Page 5 of Her Second Chance Cowboy

“It’s perfect,” Nancy broke in. “You’ll get a little peek at your shoes when you walk, but it’ll brush the floor when you’re standing still.” The seamstress smiled at her and nodded her head toward Nancy, as if to say,what she said.

Evie just nodded and her shoulders relaxed when Cadytsked. “Are you sure? The hemline is looking a little wonky to me.” Cady had been bragging all morning that all three of her gowns came from this shop, and they’d all been lovely. She considered herself “something of an expert” on the subject. While she certainly had experience, Nancy wouldn’t call two divorces and a legal separation proof that Cady actually knew what she was doing.

“It’s just the bunching,” Nancy explained, pointing at the pins creating the place where the new hem would be. “It won’t look like that when it’s properly cut and hemmed.”

Cady sucked at her teeth again. “If you say so. You can’t be too careful with lace, you know. My second dress was a lacy thing like this, and I kept punching holes in the fabric on accident. Frayed all over the place.”

Evie looked at Nancy with widehelp meeyes. Clearly, a distraction was needed. “Ladies,” Nancy announced, getting the other bridesmaids’ attention, “let’s play a game.” She set down her champagne glass. “Let’s go find the ugliest bridesmaid dresses in the store. Winner gets their wedding nails done for free.” That piqued their interest. Nancy flagged down an attendant. “Could we possibly look around while the bride finishes up? We’re all getting fitted too, but the champagne may be getting to us.”

The attendant smiled. “Sure thing. Have fun.” Evie mouthedthank youat Nancy as they went. While it was a good idea in theory to combine the final fittings for both the bridal and bridesmaids’ gowns, Nancy could see that Evie was overwhelmed with all the feedback.

They passed into the backroom of the bridal shop, to the racks of bright colors and taffeta that were bridesmaids’ dresses. They divided the room, each skimming the racks for truly heinous choices. After a minute, Lila pulled out a dress and held it up. It was blue and strapless with cut-outs on the sides. “This looks like a prom dress more than a bridesmaid’s dress,” she said.

Nancy glanced at it. “I’ve had brides choose something like that before.”

Lila stuffed the dress back on the rack. “Those brides either had incredibly confident friends, or she wanted them to suffer.”

Nancy smirked. “The second one,” she said, “for sure.”

They all laughed, and for the first time since she walked into the shop, she felt like she was a part of the bridal party. She was used to being the planner—standing in the background and waiting to put out any fires that might pop up—but never actually being a part of the group. She’d been looking forward to being Evie’s maid of honor, only to feel left out because the other women had more in common, had shared experiences over the last ten years that she had missed. They’d stayed in Windy Creek after high school, and although Nancy had only gone a few hours north to Boulder, it felt like they were worlds apart.

Nancy pulled out a long, fuchsia gown with ruffles and a drop waist. It’s truly hideous, a bridesmaid Holy Grail in ugliness. She held up it up for the others to see. “This is the one, right?”

Both Lila and Cady declared her the winner, but Ericka’s cool eyes flicked over the gown. Her face twisted into a sneer. “I think I wore something similar to the junior prom.”

Nancy almost dropped the gown like it had burned her. The others howled with laughter. “Oh, God, I remember hearing stories about that!” Lila chuckled. At twenty-three, she was younger than the rest of the bridesmaids, so she hadn’t been in school with them—but apparently the stories had lingered. “I think, what, fifteen kids showed up in the gym, and they spent like two grand on decorations and the band? What a waste.”

Nancy begged the universe, pleaded for them not to remember another key detail about that night, but then Cady snapped her fingers. “Nancy,” she said, “you were the head of the prom committee that year, right?”

Nancy had campaigned so hard for an Upper East Side theme for the prom.Gossip Girlwas everyone’s favorite show at the time, and she thought it was a no-brainer: an evening under fairy lights, dancing to a live band, and drinking sparkling grape juice from champagne glasses that everyone would get to take home as a souvenir. It had taken her and the prom committee hours to decorate the gym, and it had been so beautiful until the doors opened, and nobody showed. Then, they’d gotten word that one of the seniors was hosting a party, and the few people who did show up thinned out even more. Nancy had ended up feeling like the world’s biggest loser, and she got yelled at for the amount that all of her planning had cost. “Yeah,” she said and made her lips turn up in a smile, “that was me. I got a little too highbrow that year, and they didn’t want me planning it the next year.” Her smile got more real as she added, “Gotten a bit better at event planning.” The other bridesmaids agreed heartily, just this side of being too enthusiastic, and they continued to pull dresses to show to Evie.

When the bride did eventually join them, she immediately chose Nancy’s as the winner. “Aren’t you all glad that I love you enough to want you to look good?”

“Thank you,” all of the bridesmaids chimed in a singsong way.

“If you’re finished with this silliness,” Evie said, “Ms. Laura is ready start on y’all’s fittings.”

They headed back to the front of the shop with the raised dais and mirrors. The seamstress started with Cady, and while Nancy and the others waited, the door of the shop opened.

“Nancy!” a little voice called out. She turned. Colin and Bex were in the shop’s small foyer; Bex’s smile stretched her small face. “Daddy says we’re trying on my flower girl dress.”

Nancy was glad to see them. “You’ll definitely be the prettiest girl at the party.”

Evie came around and scooped up a giggling Bex. “Come on, little miss,” she said. “Let’s go try your dress on, and then we can show your daddy.” She looked to Colin, who nodded. Nancy watched them disappear into the changing rooms, and she didn’t notice that Colin had come up beside her.

“What’s wrong?” he asked. She startled at his voice and looked at him owlishly. “And don’t say nothing because it’s pretty obvious that something upset you.”

Nancy sighed. He could always see right through her. “Do you remember junior prom?”

She was surprised when Colin’s face bloomed into a grin. “How can I forget?” he asked. He sounded so nostalgic, like that was the best night of his life. “We danced all night, even after the band went home.” The way he looked at her, for just a moment, set her heart thumping in her ears. “I was so nervous, asking you to dance that first time,” he admitted to her, voice dropping low. “I was so glad when you said yes.”

“I was so glad you asked.” Her eyes dropped to his mouth, and she thought, just for a second, about all the times she’d felt those lips against her own. Would kissing him be any different a decade later? Or would it still leave her just as breathless as it used to?

Someone cleared her throat, and Colin looked away. The moment was lost. “If you two are done flirting,” Evie said with a flourish, “I can now present Miss Rebecca McCabe.”

Bex stepped into the room wearing a dress the same color as the bridesmaids’ gowns but with the lace overlay of Evie’s dress. She looked like a fairy princess. “Oh, Bex!” Nancy sighed. The other bridesmaids came over, gushing over her, but it was Colin’s awestruck expression that had the girl twirling about, asking if she looked pretty.

“Beautiful, darlin’,” Colin said. “Just beautiful.”

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