Page 58 of The Seemingly Impossible Love Life of Amanda Dean

“In New England?”

Edmund argued everything went with snow, and that they could order all the flowers Mandy wanted, but she couldn’t deny that her heart had been set on a spring wedding.

Mandy had almost forgotten about the time she and Isa sat inside Waldenbooks looking at bridal magazines. How did Isa remember? It had been the summer before freshman year, and with nothing else to do, Mandy and Isa were hanging at the mall.It was too hot that day for the beach, so any place with air-conditioning was preferable to sweltering in the sun. Isa had dragged Mandy into the store, but it was Mandy who had been hard-core crushing on Justin Timberlake and saw a magazine with his face plastered on the cover and pulled Isa to that section instead of looking at the new releases like Isa wanted. It wasn’t like they didn’t have plenty of time, so Isa relented, and they settled on the floor next to the overflowing rack with magazines on every topic under the sun. Mandy, however, was the one who got them looking at all the bridal ones.

“I don’t know if I want to get married,” Isa said as she flipped through the pages ofMartha Stewart Weddings.

“I do,” Mandy said. “It’s going to be in a garden somewhere, full of flowers, and instead of throwing rice, we’ll release butterflies, and they’ll flutter all around me before they fly away.”

“I don’t think you can train butterflies to do that.”

Mandy ignored her. “It will be a perfect spring day, not too hot and not too cold. And we will stand under a shady tree, and Justin will say how he’s never loved anyone as much as me, and I’ll tell him he’s so beautiful, and then we’ll kiss.” Mandy held the magazine to her chest and let out a long sigh.

“Okay.” Isa put the bridal magazine back and picked up one with a fluffy white kitten on the cover. “Do you think my mom will let me get a cat?”

“Litter boxes are gross.”

“Yeah, but kittens are cute.” Isa flipped the page around for Mandy to see.

“Awwww…” Mandy threw her magazine back on the rack and scooted next to Isa so they could look at all the cats together.

Momoohed, bringing Mandy back to the present, back tostaring at herself in a mirror with multiple angles. “These heels would match perfectly. Try them on.”

“You hate heels,” Isa said.

Mandy, however, didn’t say anything. She just complied with what her mother wanted—sometimes it was easier—and slid her feet into the uncomfortable shoes. They pinched her toes, and the right one dug into her heel. Even with them on, the dress was too long and pooled around her feet.

“We can do all the alterations in-house,” Krystin said.

Mandy stared at herself. The lights in there were extra bright, and the wrap around her shoulders grated against her skin. Mandy’s cheeks flushed, and a trickle of sweat ran down her back like a slowly creeping spider. Wasn’t she supposed to feel something? A spark. Some magic. She was getting married. Possibly in this very dress, and instead of being excited, Mandy’s heart pounded harder.

Was this it? The one? And she didn’t just mean the dress.

“I think this could be it, but I know we don’t always meet eye to eye, so if you want to try some more on before you decide, I promise I won’t say anything. But you do look like the picture-perfect bride in this one.” Mom went for the new box of tissues.

Mandy had always wanted to get married. She knew from even before that moment in Waldenbooks that one day she’d be a bride, and wear a white dress, and Dad would walk her down the aisle. Mandy loved love more than the bees loved the flowers.

So why couldn’t she breathe?

Isa interlaced her fingers with Mandy’s and gave her a squeeze. “I don’t think we’re ready to make any decisions yet, right, Mandy?”

Mandy just nodded.

“No, of course not. We have so many more to try. But let’s keep this one on the list, shall we? It’s a solid contender,” Krystin said.

“It’ll be okay,” Isa whispered and gave Mandy’s hand another squeeze.

Would it though?

Chapter Twenty-Eight

April 2019

Mandy’s phone would notstop buzzing as she sat half-dressed in the back of the limousine. She had been partly tempted to ask the chauffeur to zip her up but realized how awkward that would be, so she slid inside, waiting to ask Mom to do it when she got to the park where they were meeting the photographer for pictures. But it was taking forever to get there.

The little separator from the front seat to the back had been rolled up by Mandy as soon as she got inside (since half her body could pop out and into view at any moment). But as she gazed out the tinted window at the same car that had been next to them five minutes ago that stood next to the same tree on the same sidewalk next to that, she had to do something.

She hit the button, lowering the screen enough to get a view of the top of the driver’s face, and turned the open side of her dress away from him. “Is something wrong?” she asked.

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