“I’m sure it’s here, Viv.” Boone’s hand settled around her waist.
She tried to cling to Boone’s voice of reason. It had to be here. Right?
Alecia blinked. Looked at the tag. The dress. The tag. Hit the button on the conveyor. The low buzz of the rotating garment rack filled the space.
She grabbed the next dress she came to and read the tag. “What does it look like?” This time, she held a fabric dress bag. She pulled it from the garment conveyer and hung it from the counter hook.
“An appliqué lace overlay with tulle. A V-neck and V-back.” So much for surprising Boone.
“Not this?” She opened the dress bag to reveal a soft pink taffeta.
“No.” Vivien grabbed her phone to show a picture. Except not even a defibrillator could save the device now. She shoved it back into her pocket. “White. Tulle. Lace. A chapel train. Elegant.” She took another breath. “From this decade.” The dress she’d painstakingly designed and had made in Minneapolis—which cost a small fortune. That she’d designed as exactly the right dress.
Alecia pulled the dress bag from the counter hook, returned it to the conveyer, and moved to the next one.
Nope. Not that one. “No.”
Vivien shook her head, dress after dress after dress.
The drone of the conveyer stopped. Alecia stepped away from the garment conveyer’s button. Raised her hands. Dropped them. “That’s all of them,” she said.
Vivien blinked. “That’s not possible,” she whispered.
“Should we call Kate?” Boone offered. “It must be there.”
“Of course.” Alecia snatched up the landline and ran her finger down the list of phone numbers next to the base before dialing.
Acid pooled in Vivien’s stomach, her body electrified. Kate would tell her it was actually at her shop, and then she could find it, grab her dress, and go.
“Hi, Kate. I have Vivien Calhoun here, and she’s looking for her wedding dress she thought you sent over?”
A pause.
“Yeah, I have a tag on a bag, but no, it’s not her dress.” She pulled the tag, looked at the hideous dress again. “No, there’s no doubt. It’s not right… Yeah, already did that… I see. Got it—no, that’s okay… I’ll let her know. Thank you.”
She hung up and wiped her hands on her shirt hem. “We’ve been through all the dresses. I’m really sorry—Kate suggested you come back by her shop. She’s going to look again. We’re both really confused about where it could be.”
Vivien slumped against Boone. No. No. No.
WEDNESDAY, 1:15 P.M.
Vivien was coming unraveled right before his eyes, and he had no idea how to stop it. Okay, yes, the dress was weird and gaudy, but what did he care?
They were getting married in three days. It didn’t matter what the dress looked like, what the cake tasted like, or what food was or wasn’t in the buffet. He’d even wear his ugly sweater if need be.
Still, Vivien was wound tight, and she was looking at him like he was the guy to fix this.
“How about we take Kate’s suggestion and head over there. Let her straighten all this out. I’m sure your dress is over there.”
Alecia nodded. “These are the only wedding dresses and formals I can find in the shop.” She chewed on a fingernail. “I have a newer employee who’s covered a few shifts this week on his own due to the storm. Let me give him a call. Maybe he remembers it coming in or knows where it could be.” She picked up the phone. Dialed.
Waited.
She looked up and shook her head. “This is Alecia. I’m down at the shop and have a question. Give me a call back.” She hung up and turned back to Vivien. “Voicemail. I’m sorry. If I hear anything, I’ll let you know.”
Boone grabbed a piece of paper and jotted down his number. “Call this one. Vivie’s phone is dead.”
“Sure.”
“Thanks.” He turned to Vivien. “Should we head back to Kate’s?”
She backed away, her hands strangling the gloves she held. “You think she has it?”
“I think it’s our best bet—it isn’t here.”
Vivien didn’t move.
He’d found lost hikers and cross-country skiers. He could find a wedding dress. Please, Lord.
“Vivie?”
She blinked. Swallowed. “Okay. Let’s go.”
“I’m really sorry,” Alecia said again. “I’ll let you know when…if…” She didn’t finish.
If. The big if. Because they all knew if it wasn’t at Kate’s, it wasn’t anywhere. They’d already looked through all the dresses hanging from the garment conveyor, and while they’d found the good, the bad, and the extremely ugly, they hadn’t found the tulle-and-lace chapel-something-or-other Vivien was looking for.
Vivien wiped tears from her cheeks. Nodded. Let Boone take her hand and lead her back onto the sidewalk.
A few snowflakes landed on the seat when Boone opened the door. He swiped them off and she climbed up.
He leaned close, drew his fingers down her jawline. “You okay?”
Her shoulders heaved with a big breath, big exhale. “I’ll feel better when Kate hands my dress to me.”
Yeah. Him too. “Well, then, let’s go get it.”
A short drive later, the grim look on Kate’s face said everything they needed to know. She hadn’t found it either.
How could he possibly fix this? “What about a trip to Duluth? The highway is plowed.”
Vivien shook her head, and if he knew Vivien, she wasn’t ready to give up on this one-of-a-kind dress just yet. No matter that finding it was as unlikely as finding a daffodil blooming outside Kate’s shop.
“I have some dresses here, Vivie. Why don’t you take a look at them? There are probably about twelve different dresses for you to look at that are right around your size. Some are new that I’ve added beading to. Some are consignment.”
Vivien nodded. “Sure, I’d be happy to go through them.”
Boone thought she sounded surprisingly agreeable, but grit wound her jaw tight, the muscles flexing.
Oh boy. Boone knew exactly what Vivien was doing the minute she walked over to the racks. She had exactly zero intention of trying one on. She was flipping through the racks like a crazed Black Friday shopper.
“Vivien?”
“It’s got to be here.” Oh, the quake in her otherwise-determined voice shredded a piece of his heart. It was like their very wedding—maybe even their marriage—hinged on the dress. The details. And he didn’t know how to fix it.
“I don’t think it’s here.” He tried to use his calming voice. The one he used on rescues when things looked pretty grim. “Kate would have found it.”
“It has to be here, Boone. Dresses don’t just disappear. It wasn’t at the cleaner. It’s got to be here.”
For ten more minutes she went through the racks dress by dress, only to go through them again. And again. Like a math problem she hoped to get a different answer for.
She collapsed into the overstuffed chair, her head in her hands.
“Oh, Vivie. Just try on another dress.”