Chapter One

      Eight-year-old Adelyn Loren nodded her approval as she watched, mesmerized, as her aunt adjusted a light blue, floor-length bridesmaid dress. There was a touch of wonder in the little girl’s soft brown eyes.

      “Aunt Gina?” the little girl, known to her family as Addie, asked hesitantly.

      The dark-haired little girl jumped off the bed. She had followed Gina into the room when her aunt had asked her if she wanted to see what the dress looked like on her. A fashion buff, even at the tender age of eight, the girl came in eagerly.

      She finally had the dress right, Gina thought, looking herself over in her sister’s full-length mirror. “What, baby?” Gina asked absently.

      Encouraged, Addie’s voice sounded a little more confident as she asked, “How many times do you have to do it?”

      Gina turned away from the mirror. The dress her latest client had initially picked out had been dowdy and downright awful. With a little bit of subtle hinting, Gina had managed to convince the young woman that being backed up by an attractive-looking bridal party would only serve to highlight her own gown on her big day. That succeeded in making everyone happy.

      Satisfied, Gina gave her niece her full attention. The little girl had a very serious expression on her face. “How many times do I have to do what, sweetie?” Gina asked.

      “How many times do you have to be a bridesmaid before you get to be the bride?” Addie asked.

      Gina laughed softly. She knew where this was coming from. “You’ve been talking to your grandmother, haven’t you?”

      Addie shook her head vigorously, sending her long, coal black hair bouncing from side to side.

      “Uh-uh. Mama said you’ve been in a lot of weddings and that you were always a bridesmaid so I was just wondering when you get to stop being a bridesmaid and get to be a bride.”

      Judging by her expression, Gina could tell that it seemed like a logical progression of events to Addie.

      Wiggling out of the bridesmaid dress, she draped it on the side of the bed as she threw on an old T-shirt and a pair of jeans. Dressed, Gina sat down on the bed and put her arm around her niece, pulling the little girl to her.

      “That’s not quite the way it works, sweetie,” Gina said, managing not to laugh.

      “You mean you’re always going to be a bridesmaid?” Addie asked, her eyes opening so wide that she resembled one of her favorite stuffed animals. “Doesn’t that make you sad?”

      “No,” Gina assured the little girl, rather touched that the girl was concerned about her. She hugged Addie closer. “It makes me happy.”

      The small, animated face scrunched up in confusion. “How come?”

      She did her best to put it in terms that Addie could understand. “Being a bridesmaid is my job.”

      But it was obvious that this just confused Addie even more. “Being a bridesmaid is a job?”

      “It is for me,” Gina answered cheerfully. “The truth of it is, baby, for some people weddings can be very confusing and stressful.”

      Addie’s smooth forehead was still wrinkled in consternation. “What’s stressful?”

      Gina thought for a moment. She didn’t want to frighten the girl, but she did want to get the image across. “You know how when you play your video game and if you’re not fast enough, suddenly the words game over can come on your screen and your tummy feels all knotted up and disappointed?”

      “Uh-huh.” Addie solemnly nodded her head.

      “Well, that’s what stressful is,” Gina told her. “Organizing a wedding can be like that.”

      Addie looked at her uncertainly, doing her best to understand. “Weddings are like video games?”

      A warm feeling came over Gina’s heart and she grinned. “Sometimes. Your mom almost called off the wedding when she was marrying your dad. Everything suddenly felt as if it was just too much for her.”

      That had been the first time she had found herself coming to a bride’s rescue. In that case it had been her older sister, Tiffany, who needed help. And that had been the beginning of an idea for a career.

      “Really?” Addie asked in wonder.

      “Really.” Gina didn’t emphasize how much of an emotional mess her normally level-headed older sister had been a few days before the wedding. “I saw what your mom was going through so I took over and helped her out. It was just a matter of untangling the order to the florist and maybe threatening the caterer,” she added as more facts came back to her.

      That really caught the little girl’s attention. “Did you say you’d beat him up?” Addie asked in an impressed, hushed tone.

      Gina laughed. “Worse. I threatened him with bad publicity.”

      Addie looked up at her in confusion. “What’s bad pub-lis-ity?” she asked.

      “Something everyone lives in fear of,” Gina answered with a smile. “Anyway,” she continued matter-of-factly, “I realized that I was pretty good at organizing things and that I could help brides like your mom really enjoy their day and not get caught up in the hassle.” She decided that Addie didn’t need to know anything beyond that. “And that’s how your aunt Gina got the idea to became a professional bridesmaid.”

      “Can I become a professional bridesmaid?” Addie asked eagerly. It was obvious that her aunt’s story had completely won her over.

      “You have to get to be a little taller first,” Gina told her, kissing the top of the girl’s head. “But I don’t see why you can’t be one when you’re grown up if you want to.”

      “Will you show me what to do once I get tall enough?” Addie asked seriously.

      Gina inclined her head as if she was bowing to the little girl. “I’d be honored.”

      “Just what is it that you’re going to show my daughter how to do once she gets tall enough?” Tiffany Loren asked as she came into the guest bedroom.

      Addie swung around on the bed and looked up at her mother. “Aunt Gina’s going to show me how to become a professional bridesmaid,” she declared gleefully.

      Tiffany looked more than a little dismayed. “Just what kind of ideas are you putting into my little girl’s head?” she asked.

      “I had nothing to do with it,” Gina said, disavowing her culpability in the matter. “This was all Addie’s idea.”

      “An idea she got from watching you come over here, parading around in all those bridesmaid dresses,”