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“Hear, hear!” Hadley says.
“Oh, I’m just excited to see you in your dress!” Gwen says.
“Speaking of,” says June, the dress shop owner who looks like the fairy godmother fromShrek. She carries a large garment bag and the girls squeal and circle around June and Edie. I help myself to the unattended champagne bottle.
“Perhaps your maid of honor should help?” June nods at me.
“Actually,” Liza interrupts, a saccharine smile. “I’ve been the acting maid of honor. I’m more familiar with the dress.”
“I’m sure you could both—” Edie starts, but Liza shoots me a sharp look.
“It’s a small fitting room. It would be awfully tight with all three of us.”
Everyone stares at me as my cheeks flush hot.
“Whatever Edie wants,” I say.
Edie twists her lips to the side and then shrugs. I never could understand their friendship. Edie was always so soft andgood. Liza was neither. Not when she tried to teach me how to throw up my lunch at fifteen, and definitely not when I walked in on her fucking my boyfriend.
“I have the other dresses here,” June says, pushing in a silver rack with four dusty rose lace gowns. They seem like they’ll look amazing on Liza. They have a deep, square neckline, a full tea-length skirt with a raw lace edge. I suppose they’re classic and ladylike, but Edie was always more ethereal. I had expected something more dreamy, less structured.
“Here comes the bride!” Liza squeals as the curtains part.
My jaw drops.
Edie looks beautiful. Her dress is long-sleeved lace with a high neck and a ruched waist, making her torso look long and elegant. The train is long and elegant, and the fabric pools around her in a way that reminds me of the way she used to play in Mom’s lace curtains as a child. It’s dreamy and romantic, and I feel my eyes tearing up.
“Faye? Are you okay?” Edie asks.
I bite back tears and nod. “You look beautiful. It’s—”
“Where is the crinoline?” Liza interrupts.
I frown and June shakes her head as Edie’s eyes go round.
“The skirt is just hanging there—”
“It looks perfect,” I say, my voice sharp. “I love it. Do you love it, Edie?”
Edie’s eyes flicker to mine, and the mirror, and her face fills with the biggest smile.
“Oh, look at her face!” Gwen squeals, jumping up onto the raised platform to squeeze her into a hug.
“It’s so beautiful!” Hadley says. “You look like Grace Kelley and Kate Middleton combined!”
“They wish they looked like Edie!” Gwen says with a swoon.
Liza’s eyes cut to mine and there’s a challenge in them. But, reading the room, she smiles and smooths out the lace, cooing over Edie with the others. I don’t understand this conflict between us. It’s been like this for as long as Edie and Dar have been together—so, basically, since we were fifteen and sixteen. Well, if there was a competition, I would say I’ve lost over and over again and I know when to sit out. In fact, I moved two thousand miles away.
“Let’s get these dresses on, bitches!” Hadley says, setting down her drink.
I sigh. This is the part I’ve been dreading. Dresses never fit me right.
The girls find their dresses and take turns gawking at the obscene sizing. I keep to myself and wait for the last dress. When I hold it up, I know it’s wrong.
It’s way too small. There’s no way it’s going to fit one of my breasts, much less both. June is fussing over Edie, clucking at how skinny she is and telling her it’s too late to take it in anymore, while the girls strip down in the corner behind a curtain and complain about how stiff the zippers are. I feel my bottom lip wobble as I hold the dress up and check the size.
16
