“Next time I’ll be more careful about what I order.”
“At least we still have the boutique in Bozeman.”She gave her sister a big hug.“Don’t worry.We’ll find some dresses before you get married.”
“I don’t know whether to be disappointed or relieved that the wedding gown isn’t available.”
“You should be relieved.”Barbara closed both bags and left them on the table.“Can you get a refund?”
“They said I could, but I won’t hold my breath.All they need are the dresses mailed back to them.”
“We should do that tomorrow, just in case they change their mind.”
Katie, Diana, and Anne walked into the kitchen.
“We haven’t heard any shrieks of excitement,” Katie said nervously.“Does this mean the dresses are a flop?”
“They couldn’t get any floppier if they tried,” Penny replied.She handed Diana one of the clothing bags.“Be prepared for the worst buy of the century.”
Diana smiled.“It will have to be pretty bad to beat the pine-scented candles Mom bought.”
Just thinking about them made Barbara smile.“They were supposed to be shaped like Christmas trees, but they looked like Gandalf’s staff inThe Lord of the Rings.”
“Or something even more interesting,” Katie said with a wicked grin.
Penny rolled her eyes.“You’re as bad as Mom.”
Diana pulled the dress out of its bag.“This is nothing like the photos Penny showed us.”
Anne touched the fabric.“Apart from anything else the fabric feels scratchy.”
“It’s just as well we’re heading into Bozeman on Saturday,” Penny said with determination.“Mom’s positive we’ll find something in Emily’s boutique.”She looked at Anne.“Would you like to come with us?”
Anne shook her head.“Thanks for the offer, but I’d like to be gone by the weekend.”
“Where are you going?”Barbara asked.
“I’ll catch the bus to Polson.It will be easier looking for a job if I’m living there.”
Penny touched Anne’s arm.“We were talking the other day.You don’t need to go anywhere.You could stay here.”
“I appreciate your offer, but you’ve already done so much for me.”
“And we’d do it all again,” Katie reassured her.“At least think about it.”
“I will.Thanks.”
Barbara picked up one of the dresses.“I’ll take these into town tomorrow and mail them back to the company who made them.”
“And I’ll call Emily to confirm our meeting on Saturday.”Penny looked longingly at the gowns.“It would have been so much easier if they were what I ordered.”
Katie hugged her sister.“At least we don’t have to walk down the aisle in them.How are we doing with the rest of the wedding plans?”
Barbara sighed.She wished Katie hadn’t asked that, from the expression on Penny’s face, she felt the same way.Despite their best intentions, they still had a lot of boxes on the wedding spreadsheet to tick off.
“It can’t be that bad,” Diana said.“We’ve done everything we talked about at our last planning session.”
Katie took Barbara’s laptop out of its case.“Show us.”
Barbara opened the spreadsheet and everyone studied the screen.Diana was right.They’d finished a lot of the jobs, but there was still more to do.
