Chapter Fifteen
The following morning, on their way to the bridal boutique, Autumn confirmed Bluebell’s sentiments.
She told them she’d like them both to wear floor-length gowns in black — because that was the colour Benjamin had chosen when she’d asked him what suited his aunties best — but they could choose whatever style they wanted, and they didn’t have to match.
Emma could wear whatever she liked. Autumn had no idea what she personally wanted in a wedding dress.
Something full-length. Not bright white. Something plain.
“It’s your wedding day!” Bluebell said. “You only get to do this twice, maybe three times, maximum. You should wear something a bit different.”
Autumn ignored the joke, shaking her head. “I’m not sure I give off traditional bride vibes. I think I’ll feel uncomfortable.”
“Nonsense,” Emma said, rolling her eyes. “You’re a bride, therefore you are bridal vibes. Just try the dresses on, Autumn. Humour us, would you? We can have a little fashion show.”
“Not this again,” Autumn groaned. Emma, Maddie and Bluebell giggled.
Despite her protestations, Maddie knew it was important to Autumn that the three women were with her because her own mother and sister were unable to make it due to an appointment they had to keep for Daisy.
She had been born prematurely and had to be checked routinely for developmental delays.
Autumn could have come alone, but she had chosen not to, despite the fact she’d known she’d be expected to put on a display.
“All right, fine. I’ll try the bloody dresses on,” she said.
“But only because it’s been six years since you last made me do this — for that ball we almost attended that summer with Bowie — and that’s an acceptable amount of time between humiliation events. ”
Emma grinned. “Excellent,” she said.
The bridal boutique was located at the top of the high street, so they parked up, pit-stopped at a coffee shop for a takeaway, then headed straight there, arriving five minutes before their allotted appointment time.
The shop was cosy and warmly lit. The air smelled of orange and cinnamon.
Maddie inhaled it deeply. She’d never get enough of that smell.
“Hello!” Emma called, a little cautiously, into the void. There was no sign of anyone.
“Just a minute,” someone shouted from the back. “Feel free to start looking!”
Maddie was desperate to drill through the frocks lining every wall, but it felt rude to do so when Autumn wasn’t moving, so she stood dutifully by her friend’s side, instead.
Autumn was looking from rail to rail, her shoulders pitched high, her stance mildly panicked.
“I don’t know where to start,” she said.
“At the beginning,” Emma said, squeezing her arm reassuringly.
She pointed to a nearby mannequin, cloaked in a giant gown made from candy-floss-coloured lace.
“What do you think of that?” she asked. Autumn glared at her.
Maddie and Bluebell laughed. “What?” Emma asked, innocently.
“You’ve given us no direction, so absolutely everything is still on the table. ”
“I said plain,” Autumn reminded her.
“Ah, yes, so you did.” Emma nodded, grinning mischievously.
“What about that one, then?” She pointed to a dress in the window.
It was floor length, satin crêpe, with a sweetheart neckline and dainty, loose-fitting, off-shoulder sleeves.
It had a small train and buttons all down the back, dozens of them, from the very top to the very bottom.
It was ruched to one side at the front, tighter around the bosom, waist and bottom, then floaty to the floor.
The gown was perfected by a slit that went thigh-high.
Maddie loved it. It was exactly what she would have chosen to try on if she’d been shopping for herself.
“That’s more like it,” Autumn said, reaching out to touch the material.
Suddenly, a very small woman with very big hair was unbuttoning the dress and tearing it from the mannequin, nodding enthusiastically. “Something simple and elegant,” she said. “I’m Moira Violet, owner of Moira Violet’s Bridal Boutique. It’s lovely to meet you. Would you like some champagne?”
“I’d love some,” Autumn said. Moira put the dress on a hanger and took it to the changing room, which was actually a pair of silk curtains suspended to give brides privacy in one corner of the room.
“Excellent. When are you getting married?” Moira asked.
“March fifteenth,” Autumn said.
“Lovely. What’s your wedding theme?”
Autumn looked confused. “Generic wedding,” she said.
“They’re having an informal ceremony with a few dozen guests in our garden on March fifteenth, which is what the dress is for, then getting married — just the two of them and a couple of witnesses — in a registry office the following Monday morning,” Emma said.
“Lots of flowers, lots of candles, twinkling lights in the evening. Alcohol, dancing, a big party bursting with friends.”
“Romantic and intimate,” Moira said, nodding.
“Exactly!” Emma said.
“Lovely.” Moira clapped her hands together. “So, based on the theme and the dress you’ve just pointed at, I’m going to pull a few options from the rails. I suggest you ladies do the same. Have a look at everything and try on as much as you want. Have fun. I’ll get the champagne.”
Emma squealed excitedly, diving towards the nearest dress.
Bluebell rolled her eyes at Autumn and followed their mother.
Maddie met her friend’s gaze and smiled, but Autumn was not smiling back.
Instead, she looked completely overwhelmed.
She was twisting her engagement ring around and around on her finger, her eyebrows set in a frown.
“Are you OK?” Maddie mouthed. Autumn quickly corrected her face, her lips curled up into a dutiful smile.
She nodded with absolute purpose, but Maddie saw her swallow hard.
Maddie opened her mouth to say something else, but was interrupted by Emma calling Autumn over, convinced she’d found her the perfect dress.
Autumn tore her eyes from Maddie’s and turned away, striding towards her future mother-in-law.
Confused, Maddie watched them for a moment.
There was no hint of apprehension from Autumn now, but Maddie knew she hadn’t imagined it. Something was wrong.
* * *
They spent the next forty-five minutes working their way through every dress in the shop, desperately searching for a gown that would make Autumn gasp.
To Maddie’s dismay, she didn’t seem overly keen on any of them.
Still, they pulled out ten for her to try on.
They were all satin or chiffon, all floor length, some were floaty and others were tight, some had sleeves and some didn’t, but they would all almost certainly look lovely on Autumn.
By the time they were ready for her to start trying things on, the women had sunk three glasses of champagne each and Bluebell had talked Moira into joining them for a drink.
They started with the dress from the mannequin, the first one Autumn had approved.
Moira helped her into it behind the set of silk curtains, theatrically drawing them back to reveal an apprehensive-looking Autumn standing on a podium.
She was clipped into the dress because it was too big, but she looked more beautiful than Maddie had ever seen her.
The three women cooed, then fell silent and stared.
Suddenly — and entirely predictably — Emma burst into tears.
“Oh, for God’s sake,” Autumn said, trying and failing to hide a smile. She turned to look at herself in the mirror.
“I’m so sorry. It’s just that you look so lovely,” Emma said.
“There are tissues in front of you.” Moira gestured to the coffee table, her voice tinged with mild concern. Maddie wasn’t surprised. Her mother had always been a very dramatic crier.
“She does this all the time. She’s fine,” Bluebell said.
Autumn turned to face the mirror. Emma wailed louder, resting her head on Maddie’s shoulder and patting Bluebell’s lap, searching for her daughter’s hand. She found it and clutched it to her chest.
“Oh, it’s not too bad, actually,” Autumn said, as though nothing at all was happening behind her.
Maddie smiled. Autumn had been part of this family for so long Maddie could hardly remember a time without her, but even after all these years, she knew her friend would never, ever be comfortable with such public displays of emotion.
“You look amazing,” Emma sobbed into a tissue. “I can’t believe you’re getting married. I’m so happy and proud.”
“Calm down, would you, Mum?” Bluebell said. “It’s just a wedding.”
“It is not just a wedding, it’s Autumn’s and Marley’s wedding,” Emma said.
“ Autumn and Marley! Two people who never showed a sliver of interest in monogamy before, let alone getting married , who fate brought together, who have been through so much , who I never thought would commit to doing something so romantic. I’m sorry, I’m quite overcome. ”
“That’s not like you at all,” Autumn teased.
Maddie watched her friend carefully. Autumn was forcing herself to be jovial, Maddie was sure of it.
Beneath the surface, this was irritating her.
Maddie could tell from the frown etched on Autumn’s face that this was taking a monumental amount of effort.
Autumn was hiding something. Right on cue, she sighed, shaking her head at Emma’s reflection.
“I was always going to spend the rest of my life with him. This’ll just be. .. another day.”
“It is not just another day,” Emma said. “It’s your wedding day.”