Page 22 of The Trouble with Runaway Brides

I guess his mom did tell me where I should go after I confessed to her that I still hadn’t found anything I liked after being out a few times with my mom.

Will and Blake ask me a million questions about Alaska. How many layers do they need to wear to survive the arctic weather? Will we serve moose or bear at the wedding? Do I know of an igloo Blake can sleep in for an hour just to experience if it really is warm? It’s all clichés about the state, and by the time the car stops at the curb outside the dress store, I’m ready to get out.

“Dinner tonight?” Will asks.

“Sure.”

“I forgot to mention you’ll have to go without me to Alaska, but I’ll be just a few days after you.”

“Will…” My shoulders sink.

“Hey.” He tugs me to him. “In order for me to give you everything you deserve in this world, I have to work. Dad wants me at this conference in Arizona. But the honeymoon is all about us. I put my foot down about that to my dad.”

I place my hand on his chest. “Okay. But I don’t need a lot to be happy.”

“That’s what all women say.” He kisses me and slides back into the car before I can respond. “See you tonight.”

I wave as he rolls up the window.

Blake puts his arm around my shoulders. “Glad to see you guys got over that little bump back at the studio. Now tell me why you haven’t picked out a dress yet.” He turns me toward the store.

“I just… I don’t know.” It’s not that I haven’t tried on enough of them, but nothing has felt right on my skin. “Now I have to buy off the rack. There’s no time to custom order.”

“An Asbury bride buying off the rack? Seriously, girl, other women would take advantage of marrying into such a wealthy family.”

I shrug. “I want to pay for it myself. I don’t want Will’s mom or anyone else having a say in it, and if the Asbury’s were paying, I’d be trying to please them. I just want to feel like me in my dress.”

“Good thing you have me as a best friend because I have impeccable taste, plus I’m an excellent negotiator.”

I smile at Blake. He’s filled the role of a best friend since Brinley and I grew apart, but I still miss her so much. “Thanks.”

He opens the door to the bridal shop and I stop in the doorway, causing him to run into me. All the white dresses, the bride and groom pictures everywhere, the women smiling and ready to serve me… it all hits me as it has every other time I’ve walked into one of these shops.

“Now we walk in.” Blake takes my arm and leads me in the rest of the way.

“You must be Kenzie Gavino?” the saleslady asks with what I assume is her permanent smile. As if she walks through these doors and her lips just transform into a grin every morning.

“I am.”

“Well, we’ve pulled a few dresses already and have everything in a fitting room for you.”

“I’m sorry?” I frown. I haven’t even discussed what styles I like with these women yet.

“Your fiancé, Mr. Asbury, called earlier today and gave us a list of things he loved in a dress.” Her smile doesn’t deepen, but she appears excited.

“He what?” I give my head a shake because I must have heard her wrong.

“And he also left his credit card number,” another lady says from behind the register to my left. “Many brides would be over the moon about that. It’s like a Pretty Woman moment.”

“Except for the whole part where he picked out the dresses,” Blake says under his breath.

Thankfully someone else sees how demented this is.

The saleslady says nothing, just leading me to the back, where all the waiting dresses are tulle, heavily beaded, and lacy. Nothing like the ones I marked in my bridal magazines. I try on the first one to be nice, but Blake almost spits out his complimentary champagne when I walk out of the dressing room.

“I know.” I look at my reflection in the mirror and lift the layers of tulle, allowing them to float gently back down. I feel like a giant marshmallow.

“He said he’d really like to see cleavage.” The woman’s hands come up from behind me, trying to adjust the dress to show off the small amount of cleavage I can manage.

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