Page 27 of Her Dom's Secret Past

“Okay, beautiful.”

I kissed him goodbye, reiterating that I’d see him tonight, and then left.

It was nine forty-five when I reached the salon. Charlie greeted me at the door and led me to an almost-crying Carina. She tended to be over-dramatic, but she was one of the best seamstresses I’d ever met.

Wringing her hands in despair, she cried, “Oh, Miss Rowley. Thank goodness you’re here!”

“Right, show me the dress.”

Charlie removed the opaque dust cover over the gown. He and Carina stood watching at me nervously. Carina had her hands covering her mouth.

“What the fuck?”

I looked from the dress to the other two. Charlie was biting a nail and Carina kept those hands in place but nodded vigorously. I’d envisaged a tiny tear. This was like a manic had attacked the dress with a twelve-inch blade.

“What the hell happened?”

“Apparently this is courtesy of their dog. The dress was hanging from a hook in the ceiling. The dog started playing and went crazy.”

“Crazy’s not the word for it. Shit, this is a bloody mess.”

I rubbed my forehead with my hand, thinking hard, trying to imagine what we could do to salvage the gown.

“Do you have any of the lace left?”

“Only a little. I searched everywhere but there is only a tiny scrap, certainly not enough to do anything with.”

“Shit.”

I lifted the tear and moved the fabric from one side to the other, my mind trying to design something that wouldn’t stand out like the proverbial dog’s balls. Grabbing a pencil and paper, I began sketching, alternating between staring at the dress, examining fabrics we had in stock, and drawing. Finally, I thought we had a chance, but it would mean a lot of work for the two of us.

I showed the others the sketch and asked what they thought.

“It will work. I never thought of using this fabric,” Carina said in relief as she touched the bolt of material I’d laid out.

“Well, let’s get started. This is going to be a marathon effort, Carina. I’m sorry, but I can’t see any other way to fix the gown.”

The next six and a half hours flew by as Carina and I worked our magic. We broke for an hour’s rest and a late lunch that Charlie had bought us, and then continued on. All thoughts of John and returning tonight completely disappeared from my mind as we worked with Charlie keeping us supplied with hot coffee. Finally, close to eight, the three of us stood back and stared at the gown. We’d virtually remade the whole thing. Charlie held his hands over his heart and beamed at the two of us.

“It’s perfect.”

“Can you notice anything, Charlie? Tell me honestly.”

“Not really. I know what’s happened, but no one else would think there had been a problem.”

“Okay. Ring the bride and tell her we’ve fixed it.”

He left the sewing room and I hugged Carina.

“Thank you, Miss Rowley. I didn’t think we’d be able to repair it.”

“Neither didIwhen I first saw it, Carrie. Go home, take tomorrow off, and thank you.”

She nodded her thanks, gathered up her things, and left. I walked out to the front desk where Charlie had just hung up the phone. He grinned.

“She was crying first, then she was screaming, and then she started laughing. I think she may be a little hysterical.”

“I wonder why?” I said. “A seventy thousand dollar dress almost reduced to rags. She does know she’s going to have to pay for this?”

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