Page 83 of Fathers of the Bride
We arrived at the bridal shop—called Love Garb—in three cars. I drove up with Kelly. Pudge, Lissa, Jeffery, Martha and Raj all came together in a giant SUV. Andy arrived alone. The sign above the shop was made of old rusted metal. Under the name of the store it said ‘Wedding Attire,’ just in case you read Love Garb and thought it meant loving clothes rather than clothes for love.
“You’re sure you’re okay with this?” I asked Kelly before we got out of the car. “If you don’t want Pudge and Lissa here you can just say so.”
“It’s fine, Daddy.”
“Even though they spied on us?”
“If I let them come, they won’t have to spy on us. Will they?”
“Don’t let them talk you into a dress you don’t want,” I said. “It’s okay to say no to them.” And then, half-joking, I added, “It’s not okay to say no to me, though.”
“Shush,” she said.
We gathered in a small lobby like area at the front of the shop, beyond that the storefront expanded. I think the look was supposed to be raw and industrial, though they’d polished the concrete floor until it gleamed, and the exposed beams were stained and varnished. Most of the space was taken up by a motorized metal rack which held hundreds of bridal gowns. They floated there like haunting, headless ghosts—making the idea of a wedding into a morality tale by Charles Dickens. On one side of the shop were a half dozen makeshift rooms constructed of canvas ducking and filled with over-stuffed furniture.
I had a lot of trouble figuring out where to stand. I didn’t want to stand too close to Andy because Kelly might tumble to the fact that we were seeing each other again. For obvious reasons, I didn’t want to stand with Pudge and Lissa or their little spy, Martha. For even more obvious reasons, I didn’t want to stand with Raj. I wanted to stand next to my daughter, but then everyone else did too. I ended up hovering near Jeffery. I smiled at him, and said, “You have your work cut out for you?”
He nodded. “That I do.”
And then, Raj was behind me, hissing, “I wanted to like you. I wanted to be friends but then you stole my fiancé.”
“You stole my husband,” I snapped back, even though it wasn’t exactly—
“I did not, you threw him away.”
“No… I temporarily misplaced him.”
As soon as I said it, I blushed. Andy was a husband, not a sock. I shouldn’t talk about him like that. I turned back to Raj. “And don’t say anything to Kelly. We haven’t told her.”
“So you don’t think it’s going to work out? Good to know.”
“That isn’t what I said. Things are going to work out just fine. And even if they didn’t, Andy is hardly going to—”
Pudge and Lissa werestillmaking a fuss, air-kissing everyone. Pudge looked Kelly over and demanded, “What in heaven’s name are you wearing?”
Pudge’s tone suggested my daughter was horrifically dressed. But really, it wasn’tthatbad. A cream-colored long-sleeved T-shirt, khaki pants and hiking boots. I do have to say her scarf was lovely.
Blushing, Kelly said, “I guess I’m still dressing for Africa. Even with a malaria preventative you still want to avoid mosquito bites. That means light-colored clothing and covered up no matter the heat.”
“Oh my, that sounds awful,” Lissa said.
“Dreadful,” Pudge agreed. “What you need is a little black dress. After this we should take you to Fred Segal. You know they used to set brides up with a whole trousseau. What do you think, Lissa? Should we do that for our Kelly? Buy her a trousseau?”
“No, please don’t,” Andy said, stepping in. “Kelly can buy her own clothes.”
“Don’t let your fathers boss you around,” Lissa stage-whispered. “Men always want to take charge.”
I wanted to complain that she was using feminism to bully my daughter, but our associate was suddenly standing there. She was model-thin and barely looked old enough to have a job. She introduced herself: “Hello, I’m Timpani Johnson. I’ll be taking care of you today.” Looking at Kelly, she said, “I take it you’re the bride.”
“She is,” I said. “Did you say Tiffany?”
“No, Tim-pan-ee.” I noticed Pudge rolling her eyes. Really, I thought, she has no room to talk.
“Sorry.”
“Oh, that’s fine. Everyone makes that mistake. Has no one given you champagne?”
Kelly shook her head.
