Page 51 of All Dressed Up

“Wow.” He continued to stare at the dress. It was certainly breathtaking, but there was a big problem that Rachel probably didn’t realize.

“What’s wrong?” Rachel asked.

“Nothing. It’s beautiful.”

“Then why the face? I thought you’d be happy to see it.”

“I am.” He cracked a smile. There was no reason to hide what he knew. “It’s just... this dress is different than the one Emma brought in earlier this month.”

“How so?”

“This one is much sleeker, not as princess-like.”

“Princess-like.” Rachel’s gaze moved from the gown to him. “What do you mean?”

“Her first dress was more of a ball gown with lace embellishments and a chapel train that fanned out.”

“Wow, you really know your wedding dresses.”

He was beginning to, and it felt good to show off a little that he’d picked up a thing or two in his new role. “Still learning.”

“Well, I’m impressed.” Rachel hung the dress back up. “Maybe Mary had more than one option for her. Who knows what kind of wedding gown racket she’s got going on from the other side.”

Will chuckled. It did seem that Mary was keeping busy in the afterlife. Why he knew that apparent fact was beyond him. What did she want with him or Rachel for that matter? “It’s a gorgeous gown,” he admitted.

“I’m sure Emma’s going to love it.” Rachel placed both her hands on his arms. He tried to ignore the jolt of electricity that her touch sent through him.

Didn’t work.

“You know what this means?” she asked.

He didn’t care to know the answer if it kept her from removing her hands. “What?”

She gave him a playful shake. “You, Will Jenkins, are back in business. Call Emma and get her down here. You are about to make one bride incredibly happy.”

After all that had gone down from the fire to the altercation with Jesse, he’d really like to give Emma some good news.

He reached for his phone, pulling up the number for the Sugar Spoon. A quick conversation with Abby revealed that Emma stopping by wasn’t going to happen today or tomorrow even. Jason had gotten his fiancée out of town for the weekend to avoid her potentially running in to her father.

He ended the call. “Emma and Jason went away for the weekend. We’ll have to try again on Monday.”

“That’s unfortunate.” Rachel paused, snapping her fingers. “We don’t have to wait.”

“We don’t?”

“You have other brides, don’t you?”

“Yeah...” He grimaced. Twenty-nine more to be exact. He’d need to answer all his e-mails and voicemails from not only them but those from their frantic mothers.

“Call one of them. Invite her down to open the trunk.”

She can’t be serious.He brought his hands together, cracking a knuckle. “How do we know it’s going to work?”

Again, silence. He wasn’t used to this demur side to Rachel. “Did something happen this morning before you found the dress?”

“No.” She walked over to the window and pulled back the curtains, tying each, the bright sunlight rushing in. “It’ll work,” she said with her back to him.

“But how do you know?” He didn’t want to agitate her, but it was a fair question. The last thing he wanted to do was disappoint another bride if the trunk was empty.

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