Tide Will Tell (Islands of Intrigue: San Juans) by Lesley Ann McDaniel Page B

to keep her thoughts to herself to avoid giving Jessica more opportunities to berate her. Her fragile self-esteem didn’t need that right now.
    “There it is.” Josh curved smoothly into a parking place directly in front of a pale pink storefront with the words ‘Friday Harbor Bridal’ painted in elegant script on a sign above the entrance. “Wait right here.” He exited the car, crossing to Kate’s door in a refreshing show of chivalry.
    As he opened it and reached in to help her out, Kate gave herself a mental pep talk. She could do this.
    Glancing around for reassurance that no one was going to assault her with a camera or a microphone, she stepped out of the car and tested her weight on her sore leg. Confident, she took one step, then stopped and stared. There in the window of the gift shop next door was a pink flier featuring a color photo of a woman beneath the word ‘MISSING’ .
    Kate’s heart took off at a sprint. Without reading further, she knew that the pretty blonde in the picture had to be Trina Cole, Chase’s first wife.
    “They’ve been up all over the islands for a full year.” Jessica spit the words from just behind Kate. “Get used to it.”
    Alarmed by the comment, Kate looked down the sidewalk. A pink rectangle adorned every window on the street. Panic set in. What exactly was she up against here?
    Josh joined her. “Try not to let it bug you.” He opened the door to the dress shop. “At least the wedding people thought ahead.”
    He jutted his chin toward the window next to the open door. A single piece of scotch tape remained with a tiny bit of pink paper sticking to it. The implication was obvious. They had made a hasty and possibly passive-aggressive effort to avoid offending their high-paying customer.
    She forced a wan smile and entered the shop.
    Twenty minutes later, she stood in the fitting room staring at herself in the triptych of full length mirrors. Her gown, which had looked elegant and impressive in the designer’s watercolor rendering, now looked more like a parachute with a chandelier perched on top.
    “It’s really quite exquisite, Miss Jennings.” The woman who had helped her into it bent to spread the train out so Kate could experience the full effect.
    “Do you think so?” Kate frowned. Maybe she just wasn’t used to seeing herself dressed this way, but she felt more like she should being saying “Trick or Treat” than “I do.”
    “Oh, yes.” Standing, the woman assured her. “The shop in San Francisco did an excellent job, and it will hardly need any alterations. You know, those are real Swarovski crystals on the bodice.”
    Kate nodded, as if the significance of that was actually…well, significant . The designer in San Francisco had looked at Kate’s collection of photos clipped from bridal magazines and had come up with this design, tying together the different elements Kate had said she liked. It was a one-of-a-kind, but at the moment that distinction seemed to Kate not to be very impressive.
    “Are you ready for the viewing?” The high pitch of the woman’s voice betrayed an edge of nervousness that would no doubt be quashed only when the sale was finalized.
    “Viewing?” Kate hated feeling ignorant, but she’d never even set foot in a bridal salon before, much less paid attention to their standard protocol.
    “Yes. You know…” The smile in the woman’s eyes melted slightly as she swept an arm toward the door leading out of the small room. “Showing your friends.”
    “Oh. Right.”
    Friends. The thought of parading around in front of Jessica sent her mind into a tiny tizzy, but she wanted Josh to see the dress. She needed some reassurance that she didn’t look ridiculous in it, and she had a feeling she could count on him to be honest.
    She scooped up as much of the skirt as she could in her arms to facilitate walking, and followed the woman out of the room, trying futilely to keep the crystals on the bodice from jingling.
    When