Page 41 of One Bridegroom Required!

‘No, it can’t be.’ Holly paused, then frowned as the facts began to piece themselves together in her mind like a jigsaw. ‘This dress that your mother bought—when was that exactly? Can you remember?’

Ursula shrugged her fleshy shoulders. ‘It’d be over twenty years ago now.’ Her voice softened. ‘It was in a sale at the big London store she worked in. She queued all night in the rain to buy it. It was for me, and for my sister—we were each to wear it when we got married...’

‘And what happened to it?’

Ursula lifted her head proudly and looked Holly straight in the eye. ‘My father died, and we had no money.’ Her voice faltered. ‘So she sold it. She put an advert in the paper. She had to. It broke my mother’s heart to see it go.’ She shrugged, her voice wobbling a little. ‘But what use is a fine dress in the cupboard when there’s no food on the table?’

‘No use at all,’ said Luke slowly, and they both turned round to look at him, as though they had forgotten he was there. But Luke, it seemed, had all the answers. ‘Your mother bought the original dress, you see, Ursula.’

‘Yes, of course she did!’ breathed Holly slowly.

‘I’m sorry?’ Ursula looked at them both in confusion. ‘I don’t understand what it is you’re saying.’

‘That dress you see in the window, yes, I designed and made it,’ explained Holly. ‘But I based the design on one of my mother’s original sketches—because she was a dress designer, too, and it was one of her favourite gowns. And your mother must have bought my mother’s dress! Now do you see?’

‘Heavens!’ said Ursula.

Holly smiled. ‘So, although the two dresses aren’t exactly the same, they’re very, very similar.’

Ursula stood up and moved closer to the window to look at the dress, her eyes as wide as saucers, like a child taken to the ballet for the very first time. ‘Yes, they are,’ she agreed. ‘Very similar. Dear me, it’s unbelievable!’ She was silent for a moment as she stared at the soft satin. ‘The dress used to hang in the wardrobe in our bedroom and we were allowed to look at it and touch it, but only through the plastic. Except on our birthdays, when she used to take it out of its covering and we were allowed a proper look at it. Oh, how we loved that dress!’

‘And did your mother never even try it on?’ asked Holly. ‘Just to see what it looked like?’

Ursula shook her head. ‘It was a tiny dress, and she was a big woman.’ She glanced down at her generous curves with a rueful expression. ‘Like me. She used to say that she wouldn’t even be able to squeeze her fingers into the sleeves! But it would fit my sister, and she’s getting married soon. It may not be the original, but it’s the next best thing. That’s why I came here today.’ She pulled a purse from her bag as if she were about to start bartering down at the market and gave Holly a huge smile. ‘To buy it.’

Holly didn’t know what to say. Or rather she did, but she wasn’t sure how best to phrase it without sounding cruel or hurtful.

‘How much is it, please?’ asked Ursula.

Holly shook her head. ‘But I’m afraid it isn’t for sale.’

Ursula frowned. ‘I don’t understand. It’s in the window—’

‘Yes, I know it is. But didn’t you read the whole article? It’s a bit of a stunt. I’ve only just opened the shop, and I’m offering the wedding dress as the prize in a draw. So, although you can’t buy it, you’re very welcome to enter into the draw to win it.’

Ursula bit her lip. ‘But what if I don’t win?’

‘Well, if your sister desperately wants that particular design, then I can have one made up—but she won’t be able to wear it until March.’

‘March?’ queried Ursula. ‘But Amber is getting married in February! How come?’

Holly sighed. ‘Because the bridal magazine who sponsored the competition are doing a whole big feature on the dress in the March edition—and part of the deal was that, if I sold it, then it could not be worn until after that edition has hit the shelves. They want the feature to have maximum impact, you see.’

‘That would be a pretty difficult rule to enforce,’ Luke reflected.

Holly frowned at him. ‘Yes, I know it would! But it would be pretty churlish not to abide by the competition rules, wouldn’t it? Especially as their prize money financed my business in the first place!’

His eyes were thoughtful as they rested on Holly. ‘You mean you’ll abide by the spirit of the law as opposed to the letter?’

‘That’s exactly what I mean!’

Ursula gave a resigned shrug. ‘Oh, well, then. I guess I’ll put my name in the hat with the rest of them and say a prayer or two! It would be great to have the dress, even if Amber won’t be able to wear it.’

‘Do you have no idea who your mother sold the original to?’ Luke asked.

Ursula shook her head. ‘No idea at all. Mum kept it all pretty hush-hush. Selling off your possessions because you were short of money wasn’t something you shouted from the rooftops—not where I came from, anyway.’

‘And where’s that?’ queried Luke.

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