The Billionaire's Temporary Bride (Scandal, Inc #3)(56)

Ellen held out her arms and hugged Charlotte.

"Mom," Charlotte said. "It's too much."

Just seeing her mother cry choked Charlotte up inside. Charlotte exhaled slowly. She felt the tension of the dress squeezing against her ribcage as a lump formed in her throat.

"Em's been married for a few years already. It's not like this is new ground."

"It was different with her," Ellen said. "She was always boy crazy. I had time to prepare myself, and she and Steven had been together for years. I watched them mature together. You moved away, and I only get to see you a few times a year. I thought I had more time with my little Charlotte, and here you are, in your wedding dress, all beautiful and grown up."


Charlotte took a breath. She just wanted to tell her mother that this was all a lie or that it wasn't a lie anymore, that she and Jack were truly in love, but she didn't know.

"Mom, it's over four thousand dollars," she blurted out. She laughed nervously and tried to pull herself together.

Ellen peered over Charlotte's shoulder and checked the tag.

"Maybe I can teach a few extra classes next semester," she said. "We wouldn't want Mrs. Jack Coburn wearing some three thousand dollar rag to the wedding, now would we? And this one is marked down from seven thousand. See, it's a steal." She sounded less than convincing.

"So is this the dress?"

"That's your call. Just don't tell your sister about any of this crying. She'd accuse me of playing favorites."

"Your secret's safe with me," Charlotte said. She was getting good at keeping secrets from people she loved.

As she looked at her mother, she realized that nothing, no amount of money or time or freedom, would change the fact that she had deprived herself of this moment with her mother. She liked seeing herself in the dress, but this was supposed to be one of the happiest moments of Charlotte's life. Instead, she couldn't help but feel just a little hollow inside. Maybe she had been lying to herself about this whole thing too.

Another knock came at the door.

"Ms. Crowley, the rest of your party is here."





***

Charlotte wasn't sure what to expect as she walked out of the dressing room to greet the rest of the party. Callie had met Angela and Caroline at the airport and picked up Emily along the way.

Charlotte hadn't seen Jack's family since the dinner table fight a few weeks back, and she wondered if there would be any residual awkwardness now that his mother and sister had arrived. One look told her everything she need to know.

"Charlotte, you look wonderful!" Angela said. She turned to Caroline. "Just think of what she'll look like once Veronique is done with her."

"Who?" Charlotte asked. She looked over to Callie for an answer. At least no one seemed mad at her.

"Veronique, dear," Angela replied. "We thought we'd surprise you, but unfortunately, she's running a bit late, something about getting caught up in customs. She should be here any minute. I told her that's what she gets for flying commercial. The driver phoned to say they left the airport twenty minutes ago."

Charlotte wondered if she had missed something.

"She's the dressmaker," Caroline said.

"It cost a small fortune to pry her away from Paris on such short notice. I had my daughter send through a few photos of you to get a head start. If we get her started today, she should be able to finish the dress in time for a fitting the week of the wedding. The whole nation will be looking at you, after all."

As if she sensed Charlotte's unease, Ellen chimed in. "That's really not necessary. And let's not build this up too much."

"She's right," Charlotte said. "You shouldn't have gone through all this trouble for me. It's too generous."

"Nonsense," Angela said. "No need to thank me. It's already done. Charlotte, you're going to be a Coburn now, we want you to have something special for your big day."

She means well, Charlotte told herself. She reached back and squeezed her mother's hand. The dress meant so much to her mother, but it was so much more than she could realistically afford to spend. Maybe it was for the best that Jack's mom wanted to foot the bill.

"Maybe we can think about the bridesmaids' dresses while we wait," she suggested.

"Already set," Emily said. "Caroline and I talked about it on the way over, and we think it would be wonderful to play up the whole winter aspect. We'll wear full length dresses with a bit of a sleeve. We were thinking silk with some kind of shawl. We'll take those off for the ceremony of course."

Charlotte looked at Emily. She and Caroline looked like they could have been sisters. They were both beautiful, brunette, and completely without any notion that the world didn't revolve around them. Emily would have fit right in with Jack's siblings.

"And Callie signed off on this?" Charlotte asked.

"I want to wear whatever you want us to wear," Callie said. Callie would have worn a sack cloth if that's what Charlotte had wanted.

Charlotte reminded herself that this wasn't really her wedding. It didn't matter what her bridesmaids wore. Hell, if their dresses were ugly, it would probably make it that much easier to remember that this was all just for show.