’d be gone again. Bozeman wasn’t exactly action central and Logan would want more than Montana could offer.

More than she could give.

***

Tess couldn’t for the life of her remember why she’d agreed to go to the bowling alley with Annie. The weekend competition was in full swing. People were cheering from every available seat, bowling balls were flying down the lanes and pins were scattering everywhere.

And Tess was sitting at the back of the room feeling miserable.

“Cheer up. You’re supposed to be enjoying your day off work.” Molly sat beside her and passed her a bucket of popcorn. “There’s no better way to drown your sorrows than to munch your way through this lot.”

Tess started eating the buttery popcorn and decided Molly might have found the cure for a broken heart. “When did you get to be so wise?”

“About a year after my ex-husband left me. Popcorn’s much more forgiving than ice cream. Have you heard from Logan?”

“He texted me from London. At least he’s alive.”

“A text? What was the man thinking?”

Tess had thought the same thing. “All he’d said was that he’d arrived safely and not to worry.”

“Well that’s charming,” Molly huffed. “When is he coming home?”

“I don’t know.” Tess went back to feeling miserable. The last twelve days hadn’t been great. She’d spoken to Logan twice and received a text from him two days ago.

Molly nudged her arm. “It’s Annie’s turn.”

They both watched Annie line up the next bowl, take five steps backward, then stalk toward the beginning of the lane, letting go of her bowling ball as gracefully as a ballerina. The ball shot along the wooden floor and knocked all of the pins down.

Molly jumped in the air. “
Another strike.
She’s on a roll.”

Tess put the bucket of popcorn on the floor and stood up and cheered. Annie was hoping to do well today so she could try out for the State Bowling Team. So far she was doing better than okay. Annie’s coach beamed from the sidelines, high-fiving Annie when she walked back to her seat.

“Are you ladies willing to share that popcorn?”

“Dylan? What are you doing here?” Molly sounded as surprised as Tess to see Dylan standing beside their seats.

“Someone mentioned there was a bowling competition on this weekend. I thought I might come and have a look.”

Molly shuffled along a seat and patted the chair she’d left. “Come and sit between us. You’ll get prime position on the bucket of popcorn.”

Dylan looked gratefully at Molly. He didn’t mind being in a room full of noisy, excited people. But he did mind if anyone got too excited and decided to slap him on the back or hug him.

He grabbed a handful of popcorn and looked down at Annie. “Who’s the guy talking to Annie?”

Tess looked at the seats in front of the lane and smiled. “That’s Annie’s coach. I thought he’d be on the crusty side of seventy, but he’s about our age.”

Dylan took his sunglasses off and stared at the intense conversation going on below them.

“His name is Brad Johnson,” Molly said. “He’s a very nice man. Works at the local High School when he’s not representing Montana in bowling competitions around the country.”

Dylan frowned and quickly glanced at Molly. “You’ve met him?”

“Of course,” Molly said. “He brought some books into the café for Annie and I just happened to be there. We had a nice chat while Annie finished serving the last customers of the day.”

If there’d been any hint of restfulness about Dylan before he’d seen Annie, there wasn’t now. He was watching Annie and her coach like a lion stalking its prey.

Tess looked at Molly and they both looked at Dylan.

“Is everything okay?” Molly asked.

“Couldn’t be better.”

Molly raised her eyebrows and Dylan avoided looking at her.

“She’s getting ready for another turn.” Tess watched Annie collect her ball from the machine beside her. She lined her shot up and swung her arm back.

“If she gets this she’ll win the game,” Molly whispered.

Tess crossed her fingers. “She’ll get it. She’s done so well.”

The ball shot down the lane and struck the front pin dead center.

Molly started jumping up and down. “She did it,” she squealed. “Annie did it.”

Tess yelled and clapped, waving frantically when Annie looked up at them. Coach Johnson tapped Annie on the shoulder then swung her in a circle.

Dylan stayed where he was, watching what was going on with a cool detachment that was almost scary.

Molly picked up her bag. “That’s her last game of the day. Annie’s in the finals. We’ll have to do something special for her tonight.”

“We could have pizza at Antonio’s?” Tess said. “They don’t take too long and their food is out of this world.”

Dylan held the popcorn bucket while Tess put her jacket on. “Before you go to dinner, I’ve got something I want to show you.”

Molly hunted for her car keys. “You can come to dinner, too. It’ll be fun.”

If Tess read Dylan’s expression correctly, he’d sooner have his teeth pulled out than go with them. Interesting.

“Thanks, but I can’t make it. I heard you’re running out of room for the bridesmaids’ dresses?”

“You can say that again,” Tess said. “If it wasn’t for the temporary rack you made for my living room we’d be stuck by now.”

Dylan glanced down at Annie. Her coach had put her down and the rest of her bowling buddies were congratulating her. “I’ve found a solution to your storage problems.”

“You have?” Tess had been looking for somewhere to store the dresses for the last week. But it had to be the right place. Women would be coming to look at the dresses and try them on. It had to be clean and tidy and not expensive.