“What else do you do with a bridal gown after you’ve worn it?”
“This particular gown represents so much more than a wedding day. It represents healing and hope, redemption. That’s why it fits every bride who tries it on. Now, let’s see…” Adelaide stepped back into the storeroom, searching for something. “Know what, we won’t bother with shoes. This is a barefoot moment. Besides, the heels with the crystal studs will serve on your day. Isn’t this fun? We’ll be shipshape soon.”
“Crystal studs? How do you know about them? And what day are you talking about?”
“Shall we get started?” Adelaide pulled a Mary Poppins and all but disappeared into the box as she removedthewedding dress, the ivory satin spilling from her hands. “Go put this on.”
“Adelaide, I’ve already put on several wedding gowns this year for a photo shoot. I’m not doing it again until it’s for real. If I ever get married at all.” Pure bravado. Every word. She was shaking like a leaf. Adelaide’s presence was breaking down all her resistance.
“Now get going.” Adelaide held on to the dress and pointed to the changing area.
But Gemma couldn’t move. She recognized the V-neck, the swag front, and the three-quarter sleeves from the photos on the wall behind the desk. She knew the stories of the mystical gown that fit every woman who tried it on. How the dress found the next bride and transformed them. Poppycock and fairy tales as far as she was concerned. “Haley and JoJo would not thank us to mess with their wedding dress. Even if you are an angel, Adelaide.”
“It’s not their decision, is it. Get going.” Adelaide’s big white smile ignited a heat around Gemma’s heart. The familiar fragrance from the last time Adelaide visited the mezzanine, and from the Heart of God, swirled around her.
“Hurry now, out of your things. Go behind the screen.” Adelaide worked the gown’s long row of buttons, the tip of her pink tongue resting on the corner of her mouth.
“I can’t.” Gemma snatched the dress from Adelaide with every intention of folding it back into the box and confessing the whole ordeal to her bosses and friends.
But the moment her hands touched the satin and silk, the heat intensified as did the fragrance. She began to tremble, feel as if she were coming undone.
“Go on now.” Adelaide shoved her toward the dressing screen. “I don’t have all day.”
“Why, you have another princess to spook?”
“Actually, I have other duties. Princess duty is just one. Now go.”
Fine. She’d get this over with, write it down in a diary—note to self, buy a diary—and get on with her life.
“You know, I need a place to live more than I need to try on this wedding dress. And oh yes, I’m not getting married. I don’t even have a boyfriend.”
“One thing will take care of the other.”
“What does that mean?” Behind the screen, Gemma slipped from her slacks and blouse and kicked off her shoes. “I’m going to meet a man who’ll sweep me off my feet and rescue me? Last time I was swept off my feet, I got a broken hip and a world of pain. Besides, I can take care of myself, thank you very much.”
“Goodness, such a lecture. Now put on the dress.” Adelaide handed over the gown. “You’re the chattiest princess I’ve ever served. Careful now. It is well over a hundred years old.”
“Princess.” The term iced her semi-enthusiastic protest to these proceedings. “What are you talking about?”
“I’m talking about this wedding dress goingroyal. Taking it to the palace.”
“What? You can’t be—”
Adelaide raised her soft, pearly hand. “Go.”
Oddly enough, Gemma obeyed, disappearing behind the changing screen. She removed her clothes and stepped into the skirt ofthedress, the one of legend, the one that former brides claimed represented the Gospel of Jesus.
Raising the bodice over her hips and up her waist to her shoulders, she half expected a lightning bolt to crash through the roof and prevent her from soiling this beautiful, historical, if not divine, gown.
“How’s it feel?” Adelaide said.
“Weird. Really weird.” But good weird. She was beginning to get caught up in the mystery. Might as well see where this particular journey ended. Goodness knows, she’d taken enough bad roads on her own. Maybe Adelaide would give her a different ending.
Either way, this was a whopper of a chapter to add to her embellished prince story fifty years from now when she held permanent court in a back booth at Ella’s.
“After the ball and everyone in the world knew some no-name chick from Tennessee took it all off for a reality show that never saw the light of day, an angel haunted me. Honest to goodness. I’m dying if I’m lying.”
Adjusting the gown to fit her shoulders and torso, the dress began to wrap around her, embrace her. Squinting against a rush of tears, Gemmaknewsomething was shifting in her.
