Blissed (Misfit Brides #1) (4 page)

Nat cleared her throat. “So you need a dress.”

“No, I—” Gabby started.

“Yes,” Jeremy interrupted. “She needs a dress.”

Natalie suppressed a smile. She’d grown up here in the boutique, and while it was unusual, this wasn’t the first time she’d seen a man have to insist that his bride get the dress of her dreams. Knowing what she did about Gabby and Jeremy, Nat guessed cost was an issue. Gabby was finishing school and working part-time down the street at Indulge, Bliss’s premiere chocolatier, and Jeremy worked as many shifts at Suckers as he could pick up.

“We give a good family and friends discount,” Natalie said. She reached for a stack of catalogs on the shelf behind the pressed-wood desk. “Peek through these. See what jumps out at you. We’re cutting it close for a June wedding, but we’ll make sure you get your dress.”

Gabby’s smile drooped until any hint of bridal exuberance evaporated from the room. “I’m not good at this kind of thing.”

Jeremy took the catalogs from Natalie and put them on the desk. “Her grandmother was making her dress.”

Was
.

Natalie knew all about
was
. Her eyes subconsciously drifted toward the front of the shop, where her mother had collapsed right beside the checkout counter. That was Natalie’s
was
.

“I’m so sorry,” she murmured to Gabby. “I hadn’t heard.”

“Can you finish it?” Jeremy asked.

Gabby’s head jerked toward him. Her face scrunched up, her cheeks and nose went from pink to fuchsia, and her upper lip twisted. “I don't need a dress to get married,” she said.

Nat’s chest constricted.

Jeremy pulled a beat-up point-and-shoot digital camera from the pocket of his Levi’s and handed it to Natalie.

“Jeremy,” Gabby whispered.

“You deserve your dress.”

“We can’t afford it.”

“We’ll make it work.”

“It’s just a dress.”

Jeremy didn’t answer, just stared at her with an intensity that made Nat shiver. His mouth didn’t move, but he was saying something to Gabby. Something deeper than words.

Natalie diverted her gaze and occupied herself with looking at the pictures on the camera. The dress was far from complete, but it was pinned well enough for Natalie to see it wasn’t complicated. She imagined it was supposed to be a simple, old-fashioned, 1940’s era dress—probably similar to what Gabby’s grandmother had worn on her own wedding day.

Before Natalie’s mom died, Nat had quietly taken the occasional major modification and from-scratch jobs for out-of-town brides. Their secret, Mom had called it. A way for Natalie to use that fashion design degree her parents had paid for. Mom’s way of trying to give Natalie her full dream. 

The last few months, without her mom as a buffer between the indignity of Natalie’s divorcée status and the Queen General’s rules of Bliss propriety, Nat had mostly done her best to keep a low profile. And that had included closing the door on her secret favorite projects.

Not making waves so she could last on The Aisle long enough to finish Mom’s work on the Games. Or trying, anyway.

But this—making Gabby’s dress—this could be her last chance to connect her name to anything in her hometown.

“Your Nana would want you to have the dress,” Jeremy said.

Gabby swiped the back of her hand over her eyes. “I have you. That’s worth a million dresses.”

“If I can’t give you your Nana at our wedding, I’m going to give you the dress she wanted you to have.” He pinned Natalie with a dark-eyed, silent order. “Can you do it?”

“Jeremy,” Gabby said again. “We can’t afford it.”

“Nat?”

“She’s busy,” Gabby said. “We can’t ask her to take this on too.”

Natalie had the boutique to keep afloat. The Games to plan. Noah to keep fed and clothed—and she liked to see him on occasion too. She did
not
have time to take on another project. Especially if there was any chance of the Queen General hearing. Gabby and Jeremy weren’t Aisle people, but they were one of the success stories from the last bachelor auction, which would put them on the QG’s radar. Natalie could be accused of sewing divorce cooties into Gabby’s wedding dress. Wouldn’t that be fun? She was hanging by a frayed thread here already.

Jeremy had one giant arm tucked around Gabby, who was watching Natalie as though she held the key to giving her back her grandmother.

Natalie was leaving Bliss. She might as well leave with a bang.

“Of course,” she said to Jeremy. Because if she looked at Gabby again, she’d see herself in those first few days and weeks after Mom passed away, lost and sad and angry, but Gabby had something else.

She had a future with a man who loved her. She had hope.

Natalie swallowed hard. “Bring me everything you have.”

“Really?” Gabby whispered.

“For my favorite couple? Absolutely.”

Gabby tackled her with a hug. “We’ll repay you for this,” she said, her voice wavery and watery. “Thank you. Thank you so much.”

“I got you covered, Nat,” Jeremy said.

Natalie squeezed Gabby back. “Not necessary,” she said.

Because nice as a little extra cash might be—especially given the state of Bliss Bridal’s financials and a few things she’d done for the Games—having friends who trusted their wedding dress to her was worth so much more.

A
FTER JEREMY AND GABBY left, Natalie checked that everything was running smoothly—if a bit slowly—out on the showroom floor and upstairs. Then she tucked herself into the office to answer the most vital Husband Games e-mails—one from the farmer in charge of the sunflower field, the other from the web design company that was setting up the voting page for one of the Husband Games events. The rest she saved for after Noah was in bed tonight, and she set to work on payroll.

Thirty minutes later, she needed a Tylenol. An hour after that, she wanted a whiskey sour, but since she was shaving her own salary down to the bare minimum to pay the rest of the employees, she couldn’t afford a drink, much less the cash she owed Noah’s college fund.

If sales didn’t pick up, they wouldn’t make it to Knot Fest. And she didn’t know how she’d tell Dad.

Mom had been the primary force behind everything at the boutique. Dad had been on hand during busy times when Mom needed him. He was fabulous at convincing brides they looked beautiful in their gowns, and he’d supported whatever Mom needed supporting in her various Knot Fest and Bridal Retailers Association commitments. But mostly, he’d taken care of Natalie and Lindsey while Mom kept the boutique running.

Natalie pushed aside the keyboard and rested her forehead on the pressed-wood desk. She’d grown up watching her mother work at her grandmother’s classy antique walnut desk in this room, but the flood had taken it too.

In some ways, it was nice, how much the flood had taken. How much had changed. When Natalie left her hometown after Knot Fest for whatever the future held for her and Noah, it wouldn’t be the same town she grew up in.

Maybe she would miss it less.

Or maybe all her happy memories would be swallowed by the last six months. If today were any indication, the next two months would only be harder.

Knot Fest crunch time.

She also had to find the time to make Gabby’s wedding dress and somehow keep Bliss Bridal in the black.

Discover the key to invisibility so she wouldn’t have any more run-ins with CJ Blue. 

Even if by some miracle CJ resisted the QG’s mind control and left town, Nat would still have the memories of today’s mortification.
That
was enough to last another five years.

The worst part was, until she’d known who he was—when she’d thought she was talking to one of the normal wedding guests—she’d thought he was a semi-decent guy.

Not only was she a fool, she was a fool who kept repeating her own mistakes.

“Are you a princess?”

The little voice out on the shop floor startled her. The shop girls and the bride-to-be giggled and oohed and aahed over Natalie’s little minion. He was back from his playday with Grandpa, and he was working his magic. She straightened and pulled the keyboard back to its place. Her dad poked his head into the office.

In his prime, Arthur Castellano had been just shy of six feet tall, with thick, jet-black hair and a hooked nose. He’d lost a couple of inches in height as he’d aged, and his thinning hair was closer to salt than pepper these days. Since Mom died, there was a light missing in his eyes. “That’s my princess, always working too hard,” he said.

Natalie tried to smile, but she’d used up her faking-it quota already today.

“Someday I’m going to marry a girl as pretty as you,” Noah said, still out on the floor, “and then”—Natalie didn’t have to see him to know he’d be leaning forward, holding his arms out while his dark hair fell in his eyes—“I’m going to
kiss
her.”

He was the perfection in Natalie’s life. The absolute perfection.

Over another chorus of squeals and
aww
s, Dad chuckled. “Gonna have to give that kid a commission.”

Natalie’s heart hiccupped. He’d said the same thing about her at that age, and look how she turned out. “Darn child labor laws,” she said. “You two have a nice afternoon?”

“We went to that indoor fun center over in Willow Glen.”

“Bet Noah loved that. Did Lindsey go?” Lindsey, her older sister, lived and worked in the trendy little city half an hour away. Close enough to visit, far enough to not violate the Queen General’s
No Divorce Attorneys Allowed
edict.

Both the Castellano girls loved following the conventions of their hometown.

Dad’s lips slanted down before he shook his head. “She’s working.”

No big surprise there.

Dad jerked a thumb out toward Noah’s voice. “Tell you what, that little guy takes after his grandpa. Should’ve seen him in the batting cages.”

“He hit a ball?”

“Nah, not just yet. But he’s got a good swing in him.” He bent to sit in the corner chair and let out an old man grunt. “Looks like business is good today.”

Natalie hid a wince. “Mm-hmm.” She fiddled with the mouse, debating the wisdom of showing him the payroll. He hadn’t double-checked her work since Christmas, said he trusted her, but sooner or later, she needed to tell him the truth.

That she was failing Mom—and him—one more time.

Another round of titters erupted out in the shop. “I like the sparkly one!” Noah said.

Nat’s breath caught. She’d let him down too. She started to stand. “I should rescue the customers.”

“Let the girls watch him a minute.” Dad reached over to push the door mostly closed. His eyes took on a glossy sheen. “Been thinking a lot about the shop lately. ’Bout the future.”

Natalie’s chest squeezed and her legs gave a shudder. She gripped the seat of the folding chair that served as the desk chair and lowered herself back into it, slowly licking her lips. She’d known this was coming.

But did it have to come today? “Yeah?”

“Really become obvious lately I can’t do this forever.” His self-deprecating chuckle boomed louder in Natalie’s ears than it should’ve. “Guess I haven’t been doing it anyway the last few months. Probably longer, but I suppose you’ve figured that out.”

“Dad—”

“No, no, it’s the truth. But you’ve impressed me. Made this a whole lot easier, to be honest. Your mother was always proud of both you girls, but she’d be glowing to see what you’ve done since she’s been gone.” His voice cracked. He pulled his glasses off and wiped his eyes on the sleeve of his shirt.

It was hard enough to breathe past the lump in her throat, but Natalie’s heart was stuck somewhere between swelling and twisting, adding an extra pressure in her chest. 

She hadn’t done anything near as well as she’d let him think she had. And he had a point. If they were selling, they needed to do it now, while the shop was still worth something.

How would she keep the Games afloat then? “Dad, it’s okay. I know.”

“It’s not just the shop.” He was still talking to the floor. “I know it’s not easy on the committee, but you’ve shown them all that you belong here despite your circumstances. I’m proud of you, honey. Real proud of you.”

He was proud of her for being a fraud. She didn’t fit in on The Aisle. She didn’t fit in with the Knot Fest committee. She pretended she did for him. So he wouldn’t worry over her. So he wouldn’t worry over the Games. So he wouldn’t worry over the boutique.

Dad drew a shuddery breath. “And that’s why I want you to have the shop.”

Natalie bolted so straight her neck popped. “I—you—
what?
”

No. No. He wouldn’t be this cruel. He wouldn’t offer her the one thing she couldn’t keep. Not today.

She’d failed her parents enough already. She wouldn’t run her mother’s boutique into bankruptcy too. Not when they could sell it while it was still worth something.

He gave her a sideways glance. “After all you’ve done the last few months, I know it’s what your mother would’ve wanted. Fourth generation in the family boutique business. You’ve earned it, honey. Figure it’s about time I get out of your way.”

The room was shrinking. It was shrinking, and it felt like someone had taken blowtorches to Natalie’s ears. “
Now?
”

He gave the floor a halfhearted smile. “I know. Should’ve done it months ago. Truth is, I wasn’t ready to face retirement. Thought I’d have your mother here with me when the time came. Everything we thought we’d do—” He shook his head. “Doesn’t matter. What matters is, the boutique is yours.”

“But—”

“Now, don’t worry about Lindsey. I’m heading over to talk to her tomorrow. See who she’d recommend to draw up the paperwork.”

Worry about
Lindsey?
Natalie was stuck on the part where Dad thought she could own the shop. His delusions were sweet, but they couldn’t fix Bliss, and they couldn’t magically keep the shop profitable.

Not as long as Marilyn Elias ran the town. “Dad, listen—”

“Lindsey’s a logical kind of gal. Got her own thing, doesn’t want the family business. We’ve always known that. But we’ll work it out if she has any concerns.”