Page 43 of The Wedding Run
“A garden needs something likeThe Hobbit.”
Which again makes me laugh.
“And you?” he asks.
“The Secret Garden, of course.”
“What aboutMidnight in the Garden of Good and Evil?” he suggests.
“Killers of the Flower Moon,” I toss back.
“Don’t know that one, but it sounds Stephen King-ish.”
Our interests may not be as far apart as they first seemed.
He leads me to the Sew and Sew Shop with a giant spool of thread as a rotating door. Inside, colorful broadcloth and calicos are laid out neatly in stacks. A large table provides a place to cut cloth by the yard. One long wall displays sewing equipment and thread. The section of dress patterns reminds me that my mother had a few.
Luke tosses the empty cotton candy bag into the trash behind the checkout counter. We use a bottle of hand sanitizer to remove the stickiness from our fingers.
From the back, a short, round, middle-aged woman with a bright smile and sparkling eyes steps through a curtain. She wears a stick-pin bracelet and a measuring tape for a necklace.
“Luke Maine! It’s been ages.” Her grin broadens, if possible. “Are you in the market for a wedding dress for your lovely bride?”
“Is everyone trying to marry you off?” I ask.
“Apparently. Hi, Cindy,” he says. “This is Libby Peterson. She’s not my fiancée or in the market for a wedding dress.”
I’m drawn to a mannequin wearing a Victorian-style wedding dress. The details on the dress are exquisite. “Is this your work?”
Cindy comes to stand beside me. “A young lady brought a magazine picture of this dress, and I did my best to duplicate it. I made Luke’s sister’s dress that way.”
“I’ve seen pictures at his parent’s house,” I say. “Such beautiful work.”
“Thank you kindly.”
Luke leans against the counter. “Mom says no seamstress can hold a needle to Cindy.”
“That’s high praise indeed.” Cindy beams. “Considering your momma won the state quilting contest so many times, we all quit entering.”
“I’ll tell her you said so,” Luke adds with a friendly smile. “We’re here to pick up Andrea’s wedding dress.”
“She and Taylor went to get their wedding license today,” I add.
“Weddings are busy times,” Cindy says.
“Libby is a wedding coordinator helping Andrea out.”
“There are a lot of details with a wedding.” I eye the business cards beside the register. “Mind if I take a few?”
Cindy hands me a few cards. “Let me get the dress for you.”
CHAPTER 21
Libby
Luke carries the plastic-covered wedding dress, and I watch out to ensure it doesn’t drag along the concrete sidewalk.
“Congratulations!” says an elderly woman, who clutches the arm of what appears to be her husband of some fifty-odd years.
