The Dream Dress Read online

  “Do you mind if I join you ladies?”

  I glanced to the center aisle to see Daniel standing there, a sheepish look on his face.

  Mimi Carmen nudged me to make room. Her brusque “Scoot over, Gabriella,” left little doubt in my mind where she stood on the matter. She clearly did not mind if he joined us. Welcomed it, in fact.

  “I’m sorry to inconvenience you lovely ladies,” he said as he pressed into the tiny spot next to Mimi. I started to scoot over a bit more to offer them more room, but Mimi squeezed my thigh with her hand to stop me.

  Ouch!

  Daniel now sat shoulder to shoulder with my grandmother, who giggled as she said, “Oh, no inconvenience at all.” She waved her fan in front of her now pink cheeks.

  “It’s so crowded in here today,” Daniel said, as much to Mama and me as to Mimi. “I usually sit in the second pew closest to the center aisle so that I can perform my duties as an usher, but someone’s got my seat.”

  “What? Protestants have assigned seating?” Mimi mumbled something about how the Catholics would never allow that, and Daniel laughed.

  The Splendora trio looked on, all grins, as this exchange took place.

  Twila waved a hand toward Daniel and Mimi. “Well, I daresay you two look as cozy as two bugs in a rug.”

  Daniel turned all shades of red at this proclamation. Likely in an attempt to stop Twila in her tracks, he leaned forward and gave me a little wave, then said, “My offer still stands.”

  “He made you some sort of offer?” Mimi leaned over and whispered the words in my ear, then put her hand to her mouth. I’d just started to explain when I was interrupted.

  “Do you have room for one more?” Jordan’s voice sounded from the outer aisle.

  I glanced at him and felt my cheeks warm as I remembered the kiss we had shared just a few nights prior. Mama, clearly in matchmaker mode, quickly scooted over and insisted that Jordan sit between us. It would be tight, what with Mimi Carmen and Daniel taking up a large portion of the pew on the other side of me, but we made it work. I couldn’t help but notice that Mama looked a little out of sorts. I didn’t really blame her, being surrounded by couples and all.

  Not that Mimi and Daniel were a couple, but Twila was right. They certainly looked cozy together all of a sudden. I watched as my grandmother leaned across him to finish her conversation with the trio. Between the four ladies and Daniel, the conversation really took off.

  From up front the band started playing the opening song, and the worship leader asked us to stand. The trio of Splendora ladies scurried up to the front pew, where they joined Scarlet’s father and mother. With great flourish and fanfare.

  Mimi’s eyes narrowed as she watched the band in action, her gaze now firmly locked on the bass player. “What is this, a rock and roll show?” she asked, then stuck her fingers in her ears. “I thought this was supposed to be a church.”

  “It is a church, Mimi,” I said. “Trust me. Just give it a chance.”

  “Doesn’t sound like any church I ever went to. For that matter, it doesn’t look like one either. Where’s the holy water? Where are the kneeling benches?”

  “It’s different, I’ll admit, but that doesn’t make it wrong,” I said. I rather liked it, in fact.

  Minutes later, after a couple of worship songs and announcements, the trio was introduced. So was their piano player, who turned out to be Bella’s mother-in-law, Earline Neeley. Go figure. The woman—who wore a BIKERS FOR JESUS vest—played the piano with reckless abandon. Some folks were just born with special abilities, and Mrs. Neeley was one of them. Leaning forward, eyes closed, she forced the music through her fingertips. And with such speed!

  “That woman has the spirit of the late, great Jerry Lee Lewis all over her,” Mimi Carmen called out above the music.

  This was followed by, “May he rest in peace,” which my grandmother and Daniel spoke in unison. They stared at one another as if mesmerized by their timing.

  The ladies sang their hearts out. Around us, a handful of folks put their hands up in the air in worship. Mimi Carmen looked a bit startled at this outward display of adoration for the Almighty, but she didn’t say anything. Scarlet’s father looked a wee bit nervous too. He probably wasn’t used to all of the arm waving and such, but I had a feeling it would grow on him. It was certainly growing on me.

  To my right, Jordan looked perfectly comfortable. Figured. Maybe he could make some sense of the Jerry Lee Lewis line for me later on. For now, he seemed content.

  Sister Jolene introduced the next song—some number about God being our father. Jordan reached to take my hand.

  From the pulpit, Jolene waved a finger at the audience. Looked like she was pointing it straight at me as she delivered her next line. “You can trust him, you know. He’s your Daddy God.”

  Daddy God? A cold chill hit me as she spoke those words, and I found myself conflicted. Her impassioned speech might be just the ticket for some in attendance, but it slapped me upside the head, and not in a good way.

  I shifted my position in the pew once again, my backside now uncomfortable. Was it getting hot in here? The overwhelming desire to jump and run hit me.

  “Even if your earthly daddy wasn’t a prince of a guy, you can still trust the ultimate Father.” Jolene paused to dab her eyes. “You are his child.”

  Everyone else in our pew looked perfectly comfortable. Well, maybe not Mama. She gave me a little peek out of the corner of her eye as Jolene got to the part about earthly fathers. Thank goodness the music began at this point, and before I knew it the harmonies were ringing out again.

  As the ladies sang a song about their Daddy God, I felt a lump well up in my throat. And when Scarlet’s father followed this up with a sermon titled “God, Our Father,” I couldn’t seem to stop the trickle of tears that made their way down my cheeks. Did he have to go there?

  Mama fished around in her purse and came out with a tissue, which she handed me. Jordan gave my hand a little squeeze. His presence brought comfort and somehow kept me from fleeing.

  I’d never been so happy in all of my life for a service to come to an end. Not that I’d been to a lot of services, of course, but this one really took the cake.

  Speaking of cake, the pastor invited everyone to the tiny fellowship hall for some of Scarlet’s baked goods, and most everyone in attendance took him up on that offer, judging from the crowd in the foyer. I fought my way through the throng of people, Mama and Jordan at my side.

  “Well, that was certainly not what I expected,” Mimi Carmen said as she and Daniel followed on my heels.

  “Me either,” Mama called out above the crowd. “But I liked it. A lot. Especially those singers. They were really good.”

  We converged in the little fellowship hall and nibbled on sweets with the other guests, all of them talking over one another. I glanced around the room, now understanding why Scarlet had chosen to have her reception at Club Wed. While lovely and quaint, this room could never house two-hundred-plus guests. No way. Not with a dance floor, anyway.

  Scarlet’s mother approached and engaged my mom in a conversation, and before long they were as thick as thieves. Off in the distance Bella’s family—probably twenty or more of them in total—visited with the Splendora Sisters, all laughter and smiles. Sister Twila held Bella’s little girl, Rosa-Earline, who giggled with glee. I wanted that same sort of happy feeling to engulf me, but I couldn’t get past what Jolene had said during the service.

  I looked on as Bella’s dad swept his granddaughter into his arms and gave her a kiss on the forehead. My attention then shifted to D.J., who lifted Tres to his shoulders so that he could better see everyone in the crowd. All of this I watched in complete silence, my heart twisting inside me.

  Jordan stood at my side, our fingers tightly laced. He appeared to be enjoying himself, if one could gauge from the expression on his face.

  “They’re fun to watch, aren’t they.”

  His statement wasn’t real
ly a question—more rhetorical than anything—so I didn’t dignify it with an answer. How could I, with the lump in my throat?

  “Lots of great families here today,” he added, then waved at Bella’s uncle Laz and aunt Rosa.

  “With great fathers.” I sighed. “All of them.”

  “Sure looks like it.”

  “Whatever.”

  My one-word response apparently raised his antennae. Jordan gave me a pensive look and then led me out of the room to the church’s foyer.

  “You okay?” He brushed a loose hair off my face.

  I shook my head and stared at the ground, unable to communicate what was going on in my heart.

  “I’d love to see the Lord tear down some of those walls you’ve built up.” He leaned close and whispered the next words. “You know, there really are a few good guys out there, Gabi. We’re not all bad.”

  “I never said you were all bad.”

  “No. You didn’t have to.” He gestured to Daniel, who entered the foyer with Mimi Carmen’s arm linked in his. “But see what I mean? Daniel is a good man. He’s helping your grandmother. And Scarlet’s dad is a good man. There are still a few of us around.” He shrugged.

  My heart quickened as I realized I’d hurt his feelings. “I know you’re right. I’ve lumped all men into the same bag because of my dad. And Demetri.”

  “You’ve just had a couple of lousy examples of manhood.” Jordan slipped his arm around my waist and lowered his voice. “But most of us—well, those of us who have trusted in Christ—want to be great dads. I can’t wait.”

  He’d lost me at the “trusted in Christ” line. Trusted him in a generic sense? I couldn’t be sure. Seemed like he meant something more. I’d just opened my mouth to ask him about it when Bella entered the foyer with her daughter in her arms.

  “We’re all headed to my parents’ place for lunch. Want to join us?”

  “I’m not sure. I think Mimi Carmen made enchiladas.”

  This got an interested look from Jordan.

  “She can bring them with her.” Bella shifted the toddler to her other arm. “Most everyone shows up with a dish, so she’ll fit right in.”

  “I-I’m invited?” My grandmother appeared beside me with Daniel at her side.

  “Yes. You all are.” Bella nodded at Daniel as well. “The more the merrier.”

  “I guess we could stop off at the house and pick up the enchiladas,” Mama said, standing next to me.

  “Please do.” Bella beamed at this news. “Rosa will love that. She adores Mexican food.”

  Mimi flinched, and I could read the fear in her eyes. She turned my way, her words racing. “I can’t let Rosa eat my food. No way.”

  “Of course you can!” Bella responded. “It will make her day.”

  “But she’s a real cook,” Mimi continued. “I’m just . . .”

  “Your enchiladas are the best thing I ever ate.” These words came from Jordan, who slipped his arm over my grandmother’s shoulder. “I hope you made plenty, because I don’t know if I’ll touch another thing with your enchiladas there.”

  Mimi perked right up at this proclamation. She grinned, and Daniel joined in the conversation. “It’s been years since I had homemade enchiladas,” he said. “Don’t get a lot of homemade anything these days. Not since my wife passed.”

  “May she rest in peace,” Mimi and Daniel said in unison. Daniel’s eyes grew moist.

  “Well, you’ll get nothing but homemade food if you come to the Rossis’ place,” Bella said. “So I hope you’ll join us.”

  “I’d like that,” Daniel said as his gaze shifted to my grandmother. “I’d like that very much.”

  As we walked to the car, I thought back on Jordan’s words: “There really are a few good guys out there, Gabi. We’re not all bad.”

  No, they weren’t all bad. But maybe that was the part that bothered me most. With all of the good ones out there, how—and why—did I manage to get stuck with two of the worst? Demetri Markowitz and a deadbeat dad? C’mon. If God was really such a great Father, why couldn’t he have given me a better example than those two?

  Forcing those questions aside, I made up my mind to somehow get through the rest of the day.

  Night and Day

  I have learned to go through life not into it. It’s like a boat. You mustn’t let the water in or you’re sunk.

  Ginger Rogers

  As we prepared to leave the church, Mimi Carmen offered to ride with Daniel to give him directions to the Rossi home. Like she’d ever been to the Rossi home before. Seriously?

  Daniel didn’t seem to mind one little bit, if one could judge from the look on his face. The two of them headed off to his car, all flirtatious smiles.

  Jordan asked me to ride with him, but I couldn’t very well leave Mama alone, so I told him we could meet there. He didn’t seem to mind.

  Mama and I stopped off at the house to pick up the enchiladas, then made the drive to the Rossis’. I did my best to regroup and put the sermon behind me. No point in dragging my mother down just because I happened to be overwhelmed. Still, she seemed to pick up on my silence.

  “You okay over there?” she asked as I fidgeted with the volume on the radio.

  “Hmm? Oh, yeah.” I released a slow breath and hoped she would let it go.

  “Kind of a hard morning?” she asked.

  I shrugged. Thank goodness she didn’t have time to say much more, because I turned the car onto Broadway and we arrived at our destination just a minute later. I’d been to Club Wed many times, but never inside the Rossi home next door. The old Victorian was nearly as lovely as the wedding facility, with its oversized veranda and manicured lawn. To think Bella had grown up here. Lucky girl.

  With a great dad, no less.

  Sister Jolene’s words hit me again like a cruel slap across the face, but I pushed them away.

  God. Father. Good. Really?

  I reached for the pan of enchiladas and carried them to the front steps, where Bella’s aunt Rosa snatched them from my hand. “These look amazing!”

  Mimi Carmen, who stood on the veranda next to Daniel, offered to give Rosa the recipe, and seconds later the women disappeared into the house.

  Mama and I walked up the steps to the veranda, where Bella and D.J. greeted us, along with approximately a hundred of their closest relatives, many under the age of ten. Okay, maybe not a hundred, but close. Wow. Was every Sunday dinner like this? If so, where did they seat everyone? At the wedding facility next door?

  Mama seemed mesmerized with the beautiful house. As we stepped into the foyer, she gasped and then raved over the intricately carved woodwork. Bella’s mother offered to show her around the home, and she disappeared seconds later, completely swept away by her surroundings.

  With everyone talking, I barely made out Jordan’s voice. When he tapped me on the shoulder, I jumped.

  “Whoa. Didn’t mean to scare you there.” The warmth of his smile echoed in his voice.

  My heart rate skipped to double time. “I’m okay.” Gesturing to the house, I did my best to calm down. “Isn’t this amazing?”

  “Yes. I’ve always loved these old Victorians. Plan to live in one myself one day.”

  “You do?”

  “Yep. I’ve had my eye on a place about a half mile from here. It’s just gone into foreclosure. If the price is right, I might just make an offer.”

  “Wow.” This definitely made an impression. “I’d love to see it someday.”

  “I hope you will.” He leaned over and gave me a little kiss on the cheek. “I definitely hope you will. Maybe you can even help me decorate. I hear you’re great with fabrics and such. Maybe I’ll hire you to make the curtains.” A playful smile followed his words.

  “Will there be mice involved?” I asked. “Because I could really use the help.”

  That got a laugh out of him.

  We found ourselves caught up in conversation with several of Bella’s siblings moments later. Jordan a
nd Armando really hit it off, and I enjoyed my conversation with D.J.’s brother Bubba and his wife Jenna. Well, for a moment, anyway. Turned out Bubba had to tend to something on the grill. But Jenna stayed around and I discovered she was just my kind of girl.

  I enjoyed her company so much that I ended up seated next to her at lunch. And as for how all of the people found a seat at this soiree, I observed the family setting up tables all the way out the dining room and down the foyer. They put the older kids at a bit of a distance, but the little ones, like Bella’s daughter, Rosa-Earline, stayed nearby. I’d never seen so many high chairs and booster seats. The family must own stock in a baby supply store.

  I’d also never seen so much food. Wow. An eclectic mix greeted me: grilled chicken and brisket from Bubba, and lasagna, fettuccini, and Caesar salad from Rosa, along with the most beautiful garlic twists I’d ever seen. Three kinds of pizza from Uncle Laz, and Mimi’s enchiladas. Oh, and a gorgeous Italian cream cake from Scarlet, who rushed in the door seconds after we sat down.

  Mimi Carmen and Daniel both looked like they’d died and gone to heaven. After Bella’s father blessed the food, the feasting began. The clinking of silverware, coupled with the chatter and the oohing and aahing over the food, took precedence. I couldn’t help but hone in on Jordan’s social skills. He managed to make easy conversation with all of the guys, especially D.J. and Armando, while still including me.

  Rosa took a big helping of Mimi’s enchiladas, and a blissful look came over her. “Carmen, these are the best enchiladas I’ve ever eaten in my life. One of these days you have to come over and show me your secret.”

  “Thank you, I would love that.” My grandmother’s cheeks flushed pink. “It means a lot, coming from a food expert like you.”

  “Food expert, my eye. Just because I have a television show doesn’t mean I’m an expert. I just love to cook for the family.”

  “Ooo, me too. It brings me such joy.” Mimi Carmen slipped into Spanish, and before long the women were fully engaged in a lively conversation—in Spanish, Italian, and English. Fascinating. They seemed to make sense of it all. By the time they finished, Rosa had invited my grandmother to appear on her show in an upcoming episode.