Page 80 of Welcome Home to Ivy Falls

‘I don’t know,’ Tessa confessed. ‘Manny says she’s been extra crabby these last weeks. He even admitted she’s been disappearing from work when they’re supposed to be going over plans for their next season.’ She glanced in the direction of the dressing room. ‘I’ve always been able to read her, but recently she’s put up a wall between us, and I can’t figure out a way to knock it down. It has me very worried.’ She pressed her lips together as the dressing room door squeaked open.

Torran walked toward us and Maisey reached out and squeezed my hand. Silence filled the room as the corners of my eyes burned. My mom would have loved this.

‘Holy shit!’ Maisey crowed. ‘A satin magnolia ballgown with a basque waist and a Regency-inspired neckline. That’s some fucking gown, Tor! Well done.’

It should have been a magical moment, all of us finally seeing the dress she’d selected, but Torran’s face contorted in an unhappy pinch.

‘What’s wrong?’ Tessa jumped to her feet.

Torran’s shoulders slumped. ‘It’s too tight.’

Ms Darcy watched her with caution until the phone rang in the other room and she rushed out to get it.

Torran kept moving around the platform looking like a baby deer just finding her balance. She could be grumpy on occasion, strong-minded, but the way her body folded inward said she was miserable.

It had to be Beck. Did she want to call off the wedding?

My mind did that panicked, frenzied thing where it spun out like an EF5 tornado. I grounded myself in this place. Focused on the trickle of perspiration racing down my back. The way the ceiling fan made a grumpy-old-man kind of groan.

With careful strokes, I moved my fingers over the hummingbird’s wings. Tracing over the head and then down its green belly. Slowly, my breathing returned to normal.

Ms Darcy rushed back into the room and she wasn’t alone. Old Mrs V’s white hair was freshly set. Her signature pink lipstick expertly applied. Baby sat tucked under her arm and gave a small bark hello.

According to Ford, he’d seen Old Mrs V earlier this week in the office and she was feeling better after a few weeks of the new medicine. As she approached the platform where Torran stood, her posture went stiff. Her jaw locked in resolve. Yeah, the woman we all loved, and feared a little, was back.

‘Mrs V, what are you doing here?’ Tessa asked.

‘I come by every once in a while to check in on my old business. And a little birdie,’ she tipped her chin at Ms Darcy, ‘may have whispered that Torran was trying on her dress. Thought I’d come by and see if I could get a sneak peek.’ Her attention returned to Torran. She paced in front of her, the set of her shoulders growing tense. After a minute she let out a low huff. ‘Sweetheart, I spent twenty years putting the women of Ivy Falls into the perfect wedding dress, so please excuse my frankness, but you look damn unhappy in that gown.’

I thought Ms Darcy might be offended but she nodded in agreement.

What color was left in Torran’s cheeks faded. ‘Do you all think that?’

We stayed frozen until Tessa said, ‘Don’t panic. We’ll fix it.’ She turned to Ms Darcy. ‘Can you double-check the paperwork to make sure it’s the right size? That might be the issue.’

Torran patted at her hips. Stared at how her boobs spilled out over the white lace on the bodice. She shook her head and hopped off the platform. Instead of returning to the dressing area, she sprinted into the bathroom, the door slamming shut behind her.

With her lower lip trembling, poor Ms Darcy said, ‘I’m gonna go look at the order.’

Tess jumped up from the chair. ‘I need to find out what’s wrong with Tor.’

‘Please, let me.’ Old Mrs V shoved Baby in my direction and marched toward the bathroom.

Tessa slumped back in the chair, her eyes going watery. ‘This is what I mean. Our entire lives she’s held her worries and fears close to the chest, but in harder moments she’s talked to me.’ She flailed her hand in the direction of the bathroom. ‘But now I have no idea what is happening.’

‘Give her time, Tessa. Torran always does things in her own way.’

She gave me a sad nod as Baby made himself comfortable on my lap.

We all stayed quiet until Maisey said, ‘She looks good, doesn’t she?’

‘Baby?’ Tessa said.

‘No. Old Mrs V. Barb and Susan say she and Silvio are back to having breakfast at Sugar Rush. That she’s getting stronger thanks to the medicine she’s taking for her heart.’

‘You know about her diagnosis?’ I said, fanning myself as the room grew warmer.

‘Yes,’ Maisey replied. ‘She’s been slowly telling friends all over town, knowing word would spread like wildfire.’