The Cut of Her Cloth Page 3

  But if there was a partner involved, that could complicate things. They had to both be in agreement on a sale. And that could be more drama than Kate wanted to deal with and potentially add unnecessary time to her stay in Georgia.

  She stepped up to the counter, not noticing somebody coming in through the front door. Upon grabbing her coffee, Kate received a text on her phone. Stopping momentarily to retrieve it from her bag, she headed back to the table where Suzanne was, her head down as she typed a quick text reply. When she reached the table, she was still mid-text.

  “Kate, I’d like to introduce you to my fiancé…” Kate looked up.

  “Brad? Oh my God, what are you doing here?” Kate wasn’t sure whose smile was bigger, hers or Brad’s. Brad stood and wrapped his arms around Kate, giving her a big bear hug.

  “It’s great to see you, Katie. It’s been ages. How have you been?”

  After Brad broke the hug, Kate had a chance to take a good look at him. He looked a lot more rugged than the last time they’d seen each other, which had been much longer that Kate had cared to admit. What she would admit, however, was how handsome he looked with the bit of scruff on his face and the longer mess of hair that showed off a few of the waves he’s always tried to hide when she’d known him in high school.

  “Good, I’ve been doing really good.” She said as she stood there staring in a moment of disbelief. She couldn’t quite bring herself to break away from those gorgeous eyes of his. She’d always loved his eyes. They looked like greenish-brown marbles filled with warmth. She’d even told him that once, in fact and he’d nearly laughed her out of the arcade they’d been hanging out in after school one day.

  The truth was, she’d always had a bit of a crush on Brad. He’d been her best friend since her family had moved to Georgia, her only friend really. But by the time she’d realized she had feelings for him, she was already high-tailing it out of the small town and heading for New York City.

  “Well, now that we’ve established that everyone’s good, can we start talking about the store now?” Suzanne’s look of annoyance wasn’t lost on either Kate or Brad. Everyone sat down.

  “Sorry, hon. I didn’t know you’d talked to Katie.” Brad said trying to ease the tension. “I just assumed you’d been chatting with Mrs. Southwell. How is your mom doing anyway?” Brad’s eyes fell back on Kate.

  “Oh, she’s fine. The arthritis in her hands are really bothering her so that’s why we’re looking at selling the shop.”

  “That’s too bad. She always did the best job hemming my jeans.” That comment earned Brad an elbow in the side from Suzanne. “Well, I meant she did the best job before Suzanne here came into my life.” Brad tried to shake off the grimace from the painful jab. “She’s actually a pretty good seamstress herself.”

  “Oh yeah? You sew, huh?” Kate looked over at Suzanne, who seemed to perk up a bit now that the attention was on her.

  “I dabble here and there. I’m actually making my own wedding dress.”

  “Wow, that’s pretty impressive. Who’s you’re designer?” It was a question that Kate was used to asking in her fashion world. It didn’t occur to her until after she had already said it that she wasn’t in the Fashion District of New York City anymore. “Sorry, what I meant was…”

  “I picked the pattern from our local bridal shop. I’m adding my own personal touches of course, but it’s not my design.”

  “Okay, cool.” Kate quickly took a long sip of her coffee as she wondered if the tension between she and Suzanne could get any thicker. She took a few seconds to gather her thoughts and didn’t dare look back over at Brad. She could feel his eyes upon her and definitely didn’t need to be sabotaging the potential deal between her and his fiancée any more than she already was. “So…when’s the wedding?” she quipped, trying her diplomatic best to give Suzanne an ounce of power.

  “Nine months from tomorrow. There’s still so much to do. I’ve just decided on my colors…well, our colors.” She reached over and placed her hand on top of Brad’s. Out of the corner of her eye, Kate could see Brad trying to force a smile.

  By the time Kate returned to her mom’s shop, it was around closing time, and Garth had actually surprised her by already having closed up the register and organizing the garments that needed alterations. She’d let him go home but had also asked if he didn’t mind coming back to help out for a while until things were figured out.

  As it turned out, Suzanne had informed her, after babbling about the wedding for two hours straight, that she needed some time to think about buying the store. The funny thing was, she hadn’t heard much of what Suzanne had said the whole day. Because in her mind, she was thinking about Brad and why the two of them had let themselves fall out of touch for so long. As thoughts of Brad invaded her mind, her phone buzzed. It was a text from Jonathan, and suddenly the thoughts of Brad had to battle her thoughts of New York.

  Chapter 9

  Several days had come and gone and Kate had yet to hear from Suzanne about whether or not she wanted to buy her mom’s store. Nor had she had any more calls from potential buyers. Not to mention the ad that she’d placed in the local paper also hadn’t turned up much in the way of potential seamstresses to work in the store either.

  So Kate found herself having to pick up the slack when it came to doing the tailoring jobs that kept coming in. Not that she minded it really. She actually found herself enjoying taking on the responsibilities of fixing up the hems on a client’s favorite pair of jeans. The previous day she’d actually fitted an entire bridal party, all eight of them, and had surprisingly enjoyed every minute of it.

  Thankfully, she reflected that it didn’t happen to be Suzanne’s wedding party. Kate let out a sigh as she carefully held a straight pen between her teeth. After looking over the dress in front of her, she grabbed the pen and placed it on one of the hems, then sat back on her stool for a rest.

  That brief thought of Suzanne had allowed her mind to wander to Brad again. She hadn’t heard from him either. But then why should she? They hadn’t been in each other’s lives for quite a long time now. And even when they had been hanging out together all those years ago, they had just been friends.

  The confusion of emotions and feelings that were swirling inside her had come on suddenly with a fury the evening after she’d left them at the coffee shop. She had even tried diving into her sketchbook and working on some new designs for when she got back to New York, but even that hadn’t worked.

  She’d spoken to Jonathan on the phone, but he had to meet some clients for dinner, and that was cut short. So that hadn’t worked. She’d even tried texting Laurie about work things and had tried to bribe her into stopping by her townhouse to make sure her father hadn’t burned the place down. That hadn’t worked either. When it was all said and done, none of the distractions worked as the uncontrollable thoughts of Brad’s charming smile and gorgeous eyes washed around inside her head.

  “This is crazy.” Kate said aloud, her eyes focused on the dress in front of her.

  “Well I’ve always known you’re crazy. At least now you’re finally admitting it.” Garth had apparently snuck in when she’d been daydreaming about a certain soon to be married man.

  “Very funny…what’s up?”

  “Brad’s out front. Since when are you two talking again? Thought you’d shunned him after moving to the big city?”

  “Don’t be ridiculous. I didn’t shun anyone.” Kate stood up, somewhat nervous that the man she’d just been thinking about was now in the front of her mother’s store.

  “Uh huh, go ahead and tell yourself that, sis.” Although he was in a joking mood, Kate could tell Garth was somewhat serious with that comment. She gave him a playful punch on the shoulder as she headed out of the sewing room.

  Brad greeted her with that amazing grin of his. Was it just her imagination, or had his eyes lit up upon seeing her…maybe just a little?

  “Hey, Katie. Sorry I haven’t been in touch since the ot
her day. I had some business things to tend to and wedding stuff…and you know…things like that.” He said seeming a little nervous.

  “Of course. Don’t worry about it. I’ve been pretty busy myself.” Garth walked out and sat down behind the counter, propping his elbow up on the counter, observing his sister and her old friend.

  “I was about to grab a coffee and thought I’d see if you wanted to come. If you’ve got some time, I thought maybe we could catch up for a bit.”

  “Yeah, sure. Sounds good. Garth, will you be okay with…”

  “It’s all under control here, sis. You two kids go and have fun.” He gave them both a not so subtle wink. Kate rolled her eyes at him and then left with Brad.

  As they walked along Main Street, it felt like they’d picked up exactly where they’d left off with their friendship before Kate had left for New York. Brad was so easy to talk to, even if they were just chatting about the latest small town happenings. When they arrived at the coffee shop, Brad opened the door for her in his chivalrous manner. It was something he’d always done for as long as she could remember. But today, it seemed to mean a whole lot more to her.

  “So you’re gonna be a big time designer soon, huh?” Brad set his mug down after taking a sip of the warm liquid.

  “I don’t know about big time, but I’m close to getting my own line soon. I’ve gotta start with semi-big time, you know…then work my way up.” Brad chuckled at her confidence. Kate had always believed in her own talents.

  “Well, I’m sure you’ll be great. You always were amazingly gifted when it came to designing things. And I’m sure you’ll have your own fan base here as well. Suzanne is into that sort of thing, you know, fashion and all.” There was an awkward pause after he mentioned Suzanne that left Kate reminding herself that Brad was an engaged man.

  “So how did you two meet?” Kate was interested in knowing. She found herself wanting to know as much about whatever Brad was willing to share about his current life.

  “Well, that’s a long story. Almost as long as it’s taken to choose everything for this damn wedding, I’m afraid.”

  Brad continued on to tell Kate the story of how he and Suzanne had met. He’d even shared how originally he’d proposed and that they were going to elope, but both sets of parents objected to that. So now he was being reluctantly dragged into the details of all the wedding planning stuff that frankly he’d much rather leave to Suzanne and her mother. Kate got the distinct impression that Brad wasn’t as excited to get married as Suzanne seemed to be. He did seem really at ease talking about his personal life though, which made it seem like old times again. Kate found that rather refreshing too. Jonathan on the other hand was a nice guy but he was definitely a closed book when it came to…well just about anything.

  “And now I’m supposed to go down to the bakery and sample wedding cakes. Suzanne is in Atlanta with her bridesmaids looking at dresses and she’d already had an appointment made with the baker for me.”

  “Sounds as if you got the good job then.” Brad paused for a minute, confused by Kate’s response.

  “How do you mean?”

  “Hello…cake? What more do I need to say?”

  That made Brad laugh, and for a moment, the anxiety that seemed to be on his face while talking about all of the wedding plans seemed to melt away for a moment.

  “You’re right. I guess I hadn’t look at it like that. Would you like come along with me?”

  “Oh, I’m sure Suzanne would love that.” Kate responded with sarcasm. But when she looked up into his eyes, she knew he meant it sincerely. “Sure, why not. I’d be a fool to give up free cake. One thing you haven’t mentioned though.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Have you even started shopping for your tux?”

  “What’s there to shop for? They all look the same anyway.” A look of annoyance spread across his face.

  “Looks like we’re adding tuxedo shopping to the itinerary too.” Kate chuckled as Brad let out tortured groan. “That settles it then. To cake and tuxedos.” Kate raised her mug of coffee to toast the idea as Brad’s groan grew louder.

  Chapter 10

  Kate had been wrong about nothing changing in small towns. The bakery was a new establishment a few blocks away from Main Street. She never would have known it was even there if it weren’t for coming along to help Brad out with the wedding cake tasting.

  When they walked inside, her senses were invaded with the scrumptious aromas of baking bread, sugary treats, and velvety chocolate. It was downright heavenly. Kate wandered towards the display case of cookies while Brad talked with the lady working the counter. She’d already had her sights set on the humongous chocolate chunk cookies when Brad came up behind her.

  “Those are my favorite. There’s more chocolate in them than cookie.”

  “That’s my kind of cookie. We’ll definitely be getting plenty of those on the way out.” She turned to Brad. “Everything ready?”

  “Yup. Let’s go have some cake.” The baker came out from the back and escorted them behind the counter.

  Half an hour later, Brad and Kate walked out of the bakery with Kate carrying a large bag.

  “And just how many of those chocolate chunk cookies did you get?” He playfully tried to sneak in a peek in the bag, but Kate was too fast for him.

  “Hands off! And I’ll have you know that they aren’t all for me. I plan to leave some out for the customers at the store.”

  “Uh huh, sure, a likely story.”

  “Guess you’ll just have to stop by tomorrow and find out if I’m telling the truth then won’t you?” The minute she said it, she regretted it. She instantly recognized the fact that she was beginning to flirt with him and yet she knew she had no business presuming he’d even want to see her again, especially with Suzanne due to return to town in a few days.

  “Great, then that means I’ll be able to have a few, seeing as how I’m a paying customer.”

  “Oh really? Since when?” Kate raised her eyebrows as she inquired.

  “Since I will most likely have to have the tuxedo that we’re shopping for next altered in some way.” Brad tried to reach his hand into Kate’s bag. She quickly smacked it away. They stopped at a crosswalk waiting for the light to change. “Hey, that was really fun. Thanks for helping me. Who knew there were a million and one types of chocolate cake?”

  “Yeah, no kidding. All that cake reminded me of my sweet sixteen party. Mom wanted to get some sort of fancy cake from Atlanta and I couldn’t have cared less. All I wanted was chocolate, plain and simple.”

  “Hey, at least you got to try a bunch of delicious cake, right?”

  “Yeah, but at like ten different bakeries.” Kate grabbed her stomach with her free hand remembering the effects of that much sugar had had upon it.

  “I remember that all too well.” Brad let out a chuckle. “You were pretty sick for a few days after that and pretty much had to sit through your own party with a look of disappointment and doom on your face.”

  “That wasn’t from the cake. That was because Jake Riley didn’t show up like he said he would to dance with me.”

  “Ah yes, mister jock of the century. That guy was such a loser. I never did understand what you saw in him. And anyway, I swooped in just in time to save your potentially dismal sweet sixteen party.” Kate responded to Brad’s comment with a big smile as she fondly remembered the time. Brad had asked her to dance with him, despite his girlfriend being there. She hadn’t forgotten what that had meant to her.

  “Shall we go get you a tux?”

  “If it’s really necessary.” Kate shook her head at him jokingly as they crossed the street and headed for the bridal shop a few blocks away.

  Kate had to admit, Brad looked great in a tux. Although she knew he hadn’t been looking forward to the whole thing, he actually seemed to be enjoying himself, as was Kate. She’d forgotten how easy and natural it was being around her old friend. He’d been a good sport thus far,
even when she’d managed to convince him to try on one of the all white tuxedos, one of which he was currently modeling.

  “This is so not me.” Brad’s nose wrinkled up in disapproval.

  “You look very…Southernly?” Kate tried to contain the giggle that was surfacing in her throat.”

  “Sure, in a very ‘Hi, I’m Colonel Sanders selling fried chicken out of a bucket’ sort of way.” Kate couldn’t contain her laughter any longer. “Uh huh, laugh it up some more and I’ll tell Suzanne just how desperate you are to be in the wedding party where fuchsia is the color of choice.”

  “Wait, what? Please tell me your wedding color is not fuchsia.”

  “Oh, but it is. Big, bold, and bright…fuchsia.” Brad tugged at the collar of the dress shirt around his neck.”

  “Does she not know what a fiasco your senior prom was?” It took a second for Brad to remember what she was talking about, but once he did, the look on his face in the reflection of the mirror in front of him was priceless.

  “Oh hell.” He turned around, looking miserable.

  “That’s not something I’ll soon forget. I can’t believe you did.”

  “One tends to block traumatic events out of one’s head so as not to run the risk of being traumatized once again…like on one’s wedding day.” Trudging over to the couch, he slumped down onto it next to Kate. “What am I doing, Katie? Everything about this feels wrong.”

  “Don’t worry; the white tux was just a joke. I thought you’d get a good laugh out of it. I guess it’s time to get serious.” She brushed a dark piece of lint off of his shoulder.

  “I’m not talking about the tux.” Brad’s eyes intensified as he looked over at Kate. “I mean the wedding, Suzanne, all of it. I just don’t think my heart’s in it anymore, or if it ever was.”