Closing the distance between them, he pulledhis mom in for a bear hug, and rested his chin on her head. “Ittook me a while to figure it all out. Thanks for always letting mejust be me.” He kissed the top of her head and pulled away again.“My ducks are finally starting to line up, so hang in there with mea little longer.”
She winked at him. “I know it, honey. As soonas you figure out how to make your own dinner, I think you’ll bejust fine.”
Opening the front door, he winked back, “Whatfun would that be?” Heart a little fuller than it had been an hourago, he sauntered out to his truck.
Until he saw his watch. Shit. He hoped hemade it in time. He had to reschedule therapy for the stupidfitting today but hoped to report good news to his therapist nexttime.
Last week had been intense. He’d beenencouragedset a goal to tell his dad his career plans bythe end of the week. That prospect was stressful enough. He couldbroach the Sophie topic with Pippa later. Despite her fury, shescared him a little less than Paul.
Pulling into the last parking spot on theblock, Asher dove out of the truck and headed for Tracey’s. Theshop was pretty typical, he supposed, for the sole clothing shop intown. Foothills had been pretty stubborn in resisting big boxstores, so they were lucky to still have locally owned shops likeTracey’s and Sutherland’s and the diner.
A limited, but diverse selection of dresses,bridal, and other event wear was tastefully displayed on the backwall, and the right half of the store was dedicated to men’s ware,including the dreaded tuxedo and suit options. Not his style, butit was perfect for what they needed.
As soon as he entered, Tracey made straightfor him before he could head to the fitting rooms. Setting down thedress she’d straightened on the hanger, she smiled as she stoppedhis beeline for the back. “Asher Sutherland. I heard what you didat the bank. Lorna Stephens tells me you saved her life; all oftheir lives. The whole town is talking about it. I already wroteoff the price of your tuxedo. It’s the least I can do to thankyou.”
Tracey perhaps should have retired a decadeago, the tremor in her hands was a terrifying prospect for anyoneneeding alterations. He tried not to stare as he imagined thepotential injury in his near future. “That’s generous of you. Youdidn’t have to do that.”
“I wanted to. It’s good to have good men likeyou in town.” She shrugged with a slight blush in her cheeks. “Thatmaid of honor is running a tight ship. Kicked out the bride whenshe panicked that the bridesmaid dresses were slightly more peachthan pink. Apparently, Pippa is now relaxing and getting a massage.Much calmer back there now, but Sophie sure is keeping Lucybusy.”
She paused, realizing Asher hadn’t been backin town long enough to catch up on all the gossip. “Lucy’s mygranddaughter. Just moved here from Anchorage, and I’m hopingshe’ll let me retire soon. She’ll be seeing if we need anyadjustments and should have everything ready to be picked up theday before the wedding.”
Suddenly all business, she led him by the armand sent him to the back like she was launching a paper airplane.“And remind that maid of honor she needs to try her dress onstill.”
He masked his sigh of relief that tremoringTracey wasn’t going to use him as an oversized pincushion. Sophiecaught him at the door to the fitting rooms and wordlessly directedhim straight toward the rack, with more determination and accuracythan her inept dart throwing.
The back was actually pretty cool. Sort of aprivate gathering space. An oversized trifold mirror with apedestal in the middle for standing took up one section, with twocouches and a chair forming a U around it. Greenery warmed up theroom, and along the wall there were glamourous black and whitephotographs from past events. There were four fitting rooms alongthe wall, each with full length plantation-style doors.
“Three down, three to go.” Sophie had anofficial wedding tablet with a running list of notes from today’sfittings. She looked quite official, albeit not the prim lookingwedding planner, in her distressed skinny jeans, flip flops andstrappy tank.
All work and no play, she directed him tofitting room four. “Alright Sutherland, you’re up next.”
Grabbing her by the waistband, he dragged herinto the fitting room, stole a quick kiss, and patted her on theass as she escaped back to her duties. Laughing, she went to checkon Lincoln. Asher quickly changed into the tux, having no idea howto tie the… was it a tie? A cravat? What the hell was thisexcessive piece of fabric?
Coming out in the pants, shoes, andunbuttoned dress shirt, he held up the rest and begged for help.Lincoln came out of number two at the same time, back in his streetclothes with the tux neatly hung on the hanger.
Lincoln laughed out loud, slapping his legwhen he saw Asher. “Need a little help there?”
“Shut it,” Asher growled affably.
Putting his hands up in defense, Lincolnbacked out of the room. “I didn’t pick it out. Speaking of, I’dbetter go check on Pippa. Poor thing was hyperventilating untilSophie made her an emergency appointment for a massage.”
Lucy flitted into the room with refreshedsupplies. “Oh my. Let’s get you started.” Although fifty years hergrandmother’s junior, she was remarkably alike in mannerisms… andthe tremor. Cringing, he recalled all the acts of bravery in thelast eight years of his life to muster his courage.
Humbly, Asher let Lucy poke and prod untilshe was satisfied. Standing isolated, feeling oddly vulnerable onthe pedestal, his reflection all around, he felt like a fucking Kendoll on display. All with a tremulous hand holding a needlefrighteningly close to a rather sensitive area.
The humiliation was complete as Lucy thenawkwardly tied his stupid neck-thing. Humming while she worked,likely to distract herself, she finally nodded in satisfaction andset him free. Thankfully, he hadn’t needed many pins.
Finally able to turn around, Asher’s breathcaught in his throat as he saw Sophie waiting patiently in herbridesmaid gown. Fucking knockout. The slip-style silk dress clungin all the right places, accenting the subtle curves of her long,lean frame. It flowed like water as she walked, the slit revealingher spectacular legs.
Shyly, she bit her lower lip as his eyesexplored every inch of her appreciatively when she was on fulldisplay standing on the pedestal. As quickly as he could muster, hechanged out of the ridiculous penguin suit and back into his jeansso he could watch the action.
Tsk’ing, Lucy shook her head at Sophie indisappointment. “Do you have another bra?” She whispered so Asherwouldn’t hear such naughty talk.
In an ordinary speaking voice, Sophieshrugged. “No. What’s wrong with this one?”
Scowling, Lucy walked around her a few times.“It’s just not quite right. Why don’t you go slip that one off andhang on a minute? I have another one that might work better.”
Sophie slipped out of the bra while remainingon the pedestal. Sighing with pure satisfaction, Asher tried to notlet Lucy see his response as the silk draped low, the details thebra had been hiding now nicely visible through the silk. She’dclearly been cautious of his lecherous ways as she hadn’t wantedhim to even hear the wordbra.
