Andrea reached out to pat her sister’s hand, a more personal touch than what was the norm for the Swensen clan. Whether it was due to the Scandinavian influence or some other innate cold-climate reticence, warm hugs and embraces were more generally attributed to Mediterranean climates and did not come easily to Minnesotans. “Let me pay, and let’s get out of here. And then we’ll…” Andrea stopped, drew in her breath sharply, and then continued, “I can’t believe I forgot!”

“Forgot what?”

“The dresses Mother ordered came in at Claire’s dress shop. We have to go try them on now. She called me this morning.”

“Claire?”

“No, Mother. She wants us to go for a fitting this afternoon in case there are minor alterations.”

“You’re talking about the Regency dresses for the launch party?” Hannah guessed. Their mother had written a Regency Romance novel, and the launch party was set for the weekend before Thanksgiving. Delores had asked that her daughters wear Regency-style ball gowns to serve the refreshments, and they’d all agreed.

“That’s right,” Andrea confirmed it.

“Okay. We’re on the same page. But how did Claire know what size to order for me?”

“Mother told her to order the same size as the dress she bought you for Christmas last year.”

“Last year?” Hannah groaned loudly. “I gained some weight since last year. I can’t get into the dress Mother gave me anymore. It’s way too tight across the…well, you know.”

“Backside?”

“Yes, and other places, too.”

Andrea looked thoughtful as she signed the check and added a tip. She led the way to the door and as she pushed it open, she said, “We’ll have Claire let it out as much as she can and go from there.”

Not even the soothing décor of Claire’s nicest dressing room could turn Hannah’s ordeal at Beau Monde Fashions into a pleasure. Wallpaper the color of green tea with a lovely rose border could not erase the fact that her dress wouldn’t button.

“I’ve been meaning to tell you,” Claire said, her voice floating in through the louvers of the dressing room door. “Bob and I are really grateful to you as an enabler.”

“Huh?” Hannah was thoroughly puzzled.

“The way you helped us tell the congregation that we wanted to get married.”

“Thanks.” Hannah remembered the morning in church when she’d made the announcement that Reverend Robert Knudson and Claire were planning to be married. She’d certainly overstepped the bounds of friendship by forcing the issue in such a public way, but everything had turned out all right. She was just patting herself on the back, mentally, for a job well done, when she realized that Claire had used the word enabler. “You’re seeing a marriage counselor?” she guessed.