One Fine Day - Olivia Miles Page 0,2

and decided to spare me. But the thing is that I was looking forward to it.” Sarah leaned against a file cabinet.“I really thought this one might work out!”

“What were your interactions like?” Melanie asked. She slid the box containing the veils across the worktable and carefully cut through the seal with a pair of scissors they kept on hand for Melanie’s custom wedding gown orders.

“You mean, our messages?” Sarah hesitated. “There weren’t many, just a few getting to know you type of exchanges. He likes to play tennis. And he’s a dentist. And he has a dog.” Or so he said. She chewed on her thumbnail and then, remembering her manicure, quickly dropped her hand again. “Do you think Chloe’s mad at me?”

Melanie winced as she returned the scissors to the drawer. They were all paranoid about leaving sharps out with so many irreplaceable gowns at stake. “Do you want the truth or do you want me to make you feel better?”

Sarah groaned as she put her face in her hands. “Is it that bad?”

“Well, there was a client present—”

“But I didn’t know there would be a client!” Sarah protested. “We never have clients this early.” Usually they didn’t book clients until midmorning, once they all had a chance to settle in, check on their orders, and, of late, tend to the other services that the shop was now offering, including wedding consulting and custom gown design.

Melanie grimaced. “Just bring out the veils, act like nothing happened, and don’t mention it again.”

“And maybe Chloe won’t either?” Sarah asked hopefully, but the look on Melanie’s face confirmed her worst fears. Chloe was Melanie’s cousin. She knew her well.

“I’ll walk out with you and stand by the shoes, if it helps,” Melanie offered.

“Thank you,” Sarah gushed.

Of the two owners of Bayside Brides, Chloe was by far the more difficult to please. She was anxious, even uptight, but Sarah also knew that the store wouldn’t be the success that it was without her high expectations. She had an eye for detail, and she was a perfectionist. When Sarah had joined the business in the winter and talk of expanding from a retail store to a full-service wedding business was being passed around, she’d dreamed of becoming a planner one day. Chloe was covering that for now, but she’d promised to let Sarah work with her on a fall wedding. Now Sarah wondered if she would keep to her promise.

With a shaky sigh, she grabbed the box of veils and squared her shoulders. She followed Melanie into the storefront, grateful that her friend was there for moral comfort, and hoping that she might be able to successfully smooth things over with her cousin. The two often butted heads, but ultimately they had run a successful business together for years and had recently made moves toward expanding their services. Now wouldn’t be the time to fire an employee, surely?

Chloe didn’t look at her as she approached. The client was wearing another dress now, this one was a frothy chiffon with floral embroidery. It was also one of the dresses that Sarah had taken a photo of when she’d first unboxed it. She took photos of all of her favorite dresses, just so she would be prepared when her day finally came.

Only it wasn’t coming, was it? Her date had cancelled, and there wasn’t another on the horizon. The other two “matches” she had made on the site had never returned her messages. How was she expected to compete with the hundreds of women whose profiles and photos were just as appealing, if not more so, than her own?

She was only aware that she was frowning when she caught Chloe’s sharp eye. Instantly, she righted herself, forced a smile, set the veils on top of the jewelry counter and backed away, hoping that her service was completed, that Chloe wouldn’t call her over for anything else.

“Sarah!”

Damn. She closed her eyes. Briefly. Then, because she had to, she mustered up all her strength into a smile. “Yes?” she said weakly.

“Ms. Merrik would like to try on the satin kitten heels in a size eight.”

Ms. Merrik? But the Merrik wedding was the one that Sarah had been hoping to help plan. She opened her mouth, but no sound came out, and from the knowing look in Chloe’s eye, it didn’t matter.

There was nothing she could say now. She had said enough already.

***

The only perk to the day was that it was, indeed, Friday, and that even though