Loving You (The Bridesmaids Club Book 2) (21 page)

“You looked for his truck?”

Sally disappeared into the kitchen, then came back with two steaming mugs of black coffee. “Of course we did. If he’d been here, we would have sat in Molly’s car eating pancakes and waiting for him to leave.”

Annie sat at the table. The super-sleuth detectives in front of her were on a roll. “I wish you’d put as much effort into finding my mystery envelope owner as you are into my personal life.”

“We might never find Bella,” Sally said. “But I can guarantee you’ll kiss Dylan before too long. The air sizzles when the two of you are in the same space together.”

Annie felt her face get hot. She took a sip of her chocolate and winced at the sweetness. “How much sugar did you put in here?”

“Two teaspoons.” Molly passed Annie a pancake with raspberry jam on it. “I thought the sugar might loosen your tongue. You might be more inclined to share what happened last night with a sugar rush to the head.”

Annie didn’t say anything.

Sally sat down at the table. “See…I told you something happened. Annie never looks embarrassed. Slightly annoyed sometimes, but never embarrassed.”

Molly helped herself to another pancake and waited.

“Where’s Tess?” Annie asked. She had a feeling Molly and Sally wouldn’t be diverted easily, but she was willing to give anything a go.

“She’ll be here soon,” Sally said. “She wanted to put some washing on the clothesline before she came here. So, back to Dylan. Is he okay?”

Annie bit into her pancake. It was light and fluffy and so yummy that she knew she’d be having another one. Or two. Or three if it kept her from answering the questions she didn’t want to answer. “I think so.”

Sally picked up her coffee mug. “He didn’t look too good when he left the barn.”

“You saw him?”

Sally nodded. “I didn’t want to interfere, so I didn’t follow you right away. But I did come looking for you later. You were dancing with Dylan in the middle of a field. It was so romantic.”

Annie sighed. It had been, but it wouldn’t be happening again. “Dylan needed to get away for a few minutes. He asked me to dance.”

Molly pushed her plate away. “If I have another pancake I’m going to pop. Did you like dancing in the moonlight with a handsome man in your arms?”

The gentle smile on Molly’s face was almost too much for Annie. “I’m not as romantic as you are.”

“Of course you are,” Molly insisted. “You just haven’t had a lot of opportunities to show it. Dylan seems like a fine man. Are you going out with him again?”

Annie shook her head. “I didn’t invite Dylan to Holly’s wedding as my date. We were experimenting with our lessons.”

“How did the experiment go?”

“Okay. Kind of.”

Molly reached out and placed her hand on Annie’s arm. “You don’t seem too sure about that?”

Annie sighed. “It’s complicated. Dylan was doing so well, then all of a sudden something happened and he needed to get away.”

Sally waved her fork in the air. “Yes, but you kept him company and he danced with you. That’s got to mean something?”

“It means we’re still experimenting,” Annie said quietly. “Only I’m not so sure it’s a good idea anymore.”

“I can’t blame you,” Molly sighed. “You’re helping a man who’s adorable, even with the challenges he’s got. He’s handsome, rich and the most eligible bachelor I know. It must be so hard spending time with him.”

Annie frowned. “You’re not helping.”

Sally grinned. “If you’re only friends, then that’s fine. If you like him more than that, you’d better decide what you’re going to do. He caused quite a stir at the wedding.”

“Because he left early?” Annie asked.

“No. Because of who he is. I heard four different conversations about him. Most of the single women in the room wanted to know more about him.”

Annie’s mouth dropped open. “You didn’t tell them, did you?”

Sally shook her head. “My lips were sealed. But you’d better move fast. I’ve got a feeling Dylan’s going to be a hunted man next week.”

Annie thought it was just as well he was going to the Ironman competition. But that left a lot of other times when he’d be in Bozeman. He had less touching issues than he had a few weeks ago. More reasons why a girlfriend might be a possibility.

More reasons why Annie had to step back and let him live his own life.

***

“Sorry I’m late.” Tess walked through Annie’s front door carrying a box with a picture of a food processor on the outside.

Annie made space on the table for the box and frowned. “It was nice of you to offer, but I don’t need more kitchen appliances.”

Tess glanced at the box before opening the flaps. “It’s not a food processor. I put the letters from people asking for bridesmaids’ dresses in here.”

“Thank goodness for that,” Molly said. “I was beginning to think we’d never get through all of our dresses.”

“Do you want coffee, juice or hot chocolate, Tess?” Sally yelled from the kitchen.

“Hot chocolate,” Tess replied. “I’m going to need all the sugar I can get today. I’ve got three boxes of dresses waiting to be unpacked at the loft.”

“We’ve created a monster,” Molly groaned. “It’s like that snaky thing in Greek mythology that kept growing two heads when one of them got cut off.”

“It was a Hydra,” Sally said. “But Hercules got it in the end.”

“And we’re going to conquer our dress problem, too,” Tess muttered. “I vote for choosing four letters this week. If we split the fittings, we should be able to get through more people.”

“Sounds good to me,” Annie said. At least if she helped other brides’ dreams come true she’d have less time to focus on her own problem. The six-foot-five problem who made her feel dizzy and giddy and so out of her comfort zone that it wasn’t funny.

Sally left Tess’ hot chocolate and a couple of pancakes in front of her before reaching inside the box. “First letter,” she said as she waved an envelope in the air. She looked at the postmark and the return address. “It’s from someone called Hailey Jackson. She lives in Bozeman.”

“I hope she needs ten dresses,” Molly said.

Sally grinned and read the letter inside the envelope. “Hailey’s sister is getting married in three months’ time. They’d like to choose four bridesmaids dresses.”

“At least four dresses are better than two,” Annie said. “Next…”

Tess reached inside the box and took out a large blue envelope. “This looks interesting…” She opened the envelope and read the letter. “Amanda McGregor from Edinburgh, in Scotland, saw a story about us on the Internet. She wants to start up a Bridesmaids Club in her hometown.”

“Tell her not to do it.” Molly’s grin made everyone smile.

“She wants to know what’s worked for us and what hasn’t.” Tess put the letter on the table. “I’ll write back and warn her to find a big warehouse for the dresses. I don’t know what the population of Edinburgh is, but she could be in serious trouble if a lot of women send their dresses to her.”

“There are about five million people living there,” Molly said. “That’s a whole lot of warehouses filled to the brim.”

“We could go global,” Annie said. “Imagine if there were Bridesmaids Clubs all over the world. We could send our dresses to them.”

Tess laughed. “There you go. That would solve our storage problem within hours. We could refer all of our bridesmaids to someone else and never see another bridesmaid’s dress again.”

“Until we get married,” Sally said.

Annie and Molly choked on their hot drinks.

“Not me,” Molly said. “I’m never getting married again.”

“I’ll second that.” Annie put her hand inside the box of letters and pulled an envelope out. “I just hope I don’t find another letter like Bella’s.”

Molly peered over her shoulder. “Who’s this letter from?”

Annie looked at the postmark. “Someone in New Jersey.” She tore the envelope open and read the letter. “Amelia Harris’ sister is getting married in five months’ time. They’ve decided on a vintage theme and saw some of the dresses on our website. They loved them.”

“How many does she want?” Tess asked.

“Six.” The smile on Annie’s face grew wider. “…and listen to this…she works for one of the top wedding cake companies in Newark. She’s happy to make someone a wedding cake in exchange for the dresses.”

Three pairs of eyes stared at Tess.

“Why are you looking at me?”

Sally dipped her hand in the box. “You’re getting married. It would be one less thing you’d have to do. You could ask…what was her name again?”

“Amelia,” Molly said.

“You could ask Amelia to make you a cake and send it to Montana.” Sally smiled confidently at Tess.

“And you think transporting a cake across thousands of miles would be stress free? I’d sooner be awake all night decorating a cake, than having to rely on a FedEx delivery.”

“Hang on a minute…” Annie looked down at the letter. “Amelia’s sister doesn’t get married for another five months. What if she brought the cake with her and picked the dresses up at the same time?”

“You’re brilliant,” Sally said. “As long as she doesn’t mind being a bodyguard to a cake it would work.”

Tess frowned. “I’ve got a better idea. Why don’t we see if she wants to decorate my wedding cake right here in Bozeman? I could bake it and have everything ready for her. Did she send any photos of cakes she’s decorated?”

“No photos, but I do have a website.” Annie walked across to her office and went to Amelia’s website. “Oh, wow. Look at these cakes…” She waited for everyone to pile into her office before flicking to the next photo.

Tess sighed. “That cake could have been made for our wedding.” The three tier cake was decorated with a soft buttery frosting. “Are the roses real?”

Annie peered at the screen, then read the text under the photo. “They’re made from fondant.” She looked at the photo again. The pale yellow roses looked so real that Annie doubted anyone could have done a better job. “I know you want to make your own cake, so why not ask Amelia to decorate it? She could change the roses and frosting to whatever color you want.”

Tess looked at the screen. “I think you’re right. Did she give us her phone number?”

Annie passed Tess the letter. “She’s all yours. How many bridesmaids’ letters do we still need?”

“Two,” Tess said. “I’ll choose the next one.” They all went back into the kitchen and watched her pull a small brown envelope out of the box. “It’s from Montana. The senders name is Julia Richardson and she lives in Sidney.” She opened the envelope and smiled. “Julia’s mom and dad are getting remarried. They’re sixty years old. Julia and her sister Margaret are their bridesmaids. They’ve seen two dresses they like and want to know if they can make an appointment to see us.”

“That should be an easy fix,” Sally said. “My turn.” She reached into the box and pulled out the last envelope. “It’s from Colorado.” She picked the tape off the back of the envelope and opened the card inside. “We have to help this bride. Her fiancé lost his job and they’re living on Olivia’s part-time wages. She has two bridesmaids.”

“When are they getting married?”

“In four months’ time,” Sally said. “That’s a grand total of fourteen dresses accounted for. At least it’s something.”

Tess took her plate and cup to the kitchen. “It’s not a shortage of bridesmaids that’s our main problem - it’s us. We’ve all got busy lives. We don’t have enough time to match more bridesmaids with dresses. Do you think we should think about finding someone to help us?”

Sally followed Tess. “I think it’s a great idea. But if we answered more letters, we could end up with a relentless stream of brides and bridesmaids traipsing through Logan’s home. How do you think he’d feel about that?”

“With more bridesmaids, we’d eventually have fewer dresses to find homes for.” Molly pulled her laptop out of its case. “Is Logan okay with the number of bridesmaids visiting his house at the moment?”

“He doesn’t see them,” Tess said. “The separate entrance to the loft makes a big difference. And after we’re married he’ll have other things on his mind.”

Sally groaned and put her hands over her ears. “I don’t want to know what you’ll be doing in that huge home of his.”

“I know what they’ll be doing.” Annie laughed. “I’ve seen the paint samples Tess has been sneaking into the house when Logan’s not there. The poor man’s going to be covered in paint splatters for the next year.”

“Talking about paint splatters, do you know if Dylan needs a hand to move anything into his new home?” Sally asked.

“You just want to look inside,” Tess said. “I know how your mind works.”

Sally grinned. “What’s it like, Annie?”

“Huge and amazing. The kitchen is out of this world.”

Molly turned her laptop around. “The pictures are still on the realtor’s website.”

Sally leaned in close and watched the photos of Dylan’s new home slide across the screen. “It’s like something out of Hollywood.”

Molly looked up. An excited smile lit her face. “I can’t believe we didn’t think of this sooner.” She found the images of Dylan’s kitchen and pulled Annie closer to the laptop. “We could photograph the meals for your business in Dylan’s kitchen. The food will look lovely sitting on the granite counters.”