The Red Dress #2 - A Sweet Romance Modern Day Fairytale

By Dani Gibbings

The red dress knows that Tracy needs someone special in her life. But little does Tracy know that each time she wears the red dress, not only does it make her feel more confident and stronger, but it also attracts her soul mate to her. 

This second book in The Red Dress Series is a standalone book. It can be read on its own and has no cliff hanger and a very sweet happy ending.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Dani Gibbings
• Release date: Oct 21, 2019
• ISBN: 9781393113034

Book preview

June 1991

Tracy wiped her brow with the back of her hand. On top of the water main break at the 5th St. Diner that left them without working bathroom facilities, the air conditioning was also on the fritz. Part of her was glad that the boss had finally decided to close down for the rest of the day while she got things in order. On the other hand, she was going to lose out on at least $40 worth of tips by not working and, these days, that was a lot to her.

Not that her brother charged her much for rent. Tracy and Ray got along well and his wife, Liz, was pretty nice, too. And even the kids were fun to play with. So, Tracy figured that she had it pretty good living at her brother’s place. She had privacy in the basement and her rent included food.

Tracy craved independence though. She wanted her own place. That required a damage deposit and she needed to have some money set aside for times like today when the tips were not going to be there. A waitress couldn’t just rely on tips to live on. Tracy knew she would need backup if she was going to be able to live on her own. Either that or another job and, at this point, Tracy didn’t know what she wanted to do.

Since she had the afternoon off, she knew that there was one thing that she had to do. Tracy had to find something to wear to the wedding tomorrow. If she was honest, she didn’t even know why she was going. Mostly, it was because it was expected of her more than anything else. When family got married you went to their wedding; even if it was for a cousin she barely knew.

She thought about being sick tomorrow and spending the day at home by herself. That idea was not off the table. It depended on whether or not she was able to find a dress that she liked this afternoon.

The trouble was that Bear Valley was a small town. There were three places where she could get a dress. The Co-op had some pretty nice things - dresses, pantsuits, and other suitable attire for a wedding - but it was a little pricey. Then there was Saan store. It was cheaper, but that was more than apparent by the quality of the merchandise. The clothes looked nice on the rack, but when you put something on, you’d find that there was a stitch loose or one sleeve would be shorter than the other. Little things. Finally, there was Trendee’s, the privately-owned boutique that specialized in clothing from overseas that was unique. It was pricey but sometimes they had good sales. And Tracy always like to have a chat with Mira, the owner of the store. She was young and always had something interesting to talk about.

At Trendee’s, Tracy browsed through the racks. Mira came over to see if she could help.

You have a big date tonight girl?

Tracy laughed. Dating. She was 21 but she hadn’t dated since she was about 17. It was hard to imagine going out with Blaine who had peed his pants at the grade one Christmas concert or John who had pushed her in the mud puddle in grade 3. It was silly but she just couldn’t see them as people she wanted to get romantically involved with.

No. Wedding. My cousin Cathy is getting married tomorrow. I hardly know her because she’s older than me but everyone else is going. Unless I get sick. Depends on what I find to wear.

Well, let’s see what we can find for you.

Mira started pulling clothing off the racks. She knew Tracy’s size - 8 - and she knew her style - simple, no lace, no sequins. Unfortunately, the simplicity thing ruled out a lot of the clothing at Trendee’s.

After a few minutes, Mira had four or five dresses piled on the counter. She pushed them into Tracy’s arms and said, Now you try them on and model for me and I’ll tell you which one you should buy, ok?

Tracy nodded. She wasn’t sure if Mira would pick the best dress but she didn’t have a lot of confidence in her own tastes either.

The first dress was purple, and had a shimmer in it that Tracy felt drew too much attention to her hips. She went to show Mira. Mira was rail thin and would have looked much better in this dress. But she said she loved it.

Tracy looked in the mirror before she took it off to try on another dress. She wished she could get rid of those 10 lbs. that had crept on in the past couple years. They had come on so slowly she hadn’t even noticed until recently. Now, she couldn’t forget about them. Everything she wore seemed too tight now.

The next four dresses just got worse. Too long, too short, too green, too sheer. Mira swore they all looked awesome on her - but that was her job, to tell her how great her clothes looked and convince her to buy something. Anything.

After trying on each dress, Tracy finally said, I have no idea which one I should get. You pick Mira.

Mira thought about it, looking at each dress carefully. Finally, she pulled out the purple one.

Purple is definitely your color. Wear this tomorrow and you’ll knock them dead.

Tracy didn’t think she’d be knocking anyone dead from looking great - maybe scaring them. She bought the dress anyway because she didn’t have more time.

She definitely was starting to feel feverish.

TRACY PLANNED TO HAVE a nap before supper that night. But when she walked up to the house, she realized that