Lily closes the curtain around me again, helps me into the dress, and as soon as she slides the smooth satin up over my hips and helps me put my arms through the sleeves, I know it’s actually perfect. There’s a slight gathering under the bust, but then the satin falls to the ground, hugging my hips perfectly as Lily does up the long row of covered buttons in the back.
It’s elegant, it’s classic. It’s simple. But it almost has a vintage look that I like. It’s the wedding dress I would choose for myself one day.
Wren’s mouth falls open when Lily sweeps the curtain to the side this time.
“This is it,” she says, before I even get the chance to give her my opinion.
Her eyes get misty, and she waves her hand in front of her face as if it will stop her from crying. Lily walks over and hands her a handkerchief without having to be asked, andWren dabs her beautiful dark eyes. She’s always stunning, and put together, even when she’s crying.
But Wren never cries, and the sight of it triggers a stinging behind my eyes that I blink back. I look past her into the floor length mirror and take in the image. I look like a bride. A real bride.
I’m not, though. One day I might be, but not this time.
One day I might get the chance to have the wedding of my dreams. With a man who isn’t my opposite in every single way. A man who matches me. Who’s a homebody like me, who’s a little bit introverted like me. Who won’t start to resent me when I can’t keep up with a lifestyle that isn’tme. Who I won’t be planning on divorcing after a year.
“It’s stunning, Pops.” Wren dabs her eyes with the small piece of white cotton. “Dahlia would have loved this on you.”
Emotion wells up within me, threatening to burst as I think of my aunt, of what this wedding means, of what afraudI am.
The dress is suddenly squeezing my middle, even though the fabric hugs my body like it was made for me. I can’t breathe. The ground sways beneath me, and I need air before I end up laying on it.
Hopping down off the pedestal, I bolt through the store, picking up the skirt of the dress so it doesn’t get dirty on the ground.
“You can’t leave the store with the dress!” Lily calls out behind me, and I whirl around and catch Wren going through my purse, pulling out Jett’s credit card.
“Just charge it to this,” I hear Wren say, but her voice is muffled, far away, as I turn back toward theexit.
The crisp, fresh air outside hits my lungs and I take a deep breath, followed by an exhale that puffs around my face in a misty cloud.
“Poppy,” Wren calls as she catches up to me, wrapping her arms around herself to keep warm. “What’s going on?”
“I can’t do it, Wren,” I heave, the cold only now starting to seep through to my bones as the adrenaline wears off. “This dress is perfect.”
Wren gives me a confused expression.
“And?”
My voice trembles as I try to still my quivering chin. “And I never thought that I’d be getting married likethis. Without Aunt Dahlia. To Jett.”
Wren heaves a long breath and looks off down the street. When she glances back, her eyes are full of something I haven’t seen in a while, not since before I told her about this marriage scheme.
Acceptance. Determination.
“You know, at first, I thought this was a terrible idea, marrying Jett.”
I flash her a withering glare. “I thought you were on board.”
“I was, I am. I’m team Poppy, always,” she says. “I think Jett is team Poppy, too. Hudson could not stop talking about how he was with you at the bowling alley. I didn’t know what you meant when you said he was different, but I’m starting to see it. He’s always put himself first, and if he can win on his own and gloat about it, he’ll do it. I know why he made us all play on teams. It was because your arthritis was flaring,wasn’t it?”
I nod, and sniffle, bouncing the balls of my feet and regretting my decision to dart outside into the cold.
“See, this whole thing might actually work with Jett. Sure, he has his own motives, but I think he wants to help you, too. You can do this, Poppy. If not for yourself, do it for Dahlia. She might not be able to be here today, but she would want you to embrace this experience. She’d want you to wear a fucking kick ass dress and feel amazing in it.”
I chuckle softly and think back to all the over-the-top gowns she used to love, the big jewelry, the expensive perfume. I glance down at myself, at the thin satin clinging to my shivering body. This isn’t the dress she would choose for herself, but it’s certainly the one she’d choose for me.
“Now, come on.” Wren loops her arm through mine. “It’s fucking freezing out here.”
When we get back in the store, Lily is standing at the counter, waiting for an explanation as to why we left.
