-41-
Dad laughed suddenly and I had to look at him.
"Alice is here" he said, "she wants to go shopping with you."
Then he looked at mom and said "with both of you"
Mom sighed reluctant and I had to laugh at her.
"Oh, come on mom, it won't be that bad."
"We'll see"
Then Aunt Alice came in. "I heard that Bella" she said and turned to me smiling.
"You ready?"
I nodded, and grabbed Jake's hand.
"Wait, he can't come with us…" she said.
"Alice… why not?" I asked.
"Because we're shopping for your wedding dress, and I don't want him seeing it until the day of"
"Come on Shorty, I won't cheat, I promise" he said solemnly, raising his right hand.
I chuckled.
"Ok" she sighed.
"I was thinking we'd go and see the dresses in Port Angeles today, and then go to Paris next week, what do you think?"
I laughed. "I don't mind"
"Leah's your Maid of Honor right?"
"I haven't asked her yet" I said, slapping my forehead.
"That's ok. Invite her and ask her later."
I nodded and went to the phone, Jacob came with me.
It rang three times.
-42-
"Hello?" she said.
"Hey Leah"
"Hey Ness, what's up?"
"Would you like to come with us to Port Angeles?"
"Sure, what are we doing there?"
"Wedding shopping"
"Alright, I'll be right over."
"See you" I said and hung up.
She got over to the house fairly quickly, running in her wolf form I guessed.
"Hey Leah" I said when I met her at the door
"Hey, so what's the plan?"
"Port Angeles this week and Paris the next, you up for it? I can go book our flights right now." Aunt Alice told her.
She grinned. "Sure"
"Aunt Alice, what about Port Angeles?" I asked.
"Oh, this'll only take a couple of minutes" she answered, waving her hand dismissively.
She left the room to make her phone call.
"So, how've you guys been?" Leah asked.
"Not so good, I haven't been sleeping well" I told her.
"Why not?"
I put my hand on her cheek and showed her my nightmare.
"Wow… who was that guy anyway?" she asked.
"That was Nahuel, another halfie, like me."
"Hmm"
"What? What is it?"
"…It's nothing Ness"
"Are we ready to go?" Aunt Alice asked "I've already gotten everything ready for Paris, but we agreed on Port Angeles first right?"
I nodded
"Ok, let's go then" Jake said, coming to stand beside me.
-43-
We took Aunt Alice's Porsche, and as we drove, the girls spoke of nothing but the wedding.
I felt kind of bad for Jake, having to put up with it, but I knew that he was happy.
"Incredibly happy" he told me, when I asked him.
We got to the store soon enough, and I began looking for dresses. I felt like I was hunting, but instead of being outside,
I was in a store combing through the racks.
Then I found one that seemed destined for Leah, floor length and deep red with criss crossed spaghetti straps.
I handed it to her; she smiled excitedly, and went to the dressing room to try it on.
When she came out of the room, Aunt Alice and I clapped excitedly.
"You look gorgeous! That red really looks nice on you"
"I second that" I said.
"Thanks Alice thanks Nessie" she said appreciatively.
"Dang Leah, you actually look nice" Jake said teasingly shocked.
She made a face at him.
Next on the list, Jacob
Aunt Alice found his suit, and when he tried it on, I'm embarrassed to say I nearly fainted from his perfection.
Leah had to pick me up off the floor, and as she did this, she was laughing her head off. I just stuck my tongue out at her.
-44-
I searched the racks again, but this time, luck wasn't with me. I didn't find one dress I liked for me.
"Don't worry Nessie, there's always Paris" Aunt Alice said.
"You're right; at least we were able to find Leah's dress and Jake's tux."
We went home shortly afterward. Jacob left for La Push and offered Leah a ride.
"No, you go on ahead; I need to talk to Nessie about something."
He left then, with an uneasy expression on his face, which was strange…
"Nessie, I'll be in my room if you need me ok?" Aunt Alice told me.
"Ok, thanks a lot for today Alice." I told her
"No need to thank me, I live for this stuff" she said and we laughed. Then she walked off.
I turned to Leah. "So, what's up? You know, I noticed you were kind of pensive at the store"
"Yeah, bridal shops usually get me like that. They remind me that I'll never be able to find anyone, even without imprinting."
"Now, you can't think like that Leah. What if the reason you haven't imprinted is because you haven't met the guy yet?"
"Maybe, but I'm not getting my hopes up" she said shrugging.
"You'll find him, I know you will" I said solemnly.