Page 12 of The Wedding Gift
“Good God, Granny!” Sarah exclaimed. “As thin as you are, why in the hell were you wearing a girdle to begin with?”
“Exactly what I told her.” Darla tucked her keys into the side pocket of her purse and followed the other three women into the bridal shop. “I thought Mama might come with y’all.”
“She’s pulling a double shift at the hospital, and she’s already got her dress ready. She bought it in Denison, and it fit perfectly, so it didn’t need alterations,” Marilyn said.
“Of course it didn't,” Darla said. “Mama doesn’t gain an ounce or an inch, no matter what she eats. She could probably still wear her wedding dress.”
The lady in charge showed them back to a huge dressing room with comfortable wingback chairs, fancy tables, and even an arrangement of chocolate-covered strawberries on a crystal plate. “We have chilled champagne for you ladies to go with the strawberries. My name is Alison, and I’ll be helping with your fittings,” she said as she poured four flutes full of the bubbly liquid. “Your dresses are hanging right here.” She pointed to a rack. “If you’ll put them on, we’ll see what further alterations might need to be made. I’ll give you a few minutes and then I’ll be back.”
“Well, well, if this ain’t uptown.” Roxie grinned.
Darla slipped out of her dress slacks and sweater andremoved her white lace wedding gown from the rack. “While we’re getting dressed, I want someone to tell me what the bridal test is.”
“She got hit by it, girls.” Roxie picked up a glass of champagne and took a sip. “This is some good stuff, but getting back to the bridal test, Darla and I didn’t have time to talk about it Sunday. Your grandfather didn’t take a long enough nap.”
“I was hoping you wouldn’t have to go through that.” Sarah sighed.
“Me too,” Marilyn added. “Granny, you go first. Tell us about your test.”
“You got it too, Granny?” Darla’s eyes widened. “What is this dread thing?”
“It’s when an old boyfriend comes back into your life to test you,” Roxie said. “In my case it was Jack Sanford. I’d been sweet on him from the time I was fifteen, and we’d even had a few kisses back behind the smokehouse when he and his mama came to visit us on Sunday afternoons. Then he broke my heart when he asked another girl to be his date for the senior dance. He told me that was just to make me jealous, but it made me mad as hell. After that, I started dating Claud, even though my folks thought he wasn’t good enough for me, and we eloped that summer.”
“Jack came back and wanted you to leave Gramps?” Darla stepped into the dress and pulled it up.
“With romance like I’d never seen before then. He brought me wildflower bouquets and asked me to have a picnic with him on the Red River.” Roxie removed her clothes and put on a dark-green dress that reached the floor. “He even asked me to marry him. He begged me to break it off with Claud. He said that we could get an apartment in the married-student housing at the college in Paris, and both of us could get our educations. He made a good argument, and my folks liked him, so I thought about it.”
“But you didn’t, or you wouldn’t be married to Gramps,” Darla said.
“Every time I looked at him, I remembered how I felt after he’d kissed me and then turned around and invited that other girl to the dance. I think I married Claud to show him there were other fish in the sea.” Roxie turned around for Sarah to zip her dress. “Look at this. No girdle, and it fits like a charm.”
“I told you so,” Darla said. “Did you have a bridal test, Marilyn?”
“Oh, yes. I fell in love during my freshman year of college, and he broke up with me before the year ended. A month before I got married, he showed back up, and like Granny’sfeller, he told me what a mistake he’d made. Long story short, his mama hadn’t thought I was good enough for him since his family was very wealthy.” Marilyn looked at herself in the floor-length mirror. “But between then and the time I was about to marry Derrick, his family went bankrupt. I guess this little country girl from Tishomingo wasn’t such a bad match by then.”
“And you, Sarah? Don’t tell me it was Mitch Fowler.” Darla held her arms out. “The sleeves need to be tightened up a little, don’t y’all think?”
“Yes, it was Mitch, and yes on the sleeves. Now who has come back to test you?” Sarah answered.
“Andy Miller,” Darla answered and went on to tell them the rest of the story. “Do I tell Will? He deserves to know that, just for a minute, I did have second thoughts. He should know, don’t you think?”
“Hell no!” Roxie and Darla’s sisters all chorused together.
“But married couples aren’t supposed to ever have secrets,” Darla argued.
Sarah took a couple of steps forward to stand on one side of Darla. Marilyn did the same on the other side. Dressed alike, with their blonde hair cut in the same style, they looked like twins in their orange, yellow, and burgundy floral dresses.
“Well?” Darla asked.
“You are the prettiest bride that Tishomingo will ever see,” Sarah said.
Darla stared at her reflection. The wedding dress was exactly what she’d dreamed about her whole life. Beaded white lace with a sweetheart neckline and long fitted sleeves with buttons from her wrist to her elbow.
“Secrets?” Darla was beginning to get worried.
Roxie joined them and peered into the mirror at the group. “Honey, think about what I told you about your gramps and the marriage license. He has no idea that I know that.”
“But this is different. It has caused me to doubt my commitment to Will,” Darla argued. “Did any of you ever tell your husbands about the bridal test?”