Walker Bride (21 page)

It was exactly what Pearl had always wanted.
Nothing too fancy. Something that she could wear in her
untraditional wedding, should she ever have one.

“C’mon. I want to see,” Sunshine’s voice
chimed from the other room.

Pearl stepped out, and Sunshine’s hands went
straight to her mouth. “Oh-my-word. You are stunning.”

“I don’t know about that. This is eight years
old now.”

“It’s the most beautiful dress I’ve ever
seen.”

Pearl stood on the platform in front of the
three-way mirror and looked at herself. It was the most beautiful
dress she’d ever seen too.

“What kind of veil?” Sunshine asked walking
toward the rack.

“No veil,” Pearl said, still studying herself
in the mirror. “Only a ring of daisies.”

Sunshine rested her hands on her chest. “Yes.
That’s it.”

When the door opened, they both turned to see
Bethany walking through with Susan’s sister. Each had an armload of
tuxedos.

Bethany stopped. “Oh, look at you.”

Pearl was quick to move from her pedestal.
“We’re just trying on dresses.”

“I’m learning how to fit them,” Sunshine
said.

But Bethany’s eyes didn’t wander. “Pearl,
it’s exquisite. You look fabulous.”

“Thank you. It’s something I’ve saved.” She
moved toward them. “Let me take those from you.”

Sunshine followed suit and took the stack
Susan’s sister carried.

“They’re all there,” Bethany said. “Dane
thinks his bow tie is in a pocket. If you don’t have it let him
know.”

She laughed. Usually, that was the most lost
item.

“Did Susan and Eric leave for their
honeymoon?”

“Yes,” Susan’s sister said. “Eric was quite
nervous to leave everything behind. But I think he’ll get over it
when his toes are in the sand.”

Pearl felt the pang of sadness creep through
her.

Bethany and Susan’s sister visited for a bit
longer, and then they were off to finish tying up the small details
of after wedding items.

Pearl changed out of the wedding dress, hung
it back in its bag, and back on the save rack in the back room.
Then she went about teaching Sunshine how to catalog the tuxedos
that were returned so that they could ship them back.

“At the new store I’ll have room to carry a
small selection of rental tuxedos,” she told Sunshine.

“That’s very exciting. I’m really happy for
you. It must be wonderful to work in a field that you love.”

“It is.”

She took down the next tuxedo from the rack
and immediately she knew it had been Tyson’s. She could smell his
cologne lingering on it.

It took every ounce of willpower not to bring
it to her nose and linger in the smell.

As was the process, she checked the buttons
and the fabric for any damage. Then she slid her hands, carefully,
into each pocket.

Inside the tuxedo pocket was the daisy she’d
tucked into his lapel with his boutonniere last night. Wrapped
around the stem was a small, jagged piece of paper.
I’ll never
forget
was written across it.

Tears immediately began to choke her, and she
fought them off, but to no avail.

“Pearl, what’s wrong?” Sunshine quickly moved
to her with a tissue she’d pulled from the box. “Is everything
okay? Are you alright?”

Pearl nodded as she dabbed her eyes. “I’m
sorry.”

Sunshine noticed the flower and the note.
“Did that mean something?” she asked.

“For a very short time.” For the first time
all day, her cell phone rang, and she was glad to have the
distraction. “Hey, Donald,” she answered and listened to the very
excited man tell her he needed her at the new location A.S.A.P.
“Can it wait until I’m done here?” She nodded as he protested.
“I’ll be there in half an hour,” she promised as she disconnected
the phone.

“What can I help with?” Sunshine was already
standing there waiting for direction.

“Do you think you can just watch the store
for an hour? I have to run to the new location. I won’t be long,
and we don’t have anything going on today.”

“I’ll be fine,” Sunshine said as she reached
for Pearl’s hands. “Take your time. I’ve decided that this is where
I need to be. With you. You are in need of some time and not just
an hour to run and take care of things. I want you to know you can
count on me.”

“I appreciate that. I’ll work on letting go a
little,” she chuckled. “I’ll be back in an hour.”

Pearl could see Donald inside the shop before
she arrived. He had swatches laid out on the floor and his design
book open on his lap.

She walked through the door, and he jumped to
his feet. “Oh goodie, you’re here. Lydia let me in. We were working
on the reception hall. O.M.G. you’re going to die when you see
it.”

“I’m sure it’s going to be amazing.”

“Uh-huh!” He pulled her into his arms and
kissed her on the cheek. “I heard about your breakup."

That meant Tyson had talked to Lydia as he'd
said he was going to. If he were going to handle it, she would have
thought they'd have come to discuss it with her. Instead, it had
been given the finality of a breakup. That was fine. That was
essentially what had happened.

"It kills me. He’s so sexy,” Donald added
with a pout.

Pearl stepped back. “It’s fine. Really. So
what do you want to show me?”

Donald went to work and began showing Pearl
the swatches he’d put together for flooring, paint, and furniture.
She was sure, in the end, that trust fund she’d joked about was
going to be toast.

His ideas were genius. There was a reason her
mother always used him in everything she did.

Donald’s phone rang near the end of his
presentation. “Another job. I’m just the golden child of design
these days,” he marveled at himself. “I’ll just pick this up and
head out. We start on Monday.”

“Really? That soon?”

“Darling, if we don’t get a move on, we will
not be ready for your big opening. Lydia and I have been planning
it. Gia Gallow is even making a special trip back to Italy to get
some new goodies for her store. Oh, this is going to be
lovely!”

She watched him hurry about, and then he
kissed her before he ran out the door. Suddenly, she was alone in
her new space.

Pearl sat down in the middle of the empty
room and let the silence surround her. This was what she’d always
wanted. It was going to be the most amazing store ever.

But there was something missing.

She didn’t want to think about it. Her heart
was broken, and she’d done it to herself. But she couldn’t see
Tyson and Lydia losing what they had. Pearl already felt as though
her parents weren’t a big part of her life. What would happen if
her sisters and brothers disappeared too?

Tyson and Lydia needed each other, and if
that meant she stepped out of the way, then she would do it.

Pearl turned her head to the door when she
heard footsteps.

“I saw Donald leave. I just came to lock up,”
Lydia said softly as if she were afraid to speak to Pearl.

“I’m done.” Pearl stood.

Lydia moved inside and shut the door behind
her. “I think we should talk.”

“We’re fine. Really. You and I are partners,
and we need to just move on as such.”

Lydia shook her head. “I heard what you
did.”

“I didn’t do anything except go behind your
back." Guilt churned in her stomach. "We knew how you felt about
everything, and we went with our lust. I guess the old Pearl is
still in there. I didn't think about anything but myself.”

Lydia walked in closer. “I don’t think so.”
She tucked her hands into the back pockets of her paint-stained
overalls. “Yes, you both lied to me. You hid something from me that
I felt adamant about.”

“See? The old Pearl. Not someone you probably
want to be friends with, let alone partners.”

“On the contrary.” She kicked her foot
against the bare floor. “I tried love once, and it didn’t work out.
I supplemented that loss with business.”

Pearl understood that concept very well.

Lydia looked around the bare room as if to
keep her eyes focused away from Pearl. “So my mom made mistakes. I
made that personal. I used it against you and Tyson. I needed his
investment.”

“We’re all partners. Lydia, it’s okay.”

“He loves you.”

“It was an affair. A quick affair that didn’t
net any bonuses,” she said as convincingly as she could.

“He told me he proposed.”

“Out of spite, I’m sure.”

Lydia shook her head again and looked at
Pearl. “He’d never do that. I want to offer you my share of the
business for free rent. We can work out numbers later. But then you
and Tyson will own the building, and I won’t be in the way.”

Pearl moved to her and pulled her into her
arms. “You were my partner first. Tyson and I will recover. I will
never, ever come between a brother and sister. I will not be the
reason a family gets torn apart.”

“He’s miserable,” Lydia whispered in Pearl’s
ear.

“He won’t be miserable forever.”

“I’m not so sure about that,” Tyson’s voice
rumbled from the doorway.

Pearl and Lydia stepped apart.

“Lydia and I were just talking business,”
Pearl’s voice shook.

“Cutting me out?” He shoved his hands into
his front pockets and leaned against the door jamb as he’d done so
many times before.

“If you want out, I’ll find the financing,”
she offered.

“I didn’t say I did.” He walked toward them.
He stood behind Lydia and placed his hands on her shoulders. They
both focused on Pearl. “Family is very important to both of
us.”

“I understand that. That’s why I didn’t
accept your proposal. I won’t be the reason you two are torn apart.
There have been too many lies told, and I don’t want to be a part
of that anymore. Like you said, we weren't any better than our own
parents.”

He stepped around Lydia and closer to her.
“Lydia,” he said without looking at her. “Did you ask her about the
buyout for free rent?”

“Of course.”

Pearl narrowed her eyes on him. “You knew
about that?”

“I thought it was a fair trade. Crunch the
numbers. It works in her favor.”

Pearl swallowed hard. “I don’t understand
what’s going on.”

He reached for her hands, and she fought the
urge to tug them back, but his skin on her skin felt so nice.

“Lydia and I, we’re as tight as a family can
get. The Walkers, well, they’re a tight-knit group. Seems as though
we’re supposed to all be family.” He raised his hand to her cheek.
“We want you to be part of our family.”

She looked at Lydia, who was now wiping away
tears and then back to Tyson. “What do you mean?”

“I mean my proposal still stands, with
Lydia’s blessing. Will you marry me?”

Pearl batted against the tears that stung her
eyes and then looked at Lydia who encouraged her by nodding her
head. “I was wrong,” she whispered. “Marry the man. Be my sister. I
hadn’t looked at it like that. It’s even better than a business
partner.”

Now the tears burst through, and she couldn’t
control them.

“I love you.”

He smiled and brushed away the tears with his
thumb. “I know. That’s why I’m standing here asking you to marry me
again. But I’m kind of afraid you’re going to turn me down
again.”

She shook her head. “No. No, I won’t turn you
down,” she stuttered as she tried to control the tears.

“Is that a very bad way to say yes?” he
joked.

“Yes.”

He pulled her in and pressed his warm lips to
her trembling ones. He pulled back and reached into his pocket.
“This is for you,” he said holding up an older bridal set between
his fingers. “My mother and father were very happily married until
he died. She says that marriage is an amazing thing to enter into
with the person you love.”

“You told your mother?”

He shrugged. “No more secrets.” He took her
hand and slid the ring on her finger. “She wants you to have it,
but would understand if you decided against it.”

Pearl looked at Lydia. “What about you? This
should be yours.”

“I’m not getting married. Remember? I traded
love for business.”

She was finding it hard to catch her breath.
“This has all been so sudden.”

Lydia burst out with a laugh. “Are you
kidding me? He’s been in love with you for a very long time.”

He nudged Lydia. “She doesn’t need to know
everything.”

Pearl laughed now. “No secrets.”

He kissed her softly. “Never, ever
again.”

Bethany’s dress had been sent out for final
alterations. The men in her bridal party had been fitted for their
tuxes.

Sunshine walked out of the storage room with
a tape measure draped around her neck. “I just checked in all the
tuxes for next weekend.”

Pearl nodded as she checked her calendar on
the computer. “A new bride is looking to come in next weekend, but
I won’t be here.”

Sunshine moved in next to her and nudged her
out of the way. “I have fitted thirty brides in the past two
months. I can fit another. You are going to go and get married and
get out of my hair,” she demanded with a smile while entering the
information into the calendar.

Pearl had indeed made the right decision in
hiring Sunshine. She wondered what she’d ever done without her.

“I think I should tell Tyson that we have to
move this. I mean, it’s silly to get married the week before my
sister does.”

“Don’t you dare cancel on me,” he said from
the dressing area.

She turned to see him standing there in a
tuxedo, his baseball cap and boots still on. “I might if you don’t
change your shoes or your hat.”

He cocked an eyebrow. “Don’t you love me the
way I am?”

Pearl moved to him. “I love you in every
way.” She kissed him softly. “Does it fit?”