DaoistrS5CfO

There’s two sides to every love story. The how you fell in love, and the how you fell apart.

This is ours.

The cardinal rule of friendship is you don’t mess with your friend’s sister.
That goes double when she’s his little sister.

It was just supposed to be fun.

She wasn’t supposed to end up being the love of my life.
And I definitely wasn’t supposed to break her heart.

Ainsley is a wedding dress designer. That should’ve been a warning that she’s a hopeless romantic. That should’ve clued me in that she believes love conquers all.

But there are some things that love can’t fix. I’m one of them.

She thinks love is the answer.

But love is the reason I let her go.....

Just Loved

I glance at my purse then back to the road, realizing now I've missed the turn home. You might think I wouldn't want to continue living at the condo downstairs from Rhett's place, but it's been fine. It took me a little while to accept that he wouldn't be knocking on my door to walk Sadie or that I wouldn't roll over and find his handsome face sharing my pillow. My heart isn't going to forget Rhett, so it doesn't matter where I live. He's not even living at his condo anymore, so it's not like I'm going to run into him.


Besides, I can't really afford to move right now. Even if I did, it wouldn't be away from Charleston. Skye, Brody, and I need each other more than ever these days. So, I sunk every dime I had into opening my own storefront. A Rose Wedding Dress Designs. That store has saved my sanity.


When I just don't want to face life, I escape into my designs, where everything is perfect. The right pearl placed just to catch the light, the right crystal to highlight the neckline, those things can make me forget the world.


I think that's what sets me apart as a designer. At least I hope so. I don't just go online and order crystals and beads. Each one is a story, a hunt, a treasure. I've ripped dresses apart I found at yard sales or the Goodwill just for five or six perfect pearls. Some brides come in with their mothers' or grandmothers' dresses. They want me to use bits and pieces of each to create something new and unique for them. I certainly do that, but there are women like me who aren't fortunate enough to have their mother's dress, and I want them to feel just as special. So I hunt around and do whatever is needed to make it happen.


I've used christening gowns, handkerchiefs, old corsets. Heck, once I used an old dishtowel in a dress. It was the one thing that made this particular client think of her mother. To see a bride's face when she realizes a part of her mother is going to walk down the aisle with her, well, that's why I do what I do. That's why I love designing dresses.


I love taking things that others discard, things that anyone else would think of as ugly or outdated and giving them new life. Ever see a broken glass bottle, the way it catches the light and casts a rainbow? Beauty in imperfection, that's what I'm about as a designer. I guess that's what I'm about as a person, too. My parents took me to pick out a puppy once when I was very little, and I picked the runt of the litter. Not because it needed me, or because I felt sorry for it, but because to me, it was the cutest.


Chapter 4 Continuation