The unexpected compliment left her speechless. Her anger faded as if it had never been and she hugged her sister back.
“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” she said with a smile. “This will be a dress picked out by a man. God knows what it will be.”
“I’ll bet it has that lace back we saw in Mom’s magazines,” Rachel said. “The see-through kind that shows your butt.”
“I am not showing my butt on my wedding day.”
Courtney raised a shoulder. “I don’t know. If not then, when?”
Sienna was still laughing when she walked into the dressing room.
Fifteen minutes later she stared at herself in the mirror and didn’t know what to think. The gown David had chosen was couture—exquisitely made and nothing she would have chosen herself.
It was strapless, with the V of the sweetheart neckline dipping low between her breasts. There was about an inch of beading around the top of the neckline. The dress was fitted down to midthigh, and the smooth silk was covered with strings of tiny pearls that went from the front of the dress to the back. The ropes of pearls moved with her, creating a shimmering effect. From midthigh to the floor was a cascade of tulle.
Between the beading and the pearls, the dress had to weigh twenty pounds. It was snug to the point of making it hard to breathe. Sienna couldn’t tell if she liked it or not. Shocked didn’t begin to describe how she felt. It wasn’t that David had picked out a wedding gown—it was what picking out the wedding gown meant in the first place.
He genuinely thought they were getting married.
“Come on,” Rachel said, banging on the closed door. “We want to see.”
Sienna turned and opened the door. Her sisters and mom stood there. Maggie was still in her robe. They all stared—wide-eyed.
“I was right,” Courtney breathed. “You are stunning.”
Sienna looked back at the mirror. She had no sense of herself in the gown. She could see her body and her face and the dress, but she couldn’t voice an opinion. Did she look good or bad? Pretty or ugly? Those were just words with no meaning. She felt nothing.
Betty appeared and sighed. “I knew you would be dazzling and I’m right. Come see in the big mirror.”
Sienna found herself walking through the store to the dais. She climbed up, then, once again, faced her reflection. Her sisters and mother were talking. Betty made a few adjustments to the dress. Sienna simply watched and wondered why no one else saw the walls forming around her heart.
13
“ARE YOU ENJOYING your stay in Los Lobos?” Joyce asked pointedly.
Zealand nodded.
Joyce pressed her lips together. “I have to stop asking yes or no questions, don’t I?”
Zealand shrugged.
Quinn chuckled. “Leave him alone. It’s not nice to badger people.”
Joyce didn’t look convinced. She glanced back at Quinn’s best sound guy and sighed. “Am I badgering you?”
Zealand held up his left hand, his thumb and index finger less than an inch apart.
“Well, that was very clear,” Joyce grumbled. “I’ll point out that if I could hear you talk, I would leave you alone.”
Quinn nudged his friend. “Don’t give in. You’re driving her crazy and not many people can do that.”
They were seated on the patio of the hotel’s main restaurant. There were plenty of guests and tourists taking advantage of the warm, sunny weather to enjoy a leisurely lunch.
Wayne sat next to Zealand. Quinn’s assistant had paperwork spread out in front of him as he looked over the various industrial spaces they’d toured the past couple of weeks. The older man looked focused, but Quinn saw him reach down to rub the side of Pearl’s face. The standard poodle sat next to the table, while Sarge had claimed one of the two empty chairs.
“It’s good you own this place,” Quinn observed. “Otherwise, you’d have to leave your dogs at home.”
“That would never happen,” Joyce assured him. “They’re a part of my family. Speaking of my family, are you going to leave me when you decide on which location to buy?”
“Yes, but I’m not in a hurry if you’re not.”
“Stay forever.”
“We’d both get tired of that.”
His grandmother shook her head. “I wouldn’t, but a young man needs his privacy.”
As he was over forty, Quinn wasn’t sure about being a young man anymore, but he would take the title at least, for now.
“Two of these work,” Wayne said. “None of them will be perfect, but we’ll embrace the suck and move on.”
“Embrace the suck?” Joyce asked.