As soon as Carol opened the door, Bella and Sophie tumbled in.
‘Wow!’ Sophie gasped. ‘Wow and wow! Every time I see this dress it just gets more and more amazing. You look sensational.’
‘Bloody hell!’ Bella shook her head. ‘That’s exactly how I want to look on my wedding day if I ever get lucky enough to have one. Oh bugger, I think I’m going to cry.’
‘Everyone else has,’ Linda said, ‘so feel free. And when you’ve finished, get undressed and I’ll fetch your dresses. I’ve only had to make minor alterations so they should both be good to go. You’re OK with stripping off out here, aren’t you? You don’t need the changing room?’
‘God, no.’ Bella tugged off her T-shirt, her eyes still riveted on Erin. ‘We’ve been dressing and undressing in front of each other since infant school.’
Sophie unzipped her jeans. ‘Jay will be knocked out when he sees you in that, Erin, not to mention completely overcome with lust – and oooh, I’m just filled with deep, deep envy.’
Erin giggled.
‘Here we are then, ladies.’ Carol bustled back with the bridesmaids’ dresses, swathed in white linen on padded hangers. ‘Now, who’s the size ten?’
‘Me,’ Sophie said.
‘And I’m the fat bridesmaid.’ Bella grinned. ‘There always has to be one.’
‘Shut up.’ Erin grinned back. ‘You’re curvy and voluptuous and sexy. And what size is your dress? A standard size fourteen
at most?’
‘Yeah.’ Bella nodded. ‘As I say, the fat bridesmaid. You’re a dinky size twelve, Sophie’s a stick insect and that leaves me.’
‘Size fourteen is perfectly normal and healthy,’ Linda said briskly, ‘so let’s have no more of that nonsense. We recently had an entire bridal party – bride and six bridesmaids – and not one of them was under a size twenty-four, and blooming gorgeous they looked too. Mind, they’d all chosen full skirts and hooped petticoats so they had a heck of a job getting up the aisle. I heard they all went
up sideways.’
Everyone laughed.
Carol unzipped the covers from the bridesmaids’ dresses and handed them to Sophie and Bella. As they slid into them, Erin, still totally overcome by the fabulousness of her own wedding gown, sighed with delight.
Short, strapless, slim-fitting matching creations in folds of ivory silk, taffeta and tulle, with layered pearly net skirts the colour of morning mist and covered in tiny sparkling rhinestones, the bridesmaids dresses were utterly gorgeous.
‘Should’ve shaved my legs,’ Sophie groaned, posing and pouting in front of the mirrors and fluffing at her short spiky hair. ‘And remembered to bring the right shoes … but I think we look pretty damn hot.’
‘Yeah,’ Bella admitted, smoothing the net skirt over her hips, ‘this is definitely the most incredible dress I’ve ever worn. It even manages to make me look quite slim. I love it to bits.’
‘You both look fantastically beautiful,’ Erin sighed. ‘Sod it. I knew I should’ve picked ugly bridesmaids.’
Sophie and Bella poked their tongues out. Erin laughed.
‘So what’s the overall colour scheme for the wedding?’ Linda asked, pulling and pushing and tucking at Bella’s dress as Carol did much the same to Sophie’s. ‘Flowers? Table decs?’
Erin gave another little flouncy swirl in the mirrors. ‘Well, as Jay’s Indian, we knew straight away that the main colour scheme would be cream and red with touches of gold – traditional Hindu marriage colours – which is fine, because this fabulous dress is mostly cream and I know he’s going to be wearing a cream Nehru suit.’
‘And then,’ Bella put in, ‘because of the lovely pearly grey bits in the dresses, the bouquets, buttonholes, corsages and table flowers are all going to be a mix of scarlet lilies and pale grey feathers.’
‘Will that work?’ Carol looked a bit doubtful.
‘Absolutely,’ Erin said. ‘Abbie, the wedding organiser at the Swan, has done swatches and everything. It all looks amazing. The grey is more silvery, so it’ll be like silver and gold amongst the main Indian theme of
red and cream. And don’t ask me any more details because it’s all secret.’
There was a knock on the fitting room door.
Linda paused in straightening Bella’s hem and frowned at Carol. ‘Not a customer in the shop, surely? I thought the outside door was locked and we put the “closed for private appointment” notice on the front door?’
‘I think I did.’ Carol frowned. ‘I always do. Maybe I forgot.’
The door opened.
Oh, God … Erin groaned.
Nalisha …
‘Is it OK to come in?’ Nalisha, wearing a flimsy rose-sprigged dress and vertiginous heels, smiled at everyone. Then she stopped. ‘Oh, wow! Erin! That dress is awesome!’
Awesome?
Erin groaned. OK, Nalisha had just come back from living in the States, but …
awesome
… really?
‘I’m so sorry, but you can’t come in here.’ Carol looked flustered. ‘The front door should have been locked. Didn’t you see the notice? This is a private fitting and –’
‘Oh, that’s fine.’ Nalisha beamed happily. ‘I’m practically family, aren’t I Erin?’
Bloody nerve! Erin swallowed her
anger and glared at Nalisha. ‘Please go away. I don’t want anyone to see my dress.’
Bella and Sophie stopped smiling at Nalisha and blinked at Erin. Linda and Carol just stared.
‘Oh, of course. I’m so very sorry if I’ve intruded.’ Nalisha looked contrite. ‘I didn’t realise that it was private. I was just desperate the see this sensational dress. Sorry, Erin, I should have thought.’
‘She’s seen the dresses now,’ Sophie said quickly. ‘She might as well stay. And where’s the harm?’
Erin shook her head. Where to start? Why was everything to do with her previously perfectly planned forthcoming wedding now going rapidly pear-shaped?
She sighed. ‘OK. But –’ she frowned at Nalisha ‘– how on earth did you know where we were? I mean, no one knew, except …’
‘Er –’ Bella looked a little embarrassed ‘– I might just have mentioned it. Last night. In passing.’
Dear God.
Linda and Carol continued
to look anxiously at Erin.
Erin, who wanted to hit someone – preferably Nalisha – glared at Bella.
‘Is it OK, Erin?’ Linda asked.
Erin simply shrugged. ‘I suppose so.’
Sophie and Bella beamed again.
‘Thanks, and, seriously, you do look absolutely amazing,’ Nalisha said. ‘All of you. Especially Erin. That dress is totally out of this world. It’s an Ian Stuart, isn’t it?’
Erin nodded. ‘Yes, and please, please, don’t breathe a word of what it’s like to Jay or anyone. I wanted to keep this a secret from
everyone
.’
‘I wouldn’t dream of it. My lips are sealed.’ Nalisha smiled. ‘You know you can trust me.’
Oh yes, of course.
Nalisha continued to smile sweetly. ‘Seriously, Erin, I won’t say a word. I thought Deena may have been right when she said I should try to persuade you to wear a ceremonial sari for the wedding, but she wasn’t. She was totally, totally wrong.’
Erin allowed herself a little mental jig of triumph. One–nil!
Everyone else nodded happily. Bella and Sophie looked smug.
‘And –’ Nalisha’s eyes sparkled as she gazed at Bella and Sophie ‘– the bridesmaids’ dresses are just too cute. You both scrub up really well, sweeties.’
Sophie and Bella preened.
Cute? Sweeties
? Why had Nalisha suddenly
gone all gushing West Coast? Couldn’t Bella and Sophie see how false she was? Erin wanted to laugh. The woman was a complete phoney.
Nalisha stroked the skirt of Erin’s dress. ‘Fabulous. Truly. This is soooo you. Seriously, if you’d gone down the traditional sari route, and had to wear all that heavy drapery, not to mention being bedecked out in Jay’s Naanis’ heirloom gold jewellery, you’d have looked just like some old dowager.’
Ever-so-slightly backhanded compliment there?
‘Thanks – I think,’ Erin muttered. ‘So, does this mean, now you know I’m definitely not going to be wearing a sari, and you’ve realised at last this is going to be a British-style fusion wedding, you’re going to tell Deena exactly that?’
Nalisha fluttered her impossibly long eyelashes. ‘Erin! I’d never intended to
interfere
in your wedding plans. Yes, I may have given Deena the impression that I’d try some gentle persuasion simply to keep the peace, but honestly, the minutiae of your wedding to Jay actually doesn’t concern me at all. I’m in Nook Green to help you, not hinder.’
Bella and Sophie almost clapped their hands.
‘OK.’ Carol looked relieved that harmony had been restored. ‘I think we’re all finished here for today, ladies. So, let’s get you out of the dress before anything gets damaged. Stay there a moment, Erin, and we’ll be with you shortly.’
As she and Linda started unzipping Bella and Sophie, Nalisha smiled. ‘Oh, please let me help. I know I shouldn’t be here and it was so kind of Erin to let me stay. I’d like to do something.’
‘OK.’ Linda nodded. ‘You can start unhooking Erin. But very, very carefully. And make sure when you undo all the criss-cross lacing that you keep the ribbons flat – they’re a bugger to iron.’
Nalisha nodded obediently.
Once more overcome by a waft
of Nalisha’s exotic scent, Erin watched in the full-length mirror as the slender and perfectly manicured fingers carefully unhooked the dozens of tiny fasteners at the back of the bodice, and undid the lacing, and tried not to feel slightly uncomfortable.
Linda and Carol dressing and undressing her caused her no problems at all, so why did this feel so embarrassing? So wrong?
‘There,’ Nalisha said softly. ‘All undone.’
‘Thanks.’
Erin hoped Nalisha would go away now before she had to display the functional bra and pants, not to mention the cellulite.
‘You know –’ Nalisha met Erin’s eyes through the mirror ‘– your choice of dress has honestly come as a massive surprise to me.’
‘Has it? Thank you.’
Nalisha smiled, her voice still a whisper. ‘Mmmm. As I said earlier, it’s so perfectly you. You see, several of my girlfriends had this design last summer when it was fashionable. I certainly didn’t expect to see it again this year.’
‘It’s quiet in here this afternoon,’ Gina said, stepping carefully over the Old Curiosity Shop’s doormat so as not to activate the bell. ‘Where is everyone?’
Doug, who was sitting on an ornately carved carrier’s trunk, and clearly in the middle of pricing up some Bristol Blue glassware at the back of shop, looked up in surprise. ‘Er, oh, hello, Gina. Um, Erin’s gone for
another wedding dress fitting with Sophie and Bella, and I guess all the would-be customers have died from heat exhaustion on the way here.’
Gina wriggled in her short denim skirt and sat gingerly on the edge of a rocking chair that also contained an ancient teddy bear, which might or might not be a Steiff but probably wasn’t, a kaleidoscope and a box of beautifully veined marbles.
She glanced across the shop at Doug, loving as always the sight of him in his faded Levi’s and much-washed festival T-shirt. He looked, she always thought, like some legendary hippie rock god.
Then, in case he noticed the longing, she stared down quickly at her sparkly flip-flops, not wanting to see the disinterest in Doug’s eyes. It had taken a lot of courage to walk into the Old Curiosity Shop. Her suntanned feet were dusty from the grass and her vermillion nail varnish was slightly chipped. She sighed. How disappointing of her feet to look so scuzzy and let her down.
‘I’ve got the opposite problem.’ Her voice sounded falsely cheerful, even to her. ‘Too many people. The pub was heaving this lunchtime. We were
run ragged. Every man and his dog in the village seem to want a cold drink today. I’ve left Sam and Part-time Pearl in charge at the moment, but you know Sam’s knocking on and Pearl’s a raging hypochondriac and liable to down tools at the drop of a hat. She’s even worse since she did that Silver Surfer’s course at Daisy Bank, because now she can just tap her imaginary symptoms into her laptop and come up with some obscure disease that’s going to kill her within minutes.’
Doug nodded but didn’t answer. Or laugh. Once, he would have laughed with her.
Gina ploughed on. ‘Even together they can’t cope with it all, so unless I can get extra staff I’m going to have to go back to closing in the afternoons.’
She stopped and took a breath. Oh, hell, she thought to herself, listen to me. Babbling on. Straining to make small talk with a man who has seen me naked. Get a grip, woman.
Doug held a carafe towards the light, inspecting it for flaws. ‘Funny – I’d have thought there’d be any number of ladies in the village just looking for a few hours’ work in the pub.’
‘Not in the school holidays. Any of the mums who might be able to cover some shifts in term time are all otherwise occupied. And anyone unemployed doesn’t want just part-time work because it eats into their benefit payments.’
‘Mmm, I suppose it would. You can’t blame them for that.’
Gina sighed again. Doug was just as bad. Why on earth were they discussing the weather and the ups and downs of their respective trades when they’d rolled and tumbled and made love for months? Was the relationship really over? She felt the cold grip of fear in her stomach.
She tried again. ‘Nice glass. I’ve always loved Bristol Blue.’
Doug nodded but still didn’t look at her. ‘Bought it for a song at the auction in Newbury
yesterday. I thought I’d better get it priced up while Erin’s out of the way. She’d probably smash most of it at the moment.’
Gina smiled. It felt wrong to smile so she stopped. ‘Because she’s got wedding nerves and her hands are all shaky?’
‘Mmm, you could say that.’ Doug put the glassware down and finally looked across the shop at her. There was no twinkle in his eyes. ‘All this wedding malarkey seems to be getting to everyone at the moment. Erin’s still having a bit of a problem with Jay’s family. They want her to agree to incorporate more of the Indian celebrations and customs. Which at first I thought was a bit of an imposition, but now, honestly, thinking about it, it seems quite reasonable.’
Gina, noticing the lack of warmth, cringed inwardly. ‘I hope you haven’t told her that.’