Chapter Thirty-Seven
Now
Avery
Dave’s family will be on vacation in Southern France, so they’ve requested a short engagement. When everything is said and done, Dave and I will marry in three weeks. They have family friends who own a golf course in Scottsdale and would like to have the wedding there.
I agreed. It took me a while to send the divorce papers to my lawyer. It was a difficult decision, but I forced myself to do it. I know Dave is the safer choice. I’m not a risk taker, and he’s not a risk.
Thank goodness my lawyer was on vacation with his family, so he didn’t charge me extra time since the documents would have arrived later than we’d agreed on.
I pace outside in front of the bridal studio, waiting for Lina, Bailey, and Piper to arrive. A day that should be filled with excitement and champagne, but instead, there’s a dark cloud looming over my every move. An exciting day for any bride, but it lacks the enthusiasm it should.
Bailey’s heels click on the ground as she steps onto the curb. “What’s with this rain?”
“It’s not monsoon season,” Piper adds as she quickly approaches us.
“I don’t mind the rain,” I comment, holding my arms to them. The three of us embrace.
“No hugs without me!” Lina’s high-pitched voice is distant until she jogs up the sidewalk.
“Here,” I say. Piper and I open our arms to let Lina in.
Lina squeezes us tight. “Okay, Avery. Let’s find you the most beautiful wedding dress in the world.”
Bailey glances over at me. “One that’s fit for a dentist’s wife.”
“What does that even mean?” Piper laughs.
“I don’t know. I couldn’t think of anything else to say.” Bailey shrugs.
We release.
“How are you feeling today?” Lina turns to me.
I twist my lips. “Good.”
Simultaneously, all three of my friends look at me with unsure expressions.
Piper is the first to speak. “We’re doing this?”
I never had good friends as a child, but these women are my family, sisters. They know me very well, better than I’d like.
“Let’s go.” I sigh, ignoring Piper’s question.
They exchange glances, and then Lina steps forward to open the doors. The three of us enter the upscale bridal studio in downtown. Dave’s mom, Christy, is friends with the owner, so she was able to get us in early even though the studio’s appointments were booked three months out.
“Hello, ladies, I’m Jan.” A petite blonde woman in a dusty pink three-piece pantsuit walks up. “I’ll be assisting you today.”
We all smile and greet her.
“Hi, Jan. I’m Avery,” I say, introducing myself.
Jan flashes me a wide smile with perfectly bleached teeth. “Oh, hello, Avery! You’re more beautiful than Christy lead on.”
Lina flips her hair back. “Of course, a woman like that wouldn’t want to acknowledge that her son is marrying up.”
Bailey rubs her lips together.
Piper pats Lina’s shoulder. “Okay, how about we look at some wedding dresses?” she suggested, lightening Lina’s condescending comment.
“Okay.” Jan pauses. “Alright, well, for what it’s worth.” She lowers her voice and dips her head in my direction. “Your friend is right.”
“Thank you.”
I take the compliment. I appreciate it. But why does it feel like one more thing the universe is doing to twist the knife about Jasper? Dave is marrying up, meaning he typically wouldn’t deserve a woman like me.
Jan leads us into a backroom lined with racks. Each one displays beautifully designed wedding dresses.
Lina slumps over onto the white, silk ottoman. “Why is my champagne hand empty, Jan?”
Piper laughs. “Excuse our friend. It’s three in the afternoon and apparently time to drink.”
“I like that.” Jan straightens her skirt. “You ladies are going to be fun, aren’t you?”
Bailey brings an arm around me. “Do you have bourbon?”
A puzzled look crosses Jan’s face. “Not here, but I can have my assistant go next door and grab some?”
“Perfect.” Piper wraps an arm around my other shoulder, pushing my hair to the side. “I’ll take a sparkling water.”
“I do have that!” Jan exclaims before quickly nodding and scurrying away.
Lina cranes her neck over her shoulder with her palms pressed into the silk. “So, what do you like?”
I shrug. “I have no idea.”
“Let’s look.” Bailey steps away and starts fingering through one of the racks.
“What did you wear to your wedding with Jasper?” Lina asks. Bailey shoots her a warning glance for bringing up Jasper.
Lina looks back at me. “Sorry.”
“It’s okay.” I smile at the warm memory of that night. “I wore a black sundress and sandals.”
Piper’s face softens. “Oh, Avery. That’s so you.”
“True,” Bailey adds. “What’d Jasper think about it?”
“It was his idea for me to wear black,” I say, feeling the heat of Lina’s concentrated stare from across the room.
“He knows you,” Lina whispers.
My friends mean well. We always do when it comes to one another. But I’m not one to beat around the obvious like they do. I’d instead address the awkward elephant in the room now so we can focus on the day.
I place a hand on my hip. “Alright. I get it. It’s clear you guys have never thought Dave was the one for me,” I begin. “But you don’t know how hard it is to move past something traumatic that’s happened to you.”
Bailey walks over with a dress draped over her right arm. “What about what happened to Lina in high school?”
Piper nods her head, glancing at Bailey. “And Bailey with her ex, Tyler?”
“And Piper with her upbringing and her mom,” Lina comments. “We’ve all been through shit. Who hasn’t?”
“It’s not the same,” I argue. My voice remains low because they’re right. What my friends have gone through—what we’ve all gone through—changed us. “Trauma rewires your brain.”
“Yes.” Bailey nods affectionately.
“It makes you believe your only worth is defined by what another person thinks of you or how they treat you,” Piper says.
Lina tucks a loose blonde hair behind her ear. “Or a single event.”
Without realizing it, a tear rolls down my cheek.
“Oh,” Piper whimpers, hooking the dress back on the rack. She walks over to me and pulls me in for a hug.
“Okay, ladies!” Jan bursts into the room. “I have whiskey!”
No words at this moment could make me feel better than those three. “Thank god.” I wipe the moisture from my face, then grab one of the glasses from her gaudy decorative tray.
Once all four of us have our drinks, we raise the glasses and Piper with her water for a brief cheers before two of Jan’s assistants emerge from behind ornate double doors with various styles of dresses in each hand.
“We brought you sweetheart and halter necklines,” the shorter one on the right says.
The other one chimes in, with her arm extended before me. “And form-fitting, cocktail, and ballgown styles.”
I take a generous sip of my whiskey, preparing to try on all these bright white dresses. They blind my eyes.
Bailey steps in to answer for me. “Do you have any that aren’t white?”
The two assistants exchange confused looks.
“We have cream.” Jan’s voice, coming from behind us, is unsure.
Lina grimaces, hiding her face behind her cup.
I can’t wear a cream dress. That might be worse than the white ones. I honestly don’t know what I want. Truthfully, I’m not even sure I want this big wedding anyway. It’s more for Dave’s family.
“The white is fine,” I say. Then I notice Jan and her assistants staring at me, possibly waiting for me to pick a style to start with.
Piper walks over, grabbing a few hangers from their hands. “We’ve got this. Thank you for your help.”
Then Lina raises and grabs the rest of them. “We’ll call you if we need you.”
“Oh.” Jan’s surprised look tells me everything I need to know about her clientele. “Let’s give these ladies some time.” She claps at the two girls. “Call us if you need anything.”
“So awkward,” Piper comments.
“Thank god they’re gone.” I sigh in relief. “I hate being waited on.”
Bailey playfully frowns. “Aww, does it trigger your privileged upbringing?”
“Ha. Ha,” I retort, tossing crumpled-up tissue paper at her.
“Well, let’s get this party started then!” Piper says.
Suddenly, my phone buzzes inside my purse. I hold one finger out. “Hang on,” I tell them, then step to the side to answer it.
“Mrs. Thomas?”
His voice startles me. I wasn’t expecting to hear from my lawyer after I mailed the divorce papers to him two weeks ago. “Mr. Fritz.”
“I’m just returning from vacation and trying to catch up on everything. My apologies for not calling sooner,” he says, sounding slightly out of breath.
I step into one of the small changing rooms, lowering my voice when I speak. “He signed the papers. We’re all good.”
“You didn’t, my dear.”
My heart stops. “What?”
“You never signed them.”
What the fuck? “So, technically, Jasper and I are still married?” The pounding in my chest speeds up. Sweat mists my hairline.
“Yes. But lucky for you, if I overnight them back, we can have this filed by the end of the week.” He plays it off, sounding more upbeat this time.
Confusion, apprehension, and panic bounce around in my mind. “By the end of the week?”
“Yes, so it shouldn’t mess up anything with your upcoming nuptials in three weeks.”
The walls in the dressing room move in closer, causing my breath to pick up. “I never signed them?”
He pauses. “No.”
“What?”
I whip my head around to see Piper, Lina, and Bailey standing in the open door frame.
Lina’s eyes are the size of saucers. “You never signed them!”
I never signed the papers.
Jasper and I are still married.
“Oh my god,” I gasp, falling onto the silk tufted stool in the dressing room.
“Avery!” Bailey shrieks. “This is a sign.”
I can’t think straight. My mind is racing, and my heart is thumping against my chest. How did this happen? I know I signed them first.
“I’ll call you back, Mr. Fritz.” I don’t wait for a response, quickly ending the call.
“What are you going to do?” Piper asks in a whisper.
“Get the fuck out of the wedding dress shop,” I reply, rising to my feet.
Jan appears from her office with a wide grin on her face. “Like any of them so far?”
With the girls hot on my heels, I bolt in the direction of the front door. I have to get of here. I subconsciously didn’t sign those divorce papers. That has to mean something.
From my periphery, I see Lina’s arm dart out, grab one of the drinks, and down it. “You have been most helpful, Jan, but we really can’t stay.”
“All the dresses are beautiful!” Piper calls out as we’re flung onto the sidewalk of the busy downtown street.
The cars pass us with speed, the pressure causing my ear drums to throb.“Avery,” Bailey pants, out of breath from our unexpected sprint.
I flip my hair to one side like it’s going to help me form a cohesive thought. “I know. I know.”
“You can’t marry the dentist,” Piper admits, shaking her head.
My eyes dart over to Lina, whose hands are firmly placed on her hips. “I love you, Avery, but we can’t let you do this.”
“It was hard enough going along with it before, but now with this?” Bailey chimes in. “It’s bigger than us now.”
Unable to catch my breath and with adrenaline pumping through my veins, I break down. Tears spill from my eyes. “I don’t know what to do.”
“Oh, babe.” Lina wraps a friendly arm around me. “Yes, you do.”
Bailey rests her head on my shoulder just as Piper embraces me from the front, engulfing me with love.
“We’re going to miss you,” Bailey whispers. “But your home is not here anymore.”
“It never really has been,” Lina adds quietly. Her voice barely close enough over the busy street.
Burrowing my face in Piper’s neck, I take comfort from my best friends.
They’re right. I have to follow my heart—even with all the risks.