All of Me by Leeanna Morgan (popular e readers txt) 📖

A week later, Tess and Sally were busy unpacking bridesmaids’ dresses from another big box that had arrived that afternoon.

“Look at this one.” Sally held a gorgeous silk gown against her waist.

It was the most amazing aqua blue color Tess had ever seen. “It looks wonderful with your hair and eyes.”

“It’s a pity no one’s getting married, otherwise I’d be tempted to borrow it for the wedding. That’s if I get asked to be a bridesmaid again.”

Annie’s head appeared from under the table. She’d been looking for a button that had popped off a dress. “Tess is closer than any of us to saying, ‘I do.’ Just don’t mention Logan’s name. He’s not in her good books at the moment.”

“Why not?” Sally asked.

Annie wiggled out from under the table. “He hasn’t called her for four days,” she whispered. “She’s worried about him.”

Tess pulled another dress out of the box. This one was the same color as the dress in Sally’s hands, but a different style. “He’s gone back to the village where Abiba and the children and soldiers died.” She tried to sound as though it wasn’t a big deal, but it was. Logan had been told that the Taliban had left the village. Some people had moved back home, others hadn’t.

What worried her the most was what the Taliban might have left behind. She’d read terrible stories on the Internet about crudely constructed bombs they planted in the ground. They’d killed and badly injured a lot of people and Tess didn’t want Logan to be one of them.

Sally hung her dress on a hanger and put it on the metal bar Dylan had rigged in Tess’ living room. “You’re running out of space.”

Tess stared at the dresses hanging in color-coordinated groups in the room. If it wasn’t her living room, it would have been a pretty sight. The rainbow of silk and satin glistened in the sunlight streaming through the big picture windows. It was theatrical, exotic and so much of everything they’d wanted to do for Connie and other brides.

Over the last few nights when she couldn’t sleep, Tess had sat in her living room, surrounded by the dresses. Each one represented someone’s hopes and dreams for a wonderful future. A future two people had chosen to live together. She imagined all of the happy vibes, the love and excitement that had gone into making each of their weddings special.

It made her feel proud of what she’d achieved with Sally, Annie, and Molly. It made the absence of Logan easier to bear. But this week, with no phone calls from him, it had been impossible to find comfort in anything.

She’d been grumpy and moody and so worried that she didn’t know how she was going to get through the next few days.

Annie gave her a hug. “Logan will be okay.”

“I hope so,” she sighed.

Sally opened the next box and smiled. “We’ll be able to diversify. Look at this…” she pulled a white organza and satin dress out of the box. The skirt puffed out like the kind of dress a princess might wear. With its beaded bodice and short, lacy sleeves, it was super cute and way too big for the space they had available.

“How many brides’ dresses does that make?” Sally asked.

Annie looked at the inventory list she had in her hands. “Six. We’ve got ten veils and eleven tiaras as well.”

Sally laid the dress over the back of the sofa. “That’s another eight dresses that Molly has to photograph.”

Annie lifted a box of letters onto the coffee table. “It’s time to make a lot of brides’ dreams come true.”

“How are we going to do this?” Tess asked.

Sally looked at the envelopes. “We need to give a lot of dresses away. What if we randomly pick one letter each? When Molly arrives, she can choose one too. That will be four potential bridal parties taken care of in one go.”

Annie nodded. “Sounds like a good idea to me. What do you think, Tess?”

“Makes sense to me. Who’s going first?”

All three girls looked at each other. Sally was the first to step forward. “I’ll do it. There’s got to be some perks to being the shortest in the room.” She looked in the box and moved the envelopes around.

“Don’t take all night,” Annie groaned. “Just pick one.”

Sally frowned at the envelopes. “This is serious business. Some of the people have taken a lot of time to make their letters look pretty. Look at this one.” She pulled a big red envelope out of the box. Someone had stuck little pink love hearts on the outside. Glittery jewels had been clumped together like flowers and a picture of a big yellow sun