Chapter Fourteen

Anabelle

“These came for you, Bella.”

Miriam had called me down to the front reception. On the counter was a stunning white container filled with beautiful Moth Orchids—startling white with vivid, glossy, deep-green leaves. I noticed a couple of the other girls were hanging around, trying to see them.

I glowered saying, “Haven’t you all got work to do?”

There was lots of tittering laughter as they went back to doing the things they were supposed to. Miriam watched as I opened the card.

Thank you so much for last night, love you, John x

I may have blushed a little. Charlie was just seeing a client out and came over to me, reading the card over my shoulder.

He whispered softly in my ear, “Ooh. Sounds like you were a naughty girl.”

I quickly pushed the card back into the envelope and turned to glare at him. As usual, he only grinned and winked. I picked up the pot and carried it up to my office with Charlie trailing behind.

“Miss Rich-Bitch Bride will be here in fifteen minutes, Belle. I’ve checked the dress. It looks divine. Wonder what she’ll think.”

“Is that today? I’ll be glad when we see the last of her. Okay, buzz me when she gets in.”

Charlie turned to leave and I added, “Oh, and give her a glass of bubbly as soon as she walks in the door, might put her in a good mood.”

Charlie rolled his eyes and left.

JacindaWilson-Smith had been a pain during the entire process of designing and making her wedding gown. She kept changing her mind, demanding more and more, each change driving the cost up higher and higher. The dress had started out as a lovely, simple yet elegant mermaid, and now it was nothing like the original design. Still, it was beautiful and I was very proud of the team. Hopefully, today she’d try it on, decide it was perfect, pay us, and leave. Fingers crossed.

Carina and I held our breath as the gown dropped over her head. I crossed my toes as well as my fingers as Carina lowered it and then did up the myriad of tiny diamante buttons in the back. She fluffed up the skirt and train and we waited. The bride stared in the mirror and burst into tears.

Now that was the reaction I was hoping for.

Oh, my goodness, my luck is changing!

First John and now Miss Wilson-Smith. She loved the gown!

I handed her a tissue and suggested we go out to the main floor where she could see the dress better. She wiped her eyes and nodded. Then Carina picked up the train as Miss Wilson-Smith sashayed out to where her mother and mother-in-law-to-be sat along with three of her bridesmaids.

The reaction of the five was similar toJacinda’sand I silently sent up a prayer of thanks to The Buddha. We put a veil on her and let her soak in the view. She was beautiful, and I was extremely satisfied with our work.Jacindaturned to me and said a watery thank you before the others came over to hug and kiss her. I quietly left them in the capable hands of Heather and went to the front desk to check on things.

Tomorrow was Friday. I had a few appointments and one on Saturday. The boutique was always closed from Sunday and opened again on Wednesday. I kept glancing at the clock, wishing it was closing time. When five-thirty finally rolled around, I bid goodnight to the staff and went upstairs to freshen up.

Five to six, I went back downstairs and switched off the lights, set the alarms, went outside, and locked the front door. Perfect timing. John pulled up as I finished. I walked to the car, but he’d gotten out and opened the door for me. He gave me a quick kiss and then he got behind the wheel. We pulled out into the traffic and drove toWahroonga, only about five minutes away.

“Thank you for the beautiful orchids, John. They are beautiful.”

“You’re most welcome.”

He glanced at me and smiled. Of course, it melted my heart, as it usually did. Anyway, we pulled into a car park and walked into the restaurant. I had no idea what we ate. All I could think of was that I was back with John and my heart hadn’t stop singing and dancing since yesterday. I realized he’d asked me a question and had to apologize.

“I was asking if you open on the weekends.”

“Only Saturday, then the salon is shut until Wednesday.”

“Wow, that’s great news. I have to admit I was hoping we could spend a lot of time together. Have you always only been open four days a week?”

“In the beginning when I first opened, I had to be open seven days a week, but now I can afford to close three days a week. We have plenty of work and usually a number of appointments for me personally each week.”