Later that week, Cassia met her friends at the dressmaker's. Vivian and Olivia hid themselves behind the curtain of the big change room while Cassia and Janis stood nearby, glasses of champagne in hand.
"I can't believe the wedding is so soon already." Janis sighed and glanced at the ring on her hand. "Then I suppose I'll have to give my own nuptials some consideration."
Cassia laughed. "You sound less than enthusiastic."
"You know I've never been one for planning things."
"So elope."
Janis turned to her, a surprised look on her face. "But then you won't be my maid of honor."
Cassia gave her a wry smile. "I'll learn to live with the disappointment." Her cell phone started to ring and she pulled it out of her pocket. "Oh, it's Carol."
"Ask her where the hell she is." Janis pointed her champagne hand at the phone.
"Hi, Carol. Janis says you're really late."
"I got stuck at work." Carol sounded out of breath. "It's been a nightmare."
"Well, we're all here, waiting on you. Vivian refuses to come out until you're here."
"Is that Carol you're talking to?" The bride-to-be called out from the behind the curtain. "Stop messing with her."
Cassia grinned. "She's really pissed that you're late."
"Cass!" Vivian's tone was scandalized now.
"I'm a few blocks away. There was no parking closer to the shop."
"OK. Hurry up!"
Janis laughed and Cassia joined in after Carol replied with a colorful epithet.
"See you soon." Cassia ended the call and slid her phone back in her pocket.
"She's going to be so annoyed with you."
Cassia shrugged. Carol was usually annoyed about something, all the time. "I'm fine with that."
The curtain jerked aside and Olivia stepped out, leaving Vivian in the change room. "She's almost ready."
"She doesn't need your help now?"
Olivia grabbed a glass of champagne and downed half in one swallow. "She insisted on finishing the veil without me, so I can have the full effect with the rest of you."
They all exchanged a look.
Janis lifted her glass to her lips, her eyes dancing over the rim. "And all this time we thought she'd avoided becoming a bridezilla."
"I heard that!"
They dissolved into laughter, just as Carol hurried into the shop.
"I'm here!" She hurried over and eyed the glasses in their hands. "Are you guys drunk?"
"Not yet!" Olivia poured her a glass and thrust it in Carol's hand. "Time for you to catch up."
Carol wrinkled her nose. "Ugh, I can't stand champagne."
"Just drink it." Cassia lifted her own to her mouth and took a long swallow. It wasn't her drink of choice either, but it was free from the shop, so why not.
Vivian's voice rose through the curtain. "OK. Are you ready?"
"Yes!"
She thrust the curtain aside and stepped out, the biggest smile on her face that Cassia had ever seen.
"Oh wow!" Janis pressed a hand over her mouth. "You look stunning."
Vivian came forward and stepped onto the little platform before the mirrors. "You really think so?"
They all nodded their agreement, cooing and making comments as they surrounded her, fluffing out the skirt and admiring.
"It suits you perfectly, Viv." Olivia brushed some imaginary lint from one side.
"I'm so happy with it."
Cassia lifted her glass in a salute. "Then so are we."
The others echoed their agreement as Vivian turned one way, then the other, checking herself from all angles.
Cassia turned back to fill her glass again and perched on the arm of a nearby sofa, watching her friends. She did love Vivian's dress. It was traditional enough, but the layer of black lace around the bottom half of the skirt was a modern twist that suited Vivian, just as Olivia had said. The veil was light, not heavy enough to obscure her face, and she definitely had the bust to pull off the strapless look.
Her gaze drifted from her group of friends to the row of dresses along the wall behind them. She got to her feet and wandered over, brushing a hand down one plastic covered gown as she sipped her champagne.
She'd never given much thought to what sort of wedding she'd have. All her life, she'd been the least girly of her friends. She'd been more interested in playing games, kicking a ball or tinkering in engines with her dad. Now that she was surrounded by all the white lace, tulle and silk, she still didn't feel a nagging urge to find a man and settle down.
Her thoughts turned to Dylan and the conversations they'd had. He'd talked about his sisters' weddings but never mentioned any of his own opinions on the matter. Not that that should surprise her. Dylan was a normal guy, and most guys couldn't care less about weddings and planning for them. Cassia smiled, sliding to the next dress and looking it over.
"Don't tell me you're planning your own wedding already."
Cassia glanced over her shoulder at Carol. "Mine? No."
"Because you've only been seeing this Dylan for what? A few weeks?"
Cassia frowned and stepped away from the dresses. "So?"
"I was with Brad for two years and he still freaked out about weddings and marriage just because I was talking about Vivian's so much."
"Well, I'm not planning a wedding. I was just looking at the dresses, that's all."
Carol sighed, following her to the little sofa where they both sat down, while Olivia and Janis fussed over Vivian in her dress before them. "You say you're just looking, but I saw the smile on your face."
Cassia downed the last of her glass, wrinkling her nose at the fizzing bubbles. "What smile?"
"The sort of smile you get when you're thinking about the one you like."
"'The one I like'?" Cassia rolled her eyes. "Are we still in high school?"
"Of course not but it doesn't change the smile." Carol crossed her arms over her chest. "You had it on your face the whole night at Vivian and Troy's."
"I did not." Cassia shook her head.
Carol ignored her. "Dylan seems like a nice guy, but you know any guy can seem nice at first. Look at Alex." She paused, her expression darkening. "Look at Brad."
"Dylan is a good guy. He's nothing like Alex, and Brad was a good guy, too, and you know it."
"Yeah, he was good until he wasn't." Carol blew out a breath and fell silent.
Cassia glanced at her out of the corner of her eye. Carol had always been one of her closest friends, but sometimes, she got on these negative skids, and could be really difficult to deal with.
Vivian turned around on the wide podium, smiling at them. "How does it look? Anything need adjusting?"
Cassia shook her head. "I can't tell, Viv. It looks great to me."
The dress shop employee who'd been hovering nearby all evening was moving around Vivian, pinching a bit of material hear and there, but she straightened after a moment. "I think it's perfect, miss. No more adjustments needed."
Vivian clasped her hands together and turned to gaze at herself in the mirror. She let out a deep breath. "I can't believe I'm getting married in less than four weeks."
"It's coming up fast." Olivia nodded in agreement. "But everything is on track. It's going to be a beautiful wedding."
Cassia and Carol stood to join their friends beside Vivian. They all stared into the mirrors, and smiled.
Janis looked up at the bride-to-be. "Vivian, are you crying?"
"I'm fine." Vivian sniffed and wiped her cheek. "I'm just feeling a little nostalgic, I guess. Remember when we cut up your sheets in the fifth grade, and made veils for ourselves?"
They all laughed at the memory.
"My mom was so mad." Janis shook her head. "She made me work in the store for weeks that summer to work off the cost of the sheets."
They fell silent for another moment, memories washing over them. Cassia couldn't help joining in the nostalgia. She loved her friends, negative moments, fancy weddings and all. It seemed like everyone was getting married, and then they'd be having kids before they knew it. Cassia was starting to feel like she was years behind her friends. Most days, she barely felt like an adult, preferring pie and playing with cars to dating.
An image of Dylan's crooked smile flashed through her mind. She turned away from the mirror before any of her friends would notice the color in her cheeks.
"OK, I'm getting hungry." Olivia followed Cassia to the table with the nearly empty bottle of champagne. "Let's have one last toast to Vivian, and then pick a restaurant."
They agreed, holding their glasses out for more. Then they held them up, grinning as Vivian continued to sniffle.
A short while later, they were all out on the sidewalk, walking towards a nearby Greek restaurant called Manie's. During dinner, conversation for once didn't revolve around the wedding. They discussed Vivian and Troy's honeymoon choice and talk turned to all their upcoming vacation plans.
"St. Lucia is going to be amazing." Vivian grinned, leaning her elbows on the table. "It'll be so nice to relax after all the wedding hoopla."
"I can't wait to go to London." Olivia sighed. "I've been dreaming of it for years."
"Will you go to Scotland while you're there?" Cassia sipped her drink, a fruity cocktail she'd never tried before. "Or Wales?"
"We'll only be there for two weeks, so I don't know if we'll have time for all of it." Olivia shrugged. "We'll see once we get there."
"What about you, Carol?" Vivian's smile dimmed. "Are you still going to go to Napa Valley in May?"
Carol frowned. "Probably not. It was meant to be a romantic vacation for two."
"You could change the reservation. Maybe go with your sister, Maya. She likes wine." Janis touched Carol's hand. "You shouldn't cancel everything."
"Maybe. We'll see."
"What are you and Matt going to do this summer, Janis?"
"Oh, I don't know." Janis twisted her glass of wine around on the table. "He was talking about driving to the coast for a few days, maybe visiting his grandparents in Galveston."
"That would be nice." Vivian turned to her with a smile. "A pre-wedding getaway."
