Always A Bride by Darlene Henderson Page B

and talked to the young ladies gathered around her. Maybe if she didn't acknowledge Harvey he'd go away. She wasn't sure she could bear being near him, not with Molly anyway. She focused on the crowd. The girls touched her dress and examined the jeweled loop used to hold up her train. Alex answered their questions and thanked them for their compliments without thinking. She prayed her smile didn't look fake because it was forced. More than ever, she was assaulted by the mixture of all their perfumes. The sweet floral scents the younger girls wore, the musks favored by their mothers and, the worst, the old-lady perfumes that burned her nostrils. It was just too much. Alex broke out in a cold sweat. Her heart pounded and the room began spin.
    “ Sam, I need a chair,” she called. She looked around frantically. Her vision narrowed and, just as her knees began to buckle, she was swept into the strong arms of a man.
    “ Alex? Can you hear me? Do you know where you are?”
    Alex squeezed her eyes tight. I fainted. This must be a dream. This can't be real. That sounds like… “Harvey?”
    “ Yes, Alex. It's me. I'm here. Take a deep breath.” He was on his knees in front of her, holding her hands. “Are you okay? What happened?”
    “ I think it was the perfumes. I was talking to some girls and then there were all of these perfumes. Then someone…it was you wasn't it, Harvey? Thank you. How did you—”
    “ I was coming over to say hello and saw you go pale and call for Sam. It was just lucky timing.” Harvey studied her face. He stood and took two steps back, but maintained eye contact with her.
    Alex hadn't seen or heard anyone but Harvey …until Molly pushed her way through the crowd. “Isn't he just the best? I'm so proud of my Harvey.” She hooked her arm through his and leaned her head on his shoulder.
    “ Hi, Molly,” Alex said, bracing herself for what was coming.
    “ Oh, Alex, you looked so beautiful on the runway. I guess if you haven’t been a bride yourself, it's probably fun to pretend to be one all the time.”
    “ You look great yourself, Molly. You haven't changed a bit,” Alex said. You still get in a dig every chance you get.
    “ Well a little something has changed. I'm engaged.” Molly held out her hand to display her ring. “That's why we're here. Not that I would dream of one of those rental dresses your little ‘Something Borrowed’ event is promoting. But we've gotten some good ideas, haven't we, honey?” Molly squeezed even closer to Harvey.
    Harvey's mouth drew into a tight line. The muscles in his jaw clenched. “Yep, some great ideas. Hey look, here's Sam with that ice water. Sip it, Al, don't gulp it down.” He handed her the glass, letting his fingers brush over hers.
    “ Nobody has called me Al since…well…since you.” Alex sipped the water.
    “ Sometimes it just suits you.” Harvey smiled at her again. He pulled up a chair next to hers and checked her pulse.
    Alex flushed and hoped Harvey wouldn’t notice her heart was skipping beats because of his touch.
    He looked her into her eyes. “Your color is coming back. Your eyes aren't dilated. I think you'll be okay.”
    Alex experienced more than a twinge of disappointment when she realized he was just being a doctor. But doctor or not, he slipped his hand into hers and held it. “Thanks, Harvey,” she said.
    “ Can you take the rest of the afternoon off? Or at least spend some time sitting? Don't push yourself. It wouldn't hurt to have a little lab work done just to make sure this isn't anything serious. Drop by my office tomorrow and I'll have a lab slip waiting for you.”
    “ Do you have a card so I can put the address in my GPS?”
    Harvey reached in to his coat pocket and pulled out a card. “I'm writing my cell phone number on the back. Call me if anything else happens.”
    Alex accepted the card as Frank stormed in. “Where is my bride?” he yelled. “I heard something about her being swept off her