All of Me: A Small Town Romance (The Bridesmaids Club Book 1)

Chapter 12

An hour later, Tess and two of Connie's sisters were standing in Emily Green's boutique. "Where would you like us?"

Emily waved Tess, Denise, and her sister, Kristine, up the main staircase. "Come upstairs with me. When is the other bridesmaid arriving?"

Denise looked at her watch. "Joanne will be here in half an hour."

Tess had called Emily out of desperation. Connie hadn't even managed to show her sisters the bridesmaids' dresses before her mom took a turn for the worse. With the wedding getting closer, Emily was the only person Tess knew who could use a sewing machine.

But Emily could do so much more than sew clothes. She'd opened an amazing fashion boutique two doors down from Angel Wings Café. With a lot of hard work, the old library building had been transformed into a stylish boutique.

Emily had customers who lived around the world. She tutored design classes and filled her life with everything that made her happy. She'd also made the bridesmaids' dresses that Connie had chosen for her wedding. If anyone could pull a miracle out of the bag, it was her.

Emily lifted a measuring tape off her sewing table. "Who's going first? You can change into your dresses in my sister's office. She won't be back for the rest of the day."

Kristine looked through the dresses Denise had hung on a rack. "These are beautiful."

Denise sighed. "Connie has good taste. I've put my name on the dress I want." She pointed to another dress. "I thought this one was the closest to your measurements."

Kristine lifted the dress off the rail. "I'll go first."

Denise looked at the list of things they needed to change. "Was Logan happy to talk to the florist?"

Tess nodded. "If anyone can convince them to make four bouquets in the next couple of hours, it's him. Molly's on her way over here, too."

Kristine came out of Nicky's office. The red dress fitted perfectly across the top, but the skirt needed to be shortened and taken in at the hips.

Emily moved a circular platform on wheels across the room. "Stand on here, Kristine, and we'll get started."

The bell above the front door tinkled as someone walked into the boutique. "Would you like me to go downstairs?" Tess asked.

"That would be great," Emily said. "It's probably Caitlin. I asked her to come in and look after the boutique while I'm helping you."

Tess walked down the stairs. Molly was heading toward her with a camera hanging over her shoulder. "Am I too late for the fittings?"

"Just in time. Emily's doing Kristine's dress now."

Molly stood at the top of the stairs and watched what was happening. "I don't need to ask whether Kristine's one of Connie's sisters. They all look alike."

"Strong gene pool." Tess smiled as Kristine turned on the platform. "Emily is amazing. She didn't hesitate to help us."

Molly snapped a photo. "That's what friends do for each other."

"I'm beginning to understand that," Tess said softly.

Molly stepped onto the mezzanine floor and smiled. "'Tis a fine mood Emily creates in this room. See how the light falls on the different workspaces. It dances through the panes of glass, softening the edges, highlighting what needs to be seen." She knelt on the wooden floor, changed the angle of her camera and took another photo.

"How do you know that the image you see through your lens will look good in the finished photo?"

"That's a tricky question." Molly moved across the room and took a photo of Denise. "Sometimes I don't know if it will work. Sometimes I do. And sometimes the best images come from the feeling you get just before the shutter clicks into place. I use what I know, then let the rest take care of itself. How do you know how to move in front of a camera?"