Page 92 of Love in Tandem
“Well, I’ve already worked out a plan for that. One of my former students helped me come up with the idea. Ever heard of circular breathing?”
Zach smoothed a loose lock of hair past her ear and ran his hands down her back. “No, but it sounds like something we’re going to need in two seconds.”
“Why two seconds?”
Zach pressed her close to him. Close enough to feel Charlotte’s breath fan his lips. “Because I’m two seconds away from kissing you senseless. And honey, I don’t plan to come up for air for at least forty years.”
THREE MONTHS LATER
“Is this crazy? This is crazy, isn’t it? You can say it. It’s crazy. We’re moving too fast.” Charlotte paced back and forth in front of the full-length mirror, her white dress swishing around her ankles with each turn.
“It’s not crazy. Waiting any longer would be crazy. What do you need to do? Climb Mount Everest to prove you and Zach are compatible? If you haven’t killed each other by now, I think it’s true love. Wasn’t that sort of the point of Hopkins’s ridiculous challenge?” Sophia trailed behind her with a veil. “Now, would you stop moving so I can pin this to your head? We need to see the full effect.”
“I already told you I don’t want a veil.”
“And I already told you,” Sophia said with a grunt as she wrestled Charlotte’s head far enough down to poke her scalp with something pointy, “I don’t care what you say you don’t want because most of the time what you say you don’t want, you end up wanting, so you’d be better off just letting me do what I want.”
Charlotte spun to fend off her sister and caught a glimpse of her veil-clad head in the bridal shop mirror. “Oh wowzer,” she whispered, clasping her hands together in front of her chest. “Do you know who I look like?”
Sophia nodded, her eyes shining with happy tears. “Mom. It’s her veil.”
Charlotte touched the ends of the veil with reverence. “I think I want a veil.”
“Hmm, imagine that.” Sophia folded her arms with a knowing smirk. “Now that the veil issue is resolved, you need to pick out a dress. Something prettier than that one.”
Charlotte lifted the folds of the skirt. “What’s wrong with this one?”
“Nothing, if we’d time-traveled back to 1994.”
“Everything comes back in style at some point.”
“I don’t think we’re at that point. Try on something else. Or actually—” Sophia ducked behind a rack of dresses and returned with a familiar pink garment bag. “Try on this.”
Well, wasn’t she just full of surprises? “Sophia. I cannot wear the dress I was supposed to wear in my wedding to Ben.”
“Why not? Nobody ever got the chance to see you in this dress. And you loved this dress. Remember how much you loved this dress?”
“I remember getting rid of this dress, that’s what I remember.”
“Yeah, well, Mom and I bought it back from the consignment shop as soon as you left. It’s been hiding in the back of Mom and Dad’s closet ever since.”
“Why would you do that?”
Sophia gave her a look like she should know better. “Because nothing was ever wrong with the dress. The dress was perfect. The problem was with the guy. You know the old saying, don’t throw out the dress with the bathwater. Now try it on. I’ll bet it looks even more amazing on you this time.”
“Because I finally got the right guy?”
“I was going to say because all that time outdoors has helped you tone up and slim down.” Sophia winked. “But yeah, sure. What you said.”
Charlotte and Sophia teased and laughed as she tried on the dress. And of course, Sophia was right. Nothing was wrong with the dress. The dress was perfect. Last time just hadn’t been the right time to wear it.
“So we’re not rushing things?” Charlotte asked when they left the wedding shop a little later. She’d bought a new pair of expensive shoes since she felt bad about not buying anything else from the boutique.
“Technically you and Zach have been in a committed canoodling relationship since before the bike trip.”
“Well, when you put it that way.” Charlotte adjusted her grip on the garment bag, glancing at the sparkly diamond on her ring finger. “I feel kind of bad dress shopping without Mom though. I mean, that was one of the main reasons we flew back for the weekend.” But yesterday the doctors had put her mom on strict bed rest until the baby arrived.
Sophia bumped her shoulder. “Don’t worry. She already knew you were going to choose the dress from the back of their closet. But hey, if it makes you feel any better, Mom will get another chance to go wedding-dress shopping with me.”
