and pieces were falling off? “I’m not nervous. This is so . . .” She had to pause and think of a word that could sum up her utter despair and alarm and disbelief.
“This is my decision,” her mother said with a flick of her wrist. “I may be your mother, but I am also a grown woman and I can do as I please.”
“How long have you known him?” Carly insisted.
“What does it matter?”
Her mother had a tendency to get defensive when she knew she was wrong. “How long, Mom?”
Her mother sighed as if Carly were being unreasonable. “A couple of weeks.”
“Oh my God!” Carly cried, and turned a complete circle, blindly searching for something that made sense, or at least something to kick.
“Now look. I know it was hard for you to accept that I divorced your father, and it was for him, too. But you have to look at it from my perspective. I gave my best years to that man, and this is . . . well, sometimes you just know. And I know.” She laughed, pleased with herself.
“No, Mom. No. You can’t do this. We have to at least meet him before you do anything.”
“That can certainly be arranged,” she said agreeably. “Just out of curiosity, do you question your father this way?”
Carly snorted. “Dad isn’t dating all over town and threatening to run off to Vegas to marry a girl he’s known two weeks.”
“Really? When was the last time you saw him?”
“I don’t know. Why?”
Her mother shrugged. “Maybe you should check in.”
“Stop it, Mom. I know what you’re doing. You’re trying to imply something about him so I’ll stop asking you questions. Tell me the truth—do you really think it is okay to spring on one of your kids that you’re thinking of running off to Vegas without ever having mentioned you were seeing someone? Or letting us meet him? Is that what you would want me to do to you?”
“That’s different. You are young and at the beginning of your life, and of course I want to be at your wedding. But I am older and wiser and this isn’t my first rodeo. Trust me, you’ll feel better about it once you meet him.” She gave Carly’s cheek a little pat.
The blood was draining from Carly’s face. She could feel it leaking out of her, along with everything she ever thought she knew about her parents, about dating, about life. “I can’t believe this,” she whispered.
“Believe it!” her mother sang happily. “I think you will really like him. Don’t look so down, sweetie—you’re worried over nothing. Oh! Will you look at the time? I’ve got to get dressed and go. Love you!” she said and disappeared down the hall toward the bedrooms.
Carly’s phone pinged again. She glanced down to see June’s message: 9-1-1.
* * *
On the way to the studio, Carly plugged into Big Girl Panties and hoped Megan had some advice for a mother who was off the rails. But today’s podcast was about self-affirmation. “If you don’t believe in you, who will?” she chirped sunnily.
At the studio, Carly discovered that Victor had gotten off the couch. In fact, he was a hive of activity, cutting and draping that awful aquamarine fabric on the table and onto a new dress form that was three sizes larger than the average dress form. Even worse, there was a bolt of shiny lime green fabric propped against the table.
Carly turned with alarm to June. June looked a little sick.
Okay, this was where years of hard work and training kicked in. Carly pasted a smile on her face and turned to Victor. “Hey!” she said breezily. “Whatcha got going here?”
“Can’t talk,” Victor said. “I’ve got too much to do.”
Carly turned back to June. She said, “He’s decided he’s not going to show the white pieces.” She pointed to a corner of the studio and a pile of white fabric. When Carly looked a little closer, she noticed that the pieces were cut up. The white pieces were no longer clothes, they were a pile of rags. Her gut twisted uncomfortably. She turned back to Victor.
He didn’t bother to look up or offer any sort of explanation. Carly didn’t know what made her more furious—that he’d tossed the white after all her work to get it into the fashion media? Or that she’d worn that shit for two solid weeks? “We’re doing a YouTube podcast this week, Victor, remember? The Fashion Divas are going to be discussing