“These are… amazing,” she said.
“I have some Regency gowns ready for you if you’d like to try them on.” Alice gestured at the far end of the room. “They’re in the changing room.”
“Oh, it’s Avery who’s getting the wedding dress. I thought you knew,” Elizabeth said.
“Yes, but you’re living at Base Camp. You should have some gowns. I’d hoped you’d surprise me and come sooner, you know.”
Elizabeth raised an eyebrow. “How would that be a surprise? You couldn’t have known I wouldn’t.”
Alice shrugged. “I knew.”
“Go try them on,” Avery urged. “Yell if you need help with the underthings.”
“I’m here only a few more days.”
“Shift first, then corset,” Alice instructed. “I’ll be over in one minute to show you how.”
Avery thought Elizabeth would protest, but in the end she drifted down the room and pulled the curtain shut on the changing room.
Alice turned to her. “Let’s look at material first. I picked out an array of possibilities for you. And here are some preliminary designs.” Alice placed a pile of material swatches and sketches in front of her. “I’ll help Elizabeth and come back to see what you like best.”
Avery barely heard her leave, she was already so entranced by the drawings and the wonderful materials Alice had left. A few minutes later, she heard the door open and close again but didn’t look up until a young woman sat down next to her.
“I like that one.” It was Josephine Reed, Jo for short. She was the youngest of Alice’s four sisters, and as usual, she was holding a black-and-white puppy. Jo bred McNabs, placing them in homes only if she determined the owners were worthy. She and Avery had talked about bison before, although Avery had found Jo’s older sister Lena had more to say about the critters. The Reeds ran a cattle operation, and while Lena was curious about Base Camp’s experiment with bison, she was a die-hard cattlewoman, and Avery didn’t think that would change.
“I like it, too.” It was a very traditional-style Regency gown with cap sleeves, a fitted bodice and an interesting train.
“Did I hear someone talking about a wedding?” Another Reed sister came through the door, the oldest—Cass. She was a pretty blonde, who Avery thought of as the mother hen of the family. Cass was always in her kitchen, waving through the windows when anyone arrived to talk to Alice or visit one of the others, keeping Two Willows running despite all the chaos around her.
Things were a little chaotic despite Cass’s best efforts, Avery thought. The five sisters were all in their twenties, all unmarried, and their boyfriends were… well… questionable, in Avery’s opinion. How such wonderful women could choose so badly when it came to their partners, she didn’t know. She supposed it wasn’t any of her business, though.
“You heard something,” Avery told her, “but you have no idea who the bride is and isn’t.”
“Really? That sounds intriguing.”
Avery knew the Reed sisters could keep a secret. Riley, who’d met them occasionally over the summers she’d spent in Chance Creek growing up, had told her a little about them. How their father hardly ever came home when they were little, working his way up through the ranks of the military until he became a general. Then he stopped coming home at all after their mother died when they were still fairly young.
“They were basically raised by wolves” was the way Riley put it. “They never went to school. Hardly ever came to town. I’ve never, ever seen all five of them together in one place except at Two Willows. It’s like their ranch is enchanted, and they can’t bear to leave it.”
Avery thought the whole situation was romantic—except for those boyfriends, whom she’d met now and then on her trips here to see Alice. Maybe someday a bunch of princes would come along and set them free.
Cass didn’t seem to need saving, however. She bent over Alice’s designs happily, debating them with Jo until Alice returned.
“We like this one best.” She pointed to the fanciest of the bunch. “I’m not sure which one Avery likes, though.”
“She’s playing it close to the vest,” Jo agreed.
“Off you two go. The bride has to choose for herself,” Alice told them. “I’ll bring Avery and Elizabeth over for tea before it’s time for them to leave.”
Cass and Jo left good-naturedly, and Alice took a seat beside Avery. “Which one do you like?”
“This one. It’s simple, but it’s stunning, and I can’t take my eyes off it.” Avery pointed to a design that showed a plain gown gathered just below the bustline and swooped over the model’s curves, with a gossamer overgown that trailed behind it.
“That’s the perfect one,” Alice exclaimed. “These are the fabrics I would use for it. In fact, let me show you. I couldn’t help myself.” She moved swiftly to the other side of the room and came back lugging a dressmaker’s form.
Avery laughed. “You already made the dress?”
“Just a mock-up, but… well… yes.” Alice blushed, looking prettier than ever. “I knew it had to be this one.”
The gown was satin, the overlay sheer with the most delicate embroidery around the hemline. Avery knew she’d be the image of grace and purity in it. Maybe she was far from pure in life, but somehow the gown embodied who she wanted to be—regal and joyful, something bright and beautiful in the world.
“It will look fabulous on you,” Alice said. “Let me finish up with Elizabeth and then you can try it on. I made it to fit your measurements.”
She moved off again toward the fitting room, and Avery circled the mannequin, entranced by the wedding dress Alice had created for her. When she looked up again, she sucked in a surprised breath. Elizabeth was standing close by, her sensible clothes replaced by a deep wine-red Regency gown.
“Oh, you’re stunning!”
She could only wish for Elizabeth’s tall figure, high
