Page 55 of Troubles

I close my eyes and swipe at the screen. “Hello?” Passive aggressive, just for this moment, I will my voice to sound like I have no idea who is calling me. It’s all I’ll allow myself.

“Lisbeth. Have you been avoiding my calls?”

I roll my eyes and shift to climb out of my barstool. Gracyn grabs my leg as Aidan grabs my hand, both of them holding me in place.

“We need to discuss your part in the wedding. Have you lost enough weight to fit in the dress we picked?” Two sets of eyebrows hit their respective hairlines with record speed and I just shake my head.

“Wow. Um, hmm.” Gracyn is looking for a pen to scribble-yell her thoughts on my mother, and Aidan, bless him, sets a glass in front of me along with a bottle of bourbon. I smile at both of these amazing people I have supporting me.

“While I’m sure the dress you and Maryse picked is lovely, I’m going to find my own. Is there a color you’d like me to stick with or a specific detail? Length? Sleeve?”

My mother’s displeasure is unmistakable, mostly because she launches into me on how ungrateful and selfish I am. Pot, may I introduce kettle?

I let her rant while I pour myself a little bourbon and before I can even pick up the glass, Gracyn dumps in enough to put me on my ass. Aidan drops in an ice cube and nods for me to take a drink.

I’m so caught up in enjoying these two hovering over me, I miss it when my mom’s tirade comes to a close. “…Lisbeth are you even listening to me?”

“No. I stopped a bit ago. So, Bliss Bridal is where you got the dress? I’ll consult with them for the color.”

“I have your dress here at my house, you’ll just have to make it work. You can pay me for it when you pick it up—” At her house? As if I didn’t grow up there. But it has never been home to me. Never.

“Yeah, no. Sorry, I’ll—” Is she for real? “I’ll see you Saturday.” I’m so over this mess.

“The rehearsal is on—” Can’t do it.

I disconnect the call, throw back the bourbon and turn to my sister of choice. “Shit. Wanna go shopping?”

Turns out, being a little bit buzzed is a great way to shop with Gracyn. Loaded down with dresses in the most boring shade of pink you could even imagine, I pull Gracyn into the dressing room with me. Much as I love my privacy, I need her in here with me.

“What the fuck is that?” She picks a dress from the hook and looks at it like it has personally offended her. “Nope. Not that one.” She rifles through my maybes and pulls four more dresses out, chucking them in the corner. “Those are nos too.”

Perfectly satisfied with herself, Gracyn rolls her hand at the remaining dresses in a “get a move on” gesture.

Miraculously, I find two dresses that look good enough. And while I don’t love the color, I’m stuck with it. Thank God for small favors—it at least complements my hair and skin tone.

I plop down on the chair opposite the fainting couch where Gracyn is laid out and put my feet up on the end.

“What do you think? Which one?” She offers me a Twizzler from the package she pulled from her purse. I grab two, because they’re Twizzlers.

“Any one of those look fine on you. Just pick one.”

I check the price tags and they are all way more than I want to spend. I shrug, not really excited about any of these options.

Gracyn chucks me the bag of candy and stands. “Hang on a minute.”

Six of the strawberry-flavored twists later, she comes back and trades the candy for a dress. Heaving a sigh, I push myself up and look at what she brought me.

It’s pretty. Like really pretty. Off the shoulder, rouched bodice, and a fitted skirt that ends just below my knee. It’s similar in style to the dress I wore when Aidan asked me to move in—the first time.

It fits perfectly and looks drop-dead gorgeous.

“Where’s the price tag?” I can’t find it no matter which way I twist.

“At the register. It fell off when I grabbed it out of the rack. I think it was like eighty bucks?” She’s doing her shifty thing again. “So, that’s the one. Let’s get out of here and get something to eat.”

“G, don’t lie to me.”

Hands on her hips, attitude in full swing, Gracyn turns and pins me with a look.

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