Special Order Groom Page 6

  Crystal eyed the “blushing bride.” Mitch’s little sister was dressed in blue-jeans cutoffs that bared more cheek than necessary, and a silver foil spaghetti-strap shirt. She had a rose tattoo just under her collarbone, and a gold stud earring through her bottom lip. Hair the color of ripe raspberries flew in a mousse-thick shock away from her face and ended at her chin.

  “I can see that the two of you might occasionally have a difference in opinion,” Crystal said carefully.

  “But it’s cool of him to ask you to help me, Crystal. He’s the only one who seems to understand that I am going to marry my fiancé. My parents won’t even acknowledge my engagement ring.” She held up a hand, showing a silver braid on her finger.

  “It’s pretty.” Crystal shied away from family comments and decided to stick to the issue of dress, a topic that, for once, she felt unprepared for. She knew how to make women into gorgeous, fairy-tale brides. Whether she had anything in her shop that would fit Genie’s idea of happily-ever-after fashion she wasn’t certain. “Let’s find a dress to go with your lovely ring.”

  “Okay.”

  Genie hopped up to follow Crystal, and Crystal noticed a silver toe ring on Genie’s bare foot that matched the ring on her finger. Slight envy curled through Crystal, surprising her. She wasn’t exactly a toe-ring kind of girl. Maybe it was the spontaneous, free attitude the ring represented. “Do you have an idea of what you want?”

  “Not really.” Genie looked like a sorbet-haired elf amid all the frothy long wedding gowns and veils. “Maybe you could show me something you would like.”

  “Something I…” Crystal’s voice trailed off. She’d never stood in her store and imagined a gown on herself, she realized with a pang. After a while, the lovely finery seemed pretty much the same. She ordered and selected what she knew the brides of Lover’s Valley would find beautiful. Her reputation for creating a dream-come-true look brought hopeful brides to her shop from as far away as Oklahoma City.

  But she’d never imagined a gown for herself. Getting married was a stressed-out affair, and she’d dressed enough brides to know it.

  No, she had never locked the shop for the night, turned the lights in the main salon low and held gowns up to herself in front of a mirror. Once, a long time ago, she’d spent weeks choosing just the right prom dress and…it still hung in the attic in her family home, never danced in.

  She frowned. Genie would be a challenge. “You’re not as tall as me,” she said, considering the delicate woman.

  “Nope,” Genie concurred cheerfully.

  “You’re quite tiny, actually,” Crystal noted. “Petite.”

  “Right.”

  A great deal more willowy than her well-built brother, Crystal thought, before she quashed the memory of just how well-built Mitch had been even in high school. She swallowed, walking through her salon, lifting sleeves of gowns to consider the styles. “White?” she asked, realizing this could be an issue.

  “Got any black? It would sure go better with my hair and not wash me out,” Genie said hopefully.

  Crystal let her breath out. Genie was right. White would make her ultra-porcelain features stand out terribly. And while raspberry-hued tresses and a lip ring weren’t her choice of adornment, they were Genie’s, and she needed to find a way to complement her. “I know this may sound totally way out, but it would not be terribly difficult to find a maid of honor gown in black. The color is very stylish now.”

  “Oh, good.” Genie’s amethyst eyes lit up. “I think that would be much more me.”

  “What would you think about a short dress, which wouldn’t be so overwhelming to your frame, and perhaps a large bouquet of elegant white flowers to soften the effect?”

  Genie clasped her hands. “Crystal, it sounds perfect!”

  This was going better than she’d hoped. The joy of finding the just-right combination to please her customer flushed through her veins as it always did when everything fell into place. “Come into a dressing room back here. I’ll bring a couple of dresses for you to try so we can get the feel of the best silhouette for you, and then we’ll look through some catalogs. And my shoes are probably too big for you, but you can slip into them so we can get a better idea of how the gowns would look,” she said, thinking of the Birkenstock sandals Genie had left in the outer room.

  “I’m getting so excited!” Genie flashed to a dressing room to do her bidding. Crystal chose two short styles, one off-white because she didn’t have it in black, and one in black that she knew would flatter Genie’s small frame.

  “It is exciting,” she called absently. “That’s the way marriage should be.”

  “Did you know my parents don’t like my fiancé?”

  Crystal’s fingers stilled on the dress hooks she’d slid over the dressing room door. She didn’t know what to say.

  “I’ve been wondering if I’m just being radical,” Genie confided. “I’m excited, but the other day I looked at myself in the mirror. I saw pink hair, a lip ring and a tattoo. I’ve always been kind of a rebel, you know?”

  Crystal cleared her throat. “I suppose I’m just the opposite.”

  “Mitch says it’s a by-product of being the baby in the family. He says I’m spoiled.”

  “Oh, my,” Crystal murmured. “I’m sure you’d know whether you’re in love. They say…I mean, I’ve heard it’s like nothing else in the world.” Her fingers twined together as embarrassment crept over her. Who was she to be handing out advice on love? This was an impossible assignment she’d agreed to. She couldn’t counsel the sister of the one man she’d ever been wildly, innocently in love with.

  A zipper rasped and Crystal stepped away from the door. “I’ll wait for you in the outer salon.”

  “Okay.”

  Crystal breathed a sigh of relief and went into the main salon to wait.

  The shop door swung open, sending the bells on the white velvet cord tinkling. Barney, Linc and Frankie strolled in. Swallowing a groan, she stared at the trio of ex-football players. “To what do I owe the honor of this visit?”

  They all grinned. “We thought we’d stop by and talk you into going to dinner with us.”

  Crystal’s eyebrows flew up. “Why?”

  “’Cause we like you. Do you have something else you’d rather do than go out with three handsome guys?” Linc demanded.

  She could hardly reply that she’d almost rather investigate lip-piercing techniques than go out with the three of them, but she was saved from answering.

  “Wow!” Linc exclaimed as Genie appeared in the center of the salon.

  The girl’s features glowed from the emphasis of the black moiré against her pale skin and electric hair. For some reason, she’d removed her lip ring and touched her lips with bright pink lipstick. Crystal’s shoes might have been a trifle too big, and the short evening gown could use a bit of tightening around Genie’s gently slender body, but none of that seemed to matter to the suddenly gawking Linc. Genie seemed to enjoy the masculine attention, pirouetting to show off the low back of the dress.

  “Do you like it?” she asked, her question apparently directed toward the shell-shocked Linc. “Would you marry me like this?”

  “Would I?” He gave a low wolf whistle. “Let’s fly to Nevada tonight!”

  “Now, hang on a minute,” Crystal interrupted, fearing the conversation was getting out of hand. “Genie’s already engaged to be married.”

  “Perhaps I was too hasty,” Genie cooed. “Maybe I hadn’t met my prince until now.”

  Crystal’s eyes went wide. Surely they weren’t serious with their flirting! She seated herself on a nearby sofa to stay out of the fast-blooming flirtation between the ex-jock and the black-gowned bride, just in case.

  “We could discuss it over dinner,” Linc enticed. “I know a cozy spot in a nearby town.”

  “Crystal, will you charge this dress to my brother’s account?” Genie requested, slipping her arm through Linc’s. “He said to listen to anything you sugge
sted, and I most certainly have.”

  Crystal watched as Mitch’s beaming little sister walked out with her bulging-biceped Romeo—wearing Crystal’s black shoes. “Have a good time,” she said weakly.

  The door shut. She looked at Frankie and Barney in some astonishment.

  “She did look pretty,” Frankie said.

  “She left me Birkenstocks to wear.” Crystal stared at the worn brown footwear.

  “Those are some unfortunate shoes,” Barney said. “No wonder she snatched yours.”

  The shoes were the least of her problems. “Mitch is going to be furious. I was supposed to try to talk Genie out of getting married!”

  “Oh, hell.” Frankie slid the Birkenstocks over to her so she could put them on. “You’re in the business of making dreams come true. You just did. Ring up the sale, put on the butt-ugly shoes, and we’ll run you by your house to get something different before we go to dinner. You look like you could use a drink.”

  “I could.” Crystal locked up, slid her feet into the low-heeled, thick-soled shoes which did not complement her nine-to-five dress, and let Barney and Frankie escort her from the store. “Maybe I’m in the wrong business.”

  One on either side, they guided her across the street as if they feared she might repeat her fainting act.

  “Once you find the right man to marry,” Barney assured her, “you’ll no longer be so frightened of true love striking you from out of nowhere.”

  “I’m not frightened!”

  “Then make up your mind,” Frankie instructed. “You’ll never have a better selection than what is presently before you.”

  “About what? I make up my mind a hundred times a day.” Crystal didn’t think she should have to clarify that a businesswoman naturally made numerous decisions if she wanted to keep her customers happy and her business afloat.

  “About which one of us you want,” Barney told her. “The choices don’t get any better than this!”

  SHE SHOULD HAVE KNOWN Mitch would be waiting on her porch, Crystal thought as she walked up to her forest-green-and-glass front door. There was no question she wasn’t living right, or she wouldn’t be surrounded by three scowling men.

  “I was coming to see how Genie’s appointment went,” Mitch said, frowning at the two large men flanking Crystal. He stared down at her horrible shoes. “Why are you wearing sandals like my sister’s? You always wear conservative low heels.”

  “Not anymore,” Crystal snapped. “Not since your sister waltzed off with my nice pumps.” She went inside, and the hairy hounds burst out, barking at the men and sweeping themselves around Crystal’s legs with joy.

  “My sister took your shoes?”

  “She needed them for her date with Linc,” Barney explained.

  Mitch’s jaw dropped. “That’s your idea of talking sense into my sister?”

  Crystal turned, pressed all three men out onto the porch and blew a kiss they could split. “Good night, fellas.”

  She closed the door. Instant rapping exploded against the wood, but Crystal blithely walked around the front of the house, closing curtains and turning lamps low.

  “Crystal!” Barney and Frankie hollered. “What about dinner?”

  “Crystal!” Mitch called. “Please open the door!”

  “There,” Crystal said with a happy sigh as she melted into a fluffy chair in the parlor. “Just me and my pooches, cats and lovebirds, who never give me a moment’s trouble.” She patted furry noses and gazed at cats lining the mantel. “Don’t let all that noise outside upset you. From now on, this place is off-limits to disruptive males.”

  The dogs thumped their tails. The knocking ceased at her door. She slipped off the Birkenstocks and sighed. “You know, those are very comfortable shoes!”

  THE NEXT TIME MITCH saw Crystal, it was early the next morning. She was sneaking up to his porch carrying his sister’s shoes. He pulled open the door to get the newspaper and found her bending down to lay the shoes quietly on the mat.

  “I was dropping off Genie’s sandals. I’m on my way to work,” she said hurriedly.

  “Not without telling me what happened,” he replied, pulling her into the house and closing the door. “Join me for breakfast and give me the low-down, because I think you owe me some kind of explanation.”

  “No, I don’t,” Crystal declared. “I never even discussed anything with Genie except dresses. I didn’t invite Linc into the shop. Unless I’d had a crystal ball, I couldn’t have foreseen any of what happened.”

  She glared at him, and he glared back.

  “Her fiancé is calling around here at the rate of once an hour to find her,” Mitch said.

  “That should make you happy. You didn’t want her to marry him.”

  “I didn’t want her running off to Nevada last night, either,” Mitch gritted out. “Especially not with a knucklehead like Linc.” He checked his watch. “If my calculations are correct, at this moment I now have him for a brother-in-law!”

  Crystal steeled herself not to laugh at the horror on Mitch’s face. “I fail to see your objection. He hasn’t been married numerous times. He has a great job. He’s a nice man. He fell head over heels for Genie. It was like watching a mountain be toppled by a hummingbird.” She crossed her arms. “So… would you like to first pay my bill for her dress, and then thank me for my assistance, as accidental as it was? Or vice versa?”

  He grimaced at her teasing. “How much do I owe you?”

  “Two hundred dollars. That includes tax.”

  Utter astonishment sent his eyebrows flying into his dark, nicely cut hair. “Two hundred dollars!”

  “And that’s not even including my shoes,” Crystal said reasonably. “I’m only charging you for the dress, and giving you a slight discount at that since she didn’t hang around long enough for alterations.”

  “How kind of you.” His tone was sarcastic, but he snatched his billfold out of his jeans pocket and paid her with two one hundred dollar bills.

  She smiled. “I’ll put a receipt in the mail to you today. Do let me know if I can be of service again. And where I should send a wedding gift to the newlyweds.”

  Clearly the fact that his sister would be setting up house elsewhere hadn’t set in, judging by the perplexed look on his face. But he bore up and nodded.

  She walked to the door and waited for him to show her out.

  He stood far back in the foyer, staring at her.

  “What? What is it?” she asked.

  “I’m just wondering,” he said thoughtfully. “Wondering what it would be like if it was you and I who’d impulsively hopped a plane to Nevada.”

  “Oh, it would be very bad,” Crystal said. “I’m a restless flier. I eat peanuts constantly. And drink Bloody Marys to keep myself calm.”

  “That bad, huh?”

  “Oh, most definitely,” she assured him. “You wouldn’t enjoy flying with me at all.” Without waiting for him to comment further, she opened the door and then, waving over her shoulder at him, quietly closed it.

  He stared after her. His mother joined him in the foyer.

  “Who was that?”

  “Crystal. She was returning Genie’s shoes.”

  “Did you tell her the good news?”

  “If you could call it that.” Mitch frowned. He wasn’t sure what the desired outcome would have been, but Linc for a brother-in-law wouldn’t have been in his top three choices.

  “Couldn’t she stay for breakfast?”

  He shook his head. “She had to get to work.”

  His mother laughed. “She sure stays on the go.”

  True. Wherever he was, Crystal was sure to go away.

  Flying wasn’t all she seemed to fear. He wished easing that fear was as simple as wooing her with Bloody Marys and peanuts.

  “FUNNY. I THOUGHT I JUST saw Crystal’s car speed away from the McStern house.” Uncle Martin checked his watch.

  “Possibly she was dropping off a wedding gift,” Bess suggested. “I
hear that the McSterns are very pleased with their new son-in-law. Now they just have one more girl to get to the altar. Fortunately, they like that suitor.”

  “And what about Mitch?” Elle asked.

  “Well, he’s not engaged. I don’t think they’re worried about him.” Bess began clearing the dishes. “I would think he’ll head back to Dallas soon, now that the crisis with Genie has passed.”

  “Oh, dear,” Elle murmured. “Remember your attack of conscience the other night?”

  Bess arrested in midbend as she picked up plates. “What about it?”

  “Perhaps you should confess before he leaves Lover’s Valley,” Elle suggested in a thin voice. “Who knows when he’ll ever return?”

  Bess swallowed, sliding into a chair. “I was thinking the same thing myself. I just don’t want to.”

  Martin came over to pat her arm. “Why not?”

  “Because…I’m scared,” Bess whispered. “As selfish as it is, as cowardly as I know I am, I’m afraid my daughter might be so terribly angry with me she might never speak to me again!”

  Elle got up to pat her sister’s hand. “I understand completely, sister dear.”

  Bess swallowed. “If you two will excuse me, I think I’ll go sit on the patio for a moment.”

  Bess quietly made her way to the great room, which opened onto the patio. Across a short path of large stepping stones was Elle’s studio. Walking inside, she closed her eyes, sighing as she rubbed her chest. This was where she was most comfortable. In this room, her sister spent hours painting china with beautiful, dreamy patterns. She always felt the peace of serenity inside this room of Elle’s romantic inspirations—but not today.

  Reaching for the old-fashioned phone, she dialed a number from memory.

  “Hello?”

  She almost smiled with relief. “Mitch, it’s Bess,” she said softly.

  “Hi, Bess. How are you doing?”

  “Not too well, actually,” she said, her voice a thin rasp. “I wonder if you could slip through the gate in back and visit me in Elle’s studio? I don’t want my sister and brother to know you’re coming.”