I glanced over at Asher. “What’re your wedding colors?” My brain seemed to have stopped working.
He raised his gaze to meet mine, his face paling at my question. “What?” he asked.
“Your wedding colors. What are they?”
He swallowed, his Adam’s apple rising and falling. It was as if I’d backed him into a corner and he wasn’t sure what he was supposed to say. “I…um…”
“Don’t worry, honey. Most grooms don’t know. Do you have a wedding planner you can call?”
“Shelby,” I blurted out as I moved to grab my phone from my purse.
Me:What are Coralie’s wedding colors? At a bridal shop to get a best man dress. Asher doesn’t remember.
Shelby:Coral, white, and cream
I responded with a thumbs-up emoji before I slipped my phone back into my purse and turned to face the shop owner.
“Coral, white, and cream,” I recited off.
“Wonderful.” She adjusted her glasses, and she ran her gaze over me. “Any particular style or cut?”
I shook my head, exhaustion taking over. I was honestly ready to get this over with and be done with wedding plans for the day. I needed some space from Asher to let my heart officially break.
“I’ve got some ideas of what would look good on you. Follow me,” she said as she started walking toward the far-right wall where different color dresses were hung up on racks. “Name’s Nancy,” she said from over her shoulder.
“Ella.” I glanced back to see that Asher was a few steps behind us. “And the groom is Asher.”
“It’s nice to meet you two.” She was standing in front of the row of dresses and looked as if she were searching for something in particular. “Asher, if you want to go find a seat by the pedestal, we’ll come out as soon as we have something to show you.”
“Okay,” Asher said, turning to walk toward the area that Nancy had indicated.
Now alone, I stood off to the side and watched as Nancy pulled a few different styles of coral dresses.
“I think these will do just fine,” she said as she waved for me to follow.
When we got to the dressing rooms, Nancy hung the dresses inside and then paused before asking if I needed any assistance. I shook my head, and she told me she would be right outside in case I needed help with a zipper.
Once she’d cleared the door to the dressing room, I shut and locked it before I sighed. In just a few moments, I was going to be picking out a dress for Asher’s wedding…to Coralie.
My stomach sank like a rock.
I didn’t want to try on anything, but I also knew that people were waiting for me, so I finally found the energy to undress and slip on a spaghetti strap dress. As soon as I had the dress on, I wanted to cry. It was perfect. It was made out of a lightweight material that was gathered over each breast and then flowed from my waist to my feet.
It was everything I would have wanted in a wedding dress, just coral instead of white.
I turned from side to side, marveling in the daintiness of the straps and loving the open back. It was so flowy and feminine; I hated that it was going to be marred with the memory of my best friend marrying another woman.
“Everything okay?” Nancy asked as she knocked on the door.
“Yeah,” I whispered as I moved to unlock the door and pull it open.
Nancy’s eyes widened as her gaze fell on me. “I’m a genius,” she said, her voice low and breathy. “That dress was made for you.”
I just nodded, fearing the way my voice would sound if I spoke. Nancy reached out and grabbed my hand.
“Let’s go show your friend,” she said, and before I could stop her, Nancy was dragging me through the dressing rooms and over to the pedestal where Asher was sitting.
At first, he didn’t see me. He had his head down and was tapping away at his phone like he was writing an email. But as he glanced up, my heart took off racing. All I wanted to do was run back to the dressing room and hide.
