Help Me Heal

Chapter 50

Once the decision had been made by Hank and Kalinda to spend less on their wedding and more on their honeymoon, preparations had started to come together quickly. The honeymoon in Costa Rica was already booked, as was the wedding service at a small chapel in Chicago.

From Kalinda's point of view, all that remained was to buy her wedding outfit and organise the outfits for her two maids of honor. If Lucy lived in Chicago the job would have gone to her alone, and even now she would be the one Kalinda would rely on when the day of the wedding came to make sure the day ran smoothly. Until the big day, Erin would take on that role, and had said she was happy to do so.

Today, Kalinda was meeting up with Erin to return to a bridal store they had already visited once, in order to make a final decision on the outfits for the wedding. Kalinda was making the visit on her lunch break, with the blessing of Sergeant Gonzalez to take as long as she needed on the understanding that she would make up time in the near future.

The meetup point was outside of a coffee shop near to the bridal store. Unfortunately there wasn't time to stop for coffee, but Kalinda was pleased to see Erin waiting for her nearby when she got there.

"Hello, Erin. Thank you again for meeting me. How are you today?"

They didn't hug each other or anything. Kalinda had already learned that Erin didn't do that kind of thing in public. Didn't do it much at all, in fact.

"I'm good, Kalinda," Erin said with a smile. "You look great as ever."

"Look great? I'm in my work clothes," Kalinda said, laughing.

"Yes, I know. You've got a certain look figured out though, and it carries through to your work outfits. It's something I noticed about you early on, and I'm envious. I've never had a style figured out for myself. All I do is throw clothes on and hope I don't look a mess."

"You've never looked a mess any time I've seen you," Kalinda assured her as they set off towards the bridal store. She wasn't sure what was particularly special about her jeans, leather jacket, boots and gloves, but the part about that being a look she had become satisfied with for herself was true. More recently, it helped that Hank very much approved of the leather.

"Thank you. Even so, I'm envious of you." Erin dismissed that thought and became more enthusiastic. "But enough of that, we're here about your wedding. Let's go choose dresses. Last time we narrowed it down to three options for yours, and you looked amazing in all of them. Have you thought about which one you like most?" She laughed and answered her own question. "What a dumb thing to say. Of course you've thought about it."

Kalinda smiled. "I've put a modicum of thought into it, yes. I'm about ninety per-cent sure of the dress I want. There are two I'm going to try again. Then we need to talk maid of honor dresses. Thanks a lot for your input there last time too."

"No problem. I'm here to help in any way I can."

They entered the bridal shop and were greeted by the owner, who Kalinda had made an appointment with. She explained which two dresses she wanted to try again, beginning with her favourite. Ten minutes later, she had the dress on, standing in front of a full length mirror. It was an elegant fit-and-flare number with short sleeves. To Kalinda, it seemed to compliment her figure perfectly, and didn't look too extravagant. It had short sleeves, allowing her to accessorise as much for Hank as for herself with some white elbow length leather gloves.

She was well aware that wearing gloves like these was somewhat unusual for a wedding, but she wanted the moment of surprise for Hank when she walked down the aisle. At first she had wondered if the gloves would make the ring on finger moment impossible, but the bridal store owner had shown her how the gloves she sold came with the seam on the ring finger undone so that the finger could be accessed easily. That was a very clever idea in Kalinda's opinion, and she had been sold on it right away.