Page 109 of The Singles Club

After the cleanup, Justin left with his dad to the store, and I forced a smile in Gwen’s direction. “Are you ready to fix your gown?”

“Yes, thank you.” She pointed to the hall. “It’s here in the downstairs guest bedroom.” I followed her to the room with my sewing and pin kit in hand. She unzipped a garment bag hanging against an opened closet door. The skirt of the dress was puffy with long-laced sleeves and a heart-shaped corset. Very 1950s à la Grace Kelly.

“The skirt is a bit poufy for my taste, but it was my Nana’s, and I promised her I would wear it when I did have a real wedding.”

“Then we’ll make sure you wear it.”

She gave a genuine, warm smile. “Thank you for doing this.”

“You’re welcome.” I unhooked the dress to get a look at the back. “Would you mind trying it on so I can get a better look? And make sure you put on the same shoes you’ll wear at the wedding.”

“Of course.”

She left the room, and I opened my sewing box, getting my pins, and measuring tape ready.

When she walked in, I let out a gasp. “Wow, this dress really suits you. I don’t think it’s too poufy at all.”

She smoothed down the taffeta silk skirt. “Really?”

“Veryclassy.”

Gwen let out a girlish squeal. “Thank you.”

I inspected the hem, perfect length. This was helpful. The front fit but it was a little loose on the sides, most likely because she couldn’t zip it up all the way. I guided her towards the full-length mirror in the corner. “Well, the good news is that you can zip it up just past your waist. We can definitely work with that.” The lace part hooked down the back, sewn into the corset. I unfastened the top hook and folded in the flaps, then considered for a moment.

“How do you feel about an open back?”

“How open?”

I grabbed a hand mirror from my kit and slipped it out of the protective cover. “Turn around and hold this so I can show you.”

She looked over her bare back. “I don’t know… it’s nice, but I feel a little too exposed, or like the sleeves would slip off if I move around too much.”

I looked in the mirror and thought of a different option. “Or… we could separate the lace from the back part of the corset.” I fastened the top part of the lace by the nape of her neck. “We could replace the hooks with fancy buttons so that it would be more like Grace Kelly’s wedding gown, only backward… but more like a short jacket. We could replace the zipper and sew the corset to make it look like it fans out to a V-shape. Minimum exposed back.”

She tilted her head as if trying to imagine it. “Show me the bareback again.”

I smiled as I folded the flaps into a V. “You have a beautiful back; I would totally show it off if I were you.”

“What if we kept some of the lace at the top but leave most of it exposed.”

“Oh!” I jumped at the image that flashed in my mind. “We could sew it into a soft arch… like a bridge. A beautiful bare back with no threat of sleeves slipping off your shoulder.”

She grinned. “I love it.”

Score one for possible future daughter-in-law.

Oh my gawd.

Did I just really think that?

The strange part? It didn’t give me palpitations like the times someone called me “future bride” or “daughter-in-law” when I was engaged to Lucas.

I wasn’t ready for wedding bells, but it was a step forward.

“Great. I’ll start pinning, and then I’ll take it to our professionals to work on it.”

“Please don’t let them screw this up.”