Page 42 of The Best Friend's Billionaire Brother
“I’d hate to do that after all their hard work. They’ve brought in a ton of dresses for me.”
Standing, Gabby stretched her arms above her head. “Okay, then back to the drawing board. I know you had this idea of a dress, but so far, none of them have worked. How about me, Mom, Stephanie, and your mom each go pick out a dress we think will work. Something completely different?”
Carrie Anne shrugged. “Couldn’t hurt. None of the empire-waist dresses have worked.”
Gabby hooked a thumb over her shoulder. “Okay, you’ve got fifteen minutes. Pick the first dress you think will work. No empire waist.” She smiled. “And…go!”
With that, Gabby spun on her heels and went all the way to the back of the store to start her search. As she looked through the dresses, she thought about her own wedding. All of her life, she’d pictured it with Wyatt. Him in a tux, her walking up the aisle, and her dad giving her away.
Over the years, her dream wedding had changed as she’d aged. At first, she’d wanted red roses everywhere. Then she’d wanted orchids because they smelled so great. The last time she’d thought about it, she’d wanted yellow roses as a symbol of their friendship.
The meal would be simple, followed by strawberry shortcake since that was their favorite. Sure, they could have a traditional cake, but nothing beat a good shortcake. Countless hours were spent perfecting the whole day.
Obviously, as she’d matured, she’d learned that there was no such thing as perfect. Something would go wrong, but as long as Wyatt was at the front of the church waiting on her, it would be the best day ever.
“So, you’re dating Bandit?” Stephanie asked.
Gabby jumped and held her stomach. “Wear a bell next time!”
Her sister laughed as she walked a couple of feet and started looking at dresses. “Answer the question.”
During the last week, Gabby had made extra effort to spend as much time near Bandit as possible. Again, part of phase one of being unavailable. A few times, she’d caught Wyatt looking their direction with an unreadable expression on his face. The rest of her family mostly left her alone about it.
“Yes, I’m dating Bandit.”
Her sister shot her a glance. “You’ve had a crush on Wyatt West since the day the earth was created. There is no way you’re dating Bandit. Now, if Carrie Anne concocted a scheme to make it appear that way to make Wyatt jealous, it would make sense.”
Gabby froze. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” The last thing she wanted was for Stephanie Can’t-Keep-A-Secret Fredericks to know what she was doing.
“Please. Do I look that stupid?” She pointed a finger at her face. “That’s rhetorical.”
With a sigh, Gabby scooted closer to Stephanie. “Please don’t tell anyone. It was Carrie Anne’s idea.”
“I just don’t want to see you get hurt. I’ll never forget how heartbroken you were that night he asked Lori to marry him. You were crushed.”
Gabby chewed her lip. It was a night she couldn’t forget either. “I know, and I don’t want that either.”
“But it’s Wyatt.”
Instead of answering Stephanie, Gabby looked down as she nodded. “Yeah.” There was so much more she wanted to say, but she held it back. Giving it voice, speaking it, would only make it worse if Wyatt never saw her as anything more than Carrie Anne’s best friend.
Stephanie took her hand. “If he’s so blind that he can’t figure out you’re the best thing to ever come his way, it’ll be on him. I don’t know how this will work out, but I’m here for you if you need anything.”
Gabby lifted her head and smiled. “You’re not going to talk me out of it?”
“No,” Stephanie said with a smile. “But Iamgoing to have fun with it.” She winked, spun around, and walked back to the dressing room area.
Fun with it? What did that mean? Gabby groaned and mumbled to herself, “Great. Just what I needed. More fun.”
After searching through a few more dresses, Gabby picked one she thought could be a good contender. It had a ball gown skirt with a scoop neck and long sleeves made of lace. It fit the time of year, it had that princess feel to it, and it was simple. Something Gabby was pretty sure Carrie Anne could pull off.
With the dress in hand, she joined the rest of the women and gave it to the clerk helping Carrie Anne.
“Everyone is back, dear,” the clerk said.
The door opened, and Carrie Anne modeled the first dress.
Stephanie grinned. “That’s my pick, but the heavy wedding satin doesn’t look good on you.”
