Page 84 of Dozer

“Both pieces flatter your figure, and both look stunning on you, but the one on the purple peg makes you glow, deardaughter. I’m sorry you felt you had to leave us, and even more, I’m sorry you didn’t feel as if you could return when things went bad for you. Dozer would not be my choice for you, but it’s clear he loves you, and what matters is that he’s your choice. You should choose the dress that will make you sparkle and shine on your special day. It won’t hurt my feelings if you choose the other, but it’ll help me feel a little more a part of things if I know I’ve been able to help you be the beautiful bride we all know you’re going to be.”

She started to lift her tea and then seemed to change her mind. “I think I like you better now. I didn’t dislike you before, I’ve always loved you, but you were a defiant teen, and I admit sometimes I was glad it was time for you and your attitude to return to school. What I’m trying to say, is that as much as it annoys me for you to stand up to your father and me, I’m also a little proud of you for it. I’m a strong woman surviving in a cutthroat world, and I wanted to raise a strong woman who could continue my legacy, but you don’t want that, which is fine. I still see a strong woman, though — strong enough to walk away from millions of dollars in order to find herself and be her own woman. You are absolutely my daughter, and that means you’re going to pick whichever damned dress you want to, and it’s your wedding, so that’s the way it should be.”

It was everything I ever wanted to hear from my mother, and never expected to.

But I wasnotgoing to cry.

“Thank you. Seriously, I mean…” I stood. “I need to hug you, I think.”

She stood and leaned in to hug me, and told me, “Thank you for letting me be part of this, today. Now text one of your friends and tell them you’re ready for them to come help you decide.”

And then came the politics of deciding who to text. I wanted to text Harmony, but she’d understand why I chose to text Gen.It’s logical, right? The person who arranged for the trip needed the appearance of being in the know.

Sorry about that. We’re good in here. Come back when all of you are ready.

Moms sometimes need more handholding even in the best of circumstances. Harmony’s headed back now. The rest of us are trying shoes on, but we won’t be long.

“I have it narrowed down to two,” I told them about five minutes later, when they returned. “Out of curiosity, though, any chance I can get ya’ll to stand by the one each of you like best?”

Half of them like the one on the purple peg the most, and the rest were split between my second choice and one I hadn’t much liked at all. Funny how we see ourselves versus how others see us, yes?

But I told them which two I liked best, and then listened to my friends talk about the pros and cons of both — though no one brought up the price difference. I’m not even certain they knew the prices, since I only knew because I’d asked the bridal person while I tried them on.

Okay, scratch that, the wolves had to know because they’d have heard us talking.

Well, they’d been up on the dais drinking tea while I’d been changing into one dress after another and doing a little modeling show for the ones that weren’t hideous, so it’s possible they’d been busy talking and hadn’t been listening.

“Do you need to try them both on again?” the bridal consultant asked.

“No. It’s the one on the purple hook. I’ve decided.”

“Excellent choice. Our seamstress is close, and can be here by the time you’ve chosen your shoes. Let’s go out and pick, and then bring back the ones you like best, so you can try them on with the dress. She’ll need you in the shoes before she makes any alterations in the length.”

“I like the length as it is,” I told her. “It was designed to be tea-length in front and have a train in the back, but I like theway it comes to just above my ankles in front, and I’m good with the train as it is, since that fabric can be pulled away for me to dance at the reception.” And then it would come to just above my ankles all the way around.

“Iwouldlike to go ahead and pick out the shoes,” I added, “but I don’t think we need the seamstress. I love the way it fits.”

“Let’s have her look it over anyway,” the bridal lady said. “It was just a touch loose around the bodice, and I believe it will look even better if it’s taken in a smidge.”

“She’s right,” Gen said. “It’s perfect, but it can be a littlemoreperfect.”

I wasn’t going to win this one, so we all trouped outside to look at shoes, and then I put the dress back on and walked around the room wearing all the shoes.

“I want these for the ceremony,” I finally told them, holding up a dainty pair with four-and-a-half inch stilettos, “because they are the perfect shoes to go with the dress.” I held up another pair, a half inch shorter, lacy, and with a wider heel, an ankle strap, and a criss-cross over the top of my foot for even more support. “And these for the reception, because they’re about as comfortable as four-inch heels can be, and if I’m going to dance the night away, it isn’t going to be in stilettos.”

“An excellent choice,” the bridal lady said, and then I stood in the taller heels while the seamstress pulled and tugged at the dress, and she got everyone’s opinions on what she could do to make the dress that I thought flattered my figured perfectly evenmoreflattering. Not that she asked for anyone’s opinions, but she got them anyway.

* * * *

Dozer

Our women didn’t know we were going to be at the Atlanta Rolling Thunder Bar when they arrived after the nightclub, and that had taken some doing, but we pulled it off.

They thought they were doubling up on beds at Bud’s house. He has a shitload of spare bedrooms, and nine ol’ladies had come down, plus Micca and Bethany, which meant two to a bed and one would sleep on a sofa in the sitting area of the one of the spare rooms.

But we’d made alternate plans, of course. Bubbles and Lexi would stay with Texas and Sparkie in their spare bedroom. Brain, Harmony, McGyver, and Iris were at Shadow’s house, and that left enough beds at Bud’s house for the couples, with Micca and Bethany sharing the pullout sofa in the den.

And Bud was hosting everyone at his house the following morning for breakfast, including those who’d housed some of the Chattanooga people, and anyone else from Atlanta who wanted to show up.

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