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The main door opened and Carter stepped inside. He carried a hanger with a garment wrapped in plastic. He held the bottom part over his other arm to make sure it didn’t drag on the floor. “Hey.” He said it so casually, like he had every right to walk inside a boutique wedding dress shop with a garment over his arm.
“What are you doing here?” I blurted as I put my glass down.
“Nice to see you too, cousin.” Carter hung the bag on the rolling rack. “Conway gave me instructions to bring this.” He rolled his eyes. “He could have sent any of his employees, even his assistant, but he sent me…asshole.”
“He probably wanted to keep it in the family,” Mom said. “And it shows he trusts you more with the job than anyone else.”
Carter rolled his eyes again. “Lucky me.”
“What is it?” I asked.
Carter unzipped the front of the bag, revealing a gorgeous wedding gown that was worthy of a royal princess. Brilliant white with lace sleeves and a tight waistline, it was simple but beautiful. “Conway asked one of the main designers for this place to make Sapphire something special, something that would fit her appearance perfectly. Conway hasn’t seen this. He’s totally in the dark about it.”
“That was so sweet,” Mom said. “Conway is so much like his father that I forget how thoughtful he is.”
“I’m still in shock,” I said. “I didn’t think Conway had a soft bone in his body.”
“When it comes to Sapphire, he does,” Carter said. “So, where is the bride?”
Sapphire came out in the white cotton robe. “Here I am.” She looked at the gown as Carter removed the plastic covering. “Oh my god…”
Carter pulled a note out of his pocket and handed it to her. “He asked me to give you this.”
Sapphire opened the note and started to read.
“Out loud,” I said.
Sapphire started speaking. “I want you to have a one-of-a-kind dress, so I asked a good friend of mine to make you something as stunning as you are. If you don’t like it, you don’t have to wear it. I don’t even know what it looks like, so I’ll never know if you decided not to wear it. Just think about it. Love, Conway. PS: I’ll still design…” Sapphire’s voice faded away. “Yeah, that’s about it.”
I suspected I knew what that last part said, that Conway told her he would design the lingerie she would be wearing that night. Even though she stopped talking, I was disgusted.
Mom was better at hiding her discomfort. “Try it on.”
“Yeah,” Carter said. “I want to see my hard work pay off.”
“You drove for ten minutes,” I said sarcastically. “Not that difficult.”
“Hey, I live fifteen minutes outside the city,” Carter said. “So I drove into town and then had to pick up the dress and then had to come here—”
Mom shattered our argument the way she did with Conway and me when we were growing up. “Sapphire, put it on.”
Sapphire walked into the changing room, put on the gown, and then returned to the pedestal in the center of the mirrors. Of course, it fit her perfectly, as if Conway gave the designer her measurements along with the baby bump. With intricate jewels and unparalleled beauty, it was the kind of wedding dress every woman dreamed of wearing. She stared at herself in the mirror, her blue eyes looking at herself appreciatively.
“So?” Mom asked, unable to keep the hope out of her voice.
Even Carter nodded in approval, despite the fact that he didn’t know anything about wedding dresses. “I think Conway would like that…”
I kept my opinion to myself, not wanting to influence her decision about her own gown. But I definitely loved it, and I loved that my brother loved her so much when she wasn’t even his wife yet. I’d never seen him be sweet or thoughtful with anyone, not even a girlfriend. Like my dad, Conway was quiet and cold almost all the time. But when I saw him with Sapphire, I saw much better qualities rise to the surface.
Sapphire looked down at herself before she looked in the mirror again. “This is the one.”
“Oh, thank god,” I said. “Because if you didn’t want it, I was gonna take it.”
Mom came to her side and fixed the bottom part of her dress, making sure it stayed fluffed out. “It’s perfect for you. Conway won’t be able to take his eyes off you.” She pulled out her phone and handed it to me. “Sweetheart, could you take a picture of us?”
Sapphire’s eyes softened, like my mother’s affection meant more to her than she could articulate. She told me she felt alone since she didn’t have any family left. Conway was the closest thing she had, and now that she had all of us, she felt like she had a family.
