Night's Promise(101)
How was she ever going to make up her mind when she couldn’t even see how she looked in any of them! Tears of frustration stung her eyes as she stepped out of the last dress and tossed it aside.
“I like the one with the fitted bodice.”
Startled, Sheree whirled around to find Mara standing near the door.
“I thought you could use some help,” Mara said.
“Really?” Sheree raised a skeptical brow. “Or did Derek send you to keep an eye on me?”
“That, too. There are still hunters in the area.”
Sheree picked up the gown Mara had mentioned. “I like this one, too, but . . . how do you decide what you want when you can’t see yourself in it?”
“Well,” Mara said with a cocky grin, “if it looks good on the hanger, I just assume it will look fabulous on me.” Reaching for the gown, she said, “I’ll try it on so you can see what it looks like.”
Mara changed out of her jeans and sweater and into the dress in the blink of an eye. “So?”
“It’s beautiful. Would you try on the ball gown?”
“Of course.” In moments, she twirled around wearing the other dress.
Sheree blew out a sigh. “It’s hard to decide. They’re both lovely.”
“Well, in my opinion, the fitted one suits you best.”
“Then I’ll take it. Thanks for your help.”
“No problem.”
“Did someone help you pick out a dress when you got married?”
“Yes, the first time. Cara, Savannah and Kathy went with me. I could see myself in the mirror back then,” she said with a wistful smile. “The second time, I don’t remember what I wore. All I remember is the look in Logan’s eyes.” With a shake of her head, she put the past behind her. “Why didn’t your mother come with you?”
“I didn’t ask her,” Sheree replied, pulling on her jeans. “She doesn’t approve of my marriage to Derek. I doubt if she’d want to help me pick out a dress. Besides, it would have been hard to explain why I no longer have a reflection.”
“True enough,” Mara said, laughing. “Anyone you’d like to invite to the wedding?”
“Just Edna and Pearl. And my parents, of course.”
“Edna and Pearl?” Mara exclaimed. “Why on earth would you want them there?”
Shrugging, Sheree finished dressing and stepped into her sandals. “I think I hurt their feelings when I dumped their serum. I’d like to make amends.” It was only a little lie.
“Well, they wouldn’t have been on my guest list, but it’s your wedding.”
“So, you’ll invite them?”
Mara nodded.
“Thank you.” Grabbing her handbag and the gown, Sheree left the dressing room.
Mara waited while Sheree paid for the dress, which was carefully zipped into an opaque garment bag.
“So the groom doesn’t see it before the wedding,” the saleswoman explained with a smile.
Outside, Mara glanced up and down the street, her expression wary.
“Is something wrong?” Sheree asked.
“I got wind of a hunter earlier.”
Hunters, Sheree thought bleakly. She hadn’t given much thought to the danger they presented to her now that she was a vampire. “How do you know when they’re near?”
“You can smell them,” Mara replied, a note of disgust in her voice.
“Really? What do they smell like?”
“Death. Come on, I’ll see you safely home.”
Derek was waiting for Sheree when she arrived. She had invited Mara in, but the vampire had declined, saying Logan was waiting for her. They were going hunting together.
“I see you found a dress,” Derek remarked, eying the garment bag.
Sheree nodded.
“We’re all set then. I found just the place. It’s an old church in Northern California. I think everyone in the family has been married there except for my mother and Logan, who were married at home.”
“Did you set a date, too?”
“A week from tomorrow night. Mara cleared it with Father Lanzoni.”
Nodding, she placed the garment bag over the back of the sofa. “I’m hungry.”
“Come on, I’ll take you hunting.”
“Your mother said she smelled hunters in town.”
“Then we won’t hunt in town,” he said, taking her hand in his.
Moments later, they were in Texas.
“Texas?” she asked. “Seriously?”
He shrugged. “Why not?”
She shrugged, wondering what the odds were of running into Pearl and Edna.
“Slim and none,” he said. “It’s a big state, and we won’t be here very long.”