Page 28 of A Winter's Wedding

Her fingers were red from the cold, and he blew on them to warm her up. She didn’t mind his lips being on her skin either. “More than ready.”

Chapter16

Carol stood half-undressed in the fitting room and inspected her aging flesh. Though her skin wasn’t as tight or vibrant as it once had been, she had maintained her shape well over the years, and she hoped the dress would show off her figure nicely. The only opinion she was scared to know was Edwin’s, who sat waiting out in the main salon. Once America had let her know that she wasn’t going to be back in time, Carol asked him to drive her there. Using the snowfall as a pretense for bringing him along, the truth was, she didn’t want to go alone.

“Everything ok in there?” he said, though the sound was muffled by the heavy black velvet curtain and his distance from the fitting room.

“Sure is.” She grunted as she wiggled to get into the gown. “Everything alright out there?”

“You know me and dresses,” Edwin said with a chuckle. “Now are you going to come out here and show me the fancy thing or what?”

“Hold your horses. I gotta get this zipped up first.”

The consultant, a young woman in her early twenties who was probably more accustomed to helping girls with their prom dresses than an old lady wearing a maid of honor dress, held the back open and spread the fabric. “We’ll shimmy it up together.”

Carol wiggled her hips until the waistband was over her widest part. She yanked up the front of the bodice and slipped her arms through the thin straps. Supple cream-colored satin pleats draped over her hips and cascaded to the ground behind her. The dress hem was shorter in the front in order to make walking in it easier and the back dusted the floor. Matching pointy-toe pumps with a kitten heel made her look far taller than she really was, but she didn’t mind looking a little more statuesque. After all, she would be standing at the front of the chapel beside America, and Carol wanted to look good in front of the whole town.

Looking at herself in the mirror as the woman zipped her up, Carol saw herself looking as nice as ever. Radiant and glowing, she looked like the girl she had been the night of the winter formal all those years ago. The only thing missing was a fur stole and a man to hold her tight. Her skin might have a few more wrinkles and her eyes had lost a bit of their brightness, but she was still a pretty good-looking woman in her own opinion.

“You ready?” the man of the moment asked.

She took one last look and hoped Edwin would see her the way she saw herself. With a fresh coat of lipstick on, she pinched her cheeks for a youthful flush. “Close your eyes,” she said as butterflies swarmed in her belly. She fanned her neck with her hands and swallowed the nerves down.

“Are you sure you want to show the groom your dress before the big day?” The consultant asked while smoothing one additional wild pleat.

Carol about choked. “Oh no, he’s not the groom,” she said in a hushed tone. “I’m the maid of honor and he’s the best man in our friends’ wedding. The bride was supposed to be here with me today, but she couldn’t make it.”

“I’m so sorry, I just thought?—”

“No. Nope. Not Edwin. He and I had a chance, but that ship has sailed, so they say.”

“If you say so,” she leaned in and whispered. “But you two are fooling nobody.”

Carol puffed, knowing no matter how she tried to talk herself out of liking Edwin, it was obviously written all over her face. “Let’s just go show him already.” Carol flung herself and all her layers around, kicking the back of the dress out of her way, while the consultant pulled back the curtain.

Edwin stood at attention at the sight of her. His mouth fell slightly open with his bottom teeth visible. With each step that she took toward him, his eyes widened, and the corners of his mouth turned up. “Wow,” Edwin muttered and cleared his throat. “You should definitely get that one.”

She chuckled. “I already got this one. This is called a fitting, to make sure I don’t need any final alterations.”

“I don’t think you do,” he said. “It’s very nice. And you look very nice in it.”

Nice?Carol realized at that moment that she was hoping for a bigger reaction from him. She now understood the fear she was feeling moments earlier about showing him the dress. It wasn’t really about the dress at all. She wanted him to seeherin it. Surely, he could say something more thannice. Carol’s hands went to her hips where the dress pulled her waist in. “Is that all?”

Edwin reached for her left hand, and she gave it willingly. He held it above her head and motioned for her to spin. “I need a better look at you. You know, to make sure the dress fits just right.” When she came fully around, his lips were tight, and he shook his head.

“What is it? Something wrong with the back?” Carol looked over her shoulder to see what she could see of her backside.

“No.” He stilled her. “I’m afraid you’ll outshine the bride.”

“Oh, stop it.” Carol slapped a hand on Edwin’s chest, and he caught it there. Her breath hitched and she swallowed the butterflies trying to escape. And just like that, she knew that ship hadn’t sailed after all.

Edwin let her go and stood back. His eyes drank her in from her toes to her lips where his gaze lingered. His intensity screamed of admiration which caused Carol’s heart, and throat, to constrict. This moment was far too reminiscent of their first date, their only date, that she hardly noticed the consultant pinning the hem and adjusting the dress’s little straps.

“The hem here is slightly crooked. We can have this fixed in an hour if you don’t mind waiting,” the young woman said.

Carol nodded. “Anything else needing fixing, Edwin?” she asked though she had meant not just the gown, but their friendship, too. It was no secret that they had spent the better part of their adult lives on opposite sides of a divide. What most people didn’t know was how responsible she was for their broken relationship.

As though he sensed her inner turmoil, he shook his head. “I think things are just as they should be.”

---