Free Always the Designer, Never the Bride by Sandra D. Bricker

interrupted as she moved toward Carly. "I'll give you twice what you paid for this dress, and I'll pay for another one to replace it. You think about it."
    As she headed for the door, Audrey followed. "I have an appointment with Weston LaMont at his showroom out in Buckhead," she announced. "I'm going to see what he has in mind for me."
    "You're seeing another designer while you're here?"
    "If your friend will give up her dress, I'll go with you. If not, well, then I need to keep looking."
    And with that, Kim left the hotel room and headed down the hall.
    Audrey just stood there, her mouth as wide open as the door, her heart pounding. She tried to speak, but all that came out was a funny little grunt. Looking to Kat, she produced the same sound again.
    "I know," Kat said, shaking her head.
    "Well, she's horrible," Carly cried out. "Just . . . just . . . horrible!"
    Kat walked around Audrey and shut the door. Taking Audrey's arm, she led her toward the sofa and nudged her down to it. A moment later, back at Audrey's side, she handed her a cold bottle of water with the cap already untwisted. Audrey could barely hold the bottle, much less drink from it, and she just sat there, her mouth still open, her heart still thudding in her chest.
    "I can't believe she wanted me to choose a different dress seven hours before I get married!" Carly said. "Aud, you don't really want me to, right?"
    Audrey closed her eyes and shook her head to rattle around some clear thinking in it. "Of course not."
    "I mean, I know you designed it. But as a wedding gift. I mean, it's my dress, right?"
    "Yes."
    "It is, right?" she asked Kat.
    "It is abolutely your dress, Carly. Now why don't you go on and get out of it so it's fresh for you later on."
    "Okay." But Carly just stood rooted to the spot. "Aud?"
    She shook her head again, and when she looked up at Carly, she saw that her friend's eyes had misted over with emotion. Audrey rose from the couch and crossed to her side.
    "She's a lunatic," Audrey reassured her with a squeeze to her hand. "That dress is one hundred percent Caroline Hunt. No one is walking down any aisle in any city in any venue in that dress except you."
    Carly sighed and smiled. "Thank you."
    "Are you kidding? She's nutso."
    "She really is," Carly replied. "But thank you."
    "Do you need help getting out of the dress?"
    "No. I'm good."
    The minute she left the room, Audrey turned around, and her eyes locked into Kat's.
    "I'm really sorry," Audrey told her.
    "You're sorry? For what?"
    "I thought Kim was the answer."
    "I know."
    "But clearly . . ."
    "It's okay, Audrey," Kat reassured her, taking her hand and shaking it. "It's going to be okay."
    "You really believe that?"
    "I absolutely do."
    "Good," she said with a nod. "Because you're fired."
     

     
    "Dude," Fee sympathized. "That bites."
    "It really does," Audrey said as she plucked her fourth cookie from the platter between them.
    "Do you think you'll be able to bring her around to looking at your other designs again?" Emma asked, and she picked up the cookie on the napkin before her and bit off a sizeable chunk of it.
    "I'm not—" Audrey stopped mid-word and gasped. "Emma! Are you eating cookies?"
    "Yeah."
    "Aren't you diabetic?"
    Emma chuckled. "Thanks for watching out for me, but this is a sugar-free recipe I'm trying out."
    "These are sugar-free?"
    "Yep."
    "Really," Audrey clarified. "They're delicious!"
    "You think so?"
    "Honestly. You are really good at this baking thing."
    The corner of Emma's mouth twitched slightly as she replied, "Thanks, Audrey."
    "It's important that some people succeed at their chosen craft, don't you think? Not like the rest of us who fail miserably and land on our duffs with a thud."
    Emma whimpered as she rounded the table and wrapped a sympathetic arm around Audrey's shoulders and squeezed. "Sorry."
    "It's okay. Really. I hate New York anyway."
    "You do?" Kat asked from the doorway.
    "Yeah. I do."
    "Why don't I know this?"
    Audrey lifted up the