Page 71 of Finding Mercy

No kiss. He is in a hurry, I guess.

“Have a great day at school!” He yells to Ivy.

I take Ivy to school, and she’s so nervous.

“What if nobody likes me?”

“I bet you will make friends today. You’re a very sweet girl, Ivy. They are going to like you, a lot. I’m sure of it. Just be yourself.”

I see her rolling her eyes in the mirror, “I can’t be anyone else.”

This little girl. She cracks me up; of course, she has no clue how cute she is.

I drop her off, and her teacher is waiting outside at the pickup line. I hug her and wish her a great day. I hope she settles in and starts to like it because today she did not want to go.

When I get home, Elle and Isabella are there already with Max.

I get out and get into the vehicle that Elle is driving, one of Xander’s, a black Range Rover.

We spend hours going from bridal shop to bridal shop. We found their dresses almost instantly, mine, not so much. As we approach the last shop for the day, Elle proclaims, “This is it. I feel it in my bones.”

I laugh, “Well, if you feel it in your bones…”

She giggles, loops her arm in mine, and we walk into Stella’s Formals. It’s a small, independently owned store with circular white couches and flowers everywhere.

As soon as I walk in, I find my dress and Ivy’s.

“Oh my God.”

Isabella and Elle follow my line of sight to two mannequins, an adult female, and a child. The dresses have identical material, except the little girl doesn’t have a train, and instead of a plunging neckline, it covers up to the top of the chest. It’s stunning.

“Can I help you?”

“I have an appointment, but I want to try that dress on.”

She smiles, “Good choice. Plunging neckline, chapel length train, embellished with lace throughout.”

“Size eight in normal clothes?”

I nod, “Impressive.”

“You’ll need to try a ten or twelve in bridal wear. Let me grab them for you.”

She takes me to a changing room, “Here put this on.”

It’s a white corset. I put it on and yell for help, so Elle comes and fastens it up.

“You must be Mercy,” the shop owner says, “I’m Stella.”

I smile as she helps me into the dress, which is not easy. I swear it weighs twenty pounds.

It fits like a glove. I smile, all teary-eyed when my phone goes off.

“Elle, can you get my phone? I want to check and make sure that wasn’t the school.”

She hands me my phone, and I see a text from Liam.

Daddy: Baby girl, I’m sorry but I don’t know when or if I’ll be home tonight. I need to stay here. I have a little boy that’s not doing so well. I need to stay close.

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