Every Girl Gets Confused (17 page)

No one seemed to mind. Mrs. Lawson and Queenie struck up a conversation with Joni about the upcoming wedding, and soon we were knee-deep in chatter about the big day. As the volume of the football game intensified, so did the voices of the ladies, who talked over the game. Joni must've forgotten she was playing, but Casey and I continued on, hollering “Yahtzee!” at the appropriate times.

“Sorry it's so noisy in here, Reverend Bradford,” Mama called out above the din. “I do hope you'll adjust to our large family.”

“I've missed this. When my daughter and son-in-law come to town we have a wonderful time, but it's not like this.”

“We're blessed,” Queenie said. “Truly. Noise and all. I wouldn't trade it for a thing.”

When our game ended, Joni finished her conversation with the older ladies and turned my way. “Did I miss the game?” she asked.

“Yeah.” I tried to stifle a yawn.

Casey excused himself to the living room, which left me alone with Joni. Not that I minded. I'd been dying to ask her a question for days now. When I was sure no one else was close enough to hear, I turned our conversation into a private girl-talk session.

“Okay, inquiring minds want to know . . .”

“If I'm dating Levi?” She smiled. “Pretty sure that's what you were going to ask, right?”

“Right.”

She shrugged. “He's a great guy and I would be honored to have someone like him in my life, but . . .”

“But?”

“I'm not sure that's where my heart is taking me, and I want to be careful. I don't want to jump headfirst into something just because the WOP-pers think I should. At some point I have to pray and get God's perspective on my own. That's what spiritual maturity is all about.”

“Right.” She seemed pretty spiritually mature for bringing that up.

“I'll be forever grateful to Levi,” Joni said. “He's been such a godsend in my life.”

“How so?”

“You know what my life was like. My parents were always so busy with their jobs and then with ministry stuff. I never
really had great social skills, so I stuck with sports to find my value. But Levi helped me see past all of that. I broke my arm during that first college game, and it pretty much destroyed my psyche. Levi helped me realize that I'd put too much stock in my performance and not in just being a daughter of the King. I was trying to get my validation in the wrong place.”

“Oh, Joni . . . I'm sorry. I didn't even realize you'd broken your arm.”

“Yeah.” She shrugged. “It was a bad break. Really bad. I was sliding into first and landed wrong. The bones had to be pinned. It destroyed my chances of playing pro.”

“I didn't realize you were hoping to go that far with ball. Wow.” In that moment, I realized how little I really knew about Joni.

“Anyway, my point is, I had to stop trying to find validation in what I did and start realizing that I was valued simply because of God's love. Does that make sense?”

“Perfect sense.” As Casey passed by, I leaned in to whisper, “Would you mind sharing all of that with Brady someday? When he's ready to hear it, I mean?”

“Of course. And in the meantime, I'll be praying for him. God's placed a real burden on my heart to pray for people who feel a little . . . lost.” She rested her elbows on the table, a thoughtful expression on her face. “Everyone needs someone like Levi to talk them down from the ledge. I know you're that person for Brady.”

“I'm trying. He's just not responding quite the way I'd hoped.”

“Don't give up. Promise?”

“Yes, I promise.”

“Okay, now tell me how things are going at the shop. I'll bet the wedding biz is a blast.”

Strange how quickly panic could hit a person. The minute I thought about the shop, I was reminded of the bridal extravaganza. Oy. I'd have to leave here in the wee hours of the morning and drive all the way back, then work, work, work.

“It's busy,” I said after a moment. “Ever since that issue of
Texas Bride
released, the store has been hard-hit with customers.”

“Oh yes,” Twiggy said as she joined us. “You wouldn't believe how crazy things are. If it wasn't for Eduardo, I don't think Dahlia would've made it.”

“Eduardo? Don't think I know that name.” Pop walked into the kitchen to get another piece of pie.

“Ask Alva about him.” Twiggy winked at my aunt. “I think she could fill you in.”

“Hmm? Who? Me?” Alva looked up from her cup of coffee. “What are we talking about?”

“Someone named Eduardo,” Pop said. “You know him?”

“Oh. I . . . well . . .” Her cheeks flushed and I had to wonder what was going on in that mind of hers. “I think maybe I'll have another piece of pie.”

Interesting.

I didn't really have much time to think about it, though. Mama pulled out some old videos, and before long we were all seated in the living room, watching our memories roll by on the television set. Videos of Casey and me as kids—him on the football field and me in my cheerleading outfit. My three brothers in their teens, playing baseball. Queenie and Grandpa Fisher, the year before he passed away. Mama and Pop at their twenty-fifth wedding anniversary party. Last Thanksgiving with the Lawsons. We watched it all.

The laughter and joy that rang out across the room was blissful. Truly. How long had it been since I'd had a day like
this—carefree and fun? Just to celebrate, I had another piece of Mrs. Lawson's coconut pie.

Oh. Yum.

I'd missed her pie. For that matter, I'd missed her. And even though I hated to admit it, I'd also missed her son. Oh, not in a “wow, I'd like to see if we could be an item again” sort of way, but more in a wistful “life was sweet and simple when we were growing up” sort of way.

It was sweet and simple. But a girl had to grow up sometime, right?

I'd think about that tomorrow morning at five o'clock when I arrived at Cosmopolitan Bridal. But right now I had games to play and pie to eat.

Well, I've been through everything. I always said I was like those round-bottomed circus dolls—you know, those dolls you could push down and they'd come back up? I've always been like that. I've always said, “No matter what happens, if I get pushed down, I'm going to come right back up.”

Doris Day

W
hat
was
I
thinking
?
Those same four words replayed in my mind as I made the drive back to Dallas in the dead of night. With only four hours of sleep to propel me, I did my best to focus on the road.

“You can do this, Katie. You can do this.”

I'd better do this! I'd promised Brady, after all.

“Brady.” My heart twisted as I whispered his name. How I'd missed him over the past several hours. I should've picked up the phone before the sun went down to wish him a happy Thanksgiving, but caught up in the games and videos, I'd forgotten. Then again, he hadn't called me either, had he?

I tried not to make too much of that as I drove. Surely he'd spent the day with his mom, Madge, and Stan, as they'd planned. No doubt they'd filled up on turkey, watched the game, and then napped the rest of the day away.

Hopefully.

Right now I had to carry on with the show and put on the best bridal extravaganza the city of Dallas had ever seen. Brady was counting on me. Nadia was counting on me.

Everyone was counting on me.

Ack.

The ringer went off over my Bluetooth speaker and I pushed the button on my steering wheel. “Hello?”

“It's Aunt Alva, honey. You left me behind. I'm still in Fairfield.”

I bit back a laugh. “Alva, we already discussed this, remember? You're coming back with Dewey later in the day. He agreed to come and help us get the shop put back together after the event.”

“For pity's sake. I've been sitting here at Queenie's for an hour, dressed and ready, wondering why you didn't come and fetch me. I could've slept in.”

“I'm sorry.”

“I wanted to help you at your big shindig.”

“Not a good idea, Aunt Alva, though I appreciate your willingness. For one thing, it's freezing outside. And for another, it's mostly physical labor—setting up tables, hauling things around, that sort of thing. Just rest and then come with Dewey later in the morning. He'll fetch you around nine, so be ready.”

“Well, I'm ready now. Not sure what I'll do with myself between now and then.” Off in the distance I heard Queenie's voice ring out. “Oh, never mind, honey,” Alva said. “Queenie wants to visit with me about wedding plans. I'm going to be the maid of honor, you know.” At that, she clicked off.

Goodbye, Alva.

I arrived at Cosmopolitan at exactly 5:00 a.m., just in time to see the tent go up. I had a quick conversation with the man in charge of that process to make sure he'd brought enough tables for all of the vendors. After I quickly breezed through the tent, I was able to set up a plan for where those tables should be placed. The first vendor arrived minutes later, wedding cake in hand. I panicked as she almost dropped the magnificent four-tiered number with its gorgeous rosettes.

“Don't worry,” she hollered out. “It's not a real cake. They're all dummies.”

I felt like a dummy myself right about now. Why hadn't I remembered to bring my camera to photograph all of this?

Her table was put into place and she went to work, covering it with a cloth and placing some of the most beautiful faux cakes I'd ever seen on it.

The photographer arrived next with all sorts of framed photos and slide shows to display. He agreed to capture some shots of the day and send them to me in exchange for a plug in our next catalog.

Next came the hair designer. Then the guy with the chocolate fountain. Then the makeup gal. Then a fellow who provided specialty balloons and other fun novelty items for weddings. Then the dance instructor. One by one their tables were set up and decorated. I watched over everything, calling out orders as needed.

Shivering all the while.

At 5:25 Madge arrived with Stan, who offered to help finish setting up tables. Interesting that they'd come together. She headed inside the store to help Twiggy and Beau, who had breezed by me while I helped set up the chocolate fountain. Finally convinced the vendors were okay to wrap up without me, I headed inside.

The next hour was spent finalizing the layout of the store inside while the tables were being set up outside. At 6:00 Nadia and Brady arrived. He hobbled into the store on crutches, carrying on about how great the tent looked.

I rushed his way, greeting him with a kiss. “What are you doing here, Brady?” I waggled my finger at him. “You're supposed to be resting.”

“You didn't really think he would miss this, did you?” Nadia shrugged off her designer coat and slung it over her arm. “Surely you know him better than that.”

“No way would I miss it.” Still, my sweet guy looked bleary-eyed. He yawned. “Too much turkey. Not a good idea to eat turkey when you're already on pain medication. The combination is deadly.”

“I'm sure. Why don't you pull up a chair and supervise?”

“Gladly.” He yawned again.

Stan arrived with a chair from the studio, which he placed off to the side of the room. “Perfect spot to referee the game.”

Brady grimaced as he took a seat.

“It's going to be a great day.” I offered a bright smile.

“Yep. Hopefully it'll turn things around in the media.” Madge continued working, never missing a beat.

“This whole media thing is just a season anyway, Madge,” I said. “They love a sensational story and that bride gave them one. We're going to undo it in just a few short hours. Watch and see.”

“Short hours?” Dahlia barreled our way. “What's this about short hours? I know nothing of these words.”

“True, true,” I said. “Just for the record, Dahlia, you and your team can do your usual thing in the studio while we take care of the extravaganza.”

“And miss all the fun?” Her eyes widened in mock horror. “Never! I'll go back and forth, if you don't mind. I don't want to miss out. Besides, Eduardo is going to supervise in the studio. The others know what to do. I want to help out front—it will make me feel normal again.” She rubbed her stomach. “If anyone could possibly feel normal after eating so much turkey.”

I wanted to ask how her Thanksgiving had gone but didn't have time. She'd been noticeably absent from our get-together yesterday, after all. No doubt Madge had talked her into spending the day with them at Aunt Alva's. I wondered how she would feel about seeing Dewey when he came in a few hours. Maybe it would be better not to tell her just yet.

Hibiscus and Jane arrived moments later, ready to roll.

“Katie, that vendors' area is amazing.” Hibiscus clutched her hands to her chest. “I felt like I was at a real wedding! Everyone was there.”

Jane cocked her head. “Yeah, and the guests will soon be barreling through the door. What time do we kick this thing off?”

“Eight.”

“Tell that to the brides who are already lined up outside,” Jane said. “We need someone to keep them out of the tent.”

“Ack.” Why hadn't I hired security?

Turned out Nadia had. The security guard rolled up at 6:30 to hold back the flow of anxious brides. I gave Nadia a huge hug and thanked her from the bottom of my heart.

“Happy to be of service.” She gave me a little wink. “Now, go do what you do.”

The next half hour was spent putting the finishing details on things and visiting with the brides, who were about to take the security guard down for not letting them through. By 7:00, I knew we were going to have a glorious day. Every sign pointed to it. And Brady and Nadia seemed to think so too, based on their upbeat chatter.

“This is going to be the best thing that ever happened to the wedding community in Dallas,” Brady said.

“And we have Katie to thank.” Nadia gave me an encouraging smile, which served to invigorate me.

“You're welcome. But let's don't celebrate just yet. What if the media doesn't show up? The reporter from the
Tribune
was supposed to be here at seven, but there's no sign of him. Or her.”

I stopped sweating five minutes later when he finally arrived. “Sorry,” he said. “I think I ate too much turkey yesterday. It messed up my brain.”

“Tryptophan,” Madge said. “Gets you every time.”

“I have no idea what that means,” the reporter said, “but I'll take your word for it.”

By 7:30 the coffee was hot, the one real wedding cake was ready to be sliced, a large bowl of punch was filled to the brim, Nadia was greeting her guests right and left, and the vendors were finalizing their stations.

“We have our own bridal extravaganza.” I grinned. “Maybe we'll make this a yearly Black Friday event. What do you think, Brady?”

“I think you've saved the day once again, Katie. And did you see that WFAA sent a camera crew? Now we just have to pray that brides will keep coming.”

“Keep coming? To an event that offers free and deeply discounted wedding goods? Trust me, Brady, they'll show up.”

And show up they did. We hadn't counted on the massive parking dilemma this event would cause. With the tent taking up so much space, there was no room for the customers to put their vehicles. I made a quick dash to El Burrito, the Mexican restaurant next door, and asked permission to use their space. They agreed, as long as we allowed them to set up a breakfast taco table in the tent. The customers loved it and swarmed them.

Inside we had the time of our lives. I'd never had so much fun. Every fifteen minutes we pulled another number from the hat to announce a winner. By the time eleven o'clock rolled around we'd given away ten gowns, ten pairs of shoes, ten veils, ten free alterations—Dahlia would kill me for that one—and ten tuxedo rentals. We'd also sold thirty-seven off-the-rack wedding gowns, eight veils, two dozen pairs of shoes, and approximately twenty bridesmaid dresses, all marked down for Black Friday. Nadia was beside herself.

Just as we were wrapping up the giveaways, Alva and Dewey showed up. Dahlia, who'd been present in the shop for most of the morning, disappeared into her studio the minute she saw my brother. I could tell it affected his emotional state, but he buried his troubles in hard work, helping us clean up the mess after the extravaganza ended.

I headed outside to the tent to thank the vendors for their participation, offering each of them a gift card for a free lunch at El Burrito. We also gave them our assurance that they would be our go-to vendors when brides asked for a list. All in all, everyone left content and happy.

“All's well that ends well,” Twiggy said when I arrived back inside. “I'm exhausted, but that was a blast.”

“No kidding. Best day ever.” Madge took a look at the store and sighed. “So glad we shut it down at eleven, though.”

“We'll keep the sale going through Monday,” Nadia said.

“And I'm sure we'll still have customers coming through today looking for sale items,” I added, “so let's make sure those are near the front of the store, the first thing they see when they come in.”

Madge nodded, then called everyone to attention. “People, we've got a lot of work to do. Remember all of those dresses we pulled into the back room? We've got to get them back out here. And I'll need a couple of you to police the parking lot while that tent is coming down to make sure our customers make it inside without getting knocked upside the head by a tent post.”

“I'm here to help,” Dewey said.

“Me too,” Beau added.

The next three hours were spent whipping Cosmopolitan Bridal back into shape. Brady supervised from a chair off to the side of the room. Several times I caught him trying to lift or lug something and I chastened him and made him sit back down. Nadia scolded him a couple of times too, but he didn't seem to be taking the hint from either of us.

Finally I came to stand next to him, so tired I could barely think straight. That was when I noticed something peculiar going on at the register.

“Well, look at that, why don't you.”

“What?” Brady asked.

I pointed to the register where Madge was helping a customer. Standing at her side, his smile as wide as the Rio Grande, Stan rang up the customer.

“Very suspicious.” I narrowed my gaze and tried to make sense of what I saw. Why would Stan be helping Madge, and who had taught him to use the cash register?

“What's suspicious?” Brady gazed at the two behind the counter, who seemed to be in deep conversation after the customer left.

“Are you thinking what I'm thinking?” I asked. “I mean, it seems impossible, but then again, God delights in doing the impossible.”

“Please.” Brady laughed. “Are you really telling me that you haven't known about this? Whatever happened to a woman's intuition?”

“What are you saying, Brady?”

He shook his head. “I'm saying that Stan and Madge have been crazy about each other for more than two years. They've fought it every step of the way, but they're nuts about each other. And I'm completely gobsmacked that you didn't pick up on it. Seriously?”

“Wow.” I couldn't believe it. “Wow, wow, wow.”

Wow was right. But the proof was in the pudding, as Queenie always said.

I watched as Madge looked around the room and, finding it empty of customers, slipped into Stan's open arms. Seconds later they were kissing. So much for no PDA in the store. The bell above the door rang out, alerting them to the fact that a customer had entered. They backed up and busied themselves once more as if nothing had happened.

“I'm . . . I'm . . .” The words refused to come. I thought I might just be seeing things. I finally managed to eke out, “I'm shocked.”