Continuing Story Part 44

It was  hard to go to sleep that night, with the excitement of graduation day having been and now it was the day before the wedding and the rehearsal dinner and practice walking down the aisle was going to be happening. Dahlia closed her eyes, but they kept popping open and she found herself going over and over these next two days, but sleep did come finally, and when she opened her eyes next it was morning.

She jumped out of bed, knowing she had a million things to do today. Meet the florist at the church, so the flowers could be placed on the pews. She needed to go get her dress picked up that the store had been holding for her, and Drake needed to pick up his own suit. The cake was going to be delivered at the house here by the neighbor tomorrow morning.

She had clothes to pack to take over to their new home, and she wanted to get some of that over with today,and there were some knick knacks that she wanted to take with her. Some of the people from their church had donated some furniture and she and Drake were going to meet them over at the new place right after lunch.

The house had the basics that anyone could need but it lacked in furniture what it provided in needs, so it was going to be a big day. She went over to the bathroom and took a bath, and putting clean clothes on she met everyone down in the kitchen for breakfast.

The kitchen was pretty lively as the excitement grew for the day and appetites were big. Eggs were being scrambled along with bacon and ham. Dahlia found herself to feel hungry, so she fixed herself a plate and pulled up a chair alongside the others.

There was a lot of chatter with giggles and questions being targeted towards Dahlia. Was she nervous, how did she sleep last night, was she ready to become a bride. What was she going to be doing today?

In between bites Dahlia filled them in on her plans and they all offered to help in what ever ways they could, and Drake walking in and over hearing the conversation, said that he was going to count on the help. He explained how he had just gotten off of the phone with a couple who needed to meet them at the new house and deliver their donation of furniture as they needed to leave for the rest of the day, so Drake was going to be going over there in about an hour.

Drake got himself a plate of food and when he sat down beside Dahlia, the conversation became even more lively. More laughter and giggles could be heard throughout the house. The ladies and Dahlia decided that while Drake was gone, they would go ahead and pick up her wedding dress and Drake’s suit, then after lunch they would go to the church and meet the florists.

Ralph and Rachel stepped into the kitchen and Drake filled them in on the plans for the day, and Rachel asked Dahlia if she would like her to accompany her on the way to the dress shop, and Dahlia said that would be nice. They could all go as a group. They all chatted some more, drinking their coffee, while Ralph and Rachel ate their breakfast,and then clean up began. The ladies cleared the table and did the dishes, Drake asked his dad if  he would go over with him to meet the delivery people and soon everyone was bustling and getting around to leave. They all decided to eat lunch out, so what ever everyone was going to do with their time after the errands were done, they were all going to meet at the cafe in town at noon.

Soon the house was quiet, and the ladies were standing in the dress shop admiring all of the beautiful dresses for sale. Some of them were dreaming and imagining what dresses they would wear when it was their special day. The sales lady came up and recognizing Dahlia asked her if she was here to pick up her wedding dress, and they all chimed together a big yes, that tomorrow was the day.

The lady went back to the storage area and came back carrying the dress. Everyone expressed how much they loved the dress and how beautiful it was, and they could not wait to see Dahlia in it. The sales lady lowered a plastic covering over the dress to keep it clean and dry and then the ladies left the store and took the dress back to the car where Rachel was sitting, then they walked down another block and went inside the store and picked up Drakes suit, and then went back to the car once more. No one was ready to go home yet, and so Rachel got out of the car and locking the doors, they took off down the street to window shop.

While they were walking, Rachel asked Dahlia where the shoes were, that she had not seen them when she carried the dress out. Dahlia stopped dead in her tracks. The shoes, shoes for her dress she had never gotten. Here it was the day before her wedding and she had no shoes. Then she started to cry and Rachel patted her on the back and asked her what was the matter,oh no, no shoes?, and not to worry, she could stop at the shoe store down the block and purchase a pair, but Dahlia said she did not have any money with her for a pair of shoes. She had only brought enough with her for lunch.

Well this was no problem silly girl, they would just all pitch in together and find an affordable pair and then when they got home, Dahlia could reimburse the ladies. Dahlia smiled at them and said she didn’t know what she would have done without them, as she did not want to let Drake know that she had forgotten the silly shoes,and with this the few tears dried up and they walked toward the shoe store.

Entering the glass door, the sales lady came to them and asked if they needed help, and Dahlia said she needed a white pair of dress shoes. She led the ladies over to the dress shoes and they went through each pair, Dahlia trying them on, all giving their opinions, Dahlia  walking in them for comfort and feel, and finally they decided on one pair that was very simply white, with a little pump to them. These shoes would look perfect with her dress, and the best thing about these shoes was, that they were on sale.

The ladies pulled their money out of their purses and handed it to Rachel, and she took the shoes and went up to the register so that she could pay for them. While the sales lady was ringing them up, Dahlia turned around and looked back at the group of friends and smiled and then handed the lady the money. With a tiny bit of cash back, and the shoes in a draw string bag, they thanked the lady and went out the door. Dahlia looked at them and said that they had saved her life!

They took the shoes back to the car where the dress and suit were  waiting and looking at their watches saw that they still had an hour to go before the guys would be coming, so they continued their walk by going to store windows and pointing out things they thought were cute or nice and somethings they saw, they laughed at because what they were looking at was way too modern for where they lived.

They walked down one side of the store fronts street and then came back up the opposite side of the street. They had gazed into each and every window, and this was nice and relaxing, for this was the most free moments left for the day.

As they were making their way back to the car to wait, they saw Drake and Ralph walking towards them and they all went together towards the cafe and walked in and sat down. They ordered lunch and then all asked questions about the furniture and Drake asked if Dahlia had picked up her dress. One of the ladies giggled softly as they said they did pick up the dress and a little more. Drake asked with a grin what, what was he missing out on, and the ladies all giggled and said nothing, don’t worry about it, the dress was picked up and beautiful. They had it waiting in the car.

They ate their lunch and listened to the music playing in the background. Elvis Presley was playing on the jukebox. Everyone in these parts loved Elvis music. When they were done eating and the jukebox became quiet they got up and went to the register to pay, but the owner came to them, and said that this bill was on the house, a little wedding gift to Drake and Dahlia. Drake shook his hand and said a big thank-you and Dahlia went behind the counter and planted a kiss on

the owner’s cheek and said thank-you for a wonderful gift, and with this they all left the store.

They all drove over to the church and waited for only a few moments and the delivery car came up and stopped in front of the church. Drake went to the front doors of the church to make sure it was unlocked and they were, so he entered in announcing to the staff person working there,that he and his family and the flower delivery person were here to deliver the flowers. She got up from her desk and went to help by holding the door open on one side and Rachel held the other door and the delivery man brought all the beautiful flowers in.

After the delivery man left, everyone including the staff lady, helped place the flower bunches at each pew and with plenty of tape, they taped each bunch to the top and when all done they stood back and looked at their work. Beautiful was all that could be said.

They told the staff thank-you for your help and that they would be back later that evening, and with that they all walked out the front doors and back to their cars. Before getting in to leave, they all did a verbal check, making sure that nothing had been left undone. This was it, no more time to shop. Nothing could be thought of that may have been forgotten, so they piled in the two cars and took off for home.

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