Lily looked at herself in Elsa's long mirror. 'I don't know. It's a bit – dreck. Looks like net curtains.'
‘It could certainly do with a wash,' said Elsa briskly. 'Try the next one.’
Sarah and Lily had gone round to Elsa's for her professional advice. Sarah had had a trawl of the local charity shops to see if anything was suitable. Lily had been forced to come round to the idea of a 'pre-loved' dress, but not willingly, despite being reassured that Sarah would make sure it was dry-cleaned thoroughly before Lily's big day.
Now, Sarah handed over the next offering. This had big hoops, lots of beading and was grubby round the hem. 'Here you are, but don't let the label drop off. I can take back the ones we don't use but I must remember which charity shop they came from.'
‘I can't believe they let you do a sale or return,' said Elsa, hooking up Lily.
Sarah shrugged. 'It took a bit of sweet-talking but that's my job.' Then she sighed. Sometimes she found her job very difficult. Lily was proving to be even more demanding than her A-list client.
‘Oh!' Lily squeaked. 'That's too tight.’
No one spoke for a few seconds. 'I think that could be described as a pregnant pause,' said Sarah.
Elsa and Lily glared at her.
‘I could let it out if you love it,' said Elsa. 'I might have to sew an extra bit of material into the bodice. I'll check the seam allowance.'
‘Don't bother. I hate it.' Lily plucked at it and sniffed, fighting tears. 'I can't believe I can't fit into that dress just because I've got a tadpole swimming about inside me. What size is it?’
Sarah and Elsa exchanged glances. 'About eight to ten, I should say,' said Elsa, tactfully. 'They don't often have the size in them,' she added.
‘Take it off,' said Sarah. 'You've still got a couple more to try. If only I could have got to one of those charity shops that specialise in wedding dresses, I might have found better ones.' She took the dress from Elsa and put it into its bag. 'That's still an option if none of these are any good, but we are getting short of time.’
The last dress was much better and billowed generously round Lily's still slender form. 'Oh, I like this!' said Lily. 'This must be a size twelve.'
‘Don't get so obsessed with sizes,' said Elsa. 'I'm going to pin this so it fits you and you can see what you think.'
‘I don't suppose you've got any wine, Elsa,' said Lily. 'I can't help feeling this would be a lot less stressful if we had a little glass of white.'
‘No alcohol until Bron gets here,' said Sarah firmly. 'She's bringing a takeaway round at seven. Anyway, I thought you were off it.'
‘Sometimes I am, sometimes I'm not. Don't be a spoilsport,' said Lily. Sarah was just about to protest when Lily went on, 'What's that dress up there, under the muslin?'
‘Ng,' said Elsa, her mouth full of pins. She took them out. 'That's the ball gown I was telling you about. For the ball I'm going to with Laurence.'
‘Oh, can we see it?' asked Sarah, needing a break from shop-soiled wedding dresses, even if they were 'pre-loved'.
‘Oh, let's,' agreed Lily, probably bored with them too.
Elsa went across and removed the muslin cover from her dress. She was pleased with it. It had little puff sleeves and a bodice in pale blue. The dress split just under the bust revealing a primrose-coloured underskirt. The edges of the gown were trimmed with tiny embroidered flowers, with the odd seed pearl picking up the colours. It had been a real labour of love.
‘That's fantastic! I can't believe you made that,' said Sarah.
‘Thank you for your confidence, 0 Great Provider of Two Important Clients,' said Elsa dryly.
‘Oh, you know what I mean. It's just it's so exquisite. How did you find the time to do all that embroidery?' Sarah was peering at it closely.
‘I cheated. That's some very fancy ribbon. I sewed on the pearls. It's effective, isn't it?'
‘Extremely! You really should take this up professionally,' said Sarah, giving Elsa's arm a playful push. 'That's what I want!' declared Lily. 'That's my dress!’
‘Actually, it's my dress,' murmured Elsa.
‘I mean, that is exactly the sort of dress I want!' Lily was pointing at the gown as if she were trying to put a spell on it, possibly to make it fit her perfectly.
Both the other women looked at the ball gown and then back at Lily.
‘Something like that could work well,' said Elsa. 'The bump would be quite unobtrusive.'
‘There won't be a bump!' declared Lily.
‘There probably will be,' said Sarah, for what felt like the millionth time. 'But it will hardly show. That's a lovely idea, Lily, well done!'
‘Do you want to have a white wedding, everything traditional?' asked Elsa.
‘My mother-in-law does,' said Lily. 'What we want doesn't seem to be important.'
‘The dress is always the bride's choice,' said Sarah, 'especially if there isn't a mother to be pacified. No, Lily, I'm not saying it's a good thing we haven't got Mum any more, but it is one less person to consult on things.'
‘Right,' said Elsa, 'put the first one back on.'
‘But we hated that. It was all grubby.'
‘And a bit tight,' added Sarah, ignoring Lily's frown. 'Never mind about that. I've got an idea.' Elsa was on a roll. 'Come on, Lily.'
‘Couldn't I try on your dress?' Lily asked as she struggled into the dress. 'It's so much nicer.'
‘You can, but later. I want to see what I can do with this one.' She stepped back, her head on one side. 'Dye it, that's the first thing. I think a soft apricot.'
‘Yes,' said Sarah, warming to the idea. 'I like that. What about you, Lily?'
‘Apricot's cool. After all, I shouldn't really wear white. I'm not a virgin.’
As the proof of this was already showing, the other two didn't comment.
‘And then we need an underskirt. If you liked pale yellow, I've got some material left over from my dress,' Elsa said. 'In fact, let me go and see what other scraps I've got. This is going to be good!’
Elsa's enthusiasm was catching. She brought back a bag of bits and Sarah and Lily rummaged through them.
‘Actually,' Elsa went on, 'although it's dirty, this is quite good material. I'll take out the sleeves and give you little puff ones, like I've got – you've got good arms so that's a perfect look for you.’
Lily looked at an arm, trying to admire it underneath the bulky satin.
‘Are you sure you'll have time to do this, Elsa?' asked Sarah.
‘Of course. It shouldn't take too long. Now, Lily, take it off,' ordered Elsa, 'and let's have a good look.’
With the dress back in her hand she examined it a bit more closely. 'Yes, I can put in an extra panel with the material from the sleeves.' There was a terrifying rip as Elsa demolished a seam. 'Don't worry, I know what I'm doing.' Seeing Sarah and Lily looking a little anxious as she picked up her shears, she said, 'Why don't you try on my dress, Lily? Sarah, you help her. I won't be a minute here, then I'll make you a sketch.’
Elsa was perched on her chair unpicking a seam a little more carefully than the one she'd dealt with before and Lily had finally taken off the ball gown. Not that Elsa was proprietorial about her clothes but she was glad to see it safely hanging up again, unscathed.
‘It's so gorgeous!' she kept saying, 'and my bump hardly shows at all!’
As this was the first time she'd acknowledged she had a bump, or at least one bigger than a tadpole, Sarah felt this was progress.
‘Bron will be here with the takeaway soon,' she said. 'Cover Elsa's dress up again in case something bad happens to it.'
‘Is Bron nice?' asked Lily. 'She does hair and make-up, doesn't she? Could she do mine?'
‘No, she couldn't,' Sarah wailed, and then regretted it. 'Sorry, Lily, she could probably advise you, but she's booked for Carrie. Carrie wanted her specially.'
‘Oh, so although I'm your sister, I don't get the best people?' Sarah couldn't work out if she was teasing or not. 'Lily, who does your hair normally? That's the best person for you,' said Elsa.
Lily shrugged, picking up a scrap of the ribbon that had decorated Elsa's dress. 'I haven't been for ages. There's no one I trust. Can I have this on my dress?'
‘Sorry, I haven't got any more. And it costs a fortune,' Elsa replied. 'I'll find you something just as lovely though.'
‘Bron might be able to recommend someone for your hair,' said Sarah, hoping against hope that Bron would know a hairdresser so far away from her own area. She had a nightmare-flash of there being no one but her to put her sister's silky locks into a bun on top of her head. Donating a kidney would be very much easier.
Bron arrived with a Chinese takeaway and a couple of bottles of Pinot Grigio on the dot of seven. 'I wasn't sure if I should bring wine. Are we working or not?' she asked.
‘Wine is always a good idea,' said Lily. She shot Sarah a look. 'Well, for people who aren't pregnant, anyway.’
Sarah smiled. 'Bron, this is my sister, Lily. Lily, this is Bron,' she said.
‘You do hair and make-up?' said Lily, cutting to the chase without preliminaries. 'Sarah says you can't do mine for my wedding.’
Bron took in the situation after a couple of seconds. 'I'm sorry, but I really can't. What sort of style did you have in mind?'
‘You should have it in a bun on top of your head, with ringlets over your ears,' said Elsa, confirming Sarah's worst fears.
‘Like you'll wear for your ball?' said Bron. 'Up-dos are quite time consuming. Don't, whatever you do, have your hair cut between now and then.'
‘Oh, I won't,' said Lily.
‘And are you having a veil, or not?' asked Bron.
Elsa, Lily and Sarah all looked questioningly at each other. 'You don't have to if you don't want to,' said Sarah.
‘You could have a really pretty tiara instead,' suggested Elsa. 'I've got a couple you could try now.'
‘Not having a veil would save money, wouldn't it?' said Lily.
‘Definitely,' said Sarah.
‘Then I won't have one.' She looked at her sister quizzically. 'You see, I can be economical sometimes.’
While Sarah hunted in Elsa's little kitchen for plates and cutlery and Elsa performed magic with scissors, pins and an old wedding dress, Bron and Lily talked about hair. They were a good team and once again they had proved themselves stalwarts, especially when this was a wedding they weren't supposed to be involved in.
‘You'll need to have a couple of practice runs before the big day,' said Bron. 'Especially if you don't have a regular hairdresser. One dummy run is enough if you do get to know someone.'
‘I can't afford to keep going to the hairdresser,' said Lily, worried. 'That's partly why I haven't been for so long.'
‘OK, so what you need to do is find a hairdresser who has students. They advertise for models in the window. They do your hair very reasonably, and if the student was good and you got to know each other, she'd probably do your hair for your wedding day.'
‘Would you trust someone with so little experience?' asked Elsa, looking up from her seam-ripping.
‘If she and Lily have built up a good relationship, there's no reason why not,' said Bron. 'I did all my friends' hair when we were going to a big do. They were very pleased.'
‘But you're a very good hairdresser,' said Sarah, putting down a roll of kitchen towel as she perched on the sofa.
‘Yes,' Bron agreed modestly, 'but possibly not the only one.’
Sarah and Bron discussed the Catering Ladies and Lily chatted to Elsa as they tucked into the takeaways.
‘So, Elsa,' Sarah asked a little later, while they were all still shovelling up egg-fried rice and prawn crackers. 'How did your ballroom dancing lesson go?'
‘Oh! It was wonderful. I was a complete klutz at first -couldn't do it at all. I kept stepping all over Laurence's feet, but then Terry sent him out and I danced with him! It was a miracle. Suddenly, I could do it. He sort of clamped me to his body so I couldn't go wrong.' She stopped, aware that the others were looking at her oddly.
‘So, was he gorgeous?' asked Lily. 'The teacher, I mean?’
‘Mm. Quite. An amazing dancer. I think Laurence was a bit jealous of him, actually.'
‘Oh, so he's keen then?' said Bron.
Elsa shook her head. 'I don't know if it was that, more that he was annoyed that he couldn't teach me to dance.'
‘Men can be quite controlling,' said Lily. Everyone looked at her. 'Even Dirk is, a bit. My first husband was a real bully!'
‘Oh, love,' said Sarah. 'I hate to think of you with that horrible man.'
‘Roger was a bit of a bully,' said Bron. 'Or maybe it was me who allowed him to be.'
‘Men are very unreliable,' confirmed Sarah, the resident expert.
‘No,' said Lily firmly. 'Not all of them. Dirk, for instance, can be a bit bossy, but he'd cut off his arm for me; and when he is bossy, it's because he's looking out for me.'
‘Dirk is very nice,' agreed Sarah.
‘And he's not the only nice man,' said Elsa. 'Laurence is quite nice too. And I think he's reliable.'
‘I'm probably just a cynical old wedding planner,' said Sarah laughing, wanting to change the subject. 'I'm dying of thirst. Anyone else need a drink of water?'
‘So,' Elsa said when she'd returned, 'have you decided about your cake yet, Lily?'
‘It would be good if you could make it, Bron,' said Sarah. 'If you used the same ingredients as Carrie's cake there'd be the economy of scale.’
The other women looked at her.
‘I mean,' Sarah ploughed on, 'if you were buying ingredients in bulk, like dried fruit, it would be much cheaper. You'd have to keep exact records of how much of everything you used for each cake, of course. I wouldn't want to diddle Carrie.'
‘Although she could easily afford to pay for my cake ingredients,' said Lily.
Seeing Sarah take a combative breath, Bron said, 'But Carrie's cake has to be sponge. It would be really difficult to support the weight on a pole, otherwise.'
‘Does Carrie know this?' asked Sarah.
‘No, but honestly, would she really mind? I suppose you should check, but it was more the shape she wanted,' said Bron. 'Still, a sponge cake isn't very traditional.'
‘And we wouldn't be able to send sponge cake to all the far-flung aunties and uncles, would we?' said Lily. 'It would have to be fruit to do that,' agreed Bron. 'I suppose I could just about fit it in, but I will be pushed for time.'
‘I know!' said Sarah, her brainwave sending the prawn crackers flying. 'We'll ask Aunt Dot! She's a wonderful baker and would love to do it!'
‘Aunt Dot?' asked Lily, frowning.
‘Yes – not sure if she's a real aunt, but she makes brilliant cakes. I'll get the ingredients for her. Bron, do these catering-lady friends of yours have a Cash and Carry connection, do you think?'
‘I should think so. Veronica makes cakes for WI markets,' said Bron.
‘Brilliant.' Sarah raised her glass, her worried look leaving her for the first time in a while. 'We've got the dress, the caterers, the cake and the hairdresser all sorted for you, Lily. Let's have a toast!'
‘Hey,' said Lily when she'd taken the smallest sip. 'I've had a brilliant idea! You must all come to my hen party! Elsa and Bron, I feel like you're my new best friends.'
‘Surely you don't want a hen party when you're pregnant,' said Sarah without thinking. 'You won't be able to get drunk.'
‘Sarah,' said Lily, very dignified all of a sudden, 'a hen party is an opportunity to get together with one's female friends before you get married. You don't have to get drunk to have a good time.'
‘No, Lily,' said Sarah, suitably chastised but liking the role reversal.
She felt a pang of guilt. She knew she had to go to Lily's hen night, but she really didn't want to. It wasn't anything to do with Lily, more her friends. They were bound to want to do things that just made Sarah feel jaded. Still, she'd go, and probably have a brilliant time. And everyone was always saying she needed to lighten up.