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CHAPTER EIGHTY-NINE

Ellery

It was early afternoon and almost time for the wedding by the time Scarlet finished fiddling with the skirt of my dress, stepped back, and declared me worthy of being a bride. It was a high compliment from her, as she’d spent the past week nitpicking every detail of the dress she’d designed for me.

A dress that I’d told her again and again not to get too crazy over, but my words fell on deaf ears. She’d insisted that if she was going to design her best friend’s wedding dress, it would be perfect, even if it couldn’t be the ivy color she’d prefer.

Instead, it was a hunter green and would be dismantled soon after the wedding to make other, more practical clothing for the encampment. I thought the color was lovely; Scarlet had muttered something about my assessment.

I’d intended to walk down the aisle in a pair of pants and a shirt, but my suggestion horrified Scarlet.

Where she hadn’t gotten angry at me for keeping my ability to wield all five weathers from her, she’d been nearly apoplectic at the idea of me not wearing a dress and looking anything less than “spectacular.”

Scarlet saw creating a wedding dress in this place as a challenge, one she would succeed in conquering. And I was willing to let her have fun with it.

While she was happy to create clothes for everyone here, her true passion lay in crafting breathtaking, creative dresses, and she needed an outlet for that. Besides, while I would have been happy to get married in pants, or nothing at all as long as it happened, I did want a wedding dress.

So, for the past week, Scarlet had worked tirelessly on my gown. And she’d spent much of the week picking my brain about it… much to her annoyance.

While I was excited about the prospect of a beautiful dress, I didn’t know whether I preferred scalloped or V-neck, short sleeves or three-quarters, and I had no idea about empire waists.

She’d stared expectantly at me while asking these questions, and I’d stared blankly back as Ruby tried not to laugh.

It didn’t take Billy long to stay away from his sister’s tree house. Convinced that he couldn’t keep a secret, Scarlet shooed him away every time he poked his head through the trapdoor in the floor.

After days of nitpicking every detail, Scarlet finally seemed happy with her creation. She circled me like a shark before stopping in front of me.

While she’d been working on my dress, some other women had crafted simple black dresses for her and Ruby. With their red hair pulled into twists, they looked stunning in the long-sleeved, floor-length creations.

Scarlet scowled before pulling an imaginary piece of dust, lint, or whatever had affronted her from my bodice. When she reached for me again, her mother grasped her hand and pulled it away.

“That’s enough, Scarlet,” Ruby said. “It’s beautiful and perfect.”

“Can I see it?” I asked eagerly.

I’d seen the pieces coming together, had stood still for measurements, and could look down at a good portion of it, but I still had no idea about the overall picture. Scarlet had kept the full view of it from me.

“Hmm,” Scarlet murmured as she surveyed me. Then she blinked and met my gaze. “What did you say?”

I chuckled as she stared at me like she’d forgotten I was there. When she focused on something, it was often the only thing she saw.

“Can I see it?” I asked again.

“Oh. Oh! Of course!” Scarlet gushed.

“I have a mirror,” Ruby said. “It’s not full-length, but you’ll get the idea.”

She retreated to the back of Scarlet’s tree house and lifted the mirror beside the bed. Bolts of brown and black cloth hung from Scarlet’s shelves and filled the corners, but she’d kept them away from the stove, even though it wasn’t in use yet.

Half-finished shirts and pants lay over a log she’d brought in to use as a table. An open book sat face down on top of them.

Scarlet had an amazing talent with a needle and thread, and while she missed our old life, she’d embraced her love for making clothes while here.

Ruby held the mirror up in front of me, and my mouth parted when I caught sight of my reflection. While Scarlet was perfecting the dress, Ruby had turned my hair into a masterful creation of curls cascading around my shoulders.

She’d pulled the sides of my hair back and interwoven them behind my head. Threaded through those pieces were yellow leaves.

The way she’d woven them into my hair made it impossible to tell they were leaves, but their vibrant color stood out against my curls. They brought a splash of color to my hair I wouldn’t otherwise have.

As she moved the mirror lower, my jaw dropped further, and tears filled my eyes. I’d chosen the hunter-green color from some of the bolts of cloth Val had given us.

It had been stored for the spring, when the leaves returned, but the color was such a deep, beautiful hue, it caught my eye when Scarlet led me into the storage shed. At first, I’d questioned my choice and if I should have gone with a lighter shade of green; I no longer did.

Scarlet had turned the spaghetti straps into a delicate leaf pattern that lay flat against my skin. Those straps were attached to a sweetheart neckline.

The material over my stomach was a more delicate pattern that created small gaps. She’d filled those spaces with the black netting we used in our hoods to hide our eyes.

The skirt flared out from a V at my waist, but it wasn’t bulky as the material hung loosely around my hips and swayed when I twisted. Created from the material, strands of green leaves dangled from the waistline and swirled within the skirt when I moved.

Everything about it was flowing, free, and beautiful. I never could have envisioned such a dress for myself, but somehow Scarlet had taken the spirit of the forest and turned it into a masterpiece that was intrinsically me.

“It’s perfect,” I breathed.

Scarlet scrunched her mouth up as she studied me with a critical eye. She went to fix one of the dangling leaf patterns, but her mother grasped her hand again.

“You heard her; it’s perfect,” Ruby said.

“You both did such an amazing, beautiful job,” I whispered. “I can’t ever thank you enough.”

“No crying,” Ruby instructed as she wiped away the tear sliding down my cheek. “You can’t get married if your skin’s all blotchy.”

“No, you can’t,” Scarlet agreed. “I won’t have you ruining the aesthetics of this dress with red skin.”

I blinked away the tears as love and appreciation filled me. “I couldn’t do this without either of you.”

“Of course you couldn’t. You were going to get married in pants .” Scarlet shuddered. “The horror.”

I laughed as I blinked away the last of my tears. While I longed for my mother to be here, I was blessed to have them with me today.

A pang tugged at me as memories of my mother and father danced through my head. They weren’t ghosts, but I liked to think they were together and watching over me today.

Scarlet grasped my hands and squeezed them as she smiled at me. “Do you really like it?”

“I love it. It’s amazing.”

“It is,” Ruby agreed.

“Good. Now, it’s time to get you married,” Scarlet said.

I grinned as I threw my arms around them.