Read Online The BFF Bride by Allison Leigh - Free Book Online Page A

strung around all of the windows. By noon, she’d rearranged a few of the tables to accommodate the Christmas tree. It wasn’t a live tree; she didn’t want to have to deal with needles dropping on the floor in the restaurant. But it was a nice artificial one all the same. And by the time she closed up again at two, everyone had had a hand in decorating it. Even some of her customers had pitched in.
    And the Christmas tunes she was humming had become a little less frantic sounding, even to her own critical ears.
    It probably helped that Justin hadn’t shown his face at the diner. Not that she’d expected him to, but still.
    She left the locking-up duties to Bubba and walked the till from that day and the weekend over to the bank to deposit.
    Then, considering it was officially the Christmas shopping season, she stopped in one of her favorite shops, Classic Charms, to see if anything struck her fancy. She figured she’d run into either Sydney or Tara, who owned the eclectic shop. But neither one was there. The cash register was being manned by a teenage girl Tabby didn’t know.
    Tabby’s mother, Jolie, however, was browsing the racks.
    “Honey!” Jolie smiled broadly and hastily tucked a hanger back on the circular rack of clothes. “I didn’t expect to see you here.”
    “Same goes.” Tabby gave her mom a quick hug and tried to spy what she’d been looking at. “Thought I’d get a start on Christmas gifts. What was that you were looking at? Anything good?”
    Jolie gave the rack a whirl. “This place is full of many good things,” she said, smiling serenely and almost evasively. “I just came from lunch with Hope. Why didn’t you tell me Justin was staying at your place?”
    Tabby’s smile felt suddenly wooden. “He’s renting the empty unit.” Staying at her place had an entirely different connotation, as far as she was concerned. “Just wants somewhere to crash while he works on some project. Haven’t seen much of him, actually.”
    “Well, that won’t last,” Jolie said with certainty. “Bring him by for dinner this week. Your dad and I would love to see him.”
    “I think he’s got a lot of work—” The words died when her mom gave her a curious look. Tabby knew the more she made excuses, the more curious Jolie Taggart would likely become. “But I’m sure he’d take a break for you guys,” she finished.
    “Wonderful.” Jolie glanced around the shop. “Now, we could both save a lot of time and effort if we just told each other what in here we’ve had our eye on.”
    Tabby couldn’t help but chuckle. “Yes. But where would be the fun in that?”
    Her mother sighed dramatically. “You are your father’s daughter.” She glanced at her watch and made a face. “I’d stay and pump you for gift ideas, but I’m meeting a new client this afternoon.”
    “Designing another wedding dress?” Her mother was a seamstress, and in the last several years, wedding dresses had seemed to be one of her most frequent requests.
    Jolie shook her head. “A ball gown, actually.” She glanced around the shop that sold bits of everything from clothing to furniture. “She doesn’t want it getting around before she sends out invitations, but Vivian Templeton is planning a Christmas party. It’s a little short notice, but she asked me to make her gown.”
    “Flattering.”
    “I thought so. Heaven knows the woman could hire any designer in the world if she felt like it. I was surprised she didn’t request Izzy, though. When it comes to doing the fancy stuff, she’s a lot better at it.”
    Before moving with Murphy to Weaver, Izzy had been the costume designer for a ballet company based in New York. She’d waited tables for Tabby for a while, and she’d been a good worker. But designing clothing was clearly more up her alley, and since she’d helped Jolie out with one particularly difficult bride, the two of them had done several more jobs together.
    “Izzy’s married to Erik, though,”