“I’ve been instructed to help you prepare for your wedding today.”
“You have?”
The little man was straining to keep the bags from dragging. “I would like to put these down somewhere safe.”
“Of course, come in.” Nicole opened the door and let them into the room. “Sorry for the mess,” she said.
The porter put the bags down on the bed and the woman tipped him something that must have been fairly generous, because he got a huge, white toothed smile on his face. “Congratulations, Miss,” he said to Nicole. “Good luck today!”
He hurried out the door.
“I’m really confused,” Nicole said. “Red didn’t tell me that anyone would be coming by to help me get ready. In fact, he’s out trying to see if we even can get a license to marry.”
The woman smiled patiently. “My name is Liz Eastman.” She held out her hand for Nicole to shake.
“Your name sounds vaguely familiar.”
“Those are my dresses,” she said, nodding to the bags on the bed.
Nicole gasped. “You’re the Liz Eastman?”
She’d heard of Liz’s clothing line, of course, but her brain had been too surprised to put two and two together. Liz Eastman was the designer of East End Fashion, and her dresses had been worn by the likes of Katy Perry and Rachel McAdams.
Liz Eastman was a huge name in the fashion world, and Nicole couldn’t believe that she’d come all the way out to Belize to personally help style Nicole for her wedding.
“So, we don’t have time for much talking,” Liz said, getting down to business. “We need to look at these dresses and see if we can get you fitted properly.”
Liz walked to the bed and began unzipping the bags, taking the dresses out and hanging them in a nearby closet. Once they were all hanging, Liz and Nicole discussed which ones she should try on.
All of the gowns were exquisite.
Nicole had never even tried on something as expensive or beautiful as one of these gowns—which surely must have cost thousands and thousands of dollars.
She couldn’t believe Red had thought of this for their wedding. It made her so happy that he’d gone the extra mile—more than that, he’d brought someone halfway across the world for her.
Nicole first tried on a strapless, lace wedding dress. When she had it on, Liz made her turn around a few times and then began muttering and pulling it in different places. “This is quite beautiful on you,” Liz said. “But we can do better, I think.”
Next, she had Nicole try on an ivory tiered, silk gown that was like putting on a cloud. Everything was soft and flowing and Nicole actually said, “I feel like a princess in this,” which was the cheesiest thing she’d ever uttered aloud. Not to mention, she’d said it in the presence of one of the most amazing designers on the planet.
That was one of the more embarrassing moments of her life to date.
But the third time was truly a charm; a simple column wedding dress made from chiffon, with floral silver and glass beading. It hugged Nicole’s body as she walked, and was incredibly comfortable and form fitting, yet still romantic and elegant.
“It looks as if we’d spent years making alterations,” Liz said, clapping her hands. “You just have the perfect body to carry off this dress. I’m simply amazed.”
Nicole was honored that Liz Eastman seemed so happy with how it looked on her.
“Now I must find hair and makeup,” Liz said. “Give me one moment.”
“Excuse me, did you just say hair and makeup?” Nicole called out, as Liz hurried from the bungalow.
Nicole was sitting in an incredibly expensive wedding gown and starting to sweat. She wondered where Red was and what he had in store for her next. It was all too much.
And yet she had an enormous smile on her face because it was actually perfect, and she couldn’t have asked for more.
About ten minutes later, Liz Eastman returned to the room with another woman. Apparently she was a very successful and sought after stylist who had a chic salon in Belize that catered to the very wealthy tourists.
Her name was Angela, and together, she and Liz went to work making Nicole into the very definition of a perfect bride—styling her hair, applying makeup, tweaking her dress and her appearance from moment to moment.
She felt like a living doll.
By the time they were done with her, nearly two hours had elapsed and they both seemed conscious that they needed to get her out the door.
“Where am I going?” she asked.
“Everything is taken care of. But we need to go,” Liz explained.
They walked her out the door of her bungalow and that’s when Nicole’s breath was taken away. A long, beautiful white carpet had been laid out from the door of the bungalow, all the way to the beach and almost to the ocean edge itself. There were rose petals strewn along the white runner. Standing at the end of it, right by the water, was a small group of people.
Nicole was laughing and crying.