Page 8 of Dreaming of Dawson

“And me… but I can’t help her with what she needs tonight.”

“What’s that?”

“A second opinion on her wedding dress. She bought it in Concord, all by herself.”

“Didn’t her mom want to get involved?” I ask.

“She did, but Zara’s Aunt Charlotte is sick again. She hasn’t been right since that fall she had, when she broke her ankle, and Sylvia didn’t want to leave her. Zara understood, even though Sylvia was upset about it, and I know Zara sent her photographs…”

“So her mom’s seen the dress?”

“Yes, but not in the flesh, and not since it’s been altered. Nash went with her to collect it at the weekend,” he says, smiling and clearly loving the budding relationship between his son and his fiancée. “But even he wasn’t allowed a peek, and although she assures me it’s a perfect fit, she said she wanted someone else to see her wearing it before the ceremony… and that can’t be me.”

“Why is she so nervous about it?” I ask.

“I don’t know.”

“Are you nervous?”

“About the dress?” he says, his brow furrowing.

“About the whole thing… about getting married again.”

“Hell, no. I can’t wait.”

“Well, you won’t have to. Not for much longer, anyway.”

It’s only a month until their wedding, and it’s impossible for me not to make comparisons between how it is now, and how it was the first time around… for Tanner, if not for me.

I was his best man then, and I took my responsibilities seriously, helping with the planning, and – more importantly – stopping his first wife Sabrina from driving him crazy. I wouldn’t say she was a Bridezilla, but she came close. She came real close, which makes me wonder…

“How are things going with Sabrina?” I ask. She’s caused him so much grief over the last few years. Not just because she cheated on him, multiple times, and broke their marriage – and him – but because she likes to make his life difficult, bordering on impossible, even now.

Tanner rolls his eyes. “The same as usual,” he says. “She announced on Sunday night, when I took Nash home, that she’s going on vacation over the weekend of our wedding.”

“Is this with Dean, or whatever his name is?”

He frowns. “Oh… didn’t I tell you? Dean is history. She kicked him out just before Christmas.”

“No, you didn’t tell me, but did she have a reason for ending it with him?”

“Not one she was gonna tell me, but…” He smiles, and leans in slightly, lowering his voice, “Nash asked me what a man-whore was not long after Dean left, so I think that might have had something to do with it.”

I’d laugh if I hadn’t forgotten how. “What goes around comes around,” I mutter instead. “So, is she going away by herself?”

“No. She’s taking her new boyfriend. His name’s Gideon, or Graham, or something beginning with ‘G’. I can’t remember what now. Nash says he’s even younger than Dean.”

“You haven’t met him yet?”

“No. He’s not living with her, although I’m sure he will be… if he survives long enough.”

I sigh, finishing my drink, and put the glass carefully on the counter between us. “I don’t know how you put up with her.”

“I don’t have to. She’s not mine anymore.”

“I guess… and look on the bright side. At least she won’t turn up at the wedding and try to spoil things.”

He pushes his fingers back through his blond hair, messing it up a little. “Maybe not, but I think you’re missing the point. If she’s away, it means Nash has to stay with us.”

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