Four Weddings and a Fiasco: The Wedding Caper by Patricia McLinn Page B

done or if it doesn’t fit, can’t we pin it or something for the pictures tomorrow?”
    “Pin it? For the
wedding
?” Anne repeated, sounding as outraged as her sweetness probably allowed. “It fits perfectly. In fact, there is nothing wrong with it. After I finish the alterations tonight, it will be entirely perfect. It looks fabulous on you.”
    “It does,” agreed Julie, who said she’d stopped by for to go over her final to-buy list for tomorrow’s fake reception.
    “Oh, yes,” breathed Phoebe. “It’s like it was made for you.”
    “Well, in a way, it was made for her, since Anne altered it so beautifully,” Rose said.
    “That’s why . . . .” Anne sighed. “I know this is only a make believe wedding, but it’s such a shame your mother can’t see you looking like this.”
    “Good heavens, no,” K.D. said before she could stop herself. Rose, Phoebe, Julie, and Anne looked at her. “My . . . uh, my mother wouldn’t understand any of this.” She tried to think of something more to say, to explain away her words in a way that would let them dismiss her reaction. “She wouldn’t understand.”
    “And we wouldn’t want to have anyone else know about what you and Eric are doing,” said Rose, sending a warning look around the room.
    “Oh, I’m not saying we’d contact her or anything,” Anne said hurriedly. “Here, now raise your arm so I can check the seam. It’s such a shame, because I’m sure she’d love to see K.D. looking so beautiful in a wedding dress.”
    “My mother would love to see me looking any way in a wedding dress,” K.D. said dryly. “She —”
    Good heavens, there she went again, pouring out reactions. These women and their comfortable niceness were downright dangerous. Set hardened criminals in their circle for a few hours and they’d be pouring out their confessions.
    Phoebe nodded. “Mother relationships can be so . . . .” She cleared her throat. “You’re not alone, K.D. But don’t give up on the idea that it can get better. Not perfect, but better.”
    “Parents can want the best for you yet be totally wrong,” Julie added. “Someday I’ll introduce you to Andrew’s family.”
    “Sometimes we don’t understand as much as we should, either,” Rose said quietly.
    “Parents aren’t always perfect. They’re human, too,” Anne murmured around pins in her mouth.
    K.D. caught a flurry of looks flying among the other women. She had the impression that their statements had significance to each of them that the others understand, and she didn’t.
    Enough of this. She asked, “Where did this dress come from, Anne? You couldn’t just have had wedding dresses lying around so you could pick one you think suits me.”
    “Oh, yes. I have an assortment of wedding dresses,” Anne said as she stepped back from K.D. and squinted at her. Then she darted close, pinching material at K.D.’s waist and inserting a pin.
    “You have an assortment of wedding dresses lying around?”
    “Sometimes a bride changes her mind, and decides she wants something different,” Rose explained. “We try very hard to meet her needs. Then we keep the other dress. Anne keeps them for emergencies.”
    “Emergency weddings?” K.D. asked.
    They chuckled, but Phoebe said, “Don’t laugh. They happen. This isn’t even our tightest turn-around.”
    “So this—” She smoothed the fabric over her hips very carefully. Not only because the fabric was so luscious, but because of the pins stuck in it. “—is some bride’s castoff because she liked another style better?”
    More looks zinged among the women.
    “Not exactly.” Phoebe said. “That wedding was called off.”
    K.D. chuckled. “So this bride didn’t just change her mind about the dress, but also about getting married? My kind of bride.”
    “Oh, she got married.” Julie smiled. “To a different groom on a different day.”
    This time the looks, accompanied by wide smiles, were all aimed toward Rose.
    A sudden