Legend

"I LOOK LIKE a chocolate meringue pie," Kady said as she grimaced at her reflection in the tall three-sided mirror. With her dark hair and ivory skin above the absolute white of the frothy wedding dress, she did indeed remind herself of chocolate and whipped egg whites. Cocking her head to one side, she reconsidered. "Or maybe a chicken dumpling. I can't decide which."

From behind her, Debbie, who had been at cooking school with Kady, laughed softly, but Jane did not.

"I don't want to hear another word like that," Jane said sternly. "You hear me, Kady Long? Not one more word! You are absolutely gorgeous and you full well know it."

"Gregory certainly knows it," Debbie said, her eyes wide as she surveyed Kady in the mirror. As one of Kady's two bridesmaids, she'd flown to Virginia from northern California the night before and had only met Kady's fianc`e this morning. She was still reeling from the experience. Gregory Norman was one terrific-looking man: his face and body all hard angles and planes, with dark hair and eyes that looked at a woman as though to say he'd very much like to make love to her. When he'd raised Debbie's fingertips to his beautiful lips and kissed them, Debbie's upper lip had broken into a sweat.

"How can I walk down the aisle looking like this?" Kady asked, holding out what had to be fifty yards of heavy satin. "And look at these sleeves: they're bigger than I am. And the skirt!" With horror in her eyes, she looked down at the acres of white satin puddling about her, a pearl encrusted border sparkling on the seven or so inches of hem that bent into an overflow on the floor.

"Any of these dresses can be altered," said the tall, thin saleswoman, who with her stiff stance let Kady know that she didn't appreciate having her bridal salon's wares denigrated.

Kady hadn't meant to give offense. "It's not the dresses; it's me. Why can't the human body be like bread dough so we could shape it however we want? Add a little here, take a little off there."

"Kady," Jane warned. They had known each other all their lives, and she could not bear to hear Kady say anything derogatory about herself; she loved her too much to allow that.