Courted by Trouble: A Courting Romance (In Hyacinth Book 3) by Bree Cariad

than she would.
    A knock on her door let her know Cami was here for her fitting. Tossing a clean cloth over the dress, she walked over to the door and opened it. “Hey!” Cami said, rushing past her. “I brought muffins. How’s the dress going? Was last night fun?” She continued to chatter as she removed muffins from a basket hanging on her arm, placing them on Stephanie’s tiny kitchen counter. When she finally took a breath, she giggled. “I’m not letting you get a word in, am I? I’m just so excited to see my dress.”
    “Well, go wash your hands and let’s get to it.”
    Squealing, Cami ran into her bathroom, washing her hands and removing her clothes. When she came out, she wore the strapless bra Stephanie had requested and a pair of seamless panties. “Okay, where do you want me?”
    Stephanie guided her to the center of the small room and had her close her eyes while she uncovered the dress, unpinned it and slowly fitted it to Cami’s body. “Now, it’s not finished,” she explained. “There will still need to be one or two more fittings before it’s complete.” Once she was sure everything fell just right, she moved her one full-length mirror over in front of Camille and took a step back. “Open your eyes.”
    Cami’s eyes sprang open and her mouth opened. “Wow.”
    The dress fitted her perfectly, showing off her figure, but the main part was how beautiful the leaf-shaped silk looked as it slid down her. At first, Stephanie had planned to have sets of gold, red, and brown leaves and place them in bunches, but as she worked with the fabric another idea sprang to mind. It had been more work but the results were stunning. Each leaf was made up of all three colors and together it kind of looked like a pile of leaves, though a lot more elegant.
    “Stephanie,” Camille said, sniffling. “It’s stunning. Absolutely amazing. Drat! And all I’ve got is my cell phone. Can you take a couple pics? I want to show Mom.”
    Walking over to her purse, Stephanie fished out her cell phone and took pictures from the front and back while Cami turned slightly, trying to see all of her dress. “So, you really like it?” Stephanie asked after she had removed the fabric and pinned it back on the dressform.
    “Are you kidding? It’s so much better than I had imagined and I imagined something cool. I can hardly wait to walk down the aisle in it.” Cami pulled on her jeans and sweater after switching to a normal bra. “And it’s so worth the strapless bra.”
    “Oh, and I got Jerod’s cummerbund almost done, too.” Stephanie pulled it out and showed her.
    “Wow, it does look just like my dress. You’re a genius!”
    Grinning, Stephanie repacked the cloth and turned to look at her. “Christopher suggested that my designs were unique enough that other people might want to buy them.”
    “Of course they would,” Cami agreed. “I mean, look, I wanted you because I knew you would create the kind of gown I wanted and I can’t be the only person out there who wants something unique.”
    “I never got my high school diploma.”
    “So?” Cami said, echoing Christopher’s words from the night before. “People get GEDs all the time. Plus, do you need a diploma to sell your clothes?”
    “No, but if I wanted to know more how the business side was run, I would need to take some college courses.”
    “Oh and they probably insist on a GED.” Pausing with an expression that said Cami was deep in thought, her gaze turned to the wedding gown. “What kind of clothes do you prefer to make the most?”
    “Dresses, probably. It’s usually what I make for myself.”
    “You know,” she said slowly, “The wedding fair is coming to Longdale in February. I wonder if you could make a couple gowns and show them off there? Maybe a wedding dress and a couple bridesmaids gowns?”
    “Oh, that’s only a few months away. I don’t think—” That seemed awful sudden to Stephanie. Seven months? Surely in that time