“Oh.” Julia must have heard something in her tone, because she turned to Winnie. “That’s too much isn’t it?”
“Not for Grandma!” Eliana answered with all the naive confidence of someone who’d never sewn a dress in her life. “On those sewing shows, they whip out runway dresses in like a day, and Grandma’s just as good as them.”
“A single day is a bit of a stretch …” Winnie hedged. Julia frowned and studied Winnie’s expression, and Winnie found she didn’t have the heart to disappoint both of her granddaughters. “We’ll see what we can do. Let’s get the fabric just in case.”
Julia squealed as if it was a done deal. “Thank you, Grandma! Eliana, want to come to the store with me?”
“No way.” Eliana folded her arms. “I have no desire to see the girl I lost it in front of.”
“It’s a good opportunity to apologize…” Julia dangled her keys in front of her like a treat.
“Or to get angry again,” Eliana said in the same sing-song tone. “Grandma needs my help, don’t you?”
Winnie needed three experienced seamstresses. And it wouldn’t hurt to have Horace here. He was always so good at helping her calm down when the panic was rising in her chest like this. Plus he was much better at managing expectations than she was. Without him, she couldn’t stop saying yes to things.
He was off with Smitty again, doing who knows what. He hadn’t offered the information to her, and she hadn’t asked. She’d hoped he’d notice she was being extra quiet, feeling extra stressed, but he was too excited about whatever new adventure those two were going on together.
“I’ll find something for you to do,” Winnie said. “Julia, take Cameron with you, and help him pick out some fabric for a bow tie.” In for a penny, in for a pound.
“Oh, Cam, you’re going to look so handsome in your suit,” Eliana said.
Cameron laughed and rubbed his hand along the top of his head, his version of brushing the dust off your shoulders.
Winnie watched her grandchildren interact, teasing one another and laughing, and her heart ached a little less. She missed Horace, but she did have these wonderful kids visiting her almost every day. Not everyone had that. In fact, most people didn’t.
Julia and Cameron left. Eliana called her mom—emphasizing just how dire the situation was, which was exactly what Winnie hoped she’d do. Julia, bless her heart, was too much like Winnie, and would downplay how much her help was needed. Eliana, though, knew all the right things to say to get her mom to take the rest of the afternoon off of work, grab her sewing machine, and promise to be there in an hour.
Eliana worked on cutting threads off the wedding dress while they waited for the fabric. Winnie’d had Julia try it on at least a dozen times. After the epically small dress at the Watermelon Festival last year, Winnie was paranoid. She’d never live that moment down, for the rest of her life, no matter how many times Logan reminded her how very much he appreciated that dress mix-up.
She called Nancy next. “Do you have time to help me make some bridesmaid dresses?”
“I can’t today, but I can come over tomorrow,” Nancy said. “Want me to round up Rosa and Polly?” None of them were expert seamstresses, but they could follow directions and at least keep her from going crazy.
“Yes, that would be great.”
Nancy paused. Winnie was so distracted pinning a portion of lace to the wedding dress, it took her a moment to click that she wasn’t talking, which was unlike Nancy.
“Is everything okay?” Winnie asked. Eliana looked up from cutting the fabric to give her a questioning glance.
“Another secret was posted this morning.”
Winnie’s stomach dropped. “What was it this time?”
“That I ran for the city council when my kids were young, and I lost,” Nancy said, sounding frustrated. “I don’t care that people know. I mean, it’s public record, but it feels violating to have it announced without my permission.”
“I’m sorry,” Winnie said. After she and Horace were first married, someone had broken into their apartment and stolen a few things. They hadn’t lost anything of value—they didn’t even have anything of value back then—but she still carried that icky, unsafe feeling of someone being in your space and riffling through your stuff, for months afterward. How much worse was it when it was your personal business being posted for everyone to see? It made her shiver. What could this mysterious person post about her? That she used to sew lingerie? Maybe. Relief filled her at the thought. It was just salacious enough to keep people judging and whispering—but definitely not the biggest secret she had.
She hung up, and Eliana looked at her, her face sort of pale. “Was it another secret?” she asked.
“Yes, this one about Nancy.” Winnie used the back of her hand to feel Eliana’s forehead. “I’m going to make you a drink. Something with sugar in it.” At least helping her granddaughter feel better was something she could control right now.
Julia and Cameron arrived with the fabric—“I call the lavender!” Eliana yelled—and soon after Lisa came with her sewing supplies. The bungalow felt so much less lonely with everyone there. Winnie brought out the cookies she’d picked up from the store—who had time to bake with all these dresses to be made? But none of them seemed to care that they’d come from a package as they dug in. She watched them, love for each of them filling her. It almost choked her up.
Get it together, Winnie. We have too much to do to be blubbering about.Not only did they have the wedding, but she needed to do more to set up Eliana and Asher. They’d hit it off at the turtle fundraiser, but she’d dropped the ball since then.
“So who’s your plus-one for the wedding, Eliana?” Winnie asked, going for subtle but missing the mark, if Eliana’s stifled laugh was any indication.
“No one. I’m going alone.”
