“Dee,” I tried to interrupt.

“Let me finish. I always tell a bride, it’s her big day. But sometimes I get a bride who I can relax with and give her some honesty. To them I say, it’s not really your day. It’s the day you host the biggest party of your life. It’s usually a funny thing, but to you, my dear friend, this is the day you give a gift to those women out there. They have no doubt you and Holst will be forever. And you’ve been fighting them tooth and nail, trying to take away their joy.” She brought the dress to the dais and made a hole in the middle for me to step into. “If you’re afraid something’s going to go wrong, tell them and let them fix it. Stop being a bitch.”

“You’re hot when you’re bossy, you know that?”

She rolled her eyes and said with a huff, “Put the damn dress on.”

I looked down at her, her hands keeping the mass of dress open for me to step inside. “Honey…”

“Put it on!”

“Honey,” I said again, softer, and waited until she looked up at me. “I promise, I’ll try not to say anything again…but I think you need more distance from having your heart broken. You met him too soon after the fact. It’s too raw. I don’t think it’s over for the two of you… not yet.”

She looked back down, but said, “Yeah.”

I held onto her shoulder as I stepped inside the dress. One by one, she put on my shoes, then zipped the skirt and back as she buttoned and laced and fussed. Finally, she arranged a creamy veil that glittered gold when the light caught it.

“You need earrings. Turn around.”

My entire body felt like it was covered in static electricity. I was shaking, jumpy, and could barely speak when I managed to say, “I look like a princess.”

“Yeah.”

“This dress is my bitch,” I told her. I heard Lana making baby-fussy noises as Dee opened the curtain. I stepped off the dais and walked to the three women, who all sat in silence, looking me over, and whispered to them, “This dress is my bitch.”

Tori was the first one to talk. “It totally is.”

My mother was next. “Can I buy you earrings?”

“Yeah.”

Her next words were genuine and heartfelt and made me realize just how much of an absolute bitch I’d been. “Thank you, Katherine.”

See, I hadn’t let my mom get off with an apology. I was making her pay for her mothering-failure by being an absolute bitch. I was a smart-ass, I was rude, I was bossy, and I was about as unladylike as possible, until one afternoon, she turned to me and said exactly what I wanted to hear.

“I understand you’ll always remember what I didn’t do, but I hope now you’ll allow me to do the things I can, honey.”

And accepting her offer to buy me earrings…I’d just put up a big ole white flag and called a truce.

“Mom…”

Becky interrupted our moment, which was a relief. “Al is waiting at that Mexican place. Would you all like to join us?” she asked me.

“I’d love to. But I need to check-in downstairs first.”

Holst said he’d be down at Bear Claw if I needed anything. I knew he was only going to have a surf and tend the garden. Gloria and Leo now had a man named Harry to help out. Three employees: two part time, one full time. We could hardly believe our luck.

“You meet us whenever you’re done. Bring my boy, too.” Becky smiled.

“Okay.”

It was a silent standoff until Tori announced, “I need to feed my girly-girl here and—”

The door opened to Beachy Bride, and, I swear to God, Dee really needed to remember to lock that fucker. Cam walked in, smiling huge, and said, “It’s my turn, Fairy. Where’s my Baby Sunshine? Time to give Mama Sunshine a rest.”

He was armed with a fresh bottle, took off the top, and scooped Lana into his big, manly arms.

My mom began to fan herself, Becky let out a little sigh, and I…well, I was me. “Dude, Cam, ovaries exploding all over the inside of my pretty dress.”

His shoulders moved ever so slightly with a careful laugh. “Kath, just behind my gorgeous wife and baby girl here, you are third in line as absolutely beautiful.”

“Holst has already seen it.”

Cam teased Lana’s mouth open until she began her slumbering milk nap, and in a quiet voice, as he stared at Lana, he said, “He could see you in it before the day a thousand times, Kath. It wouldn’t matter. I can see the very moment when my Fairy appeared to become my wife. It’s a memory a man can recall in an instant, the moment he knew his life had changed for the better, when she was about to become his wife.”

Dee stood with the mothers.

I joined them.

And the four of us looked at the little family: Cam holding Lana, Tori leaning into him, his eyes closed, and his lips against her forehead…

Dee whispered to me, “It all started with a dress.”

SEPTEMBER

Katherine

Summer had seen some exciting changes at Bear Claw. The first and most important were the hours we operated. Five days a week, bear Claw was open from seven in the morning until eight at night. Friday and Saturday, we were open until ten, because we now had entertainment those days. We only allowed locals to perform, and the rule was, they had to be acoustic. I didn’t want to piss off the neighbors…since I knew most of them.

It was exactly four in the afternoon on a Friday. Leo and Harry had just come in for the night shift, which meant Holst and I were done for the day. That was our new schedule. Harry and Leo alternated opening shifts with Holst, so we now worked five days a week, eight to four, and the rest of the time…

Was ours.

Holst’s apartment had been rented out to none other than Frodo, who’d been living in Dana Point. He wanted to be in town, closer to work, since Nico was mostly a stay-at-home dad now. Zack and Frodo were relentless in their teasing of him, but Zack was busy, too, with his little girl, Zola. She was all white skin and black hair like his wife, Teensy. But her personality was shades of Zack, so, basically, they had their hands full.

In the last few months, I didn’t think it escaped anyone, least of all Dee, that Frodo never had the same girl with him. He was as discreet as he could be, but I knew he wasn’t serious about any of them. More than a few times, I’d watched him stare up at Beachy Bride and Dee’s cottage, his face awash with pain and emotion he was unable to hide with those sad, blue eyes. But I had hope.

There was always hope.

My mother now lived in Laguna Niguel. Just far enough away for me to be comfortable if she called and said she was on her way over.

And she had officially filed for divorce.

I climbed up the back steps to the roof deck of Bear Claw and right into our overgrown garden. Holst wasn’t pruning or watering. He was shouting into his phone as I approached.

“No, you listen to me!”

I stood behind and gently touched my mouth to his shoulder. “H?”

He turned to me, his caramel eyes angry, his jaw clenched, and one hand combing through his thick hair.

“No. I do not believe you, and I said no. Do not contact her.”

He disconnected the call, and I was pretty sure who it was, so I guessed. “My dad?”

He gave an abrupt nod.

My father had offered Holst a whopping five-hundred grand for our business. But it wasn’t for sale. He didn’t really want it anyway. He was just pissed I’d taken a risk and had succeeded without his help.

I chuckled and asked, “How much did he offer this time?”

He shook his head. “He didn’t.”

“Really? What was all that about then?”

He sat down on one of the benches. Leo was a smoker, and Gloria was a sneaky smoker, so we made sure the roof was their escape to not be shamed publicly. “He asked if he could give you away, baby. He also offered to pay for the honeymoon.”