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1
I’d gone on a lot of serious magical missions in the past couple of years. I’d fought battles, searched for spies, confronted the powers that be, and gone undercover in the magical mafia. But none of that had made me as tense as what I faced now: buying a wedding dress.
For one thing, spending as much money for one dress that had extremely limited use as I might for my entire wardrobe for a couple of years was an affront to my practical nature. “I don’t know why we need to do this,” I grumbled in between sips of coffee. “I already have my mother’s dress.”
My friend Gemma placed a hand on my shoulder. “Oh, honey, I’m no friend to you if I let you wear that. Trust me, you’ll find something you love here, something that wasn’t outdated when your mother wore it, and you’ll be able to afford it. Prices at these sample closeout sales are around seventy-five percent off retail.”
“That’s not that big a bargain,” I said. “I’ve seen those retail prices.”
I had to admit that I wasn’t crazy about wearing my mother’s wedding dress. I was just less crazy about paying a year’s worth of rent for a gown that was only good for one thing. Even if I had second thoughts about my mother’s dress, it was too close to the wedding for me to order anything else. A sale like this was my last chance to wear something that didn’t look like Scarlett O’Hara’s worst nightmare because I could take the dress home today.
When Gemma, who works in fashion, told me about this sale, she’d said it was a secret, the kind of thing you had to know someone who knew someone to even be aware of. Apparently, there were a lot of people who knew someone, and they all had a lot of friends who needed designer wedding gowns at steeply discounted prices. And so, I waited with at least five hundred other women on a sidewalk in the garment district before dawn on a Saturday morning.
I supposed this expedition was kind of fun. I was with my friends—not just Gemma, but also my other roommates, Marcia and Nita, as well as my college friend Connie, and my friends from work, Isabel and Trix. We had flasks of coffee and a box of doughnuts, and it was like a slumber party, only instead of staying up late, we got up really early.
Gemma was in charge of the operation, and as the time drew near for the warehouse to open, she drilled us in the battle plan. “Okay, we’re in a good position here. We may not be at the head of the line, but we’re close enough that we should still have a chance at the good dresses. Not everyone here will find something they want to buy, and they won’t all want the same thing as Katie. When they open the doors, there may be a bit of a stampede, so be ready to move with the flow of the crowd, and try not to let anyone behind you pass. Isabel, I want you to block and clear the way for the rest of us.”
Isabel stretched her arms and cracked her knuckles. “Don’t worry, I’ve got you,” she said with a ferocious grin. I was fairly certain that Isabel was part giant. She could probably have carried us all in, tucked under her arms like footballs. I pitied anyone who got in her way.
Gemma continued outlining her game plan. “Once we’re in, we’ll split up to cover more ground.” She handed out diagrams of the warehouse. “I got some inside scoop on how they’ve got it laid out, so here are your quadrants. Katie and I will float, based on what you’ve found.”
She handed out pages full of photos of wedding dresses. “Here are our targets. If you see something like any of these, pull it and signal. Ignore anything outside these parameters.”
“Nothing with too much lace or too poofy, but also nothing super-tight,” I instructed. “Y’all know me, so you probably know what I like.”
“When in doubt, simple and elegant,” Gemma added. “Fortunately, Katie is a pretty average size, so the samples should fit okay with some alteration. We’re prepared to do some quick try-ons on the floor, and we’ll only battle for dressing rooms for those that make the final cut.” Per Gemma’s instructions, I wore leggings and a tank top under my coat, so I could try on dresses over my clothes without having to go to a fitting room. I still wasn’t sure how well that would work, but Gemma generally knew what she was talking about when it came to clothes and shopping, so I’d put myself in her capable hands.
Gemma checked her watch. “Brace yourselves. The doors should be opening at any minute. Everyone knows their assignment? Then, huddle up.”
We grouped in a circle, putting our fists together. “Wedding!” we shouted before breaking the huddle and lining up in formation behind Isabel.
This still seemed a little excessive for buying a dress, I thought. I wondered what Owen would say about eloping. Actually, he’d probably be all for it if it didn’t require him to stand up in front of people. We’d even discussed it, but had realized that too many people we cared about would be hurt if we cut them entirely out of our wedding.
Instead, we were planning two weddings. The legal ceremony would be here in New York, a magical (literally!) event at the Magic, Spells, and Illusions, Inc., headquarters. We were telling our nonmagical friends who weren’t in on the secret of magic that we were just getting the legal marriage at City Hall. A few weeks later, we were having an unofficial “blessing” ceremony at my family’s church back home in Texas. There were too many people in my family who were immune to magic, like I was, but not in on the secret, so they’d notice anything magical going on. Having a “normal” wedding with them in addition to a magical wedding allowed us to accommodate both sides of our lives. It meant a lot of planning, but, on the bright side, I’d get to wear my wedding dress more than once.
There was a stirring ahead in the line, and I got ready, feeling like I was waiting for the starter’s pistol to go off for a race. The crowd surged forward, and I kept close to Isabel’s back as the people behind us pressed against me. Then we were off, running down the sidewalk and squeezing through the still-opening doors.
After making it inside, I found myself in perhaps the least romantic setting for choosing a wedding gown: an old brick warehous
e lit by industrial fluorescent lights hanging on chains from the high ceiling. The floor was filled with rows of garment racks bursting with clouds of white. I couldn’t imagine how anyone would find anything in this place.
But that’s what our scout team was for. The others went out looking for dresses, and my job was to go to them and evaluate what they found. I clung to Gemma’s arm so we wouldn’t get separated in the melee.
And melee it was. All these hundreds of women took their wedding dress shopping very seriously, letting nothing get in their way as they attacked the racks. I wouldn’t have been surprised if there were fistfights before this was done. There seemed to be thousands of dresses here, surely enough for everyone in line. The trick was finding the right one and hoping that a dozen other people hadn’t already claimed it.
“Katie! Over here!” Nita called out, and Gemma and I hurried over.
Nita had two dresses off the rack. Gemma glanced at one and said, “Nope,” then looked at the other and said, “Let’s see.”
I shrugged off my coat, feeling rather exposed in my skimpy clothes, and Gemma and Nita helped me into the dress. It was just a bit too big, but Gemma had clips in her bag to make it fit properly. I wished I could see myself, but there weren’t any mirrors nearby. I’d have to rely on Gemma’s judgment. She studied me for a moment, then shook her head. “Nope.”
I glanced down at myself. “I think it would be okay.”
“Never go with the first one.”
Connie called out from nearby, and Gemma and Nita helped me out of the dress so we could go look at her finds. And then there were more dresses to look at. I wasn’t sure how many I tried on or how long we’d been in the warehouse. Time seemed to have come to a standstill. I existed in a sea of white, cream, and ivory, with no end and no beginning. The dresses somehow all looked the same to me, even when they were vastly different. Gemma had passed three dresses on for final consideration, and we were still searching. I’d given up on having an opinion at this point. I just did as I was told and went with the flow. I figured I’d get my input in the final selection.
As Gemma and I rushed over to Isabel, who held a dress out of reach of someone else who was trying to get it, I heard raised voices nearby—women fighting over a dress.
