'Can you reserve them?' Tessa asked, hopefully.
Pamela huffed. 'I'm going to buy it so I can give it to you. These are all well used, so they won't cost much. You know, it's a good thing we're not getting married on the same day, else we'd have to resort to duking it out. And it's a darned good thing you're hardly showing yet, or you'd never get it on over your head.'
Tessa was silent a moment, at once looking very sad. 'Who am I kidding? I should have waited. White is for virgins. Maybe I should look for something off-white, or red.'
'A little membrane of skin is not what separates a good woman from a bad,' Pamela told her, angry at her self-recrimination. 'You've already been victimized. Don't let David keep on hurting you, or he really will have won. You like the dress? Wear it!'
'Please, you're starting to sound like the Pep-Talk-Queen,' Tessa said, allowing herself a small smile. 'How'd you know about Tom and me?'
'Because you really moan loud when the two of you are necking,' Pamela said, keeping a straight face, picking up the dress and holding it up.
'You cow!'
'It's true, or else you wouldn't be so defensive. Besides, Theo and I heard him pop the question a few nights ago when the two of you were standing at the top of the stairs, just as he was leaving the office to head home. I've never heard you squeak quite like that before.'
'I did not squeak!'
'You did, too. You went like this-' Her flawless rendition left no doubt whatsoever in Tessa's mind.
Tessa let out an excited sigh. 'Well, so what if I did? Besides coming here and being with you, it's the only thing in my life that's ever gone right. Tom is everything I hoped would come out in David but never did. He doesn't even mind about the baby. In fact, he's even looking forward to it- what are you looking so odd about?'
'What? Oh, nothing really. Well . . . it's just that, this is the last day of my life when I'll be plain old Miss Pamela Dee. I'll have an initial for a last name that will actually stand for something. Sorry, I'm babbling. Everything's sort of catching up with me today. I keep getting flooded with all these memories from my past. It's like I can see it all laid out, not in any sort of order, but more like a big mirror that's been smashed, with shards of image scattered all over the place . . .