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“Where’s Dani?”
“She is all set up in the changing room.” Sybil motioned to the row of rooms, one of which had a curtain drawn closed.
“The bride would like to try this one on. Do you have any more like it?” Pippa asked.
“Oh, yes. I have something I think will be perfect. I just got it in, uh, in off the display, I mean.” Sybil disappeared into the back room.
Brynn’s brows drew together suspiciously. She set her glass of champagne down on the coffee table by the lounge sofa and made her way to the changing room to check on Dani.
“How is it coming, sweetheart?”
Dani opened the curtain and walked out. She’d chosen a pale pink dress with a sweetheart neckline and a poufy skirt much like the one Brynn was interested in.
Brynn covered her mouth as tears sprang to her eyes at the beaming smile lighting up her child’s face. “Gorgeous.”
“You look like a princess,” Pippa added, sitting in the overstuffed chair beside the dressing rooms.
“All she needs is a crown. I think I saw some by the front, let’s go choose one.” Charli reached out her hand to Dani as Sybil returned with a mass of white in her hands.
“Here you go. Why don’t you try this on and we can go from there?” Sybil hung it in the dressing room next to the one Dani had exited.
Brynn entered the cubicle and closed the curtain. She slipped off her clothes, her eyes staying glued to the wedding gown before her. She pulled it off the hanger and stepped into it, dragging the lace sleeves over her arms. They reached all the way to her wrist, and the detail was different than the one at the front of the store. The solid material that covered her breasts and stomach had the same heart shape as her daughter’s dress, though it, too, was covered by the lace and fitted to her body. The waist had a sparkly belt of crystals wrapping around to the back, and the chiffon skirt pooled out like the one Cinderella wore to the ball.
“Do you need help doing up the back?” Sybil asked from outside the curtain.
Brynn jumped and released a deep breath to ease her racing heart. “Can you send Pippa in?”
A moment later the material door swished aside as Pippa walked in.
“Can you do up the buttons in the back? I don’t want . . . any questions,” Brynn confessed.
Pippa blinked. “Of course.”
Brynn spun around and closed her eyes so she didn’t have to see Pippa’s reaction to the scars on her back in the reflection of the mirror.
After a small gasp and a momentary pause, Pippa began fastening the buttons. “Looks like it’s exactly your size, too, just a little long.”
After the last button was done up, Brynn turned around, emotion welling in her eyes. “Thank you.”
Her gratitude was for far more than doing up her dress. Pippa had given her a job under the table, she’d been a listening ear, a protector of Dani, and a friend when Brynn had needed one most.
“Always. Let’s go show everyone how stunning you look. I think this might just be the one.” Pippa smiled affectionately before leading her out of the room.
Charli and Dani had returned, and even Sybil waited nearby.
“Oh my God! That’s perfect,” Charli squealed.
“Mom, you have to pick that one,” Dani agreed.
“There’s a full-length mirror over here.” Sybil directed her to a circular stage with a step in the middle.
Brynn lifted the dress and got herself situated in the center before smoothing it out. She looked up for the first time into the reflection and gasped. The dress was gorgeous. And was that her in the mirror? She ran a hand over her face, then down her bottle-dyed brown hair that she’d sheared off to sit just above her shoulders after they’d escaped.
“I’m beautiful.” Tears blurred the image before memories of the first time she’d put on a wedding dress ran through her mind.
Miriam pressed her hand over the scratchy white fabric, smoothing it over her waist. Her mother tightened the last button, cinching it around her neck like a noose. Miriam swallowed as her mind raced and her heart thudded in her ears. Nerves and fear twisted her belly, making her want to throw up. She cast a glance at her younger sister, Brynna, who watched on with wide scared eyes. It would be her next.
“Can’t we wait a little longer, Mother?” Brynna asked.
