The Secret Wedding Dress by Roz Denny Fox

Author:Roz Denny Fox [Fox, Roz Denny]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2014-09-15T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eight

It was during the cleanup after the reception that Joel overheard yet another person alluding to Sylvie’s secret dress. One of the bridesmaids, perhaps the youngest in the party, trailed after Dory, talking incessantly. “Brian had a great time at Kay’s wedding. We danced every single dance. I feel in my bones he’s this close to giving me a ring, Dory.” Swaying dreamily, the girl held her thumb and forefinger a millimeter apart.

Joel took his time stacking chairs. His ears perked up much the same way Oscar’s did when humans entered his sphere. The bridesmaid—Joel thought her name was Tracie—reverently brought up the dress. She placed the emphasis on the, as if only one dress was worthy of such distinction.

Dory continued to fold table linens and pile them on a table. Very close to where Joel closed and stacked chairs.

“Tracie, take it from me,” Dory said. “Order a book of bridal patterns and choose one you love. Sylvie refused to sell Kay the gown, and you know they’ve been best friends forever.”

“You’ve seen the dress, right? Is it as magnificent as we’ve all heard? A regular Cinderella ball gown?”

Dory snatched the last pink tablecloth out of dreamy-eyed Tracie’s hands. “No one’s actually seen the dress, Tracie. But anytime Sylvie wants to avoid doing something Carline and I try to get her to do, she claims to be busy sewing. Even when she’s between weddings. So what would you think?”

“Somebody we both know well, but who shall remain nameless, got her nose out of joint because Sylvie said she couldn’t buy the dress. She’s spreading rumors in our crowd that perhaps it doesn’t exist.”

“Ridiculous! I’ve seen the dress form. She keeps it covered.” Packing the last tablecloth in the box, Dory paused to put on the lid. Joel noted her irritated expression. “I can guess who you mean, Tracie,” Dory said huffily. “I can guarantee that every dress Sylvie makes is gorgeous. Why fuss over one she’s saving for herself?”

“Personally I think it’d be hilarious if there was no dress. Like, what if when Sylvie came home from New York and everybody was whispering that she’d failed or that some guy broke her heart—what if she invented this whole PR strategy around an invented dress? Can you think of a better way to entice customers? It’s called applied economics. Mention one-of-a-kind, or for that matter any commodity in short supply, and people line up for blocks hoping to be the one who’ll end up possessing whatever it is.”

Joel set the fourth of four chairs he’d hauled across the room on the rolling cart, having missed part of that conversation while he was gone. He admitted to being disappointed when the two women finished folding linens and moved on to another chore.

The notion of a Cinderella gown intrigued him. The possibility that this gown might be a fraud, a lie, fascinated him even more. Something like that would add a great twist to the Magnolia plotline. He imagined Magnolia as an expert seam-stress—sort of like Sylvie.

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