Dragged to the Wedding(23)
Holly joined them, and Clare brought out the dress in a plastic protective cover, carefully laid over her arm, and handed it to Daniel. She clearly felt bad, but it wasn’t her fault.
“Let’s get back to the house so I can plan how I’m going to do this before we need to leave for your meeting at the church,” Daniel told Holly gently. “It’s going to be okay.” Daniel handed the dress to him and then hugged Holly. “I’ll do my very best.”
* * *
“Are you really going to be able to fix this?” James asked, standing behind Daniel as he worked in the bedroom with the dress laid out on the bed, pins everywhere. “It seems like a huge amount of work.”
“It is.” Daniel turned to the open door, and James closed it for privacy, returning to where Daniel sat as he made notes. “I have to do something. This dress is all wrong for her.” He sighed, and James massaged Daniel’s shoulders.
“What can I do to help?” he asked. James was probably going to regret asking. He knew nothing at all about sewing, but the job just seemed huge.
“Believe it or not, you’re doing it.” Daniel set down the notebook and pencil. “At least now I know what I’m going to do.” He rubbed his eyes. “When are we supposed to leave?”
“You don’t need to come.”
“We told your sister we’d go with her and Howard. Besides, I need a break before I tackle this thing. I’m going to have to pick apart the seams and resew them. It’s fiddly work, but not the most complicated thing I’ve done.”
James leaned down, hugging Daniel from behind. “You’re a real lifesaver, you know that? Mom can sew, but I doubt she’s up for this kind of project.” Even though she should be the one fixing this mess.
“We have to get ready to go. Howard picked up Holly a little while ago. I think he’s doing his best to keep her calm, and that’s probably the only reason Mom hasn’t been hung up by her ears.” Why she had to meddle in everything and thought she knew better than everyone else was a mystery to him. She always seemed to think Holly exaggerated the size she wore. Mom was always sorry after she meddled, but she just couldn’t seem to help herself. If she would have left things alone, none of this would be necessary. But on the other hand, Daniel had come to the rescue.
Daniel nodded. “Let’s make this as quick as possible so I can get back here to work on this before we go to the parties tonight.”
James nodded, but stopped Daniel with a light touch before he reached the door. “I want you to know that all those guys, the losers...were also complete fools to let you slip through their fingers.” Daniel’s eyes shone, and James nodded. “None of them had a clue.” Daniel squeezed his fingers, and James felt that pull once again. Daniel’s lips parted, and James didn’t see the dress, the makeup, or the fake chest. All he saw was the man under the trappings, the one with the kind heart, hiding it under a veneer of sass and one-liners.
He was becoming more and more confused by the hour, not about his feelings, but by what was real. So many of the things between them were built on an illusion that James had no idea what the underlying truth was. The shitty thing was that he was responsible for the sleight of hand in this situation, and that settled in his gut like a lump. Even though his heart told him to just back away and think things through, put some distance between them, he still drew nearer, and felt Daniel doing the same.
“You’re going to be late,” Mom called from the hallway outside, interrupting the moment. She sounded more than a little subdued, probably smarting from the whole dress incident. There had been raised voices, more tears, and as far as James could hear, even an actual apology from his mother. The bubble around them burst, and James stood straighter, turning away to adjust himself so he didn’t flash a boner at his mother. In fact, that notion was enough to send things racing south...fast. This trip was turning into a marathon that showed no signs of ending, and the thing was, they had barely started. But, damn, he was so grateful that Daniel was here with him. Going through this alone would have been hell.
Chapter Eight
Daniel wasn’t quite sure what to think of the church. It certainly wasn’t what he had been picturing in his head. Somehow, the image in his mind was of a white church with a steeple, reminiscent of a Currier & Ives postcard. This modern building with odd angles and a bell tower that jutted out like a misshapen ship’s prow made him think that maybe the architect had smoked crack just before sitting down at the drafting table.
“This is it?” Daniel asked Holly in hushed tones, almost expecting her to tell him it was a joke and that they were really going to the church down the street.
“I know,” Holly whispered, exaggerating her lips.
“The old church was very traditional, with wooden beamed ceilings and long pews. It was white with a traditional bell tower. The only thing left of it is the bell in that monstrosity.” James pointed to the imitation of a ship’s prow off the front.
“What happened to it?” Daniel asked.
“Reverend Peterson,” Holly spat like the name was a curse word. “They hired him, like, five years ago, and within a year he was raising money and got the board to knock down the old building and start work on that.” She took Howard’s hand. “It’s still a sore spot. I liked the old church. It was the church I grew up in, and we used to play hide-and-seek in parts of the old basement.” Holly shook her head as Howard pulled open the door and held it for the rest of them.