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CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  A week later, Tess and Sally were busy unpacking bridesmaids’ dresses from another big box that had arrived that afternoon.

  “Look at this one.” Sally held a gorgeous silk gown against her waist.

  It was the most amazing aqua blue color Tess had ever seen. “It looks wonderful with your hair and eyes.”

  “It’s a pity no one’s getting married, otherwise I’d be tempted to borrow it for the wedding. That’s if I get asked to be a bridesmaid again.”

  Annie’s head appeared from under the table. She’d been looking for a button that had popped off a dress. “Tess is closer than any of us to saying, ‘I do.’ Just don’t mention Logan’s name. He’s not in her good books at the moment.”

  “Why not?” Sally asked.

  Annie wiggled out from under the table. “He hasn’t called her for four days,” she whispered. “She’s worried about him.”

  Tess pulled another dress out of the box. This one was the same color as the dress in Sally’s hands, but a different style. “He’s gone back to the village where Abiba and the children and soldiers died.” She tried to sound as though it wasn’t a big deal, but it was. Logan had been told that the Taliban had left the village. Some people had moved back home, others hadn’t.

  What worried her the most was what the Taliban might have left behind. She’d read terrible stories on the Internet about crudely constructed bombs they planted in the ground. They’d killed and badly injured a lot of people and Tess didn’t want Logan to be one of them.

  Sally hung her dress on a hanger and put it on the metal bar Dylan had rigged in Tess’ living room. “You’re running out of space.”

  Tess stared at the dresses hanging in color-coordinated groups in the room. If it wasn’t her living room, it would have been a pretty sight. The rainbow of silk and satin glistened in the sunlight streaming through the big picture windows. It was theatrical, exotic and so much of everything they’d wanted to do for Connie and other brides.

  Over the last few nights when she couldn’t sleep, Tess had sat in her living room, surrounded by the dresses. Each one represented someone’s hopes and dreams for a wonderful future. A future two people had chosen to live together. She imagined all of the happy vibes, the love and excitement that had gone into making each of their weddings special.

  It made her feel proud of what she’d achieved with Sally, Annie, and Molly. It made the absence of Logan easier to bear. But this week, with no phone calls from him, it had been impossible to find comfort in anything.

  She’d been grumpy and moody and so worried that she didn’t know how she was going to get through the next few days.

  Annie gave her a hug. “Logan will be okay.”

  “I hope so,” she sighed.

  Sally opened the next box and smiled. “We’ll be able to diversify. Look at this…” she pulled a white organza and satin dress out of the box. The skirt puffed out like the kind of dress a princess might wear. With its beaded bodice and short, lacy sleeves, it was super cute and way too big for the space they had available.

  “How many brides’ dresses does that make?” Sally asked.

  Annie looked at the inventory list she had in her hands. “Six. We’ve got ten veils and eleven tiaras as well.”

  Sally laid the dress over the back of the sofa. “That’s another eight dresses that Molly has to photograph.”

  Annie lifted a box of letters onto the coffee table. “It’s time to make a lot of brides’ dreams come true.”

  “How are we going to do this?” Tess asked.

  Sally looked at the envelopes. “We need to give a lot of dresses away. What if we randomly pick one letter each? When Molly arrives, she can choose one too. That will be four potential bridal parties taken care of in one go.”

  Annie nodded. “Sounds like a good idea to me. What do you think, Tess?”

  “Makes sense to me. Who’s going first?”

  All three girls looked at each other. Sally was the first to step forward. “I’ll do it. There’s got to be some perks to being the shortest in the room.” She looked in the box and moved the envelopes around.

  “Don’t take all night,” Annie groaned. “Just pick one.”

  Sally frowned at the envelopes. “This is serious business. Some of the people have taken a lot of time to make their letters look pretty. Look at this one.” She pulled a big red envelope out of the box. Someone had stuck little pink love hearts on the outside. Glittery jewels had been clumped together like flowers and a picture of a big yellow sun sat behind fluffy white clouds. “Isn’t this sweet. I bet you a little girl sent this. Look at the handwriting. She’s got to be no more than eight years old.”

  “And you thought being a school teacher wouldn’t be an advantage in The Bridesmaids Club.” Annie moved across to the box. “So that’s your choice?”

  Sally shook her head. “I was just pointing out the pretty envelope.” She bit her bottom lip and ran her hand over the other letters.

  Annie sat down on the sofa. “This is going to be a long night.”

  Sally dipped her hand into the box and spent another few minutes looking at the envelopes.

  “This is painful to watch,” Annie muttered. “Can’t you go any faster? I’ve got bowling practice in half an hour.

  Sally rolled her eyes. “Impulsive and impatient. You’ve got all of the ‘i’ words covered nicely.”

  “I’d prefer to be irresistible and awesome.”

  “Awesome doesn’t start with the letter ‘i’.” Sally kept dipping her hand in the pile of letters.

  “You’re stalling,” Annie said. “And just for the record I know awesome starts with ‘a’. I was making sure you hadn’t gone to sleep.”

  Sally laughed and pulled an envelope from the box. “We have a winner.”

  “Hallelujah,” Annie cried. “My turn.” She jumped off the sofa and searched through the envelopes.

  “Look who’s taking their time now.” Sally laughed. “You’re as bad as I am.”

  “Not quite,” Annie said with a smile. She pulled her hand out of the box and held up the red envelope Sally had discarded. “I’ve got a good feeling about this one. Your turn, Tess.”

  Tess put her hand in the box and pulled out the first envelope she touched. “Done.”

  “Open yours first,” Annie said to Tess.

  She looked down at the envelope and smiled. “Definitely an adult’s handwriting. Practical, down to earth and a perfectionist.”

  “You can tell all of that from the outside of the envelope?” Sally laughed.

  Tess turned the envelope around. “Not one frilly letter in sight. The text is straight up and down. They took their time to write the address in neat straight lines. And then there’s the stamp.”

  Annie leaned forward. “What’s wrong with the stamp?”

  “It’s perfectly lined up with the top and side of the envelope. It’s been stuck down as straight as an arrow. Only someone who appreciates perfection could have mailed this envelope.”

  “So if they’re looking for perfection, why do they want secondhand dresses?”

  Tess picked up the knife they’d been using to open the boxes. “Let’s find out.” She slid the blade along the top of the envelope and pulled the letter out. “The dresses aren’t for Sophie, the letter writer, they’re for her sister. The wedding is in four weeks’ time and they don’t have a lot of money. There are two bridesmaids, perfectionist sister included.”

  “What are their names?” Annie asked.

  “The bride is Julie. Her sister Sophie and friend Margaret are the bridesmaids.”

  Sally picked up the knife. “So we can make Julie’s wish come true?”

  “I don’t see why not,” Tess said. “I’ll call them tomorrow.”

  Sally took the letter out of her envelope and smiled. “This is from a seventeen-year-old bride-to-be. Her name is Holly. She’s getting married in two months’ time.” Sally kept reading. “She sounds li
ke a nice kid. She’s sent us a photo of her family.” She handed Tess the photo.

  “Wow. No wonder she needs our help.” Tess counted the number of young women. “Which one is Holly?”

  Sally re-read the letter. “First on the left.”

  Annie leaned over Tess’ shoulder. “Wow. Who has six sisters nowadays?”

  “They even look alike.” Tess focused on the smiling faces. Holly’s sisters looked as though they were between twenty and thirty years old. “She must be the youngest daughter. Imagine trying to use the bathroom in the morning. It would be a nightmare.”

  “You can say that again.” Sally put the letter back in the envelope. “Are we happy to make Holly’s dreams come true?”

  “Definitely,” Annie said. “Anyone with that many sisters deserves all the help they can get. I wonder if she needs a wedding dress?”

  Sally took the photo that Tess held out to her. “I’ll ask her.”

  Tess nodded. “Good idea. We need to make some room in here otherwise I’m not going to be able to move. What about your envelope, Annie. Are you still sticking with the child theory?”

  Annie waved the envelope in the air. “Of course. This one is going to be special.” Sally passed her the knife and Annie carefully split the envelope open and pulled out a card. “What did I tell you?”

  She held the card up so that Tess and Sally could see the picture on the outside. “Who could resist a crayon drawing of a bride?”

  “Not you.” Tess moved closer to Annie. “What does it say?”

  Annie opened the card and frowned. “Dear Bridesmaids Club. Can you please help my daddy find a bride?”

  Tess looked down at the card. “It’s from someone called, Bella.”

  Annie turned the envelope over. “There’s no return address or last name.”

  “What about the postmark?” Sally asked. “Do they still mention the name of the city the letter was mailed from?”

  Annie peered at the front of the envelope. “It looks as though it came from Bozeman. That narrows our search down to forty thousand people.”

  “Less if we limit the search to girls under the age of ten,” Tess added.

  “That’s if Bella is less than ten-years-old. She might have handwriting that looks younger than she is.” Sally looked at the card again. “Although I don’t think she would be older than ten. The picture could have been drawn by any of the girls in my class.”

  Annie left the card on the coffee table. “Bella can be our mystery person. I’ll see if I can limit the search for her somehow.”

  “I wonder who her daddy is?” Tess walked across to the kitchen. “Does anyone want something hot to drink?”

  “Not for me,” Annie said as she grabbed her bag off the floor. “I’m late for bowling. I’ll see you tomorrow at the café. Bye, Sally.”

  “Don’t forget to bring your bowling ball to school tomorrow. My class is looking forward to your show and tell time.”

  “I couldn’t forget it if I tried. You’ve reminded me every day for the last week.” Annie glanced quickly at Tess, then pulled Sally across to the back door with her. “I’ll let you know how Tess is tomorrow,” she whispered. “Maybe we could go to the movies if she still hasn’t heard from Logan?”

  “Okay, but I get to choose the movie. I’m not going to one of your foreign arty ones again.”

  Annie laughed. “It’s a deal. I’ll see you at school tomorrow. Two o’clock sharp. Bye.”

  Tess turned and smiled at Sally. “I’ve got coffee, hot chocolate, or herbal tea. What would you like?”

  “A glass of cold water suits me fine. Now tell me what’s really going on between you and Logan?”

  Tess got a glass out of the pantry and turned the faucet on. “Not a lot. I can’t get hold of him and I don’t know when he’s coming home.”

  “How long did he say he’d be gone for?”

  Tess put the glass of water in front of Sally. “A couple of weeks. He’s going to visit some friends in London before he comes home.”

  “Sounds like you’ll have a lot to talk about when he gets back.”

  “I hope so.” Tess looked around the room. “Molly will be here soon. What if we finish unpacking the boxes, then see which ones we can photograph tonight?”

  Sally walked across to the first dress she’d unpacked. “This one will be okay after we use your steamer on it. There’s hardly a wrinkle in the silk.”

  “Are you sure you don’t want to put it aside for yourself?” Tess asked.

  Sally looked at her with a cheeky grin on her face. “Only if you’re planning on getting married?”

  Tess shook her head. “I can’t see that happening. I’ll be lucky if Logan wants to keep living in Bozeman when he gets back. He might decide it’s too quiet here.”

  “Or he might decide it’s perfect,” Sally added. “Now go and get your steamer. I’m really looking forward to being photographed in this dress.”

  Tess didn’t share Sally’s optimism about Logan. He’d come to Montana to get away from what had happened in Afghanistan. Now that he knew the truth about Abiba, he’d be gone again. Bozeman wasn’t exactly action central and Logan would want more than Montana could offer.

  More than she could give.