Chapter 27: Three Dresses

SLOAN

When I wake up the next morning, Kade is still sleeping, so I sneak out of bed and go downstairs to make breakfast. It doesn’t take long for him to wander downstairs and join me in the kitchen.

“Baby, you’re glowing, you look so beautiful.”

“Well, good morning to you, too, handsome.” I smile, and he kisses me sweetly before he sits down at the counter.

“What’s on the agenda for today?”

“I’m going to go to work, but my mom is having lunch with me, so we might try to look for a wedding dress. And I’m going to see if Marlene will let me raid our sample room.”

“I have to go into the studio for a few hours, but is there anything I can do after?” he asks.

“Work on spreading the word with the band. And maybe talk to your mom and see if she has any updates.”

I gasp. “Whoa.”

Kade jumps up and runs over to me. “What? Are you okay?”

“Uh, yeah… Kade, I think she just kicked me.”

Kade’s eyes light up and he places his hand over my belly. “Hi, baby girl! Wow, did you feel that?”

I laugh. “Yes, babe, it’s in my belly.”

He smiles bashfully and leans in to kiss me. “I love you, Sloan, you’ve made me so happy.”

“I love you, too, Kade.”

I plate the breakfast I made and sit with Kade at the counter. “As much as I want to sit here with you all day, I’ve got to eat and run. I’m a little bit behind since I missed the other day,” I admit.

“That’s fine, baby. Thank you for breakfast.”

I finish my food and get ready for the day.

On my way out the door, Kade hands me a small bag full of snacks. “They’re for Clover, you know,” he says with a smile.

“Yeah, okay, you’re just trying to make my butt bigger.” I laugh.

“Don’t be silly, I love your butt just the way it is.” He smacks it once before he pulls me in and kisses me goodbye. “Have a good day, honey buns.”

“You too. I love you.”

***

The ride to work is quick, and when I get there, Marlene is pacing in the hall, nervously waiting for me.

“Good morning, Marlene. What’s wrong? You look stressed.”

“I’ve got a huge project that just came in today. I’m trying to decide whether I should tell you or not,” she admits.

“Of course, you should, what do you need from me?”

“Put your stuff down and get settled, then come and see me. We’ll talk then.”

I do as she says and, after reading my emails, I wander down the hall to Marlene’s office.

“Sloan, perfect timing, come, sit.”

“Are you going to tell me what’s going on?”

“I don’t want to put any extra stress on you. Your mom already called me this morning; take whatever time off you need this week to get ready for the wedding.”

“She works fast.” I laugh. “I haven’t even talked to her yet today. It’s going to be small, not a huge deal. I’m here to work.”

“I was thinking that maybe you’d like to take Carly Anderson on as an assistant. That way, you can show her the ropes for when you’re on leave, and she can help cover some of the smaller tasks.”

“If that’s what you want, Marlene, sure.”

“Okay, well, Dubois wants to partner with LILAC to throw an event together.

“They’ll debut their new line at the party, and LILAC will feature it in articles. The proceeds of the party are going to go to Global Fund for Women, who want to ride the wave from the purple party.”

“Wow, that sounds incredible for us; there will be so much press.”

“Yes, but it’s a big undertaking, and they’ve requested you to help with the event.”

“I’d love to.”

“Just promise me that if it becomes too much, you’ll let me know. You need to take care of yourself and the baby.”

“We’re doing just fine. Also, now that we’ve told our family, I can tell you. It’s a girl. Her name is Clover Mae.”

“Oh, Sloan, that’s such a beautiful name. Congratulations again.”

“Thank you. Just let me know who my contact is at Dubois, and I’ll get right to work.”

“I’ll send you everything I have in an email. Thanks, Sloan, you’re a rock star.”

***

When I get the email from Marlene, I do some quick research online. Dubois is a family-owned fashion house, and my contact is the main designer’s daughter, Abbot.

She seems young and nice from everything I can find online, but you never know—sometimes people in the fashion industry can be really nasty.

I get a little lost in my internet research when I hear a light knock on my door.

“Oh, hi, Mom. Is it lunchtime already?”

“Yes, have you eaten?”

“Not lunch but I’ve been snacking, Kade packed me a bag, he’s worried I won’t gain weight.”

“Well, let’s get you fed.”

“Wait, I had an idea.” I stand up and walk with my mom down to Marlene’s office and knock on the door.

“Hi, Sloan, Mariah, to what do I owe the pleasure?”

“I actually just had a question. I was hoping that you’d let me raid the sample closet and see if there is a wedding dress in there?”

Marlene smiles. “By all means! Go raiding! I’m sure you can find something.”

“Thank you so much, Marlene.”

I pull my mom down the hallway to where the samples are housed.

Samples are used sometimes to add style to shoots that need them or for articles about styling but, for the most part, they just sit and collect dust after they’ve been featured.

My mom grins. “Wow, Sloan, there must be a thousand dresses in here.”

“Yeah, and most of them have only been worn once. I know that I want to wear white or off-white but, other than that, I have no idea. Let’s go raiding.”

My mom and I spend a while picking through dresses, and there are three that fit the bill.

“Which one do you like, sweetie?” my mom asks while she takes them all in.

“I don’t know, I want to ask Kade.”

“But you don’t want him to see you; it will ruin the surprise.”

“Which one do you think?”

“Check them all out and decide how you feel the day of,” Marlene chimes in from the doorway. “I trust you,”

“Oh, thanks, Marlene, that is so sweet.”

“You’re welcome. I just wanted to let you know there is a catered lunch in the cafeteria today. Of course, Mariah, you are more than welcome to stay.”

I smile. “That’s perfect, thank you.”

I sign out the three dresses and take them back to my office before I show my mom how to get to the cafeteria. After loading up plates of food, my mom and I sit down.

“Wow, honey, I knew you loved your job and I knew Marlene was sweet, but this is so nice.”

“Yeah, I really do love it here. I’m worried maternity leave will set me back. I want to work as long as I’m able.”

“Why are you worried? Marlene obviously loves you,” my mom assures me.

“She wants me to train one of the other girls as an assistant to me so while I’m gone, things don’t slip through the cracks. I just hope I’ll have a job to come back to.”

“I appreciate the effort you’ve put in to get here, and you deserve this job, but Kade and Clover are what’s most important now. Kade is very successful, too, so you’ll be fine either way.”

“You’re right. So, any idea about the wedding? We’ve been texting people about the date, but I don’t know anything else.”

“Your father wants to host the ceremony and reception at our house.”

“Really? That would work, the house is gorgeous. But that’s a huge undertaking having everyone in your space.”

“Our only daughter is getting married; we want to do this.”

“Okay, then, I guess that’s settled. What day?”

“I know you want to have it on Saturday. What time do you want to get married?”

“I feel like afternoon to the evening is nice.”

“See, we’re figuring it out. I’ve been talking to Carol, and she’s planning on coming over this afternoon so we can walk through the house and get some ideas.”

“Thank you so much for all the help. There is no way I would have been able to do this without you. I just got assigned a huge project today.”

“Well, don’t spread yourself too thin. I’ll let you get back to work. Thank you for having me here today; I’ve loved hanging out with you.”

“Well, you can come to have lunch with me anytime, Mom. I love you.”

“I love you, too, sweetie.” She hugs me goodbye and leaves me to my work.