Chapter 16
‘Come on, we’ve only got an hour left and we’ve still got three clothes rails stuffed full of wedding dresses to look through.
’ Pushing the metal chair away from the little table they’d just been drinking coffee at, Ellie held out her hand towards Laura.
She knew Laura had had enough and, if she was honest, she had too.
Ever since seeing Fiona she’d wanted to head home, but she was here for a reason and she wasn’t about to allow Fiona or anyone else to stop her from doing her job.
‘One hour and then we can head back to Pennycress. I promise.’
‘Oh, really? A whole hour?’ Instead of taking Ellie’s hand, Laura pushed away her empty mug and placed her elbows on the table before sinking her face into her hands.
‘I don’t think I can. They’ve all merged.
The hundred or so dresses I’ve tried on have all merged into one giant monstrosity.
I couldn’t even tell you which was my favourite. ’
‘That means none of them were.’ Ellie rolled her shoulders back.
‘But I must have liked one of them. Just one.’ Glancing up, Laura held up her forefinger, desperation seeping into her tone.
‘Nope. If you’d found your perfect dress, you’d be able to tell me every single detail about it.
Every single position of each diamanté or stitch.
’ Ellie laughed. ‘But it’s a good thing you can’t, it tells me we’ve not found it, and it’s sitting on that rail right at the back, hidden between two other dresses. ’
‘Ellie’s right.’ Standing up, Nicola joined Ellie, and held out her hand too. ‘Up you jump, Laura. We’ve a wedding dress to find.’
‘I hate you. I hate you both. Do you know that?’ Groaning, Laura held her hands out and let both Ellie and Nicola pull her to standing.
‘Oh, we know.’ Ellie grinned.
‘And we don’t care. Or we won’t care if we find your dream dress.’ Nicola shook her head fondly.
‘Well, I can save you a whole lot of trouble and we can go home now because if I’ve not found it by now after walking miles up and down two thousand clothes rails and looking at five million different dresses, then I’m not going to suddenly find it now.
Can’t we just go home? Please?’ Taking her hands from Ellie and Nicola’s grasps, Laura clasped them in front of her and pleaded.
‘But what if your perfect dress is the next one we find?’
‘Besides, it’s late in the day and over half the people who were in here have since left; we’ve got more space and can take a closer look at the rails.
’ Ellie glanced quickly around them. It was always the way with these dress sales, they let too many people in, so you had to practically force your way through the throngs of bridezillas to reach any dresses, but then closer to the end, the number of people thinned out and it was a whole lot more pleasant an experience.
‘That just means all the good dresses have gone.’ Laura shrugged. ‘We might as well give up.’
‘Don’t be daft. Did you see that hideous flouncy gold one that woman was clutching to her chest and practically crying over before we ducked out and got coffee?’ Placing her hands on her hips, Nicola stared at her.
‘The shiny one?’
‘That’s the one. Would you have wanted that? When we watched her make her way to the tills, did your heart break? Had you been picturing yourself walking down the aisle towards Jackson wearing it?’
‘He’d have laughed at me.’ A hint of a smile flickered at the corners of Laura’s mouth.
‘Precisely. Everyone has different tastes. Now get moving and let’s see what else we can find.’ Nicola turned and led the three of them away from the small pop-up cafeteria and back towards the wedding dresses, which were set up a safe distance away from the liquid beverages and sticky treats.
Ellie mouthed ‘thanks’ to Nicola as she walked with them.
Throughout the day, Nicola had been a star, ready to cajole Laura at every turn, sympathising when a dress Laura had liked on the hanger hadn’t looked anything as good once she’d tried it on and campaigning for her when she found one that had suited her.
But it was true, Laura hadn’t found her dream dress.
And Ellie had been doing this job long enough to know that when a client found something they loved and absolutely one hundred per cent wanted for their wedding, whether it was the venue, dress or even the colour of the chair covers, that person would be able to describe it in precise detail months down the line, let alone minutes.
‘Let’s take a look over there in that corner this time. ’
‘Good idea. I don’t think we’ve looked over there, have we?’ Nicola smiled.
‘No, that was where that group of women were trying to haggle the price down with the poor staff member.’ Laura shuddered.
‘I understand weddings are expensive and they probably thought they could use the money they saved elsewhere, but there was no need to shout off like they did and demand they get a couple of hundred off it because there was the tiniest lipstick stain on the inside of the fabric.’
‘Especially when the exact shade of lipstick matched the bride-to-be’s lips perfectly.’ Nicola shrugged. ‘I’m just glad we don’t have people like that coming into Pennycress, I don’t think I’d have the patience.’
‘Oh, I wouldn’t either. Not at all.’ Laura shook her head adamantly.
As they reached the rail, Ellie dropped back as Laura and Nicola began riffling through the dresses.
Thankfully, Fiona had left shortly after their chat, and although Ellie still felt as though she were being watched and judged, she knew she wasn’t.
She knew she was just being paranoid. Taking a deep breath in, she breathed out slowly, trying to relax.
‘How about this one?’ Nicola pulled out a chiffon gown with tiny diamantés cascading across the bodice, which glinted and sparkled in the stark light of the warehouse. ‘It’s stunning.’
Scrunching her nose up, Laura shook her head. ‘It is. It really is, but… I don’t know. It’s just not very me, is it?’
‘So, what is it you’re looking for? I mean, we know you preferred the A-line cut to the other shapes and the satin to the tulle, but what else?’ Squeezing the dress back into its place, Nicola looked at Laura.
‘I don’t know. Just something…’ Pulling a hairband off her wrist, Laura tied up her hair. ‘Something a bit more me. Not overstated, not anything too showy but something with a little detail.’
Something caught Ellie’s eye at the end of the aisle, and she watched as one of the staff members who were ferrying discarded dresses back from the fitting rooms to the floor walked past. She squinted at a flash of ivory fabric.
Soft ivory with detail… Just like a dress she’d spotted earlier, which she’d thought would look spectacular on Laura, which had also been grabbed before she’d got to it and sold. Or so she’d assumed.
‘Are you okay, Ellie?’ Nicola glanced at her.
‘One moment…’ If it was the dress in question, Ellie was sure it would be snapped up as soon as it was hung back up. Pushing the dresses on the rail next to her aside, she ducked down and through the swathes of heavy fabric.
As she emerged on the other side, she glimpsed the woman hanging the dress up at the end of the next rail and raced towards it, weaving in and out of pockets of people rummaging through dresses.
As soon as she reached it, she gripped the hanger and pulled it off, draping its skirts over her other arm.
It was stunning. Subtly so too. And more beautiful up close than she had imagined.
Its sweetheart neckline and ruched straps flooded into a cascading skirt, all topped with a soft ivory organza.
Delicate embroidered flowers gave a hint of detail and whimsical charm which would look timeless against the backdrop of the inn’s garden.
Looking up, she grinned as Laura and Nicola emerged from the end of the aisle, confusion etched across their faces.
She held the dress up and looked at Laura. ‘What do you think?’
Gasping, Laura held her hands against her cheeks. ‘It’s beautiful.’
‘And that’s the reaction I’ve been waiting for.’ Laughing, Ellie headed towards the fitting rooms at the back of the warehouse. ‘Shall we try it on?’