Creating A Bride

Welcome to THE month for weddings! As familiar as I am with the term “June Bride”, I haven't met many brides who were actually married in June. The ones I do know about selected this month for their wedding out of practicality – scheduled around a graduation, or a move, or a job change. One couple I know who wed in June did so because they'd given themselves from January to June to save up for a honeymoon and wanted to make sure what they saved got spent on that and not something else, like furniture or new tires for his truck.  

I've never written a wedding scene for one of my books, and only once have I written a marriage proposal scene. That was fun, but not as much fun as the shopping-for-a-wedding-dress- and-girlie-underthings scene in Twister, the latest in my romantic suspense Games People Play series. Reese Adams, private investigator, anti any clothing with the potential to be scratchy or fussy or requires hand-washing, is shopping for wedding dresses with best friend Lane Partridge, her wedding date set for mid-September, (book is set early July). This scene begins with them at their final bridal shop stop in downtown Denver, a few hours before Reese follows a suspected cheating spouse to his rendezvous spot with his mistress. One of them.  
~~~~~

By now Reese was a whiz at zipping and fluffing. She squatted down and fanned out the three inches of skirt resting on the floor.

“This one doesn’t have much of a tail end.”

“Train,” Lane corrected.

Reese stood up. When she looked at Lane’s mirror image she gasped.

“Oh my God. Look at you.” No matter what Lane wore she always looked beautiful, but in this dress Lane was jaw dropping stunning. It fit so perfectly it looked like it had been designed with her in it. The simple milk white satin emphasized Lane’s long, angular body, the tiny pearls edging the strapless bodice and low cut back the only ornamentation.

Reese was surprised when tears filled her eyes. She swiped at them when Lane pivoted to look over her shoulder at an opposite mirror, and hoped she hadn’t notice. But when Lane added a headpiece with a short veil, Reese’s eyes filled all over again. And this time Lane joined her.

                                                                ~~~

Since the whole shopping experience had taken only a couple of hours and Reese still had time to spare before Frank Faircloth would leave work, she agreed to making a final stop on their way out.

“Remember when I told you how much men like lace and satin lingerie?” Lane asked.

Reese tossed her a distrustful look. “Yeah. Why?”

“Because”—she grabbed Reese’s hand before she could bolt—“I’m taking you to the land of clothes that make men weep. My treat.”

Before Reese could holler I’m Being Kidnapped! Lane had dragged her into a dimly lit store that smelled like the day old fruit section of a farmer’s market.

“We’re going to find something to replace those limp cotton things you wear.”

“I like my limp cotton things,” Reese groaned. “So does Ethan. At least he’s never complained about them.”

“He’s not the complaining type, and he loves you.”          

“Yeah, but if he really didn’t like them he’d go out and buy something for me and say, Here, look what I got for you today. Try it on.”

Lane sniffed. “He wouldn’t dare. He’d be too afraid that you’d launch some kind of attack.”

With Reese loudly protesting, Lane clamped her hand tighter and led her to the back of the store past scantily clad mannequins exhibiting silk, satin and lace items. Along the back wall were alcoves dripping with bras, underwear and an assortment of dangling objects in every imaginable color.

Lane stopped at a table decorated with lacy things. She held up something in a deep violet.

“What is it?” Reese asked, staying well out of reach.

“A chemise. It’s part of a set.” She held up its mate.

“What the hell is that?”

“It’s a thong. Underwear, Reese.”

“Underwear?” She leaned forward, her arms locked behind her, being careful to not touch it. “What are you talking about? There’s no ‘under’ to it.”

Lane held it up against her hipline. “It covers the front.” She rotated it. “Then you don’t have any lines showing through your clothes.”

“And that little strip there goes―” Reese’s brows shot up and she leaped back. “That’s disgusting! And it’s gotta be uncomfortable as hell.” She bent down to look at the price tag. “What? How can they charge this much for something that doesn’t even cover your ass?”

Lane laughed. “I just wanted to see your reaction. Never in a zillion years could I imagine you in anything like this.” She tugged on Reese’s arm. “Come on, there are other things that’ll be better for you.”

Reese looked back over her shoulder at the thong display and shuddered. “I bet Janet wears those things.”

“Janet? Who’s Janet?”

“Ethan’s secretary. She walks around like she’s got something stuck up her butt. I bet it’s that little piece of whatever.”

Lane burst out with a laugh. “Oh, this is going to be so fun!”

 

I love writing my Games People Play series because through Reese I get to be sassy, brassy and irreverent and then let Ethan offset her traits with his elegant, urban, patient nature. As the writer, it's a good balance and a challenge to make it work. For the reader, well, I hope you're entertained! 

 Are there any wedding/proposal/shopping scenes you especially enjoyed writing? Any that you really enjoyed reading?



Polly posts on RB4U's blog on the second of every month. You can find out more about her and her books at her website: www.pollymccrillis.com
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